Abstract

During the last thirty years, the growing awareness of ecological issues and the sensitive angle towards environmental problems has significantly modified environmental policy and economic methods within the leading industrial countries. The tendency is towards a post-Fordist regulation system, in which traditional command-and-control functions of the state are being substituted by the rising power of vital customers, environmentally aware stakeholders and governmental but market familiarized incentives.

Most industrial companies have begun to basically rethink their ecological policies: “The conclusions businesses are coming to are that the environment issue won’t get away, that standards can solely rise,and that a proactive instead of a compliance strategy is the most effective. This is the chance for consultants” (Caldwell & Smallman 1996:17). Enterprises are turning towards a proactive environmental policy, attempting to become a” good corporate citizen”, with additional to voluntary initiatives or passing through environmental audits like ISO 14001 or the EU’s EMAS (Tapper 1997, Vollmer, Braun & Soyez 1996).

Here we will observe the emergence of a brand-new accumulation regime which means the requirement for permanent innovation and adaptation in environmental matters, generating a brand-new demand for specific services, seldom provided in-house. The implementation of recent managerial practices and instrument like environmental management systems, auditing schemes, eco-labelling etc., and the growing requirement for technical assistance are reasons for the dynamic evolution of the demand for specialised external services. Knowledge based enterprises offer services, such as in the fields of technical development, service industry, legal services, insurance, environmental due diligence, and advertising.