Environmental Management Maturity: The Role of Dynamic Validation

Maturity models enhance the performance of companies by prescribing a trajectory through stages of increasing capability. However, a recent review of maturity models concludes that current maturity models hardly meet the design principles required for prescriptive use. To address this deficiency, we conducted semistructured interviews and a Group Model Building study with industrial companies in Spain in which we studied the progression toward a Leading Green Company as the highest maturity stage of environmental management. The findings from the study were tested using surveys with enterprises in Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom, semistructured interviews in the United Kingdom and case studies in Spain. Using these data sources, we develop a causal model that captures an idealized environmental management maturity dynamic progression though stages. By mapping maturity stages to feedback loops connected to actions to improve those maturity levels, system dynamics can help companies articulate policies for transitioning toward higher maturity stages.