As a result of the growing interest in environmental issues in the Syrian environment,
more precisely in the health service sector, companies in various sectors are facing the
problem of measuring and analyzing environmental costs, and disclosing e
nvironmental
costs in their financial statements. This research explores the role of measuring and
classifying environmental costs in decision-making in the health sector.
A case study was conducted in the General Authority of the Basel Hospital in
Tartous in Syria. Data was collected using observations and analysis of hospital
documents and reports, and personal interviews with managers and heads of departments
and accountants in the hospital.
The research aimed at finding a proposed model for classifying environmental costs
in the hospital based on Shapiro's model. The results showed that the cost of acquisition,
supply cost, training and qualification, storage costs, obsolescence costs, disposal costs,
maintenance costs are considered appropriate to make environmental decision-making. The
study also showed that the lack of knowledge and awareness of the administrative and
accounting staff about concepts and terminology of environmental accounting adversely
affect the process of tracking and measuring the environmental costs and hence the quality
of environmental decisions. The results showed also that the hospital is almost committed
completely to sort and separate medical and non-medical waste in all divisions and
sections.
The end of the twentieth century witnessed increasing interest in environmental
issues from governments around the world, accompanied by great interest from researchers
in the subject of environmental management accounting (EMA).Some research on th
e
subject emphasized the importance and benefits gained from the measurement of
environmental costs and the challenges associated with such measurement. However,
research that tried to document the extent of using (EMA) techniques, and the barriers of
such use, are scarce in the management accounting literature.
This research explores the extent of adopting (EMA)techniques in a sample of Syrian
firms, and the barriers of such adoption.
A questionnaire was developed and distributed to (100) firms working in the costal
area of Syria, of which (23) completed questionnaires were returned and interred into SPSS
for statistical analysis. Sample size in the research is affected by the war in Syria that made
most of the companies out of service.
Results of this research showed that (70%) of the participating firms reported
usageof (EMA) techniques.However results of Binomial test showed that this proportion is
insignificant at 5% significance level. It was found also that a significant proportion (83%)
of the firms in the sample measure environmental treatment costs for the internal usage,
while insignificant proportions (61%, and 65% respectively) measure prevention and
environmental management costs, and the value of wasted material purchased. Significant
barriers for not using (EMA) techniques, reported by respondents, include: difficulty of
the monetary measurement of environmental costs, the absence of a unified guide of
environmental cost measurement at the level of industry, and the lack of knowledge by
management on (EMA).
