Environmental Reputation Research Articles

GHRM and employer branding: empirical study in developing and developed economies

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to compare the effect of GHRM practices on employer branding among firms in developed and developing economies.Design/methodology/approachThis study applied a cross-sectional survey for 234 respondents. The sample was derived from multiple databases consisting of firms in developed and developing countries.FindingsThe analysis indicates that green competence building practices and green performance management practices are positively related to environmental reputation and hence employer brand. Green employee involvement is exceptional because it has a more positive influence on environmental reputation in developed economies.Originality/valueThis study is cross-national in nature and compares GHRM practices in developed and developing economies.

Environmental reputation and bank liquidity: Evidence from climate transition

AbstractThis study empirically investigates how a bank's nonfinancial signals of environmental reputation affect its deposits and credit provision in US counties with severe climate transition risks. We find that banks with higher reputational risks associated with environmental issues tend to experience declining deposits in counties exposed to severe climate change risks. Banks with a poor environmental reputation also reduce mortgage origination in such counties and diminish liquidity creation if they have high deposit shares in counties sensitive to climate transition. This study suggests that a bank's reputation regarding environmental, social and governance practices is an important underlying cause of bank liquidity in areas sensitive to climate change.

Improving brand performance through environmental reputation: The roles of ethical behaviorand brand satisfaction

Although previous research has shown the benefits of corporate reputation, few studies have directly investigated the effects of environmental reputation in the context of branding. Using insights from signaling and resource-based view theories, we investigate the impact of environmental reputation on brand performance through the mediating mechanism of brand satisfaction. In addition, we examine the moderating impact of ethical behavior on this relationship. Using time-lagged data from 211 industrial buyers from pharmaceutical firms in Ghana, the empirical results show that (1) environmental reputation significantly influences brand satisfaction, (2) ethical behavior moderates the relationship between environmental reputation and brand satisfaction, and (3) brand satisfaction mediates the relationship between environmental reputation and brand performance. The findings contribute to our understanding of environmental reputation's role in B2B branding. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Determinants and relevance of internalisation of environmental management systems

The internalisation of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) is raising interest among scholars. Authors have identified it as the reason of controversial results in literature about the relation between EMS and environmental performance. Often, certified companies without an internalised system are labelled to have symbolic behaviour in environmental management. However, the literature lacks of studies aimed to identify other justifications that could influence the performance of certified companies, also in absence of an internalised EMS. This study wants to analyse the role of the environmental manager satisfaction in the internalisation of EMS and in achieving environmental performance. The paper uses data from a survey of 438 EMAS registered organisations. The results show that the managers' satisfaction positively influence the environmental reputation and competitiveness also without considering the mediating role of internalisation. The paper opens new research avenues on the understanding of the real importance of EMS internalisation and on the need to further investigate the relation between EMS and performance.

Institutional and stakeholder pressures on organisational performance and green human resources management

AbstractGreen human resource management (GHRM) has recently received increasing attention from scholars and practitioners. In addition to environmental management systems, the circular economy has become a primary strategy for tackling environmental issues. Other studies have suggested that more research is required to identify the drivers of GHRM and explore how it is related to performance outcomes. In this study, we aim to investigate the effects of both institutional and stakeholder pressure on environmental and circular economy, economic performance, and environmental reputation of organisations. We also test the mediating roles of performance outcomes on GHRM adoption. Based on data collected from European environmentally certified organisations, we found that both institutional and stakeholder pressures are positively related to organisational performance and GHRM adoption. Performance outcomes also have a positive relationship with GHRM practices. However, our findings also highlight the risk that GHRM can become an elitist practice in high‐performing organisations.

How environmental reputation and ethical behavior impact the relationship between environmental regulatory enforcement and environmental performance

AbstractThe paper investigates the nature of the relationship between environmental regulation enforcement (ERE) and environmental performance of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing upon the institutional theory and a sample of 229 SMEs, the results indicate an inverted U‐shaped relationship between ERE and environmental performance. In addition, we theorized and found that environmental reputation moderates the U‐shaped relationship between ERE and environmental performance, such that the relationship is positive when environmental reputation is high. Moreover, the results show that organizational ethical behavior (OEB) conditions the U‐shaped relationship, such that the relationship is positive when OEB is high. In the absence of moderators, returns to environmental performance from increasing environmental regulation were observed to reach harmful levels. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Do dynamic capabilities matter? A study on environmental performance and the circular economy in European certified organisations

AbstractOrganisations face barriers in the transition towards a circular economy. Environmental management systems have often been adopted to tackle environmental challenges, but, more recently, scholars have proposed dynamic capabilities as a strategy to foster circular economy initiatives. Considering the level of internalisation of the environmental management system, we investigated the contribution of dynamic capabilities to organisation performance and circular economy implementation. Using partial least squares structural equation modelling, we analysed more than 800 European organisations registered with the Eco‐Management and Audit Scheme. Our results proved that dynamic capabilities contribute to the internalisation of the environmental management system, which consequently improves the overall organisation performance and circular economy adoption. In addition, while dynamic capabilities directly influence the circular economy and environmental performance of an organisation, EMAS internalisation is crucial for a better economic performance and environmental reputation. Lastly, we assessed the contribution of sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capabilities to the internalisation of the environmental management standard proving their crucial role in the integration of the standard's requirements. Our study highlights the scarce linkages between the Eco‐Management and Audit Scheme and the circular economy by suggesting how organisations can identify and pursue circular economy opportunities through dynamic capabilities.

The Supply-Chain Transaction and Equilibrium of Complex Product Concerning Participants’ Environmental Reputations

The Supply-Chain Transaction and Equilibrium of Complex Product Concerning Participants’ Environmental Reputations

Accounting for consumers’ environmental concern in supply chain contracts

Consumers are increasingly concerned about pollution and are, at least in part, making their purchases accordingly. In this paper, we consider a supply chain where demand depends on the manufacturer’s environmental reputation, an asset that can only be built over time. We assume that this reputation depends on information emanating from the manufacturer itself about its environmental actions and on its objective environmental record when compared to an industry standard.In this paper, we look at the impact of consumers’ environmental concern on the strategies and outcomes of a supply chain. As the retailer has a direct influence on sales through its pricing policy, it seem more realistic to take a supply chain perspective instead of a single-firm one. Therefore, the contractual arrangement in the supply chain becomes a relevant issue. We model the supply chain as a two-player dynamic game and characterize and compare the equilibrium strategies and outcomes under wholesale-price and revenue-sharing contracts. We analyze the impact of the sharing parameter, the industry pollution standard and consumers’ degree of environmental sensitivity on the results, and in particular, on the region in the parameter space where a revenue-sharing contract is Pareto improving with respect to a wholesale-price contract. Also, we examine whether it is in the best interest of the retailer to behave myopically when setting its price.

A STUDY ON GREENISH PATTERN OF INDIAN CONSUMERS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THEIR PLASTIC BAG USAGE BEHAVIOR

The Population explosion has led to excessive consumption and exploitation of natural resources resulting in degradation of the biophysical environment. Many agitations have gained momentum in various parts of the world to protect it from environmental degradation. Many governments have banned the usage of plastics in their endeavor to protect the environment. This descriptive research has attempted to study the greenish pattern of 320 Indian consumers with special reference to their plastic bag usage behavior while carrying their purchases back home. The Results of the study have revealed that customers accord importance to the environmental impact of goods and services before purchasing such goods and they prefer to visit shops that are eco-friendly while they do not attach much importance to the environmental reputation of companies dealing with such goods and services. They prefer green products due to their good quality and reliability and are willing to pay a premium price for such products.

How Does Corporate Party Committee Governance Affect Charitable Donations? Evidence from Heavy-Pollution Industries in China

Charitable donations are an effective way for heavy-pollution industries to reduce their environmental reputation risk. In China, the communist party committees within corporations play a key role in decisions regarding charitable donations. However, relatively little is known about the relationship between the governance of corporate party committees and charitable donations. Using data from Chinese listed firms in heavy-pollution industries from 2013 to 2018, we found that corporate party committee governance enhanced the willingness of firms to donate and to increase the amount of their donations significantly. The effect on intention of charitable donations was pronounced for non-state-owned enterprises (NSOEs), whereas the effect on the amount of donations was pronounced for state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Party committee governance increased the amount of charitable donations in regions with a higher level of marketization, but it reduced the amount of charitable donations in firms/industries with a high degree of monopoly. Our findings provide insight for the decisive role of party committees in corporate charitable donations in heavy-pollution industries.

The effects of green consumer empowerment in advertising on corporate evaluations and purchase intention: the case of organic food

This research aims to investigate the potential of consumer empowerment, the activation of consumers’ perceived power over companies, to achieve improved advertising effects for organic food compared to only communicating ecological benefits (classical green appeals). Two online experiments were conducted to analyze the ad effectiveness for consumers’ responses including their evaluations of the company and purchase intentions (nStudy1 = 294; nStudy2 = 457). Results indicate that green empowerment ads reach overall better performance to increase people’s perceived customer orientation and purchase intentions compared to green appeals, while similar effects are identified for perceived corporate environmental responsibility. Empowerment tactics are especially effective when consumers perceive the supplier to be a larger, high-resource company compared to a smaller, low-resource one. The significant effects of perceived corporate resources also indicates that smaller companies should use differentiated ad strategies depending on if they intend to enhance consumers’ purchase intentions or their environmental reputation.

Green HRM and employer branding: the role of collective affective commitment to environmental management change and environmental reputation

Drawing upon the signaling and person-organization (P-O) fit theories, the present study develops a novel conceptual framework through which we examine the complex psychological mechanisms behind the influence of green human resource management (GHRM) on employer branding (EB). The model suggests a sequential mediation effect of Collective affective Commitment to Environmental Management Change (CACEMC) and environmental reputation (ER) on the link between GHRM and EB. We collect multi-wave, multi-source survey data from tour operation firms based in Nha Trang City in Vietnam. Our results demonstrate that there is a significant relationship between GHRM and EB. The results further indicate that CACEMC and ER singly and sequentially mediate the positive relationship between GHRM and EB. The study enumerates our findings' theoretical and practical implications and advances the case for the rolling out of GHRM to build eco-friendly employer brands. The study provides a compelling reason and basis for firms to use GHRM practices in crafting eco-friendly employer branding initiatives. This is possible because our research provides an understanding of the complex micro-level mechanisms by which GHRM shapes the employees’ perception of their employers.

The contribution of green human resource management to the circular economy and performance of environmental certified organisations

Circular economy has become one of the main strategies to face environmental issues. To enable circular economy, organisations have started acting on their capability to improve their sustainability management. Nevertheless, the contribution of green human resource management to the transition towards a more circular economy has not yet been investigated. Our research aims at assessing the effects of green human resource management to circular economy, to environmental and economic performance and to the environmental reputation of an organisation. We empirically test the distinct role that different green human resource management practices (i.e., green recruiting, green training and involvement, and green performance management and rewarding) have on organisation performance. We also investigate the moderation role of the level of diffusion of the circular economy in the context where organisations operate. The results, from a sample of 819 EMAS-registered organisations, demonstrate that green human resource management positively influence all the organisation performance, even though with some difference between each single practice. Moreover, green human resource management contribute to the transition towards a circular economy without being influenced by external factors such as market demand, competitors’ commitment or technological support to circularity. Our research, in addition to shed some light on the relationship between human capital and circular economy, studies for the first time green human resource management with environmental management systems. Finally, the results of our research provide several avenues for further research both for academics and practitioners.

Determinants of Carbon Emission Disclosure: An Empirical Study on Indonesian Manufacturing Companies

Due to the worsening environmental issues e.g, climate change, the stakeholders impose greater demand and pressure more towards the companies of caring about the environment. The emergence of carbon accounting is a supplement to the adoption of Kyoto Protocol. However, the government has not applied carbon accounting to all companies in Indonesia, because of non-explicit laws and low quality of human resources. Various studies have been conducted to find the determinant factors for companies to make carbon emission disclosure. This research aims at examining the influence of type of industry, profitability, company size, environmental performance, and audit firm reputation on the carbon emission disclosure of manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange years 2016-2019. It employed a purposive sampling technique and obtained 290 observations and the data were analyzed using Ordinary Least Square. The shows that type of industry, profitability and company size influence carbon emission disclosure. However, this research does not successfully show the influence of environmental performance and reputation of public accountant office on carbon emission disclosure.

Carbon disclosure, performance and the green reputation of higher educational institutions in the UK

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the carbon emission disclosures (CED) and performance of UK higher educational institutions (HEIs) and the associated impact on their environmental reputation. The paper argues that HEIs possess distinct characteristics that make comparisons with profit-oriented companies problematic and misleading.Design/methodology/approachThe green score published by the People and Planet organisation provided the population for this analysis. All universities with a 2012 score were entered into the initial sample. The association between green reputation, CED and carbon performance was examined using a robust least squared regression model. The green score published in 2019 was then compared with this to confirm whether the findings still held.FindingsCED, carbon emissions and carbon audit were found to have highly significant determinant relationships with HEIs’ green reputation status at a 1% significance level.Research limitations/implicationsThe impact of CED and carbon performance indicators needs to have a clear relationship with reputation to motivate HEIs to act and disclose.Originality/valueThe study is distinct in investigating the impact of CED and carbon performance by UK HEIs on their environmental reputation. The study shows whether, and how, the HEI CED and carbon performances contribute towards their environmental reputation. HEIs have distinct characteristics from profit-seeking organisations and thus tailored research is required.

A society ill-equipped to deal with the effects of climate change on cultural heritage and landscape: a qualitative assessment of planning practices in transport infrastructure

This paper provides insights into the handling of climate change issues related to cultural heritage at different government decision levels dealing with physical planning, and in particular roads. Data are derived from a qualitative analysis of official reports and interviews with local and regional planners in three Swedish regions with contrasting climates. The theoretical lens of Institutional Interplay is applied to an analysis grouped into six themes: Climate threats to cultural heritage, Adaptation measures, Preparedness, Institutional preconditions, Institutional interplay, and Challenges. The results suggest that despite a strong environmental reputation internationally, Sweden is not particularly well prepared for dealing with future climate change impacts on cultural heritage and landscape. The lack of national standards and standardised methods risks regional and sectoral variation in the treatment of similar tasks, a problem which deficiencies in knowledge and continuing education are perpetuating. The degree to which discussions and cooperation occur between divisions within the same authority, between authorities, and in national networks varies considerably. Routines and criteria for prioritisation of cultural heritage mitigation, essential under conditions of limited resources, have yet to have been implemented. We conclude with five recommendations for improving the planning process with respect to climate change risks to cultural heritage.

The effects of green supply chain management capability on the internalisation of environmental management systems and organisation performance

AbstractThe capability to manage the supply chain is a key issue in general management as well as green management. The topic has been widely discussed in the literature, however only few studies focused on how this capability could influence the effectiveness of certified Environmental Management Systems. To bridge this gap, we administered a survey with more than 400 EU EMAS‐registered companies in order to investigate the relation between green supply chain management capability and some key organisational performance such as environmental management system internalisation, environmental reputation, eco‐innovation and market competitiveness. The results show a positive influence of green supply chain management capability on performance through the mediating role of the internalisation of environmental management system and directly on market competitiveness. The study opens the floor on further academic debates on green supply chain management capability in environmental management systems and it identifies possible managerial and policy implications.

Examining the Interconnections Between Sustainable Logistics Practices, Environmental Reputation and Financial Performance: A Mediation Approach

As environmental awareness and the patronage of logistics services grow, there is a growing demand for the logistics sector to provide more sustainable environmental services, and although the logistics sector performs functions such as reverse logistics, packaging, inventory management, transportation, warehousing, waste management, distribution, etc., which are very core to economic growth, they also significantly contribute to greenhouse effect and consume huge amounts of resources. This study, drawing on the institutional theory and the natural resource-based view, explores the framework through which sustainable logistics practices such as sustainable transportation, reverse logistics and management of waste, sustainable packaging and distribution, green monitoring and evaluation, and sustainable information sharing influence environmental reputation and financial performance. The study adopted partial least square structural equation modelling technique in analysing data due to it having more statistical power. The findings of the study showed that sustainable logistics practices had enormous influence on environmental reputation and financial performance. In terms of mediation, environmental reputation had no mediation effect between waste management and financial performance but partially mediated the relationships between sustainable transportation, sustainable information sharing and financial performance, while fully mediating the relationships between reverse logistics, sustainable packaging and distribution, green monitoring and evaluation, and financial performance. This study concentrated on the logistics sector; thus, this study results will provide vital data to both scholars and practitioners in comprehending the call and need to integrate sustainable policies and strategies into business and industrial operations to ensure environmental preservation.

Environmental proactivity, competitive strategy, and market performance: The mediating role of environmental reputation

AbstractThis article examines the impact of small and medium‐sized enterprises' (SMEs) proactive environmental strategy on market performance through the mediating mechanism of environmental reputation. In addition, we investigate the potential moderating role of competitive strategies on the environmental reputation‐market performance nexus. Data were collected from 223 SMEs. Using the hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the results show that a proactive environmental strategy positively enhances environmental reputation. Also, the influence of proactively environmental strategy on market performance is mediated by environmental reputation. In addition, our findings show the relationship between environmental reputation and market performance is greater for firms that adopt the differentiation strategy but not significant for firms adopting the low‐cost and integrated strategies. Our study offers several theoretical and practical implications.