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Abstract
The environmental impact caused not only on agriculture but also for all economic production
has changed the development model adopted by society. Several proposals are presented regarding the control
of environment impact, which goes worse every day. Thus, some organizations have changed their practices
related to the environment, by introducing principles of environmental management and sustainability.
However, the purposes of an organization do not always correspond to favorable environmental practices.
Motivated by these contradictions this case study was carried out in The Netherlands. The objectives of this
study are understanding the incorporation of the environmental variable, finding out the factors that motivate
such incorporation, as well as defining the environmental behavior of a Dutch dairy farm. The results showed
that this organization will not arouse serious environmental impact, but it was verified that there is a common
behavior of “putting out the fire” in the production process when it comes to environmental problems,
characterizing its behavior as more reactive than active. In terms of theorical purposes versus actually
executed practices the behavior of the organization can be defined as being somewhere between a responsible
and a follower organization. The incorporation of the environmental variable by the use of environmentally
correct practices was motivated by an external element which is the existence of an environmental legislation
instead of an environmental conscience.