Faced with minimal staffing, reduced budgets, and declining environmental quality, government regulators are considering new, voluntary regulatory approaches. One is the environmental management system (EMS), which aims to eliminate pollution at the source. This descriptive, qualitative research investigated third party, ISO 14000-certified EMSs to discover the relationship, if any, between the characteristics of the organizational system and EMS success.;To increase knowledge about participant perspectives, 24 individuals from 10 private and public organizations were interviewed. Raw interview data were then coded into themes. To understand the interactions between EMS implementation and organizational structure, profiles were also developed for two of the sample organizations, using onsite observation, published literature, and secondary source documentation. Finally, the Weisbord six-box model was used to illustrate system-level findings.;The interviews generated 11 success themes: Audit process, EMS certification, environment compliance, individual and organizational change, management, operational processes, overcoming adversity, participation, performance improvement, systems, and training. The two organizational profiles generated four additional success themes: Communication, leadership, power/influence, and tools. Relating these themes to organizational systems theory, six key factors were evident in the study sample: The evolutionary nature of the EMS, its organizational integrity and functional power, inclusive participation, nesting within larger systems, and stability.;Environmental regulators should conduct a comprehensive environmental risk assessment when seeking to advocate use of the EMS model. In addition, the audit process should address an organization's unique function and structure, utilizing qualitative and performance data to provide the most comprehensive possible report. Finally, an organization seeking to certify its EMS should carefully develop its communication and/or training plan for all stakeholder groups, create incentives to sustain participation, and cultivate executive leadership capacity as part of the EMS implementation plan. Future research might confirm or refute these conclusions by: Exploring the relationships between EMS and organizational subsystems, studying the characteristics and mental models of organizational and stakeholder subgroups, comparing the success factors of different types of pollution prevention initiatives, developing quantitative participant ratings of success, conducting descriptive research on organizational training approaches, and assessing organizational EMS readiness.
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