Environmental Proactivity Research Articles

The Holy Grail

Purpose– This paper aims to analyse the influence of environmental proactivity on cost and differentiation competitive advantages, and to explore the double relationship between environmental proactivity and business performance.Design/methodology/approach– The population consists of all three- to five-star hotels in Spain. A sample of 350 hotels was classified according to environmental proactivity and performance levels, employing a two-step cluster analysis. Significant differences between groups were examined.Findings– The results show two types of environmental behaviour (reactive and proactive), with proactive hotels developing significantly better on both cost and differentiation competitive advantage and achieving significantly higher performance levels. Hotels which achieve above average business performance levels are significantly more environmentally proactive.Research limitations/implications– The present paper demonstrates that environmental management is related to competitive advantages and business performance. Environmental management systems are more developed in higher category, chain-affiliated and larger hotels. This could be due to having more resources to develop their environmental capability. The environmental proactivity scale employed in this study is presented as a reference measure for hotel managers to benchmark their current practices and implement environmental improvements.Originality/value– First, measuring environmental proactivity using four managerial systems (operative, information, strategic and technical) is innovative and provides a more detailed approach to measuring environmental proactivity. Second, demonstrating a double association between environmental proactivity and performance provides fresh insights into the relationship between these variables.

The Influence of Organizational Life Cycle on Environmental Proactivity and Competitive Advantage

In today’s dynamic environment, it is extremely important to study the circumstances in which environmental management contributes to a firm’s competitiveness. Relying on the dynamic capabilities view, this study empirically examines the relationships between environmental proactivity, organizational life cycle stages, competitive advantage, and industry on a sample of 155 Australian firms. The results of a regression analysis show that the construct of the organizational life cycle is significantly related to environmental proactivity. The results also confirm the well-established positive impact of environmental proactivity on competitive advantage. Surprisingly, we found environmental proactivity was positively related to competitive advantage not only in the innovative stages but also in the conservative ones. Our findings reveal the complex nature of environmental proactivity and help better understand the relationship between environmental proactivity and competitive advantage.

Exploring role of environmental proactivity in financial performance of manufacturing enterprises: a structural modelling approach

In the backdrop of overwhelming concern for greenhouse gas emission, global warming and overall environmental degradation, many manufacturing enterprises are now integrating their manufacturing philosophy with proactive environmental management approach. It is uppermost in the minds of many whether such environmental proactive approach will also help to improve financial performance of the manufacturing enterprises. This study explores this pertinent issue in the context of manufacturing enterprises of two democratic countries from the east and the west, India and UK respectively. Data collected through a questionnaire validated by invited experts distributed among manufacturing enterprises of India and UK were used to construct the structural model for testing the relationship between environmental proactivity and financial performance. The fitness and robustness of the structural model can be considered adequate. The results indicate positive correlation of environmental proactivity with financial performance, manufacturing based operational performance and non-manufacturing based operational performance. Model equations derived from structural analysis, however, reveal much stronger positive correlation of financial performance with manufacturing based operational practices than with the non-manufacturing based operational practices. The novelty of this research work lies in its managerial implications. It is suggested from the research that the manufacturing enterprises of India and UK should focus more on the manufacturing based operational practices than non-manufacturing based operational practices in order to improve environmental and as well as financial performance.

A comprehensive literature review on, and the construction of a framework for, environmental legitimacy, accountability and proactivity

This paper identifies three conceptually distinct, but interrelated concepts regarding corporate environmental behaviour from the literature – environmental legitimacy, environmental accountability, and environmental proactivity – and shows how they can be integrated into a single framework. This is done in a context where prior studies in the literature do not relate these concepts to each other or place the concepts within a meaningful context, nor integrate them into a single framework. The framework demonstrates an organisational journey towards achieving legitimacy in environmental endeavours. Environmental legitimacy is conditional upon the public evaluation of corporate environmental performance and environmental reporting (environmental accountability), which in turn, requires organisations to invest in environmental management and accounting systems and stakeholder engagement (environmental proactivity). The paper identifies company, stakeholder and other characteristics that influence the constructs in the framework and also propose a research agenda based on this framework. Environmental performance constitutes the central concept in the framework, acknowledging that improved environmental performance promotes the ultimate goal of sustainability. The framework suggests that the judicious management of environmental performance and reporting, the two components of environmental accountability, results in environmental legitimacy. Furthermore, environmental accountability can be enhanced by environmental proactivity, a concept comprising environmental management and environmental accounting, as well as stakeholder engagement. This synthesis of the factors that influence and contribute to environmental performance is the framework's main contribution.

Environmental proactivity and firm performance: a fuzzy-set analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore causal complexity in the relationship between environmental proactivity and firm performance. Using data collected from 27 Australian firms and controlling for the organizational life cycle, type of industry and external contingencies, the study empirically examines environmental proactivity in high-performing firms from polluting industries. Design/methodology/approach – The data were analyzed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Findings – In general, the results of the analysis imply that environmental proactivity is not always associated with high firm performance, and that environmental proactivity is not as important as the other causal conditions for high-performing firms in highly polluting industries. Research limitations/implications – The study addresses the relationship between environmental and firm performance more holistically by including a number of the firm’s external and internal factors identified as important in past research. Second, it offers a new perspective on the relationship with its systematic comparative analysis of complex cases. Next, it identifies different combinations of conditions (paths) leading to a high firm performance and, finally, the core complementary model allows an exploration of which factors are essential and which are less important or even irrelevant to high-performing firms. Practical implications – Based on the findings, firms from highly polluting industries can determine in which circumstances, if any, the adoption of environmental proactivity will result in a positive firm performance. Originality/value – The study is valuable because it contains a rich set of measures of the firm’s external and internal environment, thus allowing a more holistic examination of the relationship between environmental proactivity and firm performance.

Heterogeneous behavioral patterns influencing the proactive environmental orientation of firms: How does your company look?

Components related to sustainable development – such as environmental attitude, eco-innovation or environmental management – are considered key variables at the competitive level, which is why it has become urgent to study which factors motivate companies to move towards a more proactive environmental attitude. The identification of different groups in connection with estimates in the inner path model constitutes a critical issue when applying the path modelling methodology. In this paper, we identify groups of firms with similar behaviour (that is, firm segments) using the FIMIX-PLS algorithm, allowing companies to identify their environmental behaviour and therefore to make proper decisions when enhancing their environmental approach. We surveyed and interviewed 135 industrial companies located in the Valencia region of Spain. The results indicate that companies belong to three different groups that are defined by their motivation towards environmental proactivity, namely “environmental opponents”, “environmental driven” and “environmental trainers”.

Corporate Ownership and Environmental Proactivity

AbstractThe present paper advances knowledge of the drivers of firms' proactive environmental strategies. In particular, it explores the relationship between different corporate ownership structures and firms' green proactivity, in order to see whether some types of shareholder act as a stimulating driver for firms' proactive environmental behaviors. The study examines the explanatory power of corporate governance issues, such as a firm's ownership structure, as potential determinants of companies' environmental proactivity. Attention is focused on the European firms included into the Carbon Disclosure Project questionnaire 2012.The results show that ownership structure matters in firms' environmental proactivity. In particular, firms with a higher percentage of state ownership present superior green proactivity, while ownership concentration appears negatively related to proactive environmental strategy.The paper offers theoretical and practical implications. It focuses attention on a still underdeveloped research area, namely organizations and their relationship with the natural environment, including corporate ownership as a driver of a company's proactive environmental strategy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Segmentation of the Spanish automotive industry with respect to the environmental orientation of firms: towards an ad-hoc vertical policy to promote eco-innovation

Abstract The achievement of competitive advantages by companies as a result of the enhancement of their environmental commitment is a vibrant research topic. This paper identifies groups of companies within the automotive industry that are driven by the same patterns in their environmental activity and clarifies the different approaches that act to encourage the environmental orientation of these firms. The purpose of this study was to identify groups of companies within the automotive industry that have different mechanisms driving their environmental proactivity. Using a PLS-FIMIX analysis; we identified three different behaviors of automotive companies that correspond to what we describe as the eco-balanced, the eco-marketers and the eco-blind groups depending on how interact with the market demand and take advantage of eco-innovation.

Environmental Policies for Sustainable Development: An Analysis of the Drivers of Proactive Environmental Strategies in the Service Sector

AbstractThis article examines the drivers of environmental proactivity in the service sector. Hypotheses were tested using multiple hierarchical regression analysis with data from a sample of 41 managers in Spanish environmental consulting companies. Results show statistically significant relationships between (1) managers’ attitude towards sustainable development, (2) positive short‐term firm performance and (3) the strategic attitude of environmental consulting firms and the adoption of proactive environmental strategies by the studied companies.This article is pioneering in the analysis of drivers of corporate proactive environmental strategies in the consultancy sector. The findings have practical implications for policy‐makers, investors and other agents interested in a better management of the environment. Economic incentives such as subsidies to environmental training programmes for managers can induce changes in cognitive components of managers’ attitudes. Education policies could also affect managers’ attitudes towards the environment. Companies may also encourage attitude change by providing their managers with financial assistance to receive environmental training. External assistance to develop a strategic attitude could be an interesting policy to encourage voluntary environmental initiatives. Finally, fiscal deductions, tax breaks or subsidies to those companies interested in managing the environment can be effective incentives for those firms facing a weak short‐term financial situation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Service vs. manufacturing: how to address more effectively eco-innovation public policies by disentangling the different characteristics of industries

Eco-innovation is actually a fashionable topic, and several researchers are working on understanding the defining characteristics of firms that consider the environment as a priority when innovating. To date most of these studies have been carried out on manufacturing industries. This article investigates the similarities and differences among service and manufacturing firms. An empirical analysis of a sample of 5509 Spanish companies shows that the variables affecting the eco-innovative orientation of firms are quite similar. Results reveal that manufacturing firms have higher orientation toward the environment than service firms. Furthermore, highly polarized positions in environmental aspects can be found. Despite the limitations of the study, conclusions may help public policy to encourage environmental proactivity in service industry and innovation.

Environmental Management Practices in Polish Enterprises - An Empirical Analysis

Environmental management helps firms systematically include environmental issues to enhance a firm’s commitment and decrease their impact on the natural environment. For that reason, it has become necessary to study proactive aspects of business management and all the factors that influence the development of environmental proactivity in firms. The article aims to analyze the level of corporate environmental proactivity and its relationship with the size and the sector of activity in Polish enterprises. The environmental pressure perceived by companies was analyzed, too. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 64 Polish enterprises. The results show that the level of environmental proactivity of Polish enterprises is satisfactory and the highest activity of environmental proactivity is observed in the area of operating practices. The interest in the implementation of ISO 14001 and EMAS standards is still little. However, it is possible to observe slow, though systematic, growth in the implemented standards following ISO 14001 and EMAS. The research results reveal that there is a statistically significant relationship between the size and the sector of activity. Environmental pressure is mostly perceived by the management staff. This article also suggests implications and opportunities for future research because relatively little is known about the corporate environmental proactivity in Polish companies.

The Miles and Snow Strategic Framework: Corporate Environmental Strategies in China

The earth’s environment is deteriorating. Business is part of the problem and can be part of the solution. What factors lead to firm environmental proactive behaviours? Literature on the environmental management, strategy and managerial cognition show that governments, other internal and external stakeholders, ethical leaders, culture, and economic incentives are some key drivers to the process of “going green.” However, we still do not know enough about the environmental proactivity in what is fast becoming the world’s biggest economy, China? Research has focused largely on the West. China is particularly important not only for its economic power and size, but because it has very serious environmental problems. We need to apply what is known to China. Second, how do the various pieces, the factors seen as significant, fit together? This study, built from in-depth interviews with 33 businesses in China, shows that a pattern exists. The four clusters identified can be labeled compliance, competitiveness, e...

Sustainable supply chain management capabilities: a review from the resource-based view, the dynamic capabilities and stakeholder theories

A semi-structured literature review was performed to understand sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) capabilities mainly from the perspectives of the resource-based view of the firm, dynamic capabilities view and stakeholder theory, including exploring their nature, origins and effects on firm performance. The capabilities construct remains scarce in the SSCM literature and literature reviews are almost non-existent. Particularly, the dynamic capability construct has barely been applied in the SSCM field. The nature of most SSCM capabilities studied to date is static and needs the support of organisational antecedents like supply management capabilities, strategic purchasing and corporate social and environmental proactivity, and is likely to positively impact firm performance. SSCM capabilities appear to be triggered not only by diverse pressures from external stakeholders, industry and markets, but also by internal factors independent of external sources.

"Innovation, Proactive Environmental Strategy & Firm Performance:The Contingent Effect of Munificence"

Four decades have passed since environmental munificence was raised as an important variable affecting organizations. However, still little is known about the specific way in which environmental mu...

Proactividad medioambiental. El caso de las cadenas hoteleras españolas cotizadas

The social responsibility and the environmental care are becoming more important in the last decade. The enterprise is a social entity which is related with many primary and secondary agents where the enterprise´s objectives would not be just economic but also social and environmental. This paper has a goal, to analyze the environmental proactivity of the companies in the sample, specifically two hotel chains trade on the stock market. The methodology used is the study of cases (Yin, 1989). The study of strategic plans, corporate responsibility memories as well as interviews and surveys shows which have to be the environmental targets for every chain hotel concerned about their activity in the environment, and of course the society.

Environmental proactivity of hotel operations: Antecedents and the moderating effect of ownership type

This study examines the relative importance of three influential factors (stakeholder pressure, economic opportunities, and top managers’ personal environmental concern) in shaping managerial attitudes toward adoption of green programs in the hotel industry. The results, based on a sample of 235 top managers of hotels affiliated with three U.S. state hotel associations, suggest that stakeholder pressure is the most dominant predictor of managerial attitudes toward adoption of green programs followed by economic benefits and top managers’ personal environmental concern. In addition, the relationship between managerial attitudes toward adoption of environmental programs and organizational environmental commitment is found to be moderated by the ownership style. The relationship is stronger for independent hotels than for chain-affiliated hotels, indicating a more significant role of managerial discretion in implementing environmental strategies at the independent hotel setting than the chain hotel setting.

Is the Red Dragon Green? An Examination of the Antecedents and Consequences of Environmental Proactivity in China

China is the world’s second largest economy and the largest emitter of carbon dioxide, yet we know little about environmental proactivity in the most populated country in the world. We address this gap through a survey of 161 Chinese companies with two respondents per firm (N = 322), where we seek to identify the antecedents and consequences of environmental proactivity. We identify two categorizations of environmental proactivity: Environmental operational improvements and environmental reporting. We find that ecological motivations and regulatory stakeholder pressure are positively related to both types of environmental proactivity, and external stakeholder pressure is negatively related to environmental reporting. Furthermore, we find that (1) if a firm is environmentally proactive (as it relates to either measure) and they are ecologically motivated, there is a positive and significant cost advantage, and (2) if a firm makes use of environmental operational improvement and they are competitively motivated, there is a positive and significant reputation advantage. Implications for researchers, managers, and policy-makers in China are discussed.

Exploring Trade-Offs between Business Performance and Proactive Environmental Technology Innovation Strategy

This paper discusses a firms performance of proactive environmental technology innovation strategy and reactive strategy based on the model. It is proved that a firm can get better payoff if the manager interpret environmental issues as opportunities, comparing the performance of achieving these two strategies. A firm can profit under better communications with the public by managerial interpretations of environmental issues as opportunities trading off the increasing costs. In conclusion, the shareholder should motivate the manager to interpret environmental issues as opportunities for better payoff.

Stakeholder influence on environmental proactivity of Brazilian companies

O artigo analisa a influencia dos stakeholders na proatividade ambiental de empresas brasileiras. A pesquisa foi realizada com 112 empresas brasileiras com o objetivo de testar a hipotese de que a pressao por parte dos stakeholders influencia positivamente as atividades de gestao ambiental das empresas brasileiras. A analise fatorial agrupou os stakeholders nas categorias “mercado” e “nao mercado”. Os primeiros participam diretamente da cadeia de suprimento e incluem fornecedores, clientes e concorrentes internacionais e domesticos, empregados, subcontratados e sindicatos. Os stakeholders “nao mercado”, por sua vez, nao participam diretamente da cadeia de suprimentos e sao caracterizados pelos acionistas, governo, midia e ONGs. Os resultados dos modelos econometricos demonstraram que os stakeholders possuem um efeito significativo e positivo sobre as acoes de proatividade ambiental, envolvendo praticas de planejamento, operacoes e comunicacao. Essa pressao e mais efetiva quando proveniente de partes interessadas com influencia indireta nas organizacoes, os denominados stakeholders “nao mercado”, demonstrando que as ideias e praticas de sustentabilidade estao cada vez mais presentes nas agendas dos atores sociais, que comecam a reconhecer suas interconexoes e seu poder de influenciar as empresas na adocao de praticas ambientais proativas.

Environmental protection and financial performance: an empirical analysis in Wales

PurposeThis paper analyses the relationship between environmental protection and mid‐term financial performance, focusing on when and why this relationship is positive. In particular, the paper disaggregates environmental protection, differentiating between environmental management practices, environmental proactivity and environmental performance of the organization.Design/methodology/approachIt uses a cross‐section survey of 2,122 Welsh companies to gather information on environmental practices and the FAME database to collect data on accounting based financial performance. The paper uses regression analysis on a combined sample of 186 Welsh companies to evaluate the effect on performance of different types of environmental protection.FindingsOn the whole, the results show a positive effect of environmental protection on mid‐term financial performance. Financial performance has a positive and significant correlation with environmental proactivity and with environmental performance, while it has a no significant relation with environmental management.Originality/valueThe paper presents a disaggregated analysis of environmental protection in relationship with financial performance. The paper differentiates between environmental management practices, environmental proactivity and environmental performance of the organization in their relationship with financial performance.