A study of U.S. and German chemical firms reveals four different strategies for responding to environmental concerns. Are you a defender or escapist, a dormant or activist? OVERVIEW: Environmental management has become an issue of substantial concern, particularly in the chemical industry. A comparative study of U.S. and German chemical companies shows that they adopt substantially different strategies to express this concern. Four different strategies have been identified, and the characteristics that indicate responses to environmental factors are substantially different among the clusters. It is suggested that regulatory agencies should take these differences into account, and that companies that have adopted a particular strategy should be aware of alternative approaches by their competitors. The choice of new technology and the RD (2) RD reactive strategies aimed at developing recycling models and considering the lifelong environmental impact of new products; and active strategies seeking integrated protective concepts and taking account of those effects that result from product use (). Similarly, a study of British firms identified three basic strategic responses to environmental concerns: compliance, compliance plus, and excellence (8). Compliance is the minimalist approach to observing legal requirements. Compliance plus goes beyond the minimum legal requirements and strives to integrate environmental management into business structures and systems. Excellence involves striving for both environmental and business excellence. There have been four different routes to achieving these strategic responses: 1) The quality route involves achieving environmental goals through a zero-defect philosophy; 2) companies such as ICI focus on the health and safety of their personnel to achieve environmental goals; 3) emphasizing the "green attributes" of products is another means of promoting environmental concern; 4) some companies incorporate environmental values in their overall value system. A four-stage scheme of responses includes indifferent strategy, defensive strategy with end-of-pipe technologies, offensive strategy with modification of new products, and innovative strategy that actively seeks major changes in products and processes (9). Corporate strategies for enviromental management have evolved from pollution control to pollution prevention, which means minimizing waste before it happens. …