Green Development Behavior and Performance of Industrial Enterprises Based on Grounded Theory Study: Evidence from China

Abstract

The issue of the green development of industrial enterprises has become the focus of attention of all parties. However, the driving factors of green development behavior and performance in industrial enterprises remains unexplored. What are the driving factors of green development behavior and performance in industrial enterprises? How does the theoretical model of green development behavior and performance in industrial enterprises work? In order to reveal the driving factors of green development behavior and performance in industrial enterprises, this paper develops a theoretical model and tests the model through the evidence of Chinese industrial enterprises. Based on the further study of in-depth interview materials from 52 employees in industrial enterprises, this paper takes industrial enterprises as the research object and constructs a theoretical model by using a grounded theory method. The results show that 40 initial concepts, 10 initial categories, four main categories and three core categories are obtained through the coding step of grounded theory. The study found the following three conclusions: (1) The green development of industrial enterprise exists in the organization in the form of specific behavioral expressions; (2) The green development of industrial enterprise caused the occurrence of green development behavior of industrial enterprises. The external factors of industrial enterprise green development consist of the environment of policy and institutional, market environment and public supervision. The internal factors of industrial enterprise green development are composed of tangible and intangible resources of enterprises; (3) The occurrence of industrial enterprise green development behavior has led to the consequence of green development of industrial enterprises. The consequence is embodied in the green development performance of industrial enterprises, including corporate financial performance, corporate environmental performance and corporate social performance. In addition, some management implications are presented based on the research findings. This research enriches the field of green development theory, business development theory and green behavior research. This study also provides a reference for exploring theoretical models of industrial enterprise green development in other countries and regions of the world.