How Does Corporate Environmental Strategy Contribute to Voluntary Environmental Behavior? Influence of Psychological Green Climate, Firms’ Size, and Employees’ Age

Abstract

Considering the gravity of issues, the present study investigates the influence of corporate environmental strategy (CES) on the voluntary environmental behavior (VEB) of employees along with the potential moderating variables. The research questions and hypotheses are built based on the essence of an integrated theory of corporate environmental behavior and social identity theory. Data were collected from numerous organizations and analyzed following the deductive reasoning approach. Partial least square–based structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The result highlighted that CES influences psychological green climate (PGC), which leads to an effect on VEB. We also examined the moderating effects of employees’ age, firms’ size on the influence of CES on PGC, and the PGC on VEB. The result showed that the moderating effect of age affects the influence of CES on PGC and other’s influences are not found significant. Managerial implications were also discussed.

Ecocentric leadership and voluntary environmental behavior for promoting sustainability strategy: The role of psychological green climate

“…Researchers have begun to acknowledge that eco-friendly behaviors and practices are highly beneficial to both organizations and the environment (Biswas et al, 2021;Frese et al, 1997;Uddin et al, 2020).…”

“…An organization implementing green managerial practices wants to add value far beyond economic requirements, by taking environmental benefits into account and also informing employees that the organization cares about environmental issues in its production and manufacturing processes (Tang et al, 2018). It is evident that people who feel more positive about the environment, and who have a more mature awareness of the need to protect it, are more likely to display positive VEB that goes beyond their regular job duties (Biswas et al, 2021). To this end, the main purpose of the organization's activities is to raise employees' awareness of "green" issues (Hameed et al, 2020).…”

“…Researchers have begun to acknowledge that eco‐friendly behaviors and practices are highly beneficial to both organizations and the environment (Biswas et al, 2021; Frese et al, 1997; Uddin et al, 2020). The broad construct of VEB refers to the self‐committed act designed to participate in environmental preservation programs (Huber et al, 2018; Nebel et al, 2017).…”

“…In line with the theory, it can be argued that leaders establish relationships with their subordinates and support them to be environmentally aware and work sustainably, in a variety of ways. For example, they can promote employees' perceptions of "green" issues and support for environmental initiatives and foster open communication on ecological issues, which all help to develop employees' preferential treatment emanating from PGC to reciprocate beneficial behavioral reactions, such as VEB (Biswas et al, 2021). Consequently, when leaders directly support their employees in achieving environmental sustainability or related strategy, a social exchange occurs between them, which is crucial for improving employees' VEB, as well as developing PGC (Paillé & Boiral, 2013).…”

How Can Hotel Employees Produce Workplace Environmentally Friendly Behavior? The Role of Leader, Corporate and Coworkers

“…Previous studies have indicated the influences of gender on employees' pro-environmental behaviors (e.g., women tend to behave more environmentally; Vicente-Molina et al, 2018); therefore, we controlled for gender (1 = male; 2 = female) in the present study. In addition, considering that elderly individuals may be more concerned about the betterment of the environment through displaying green activities (Biswas et al, 2021), we controlled employees' age (in years). Since a recent review shows that when employees have a higher level of education, their environmental behaviors would arise (Lu et al, 2017), we control participants' educational level (1 = High school/ technical school and below; 2 = Bachelor's degree; and 3 = Master's degree and above).…”