Impact of environmental stewardship on perceived industrial service quality delivered to the manufacturing sector

Responsible environmental stewardship has become a significant requirement of the manufacturing industry. Legislative trends, global market perspectives, and competitive advantage opportunities work collectively to strengthen these requirements on industry. Despite this need many companies, especially manufacturer service providers, have been unable to confidently pursue environmental stewardship. Specifically, the problem addressed by this study is the lack of evidence that customer satisfaction, the satisfaction of the manufacturers who use the services, is being positively impacted by manufacturer service providers' achieving the ISO 14001 environmental management system certification. Determining the potential benefits of improved customer satisfaction with ISO 14001 certification may provide companies with the motivation for improving environmental stewardship.; The purpose of this study was to provide evidence that ISO 14001 certifications positively impact the environment and improve customer satisfaction with the services. Two areas were investigated: first the levels of environmental stewardship of an ISO 14001 certified manufacturer service provider and a non-ISO 14001 certified manufacturing service provider, and second the extent to which manufacturer service providers' environmental stewardship impacts manufacturer satisfaction with industrial service quality. This study contains a quantitative examination of manufacturer service providers' environmental stewardship as a driver of industrial service quality. Using a survey, two manufacturer service providers, one with and one without ISO 14001 certification, were compared for perceived service quality delivery.; Results suggest that ISO 14001 certification is effective in providing manufacturer service providers an opportunity for improved environmental stewardship and subsequently improved perceived industrial service quality. As a result this study demonstrates that manufacturer service providers can significantly improve customer satisfaction with perceived industrial service quality through improved environmental stewardship practices. One resulting recommendation is that manufacturer service providers consider achieving ISO 14001 certification to address environmental concerns and to improve business opportunities.; From a social perspective, the study's findings indicate that manufacturer service providers' have a realistic ability to join their manufacturing customers in a quest for continuously improving environmental stewardship through the ISO 14001 framework. Standardized quality programs focused on continuously improving environmental processes may have a strong and relevant future in this industry, ultimately benefiting the global environment.