Do sustainability committees reduce electricity use in Taiwan? Mitigating electricity regulation as motivation

Chen, Yulin; Huang, Mei‐Chu

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.135651

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…These keywords were used to identify the sustainability committees. These keywords played a significant role in this study, as previous research has shown that their meanings are used interchangeably, leading to potential confusion or misinterpretation (Peters and Romi, 2015; Baraibar-Diez and Odriozola, 2019; Peters et al ., 2019; Chen and Huang, 2023a, b).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study anticipates a positive relationship between Chair and Water_target . The researchers of this study explored various types of sustainability committees, including but not limited to sustainability committee, CSR committee, environmental committee, sustainable development committee, health and safety committee, public responsibility committee, and ethics committee (Peters and Romi, 2015; Baraibar-Diez and Odriozola, 2019; Peters et al ., 2019; Chen and Huang, 2023a, b). The researchers then identified whether the board chairperson also sits on the sustainability committee.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Global Views Monthly 2022 survey revealed that when it comes to ESG issues, more than 50% of Taiwanese corporations have no sustainability plans. In addition, only 20.3% of Taiwan corporations have formed dedicated units for implementing ESG measures (Chen and Huang, 2023a). Although sustainability committees are still relatively new in Taiwan, board chairpersons who also chair the sustainability committee have become increasingly influential.…”

Section: Data and Sample Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, sustainability committee directors facilitate access to relevant information regarding best sustainability practices; environmental impacts; cost-effective, environmentally efficient technologies (and their implementation costs); and other related topics (Homroy and Slechten, 2019). Sustainability committees indicate that “corporate subcommittees of the boards of directors that voluntarily formulate, execute, and supervise firms' sustainability strategy as parts of board duties and are responsible for” facilitating sustainability culture within the firms and managing stakeholder relations (Eberhardt-Toth, 2017; Dixon-Fowler et al ., 2017; García-Sánchez et al ., 2019; Chen and Huang, 2023a). Sustainability committees possess sustainability-specific expertise, enabling them to provide executives with valuable assistance and advice (Berrone and Gomez-Mejia, 2009; Derchi et al ., 2021) on ensuring substantive ethical practices (Homroy and Slechten, 2019).…”

Section: Theoretical Background and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recycling water: board membership and industry-peer pressures

Chen,

Huang

2024

Self Cite

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PurposeDespite the well-recognized importance of recycled water, the study of industry-peer pressure on recycled water is relatively new. This study investigates how organizations experience and react to industry-peer pressure to set recycled water targets. Additionally, this study investigates the role of board chairs involved in sustainability committees in contributing to responses to industry-peer pressure.Design/methodology/approachUsing Eviews 12, this study employed a pooled logistic regression model to analyze data from 1,346 firms on Taiwan and Taipei exchanges (2017–2020).FindingsThe findings revealed that frequency-based imitation drives recycled water target-setting diffusion. However, there is no direct relationship between outcome-based imitation and recycled water target-setting. Notably, outcome-based imitation drives the adoption of recycled water target-setting of firms with board-chair membership in sustainability committees.Research limitations/implicationsThis study faces certain data limitations. First, this study primarily focuses on water recycling. Future research could explore other ways to reduce water usage, such as using water-efficient equipment. Second, this study gathered information solely on the presence or absence of a board chairperson on the sustainability committee. Future researchers could explore the impact of the composition of sustainability committee on recycled water target-setting. Lastly, the sample used in this study is restricted to Taiwan's corporations that existed during 2017–2020. Future researchers may consider adopting a longitudinal design in other economies to address this limitation.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study offer several guidelines and implications for recycled water target-setting and the composition of sustainability committees. It responds to an urgent call for solutions to water shortages when pressure from governments and nongovernmental organizations is relatively absent. The number of industry peers that have already set recycled water targets is indispensable for motivating firms to set their own recycled water targets. In terms of insufficient water-related regulatory pressure and normative pressure, this study found evidence suggesting that the direct motivation for setting recycled water targets stems from mimetic pressures via frequency-based imitation. The evidence in this study suggests that policymakers should require companies to disclose their peers’ recycled water target information, as doing so serves as an alternative means to achieving SDG 6.3.Social implicationsRecycled water target-setting might be challenging. Water recycling practices may face strong resistance and require substantial additional resources (Zhang and Tang, 2019; Gao et al., 2019; Gu et al., 2023). Therefore, this study suggests that firms should ensure the mindfulness of board members in promoting the welfare of the natural environment when making recycled water target-setting decisions. To reap the second-mover advantage, firms must consider the conditions in which board members can more effectively play their role. Corporations may help their chairpersons in setting recycled water targets by recruiting them as members of sustainability committees. Meanwhile, chairpersons tend to activate accurate mental models when the water conservation performance of pioneering industry peers is strong enough to indicate the potential benefits of adopting recycled water target-setting. Investors’ and stakeholders’ understanding of how the composition of sustainability committees is related to recycled water target-setting may help to identify the potential drivers of firms’ water responsibility. Investors and stakeholders should distinguish firms in terms of the board chair’s membership of their sustainability committee and focus on water-use reduction outcomes in the industry. This study provides insights into circumstances whereby chairpersons help to restore the water ecosystem.Originality/valueThis study explains how frequency-based and outcome-based imitation are two prominent mechanisms underlying the industry-peer pressure concerning recycled water target-setting. Moreover, this study fills literature gaps related to the moderating roles of board-chair membership in sustainability committees concerning industry-peer pressure on recycled water target-setting.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Data and Sample Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Background and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recycling water: board membership and industry-peer pressures

Chen,

Huang

2024

Self Cite

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“…Moreover, Taiwan has a strong commitment to sustainability with its government implementing programs and policies promoting sustainable tourism development (Lin and Hsu, 2022). Second, Taiwan is a relatively small island with diverse range of natural and cultural attractions advantageous to tourism (Chen and Huang, 2023). Additionally, Taiwan's tourism industry is highly competitive where firms are under pressure to offer unique and high-quality experiences to attract tourists.…”

Section: Data Collection Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three-way interaction and multiple mediation models: Environmental strategy and sustainability marketing commitment applications

Yu,

Horng,

Liu

et al. 2023

APJML

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PurposeThis study attempts to fill the research gap by extending sustainability literature and providing empirical evidence that considers sustainability marketing commitment (SMC) as a fundamental attribute of effective marketing strategy that consequently improves tourism service quality, as represented by service attractiveness.Design/methodology/approachIn the current study, data was collected from 313 tourism and hospitality firms. To test the model, this study applied structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationships among environmental strategy, SMC, supplier trust and service attractiveness in a mediation-moderation setting.FindingsThe results indicate that the multiple mediation effects of environmental strategy may indirectly influence tourist attractiveness through SMC and tourism services. The two-way moderating effects reveal that supplier trust and socialization strengthen the service attractiveness development process, while three-way interaction discovered that socialization and supplier trust positively moderate the relationships between tourism services and service attractiveness.Originality/valueSustainable strategy is a future trend for tourism business management; however, unknown to most is the role of marketing and environmental strategy in tourism business due to lack of integration with concepts in marketing strategy, with the multidimensionality of tourism services, and with the function of trust and socialization, critically undermining analyses of service attractiveness. This paper combines corporate sustainability and sustainability marketing methods to explore how an environmental strategy can improve tourism services and enhance a destination's attractiveness based on a mediation-moderation mechanism.

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