The Interplay between Corporate Social Responsibility at Employee Level, Ethical Leadership, Quality of Work Life and Employee Pro-Environmental Behavior: The Case of Healthcare Organizations

Abstract

The notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been around for many decades. However, even in 2021, its spectrum is still evolving. Several studies addressed CSR for realizing different organizational outcomes. However, its significance in achieving employee-related consequences is relatively new to the literature. In the same manner, it is not clear from existing literature how ethical leaders can impact their followers’ CSR-related behavior, for example, employee pro-environmental behavior (EPB). With this background, the current study aims to explore the relationship of CSR at the employee level (CSR-E) with EPB through the mediating effect of ethical leadership (ELS) in the healthcare sector of a developing economy. This study also proposes a conditional indirect effect of quality of work-life (QWL) in this relationship. The data for the current study were obtained from different hospitals located in a large city through a self-administered questionnaire. The data were examined through the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The results validated that CSR-E positively influences EPB, and ELS partially mediates this relationship. Furthermore, the results also confirmed the presence of the conditional indirect effect of QWL in the proposed relationship of the current study. These findings will be helpful for healthcare policymakers to enhance the pro-environmental behavior of employees at the workplace through CSR-E and ELS. These results will also be helpful in reducing the overall environmental footprint of a hospital.

Improving the Environmental Footprint through Employees: A Case of Female Leaders from the Perspective of CSR

“…In this regard, very few studies have attempted to investigate the mediating effect of a leadership style to shape the behavior of employees. To our knowledge, only the studies of Molnár et al [ 21 ] and Murtaza et al [ 27 ] have followed a similar approach. Nonetheless, many studies have highlighted the direct importance of a leadership style, especially an ethical style of leadership, to spur employees’ pro-environmental behavior [ 81 , 88 ].…”

“…More specifically, in healthcare settings, in different recent studies, it has been reported that there is a positive relationship between CSR and pro-environmental behavior. For example, the study of Molnár et al [ 21 ] stated that the CSR orientation of a hospital enterprise has a positive relationship with employees’ pro-environmental behavior. Similarly, the same positive relationship was reported in a recent study by Ahmad et al [ 24 ].…”

“…Meanwhile, the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has increased the need to conduct activities differently by integrating the community’s issues and activities in a targeted, socially responsible, and economical way [ 19 ]. Researchers have shown a severe concern for CSR, which is considered one of the most important phenomena for modern enterprises from the perspective of environment management [ 20 , 21 ]. Firms have the right to sell goods or services to consumers, but they are also responsible for conducting their activities in a socially responsible manner.…”

“…In a healthcare context, CSR activities were directed on charity and welfare-related activities such as free treatment, including free or subsidized surgeries, lab tests and investigations, surgical equipment, medicines, and even food and accommodation to patients [ 22 , 23 ]. Though there have been a few recent studies from the healthcare sector [ 21 , 24 ] to propose CSR as an enabler to improve the environmental footprint of a hospital, such studies are sparse, implying that more research is required to explore the importance of CSR from the perspective of environmental management. Therefore, another objective of the current study is to investigate the relationship between CSR and employees’ pro-environmental behavior.…”

The Role of CSR and Ethical Leadership to Shape Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behavior in the Era of Industry 4.0. A Case of the Banking Sector

“…CSR-specific initiatives are undertaken by an organization to earn a belief from all stakeholders that such moves will bring positive results for all stakeholders [2]. Employees are important stakeholders for the success of an organization [3]. Specifically, from the perspective of the banking sector, it has been reported that employees working for a socially responsible bank are more productive and engaged as compared to the employees of a bank that does not consider CSR as an important strategic enabler [4][5][6][7].…”