Sustainable Behavior in the Business Sphere

Abstract

This conceptual article illuminates multiple determinants of sustainable behavior in companies by adapting the comprehensive action determination model proposed by Klöckner and Blöbaum. We apply this behavioral model specifically to the corporate sphere and illustrate that its determinants match the theoretical and empirical research on sustainable behavior in companies. By extending the model to the business context and by applying it to the broad sphere of sustainability, we build a connection between psychological findings (especially those related to environmental psychology) and research on organizational behavior and provide a coherent framework for corporate interventions to enforce individual sustainable behavior fostering corporate sustainability. In doing so, we provide an extensive overview of contemporary research on the psychological determinants of sustainable behavior within companies.

Workplace pro-environmental behaviors in small and medium-sized enterprises: an employee level analysis

“…Boiral et al (2015) offer a rather robust definition of PEB as comprising "all types of voluntary or prescribed activity undertaken by individuals that aim to protect the natural environment or improve organizational practices in these areas." Therefore, the premise for PEB revolves around voluntary behaviors, initiatives, and stakeholders at microlevel, macrolevel, and beyond the workplace (Lülfs & Hahn, 2014).…”

How Does Servant Leadership Foster Employees’ Voluntary Green Behavior? A Sequential Mediation Model

“…Environmental issues pose a great challenge for organizations and require the mobilization of considerable resources and competencies to achieve a transition towards sustainability [1]. Corporate greening is a paramount challenge that the organizational word is facing today [1,2] and employees' play a vital role in overcoming these challenges [3]. Employees' inertia pertaining to the environmental issues has been a major concern for managers that has led them to explore a wide range of research avenues in the hope of gaining a better understanding of the factors related to environmentally responsible behaviors.…”

Explicating Perceived Sustainability-Related Climate: A Situational Motivator of Pro-Environmental Behavior

“…Whereas objective situational factors concern external facilitation or constraints, subjective situational factors are individuals' perceptions of their ability to perform a behavior, often as a function of objective factors. Then again, objective situational factors may fail to induce behavioral change if individuals fail to notice them or perceive conflicting situational cues [25].…”

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