A Contemporary Issue of Micro-Foundation of CSR, Employee Pro-Environmental Behavior, and Environmental Performance toward Energy Saving, Carbon Emission Reduction, and Recycling

Abstract

The contemporary literature has largely addressed corporate social responsibility (CSR) at the macro or institutional level, whereas its effect at the micro-level is largely ignored. In addition, contemporary researchers have also ignored the importance of employee pro-environmental behavior to reduce the environmental footprint of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). With this background, the present study attempts to decrease the environmental footprint of the SME sector of China by implementing CSR at the micro-level through the involvement of employees because employees spend a significant amount of their time at workplaces, and hence their environment-related behavior may significantly contribute to improve the natural environment. In this regard, here we examined the impact of the micro-foundation of CSR on SMEs' environmental performance with mediating effect of employees’ pro-environmental behavior. The data were collected from the different organizations in China. Our sample constitutes a supervisor–subordinate dyad from which we collected 562 filled questionnaires (281 from each). We used the structural equation modeling technique using AMOS software for data analysis, the results show that CSR, directly and indirectly, through employee’s pro-environmental behavior affects the environmental performance of SMEs, and employee pro-environmental behavior partially mediates this relationship. The findings of the present study are helpful for policymakers of the SME sector of China to address widespread environmental issues caused by their business operations.

Conceptualizing the Role of Target-Specific Environmental Transformational Leadership between Corporate Social Responsibility and Pro-Environmental Behaviors of Hospital Employees

“…This observation then serves as a guide for their behavior formation. Specifically, when they observe that their organization is showing greater commitment in the larger interest of all stakeholders, they learn this socially responsible behavior through the social learning process [ 43 ], which eventually leads them to act pro-environmentally [ 44 ]. A ‘caring for others’ environment, as a result of CSR, motivates employees to practice the same on their part [ 45 ].…”

Fostering Advocacy Behavior of Employees: A Corporate Social Responsibility Perspective From the Hospitality Sector

“…In the first place, considering the mounting importance of CSR at the micro-level, the current work offers a unique direction by proposing employees’ CSR perceptions as a motivator to enhance their advocacy. Though the domain of micro-CSR is receiving considerable academic attention, previously, the prime focus of such research studies was the pro-environmental behavior of employees ( Ahmad et al, 2021 ; Yu et al, 2021 ) or their citizenship behavior ( Ong et al, 2018 ). In this regard, the current study offers a different CSR perspective, which was not well-explored previously.…”

“…In this regard, research shows that employees’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions can be positively linked with their attitudinal and behavioral intentions ( Farooq et al, 2014 ; Mi et al, 2018 ). For example, it was mentioned in the prior literature that CSR could foster employees’ pro-environmental behavior ( Molnár et al, 2021 ; Yu et al, 2021 ), innovative behavior ( Ahmad et al, 2021 ), citizenship behavior ( Zhao and Zhou, 2021 ), and job crafting ( Hur et al, 2021 ). Despite these recent contributions, little is known about the relationship between CSR and employees’ advocacy behavior.…”

An Examination to Explain the Mechanism of Employees’ Environment-Specific Behavior through CSR and Work Engagement from the Perspective of Stewardship Theory

“…CSR activities may also show greater interest for employees to fulfill their needs [45]. Moreover, researchers have argued that CSR actions can promote the behavioral intentions of employees in a favorable manner for an organization [46].…”