The Voluntary Adoption of Green Electricity By Ontario-Based Companies

Abstract

Organizational values and organizational context have been shown to influence the willingness of businesses to voluntarily adopt environmental initiatives. This study explores how these factors support the adoption of an initiative that is not associated with a clear “win-win” outcome for the firm. Using a matched-pair research method to establish a degree of pretest equivalence, the authors compare the organizational values and organizational structural context of firms in Ontario, Canada, that had voluntarily adopted green electricity (e.g., wind, solar, and small hydro) with firms that had not. They find that the firms that had adopted green electricity were more likely to value improved environmental performance as more than a means to earn demonstrable financial gains, more likely to make public their environmental performance metrics, and more likely to integrate formal environmental responsibilities within their organization. In concluding, the authors argue that their evidence supports the efficacy of actualizing espoused proactive environmental values through formalized organizational structures.

Market Orientation and CSR: Performance Implications

“…In turn, the customer categories and the way firms orient their activities around them, can lead to formalized organizational structures which in turn can increase CSR efforts (Berkhout and Rowlands 2007). We therefore applied Delma and Toffel (2008) measure assessing to what extent firms' have B2C customers (consumers); B2B customers (other firms); or B2G government or municipal customers (Delmas and Toffel 2008;McWilliams and Siegel 2001a).…”

The New Corporate Environmentalism and The Ecology of Commerce

“…Because there is so much pressure on all contemporary organizations and their leaders to assume this stance, however, many organizations construct green, ceremonial facades and other symbolic artifacts that produce little in the way of real or significant environmental benefits. Apart from the rhetoric, some NCE ventures do seem to decrease the use of natural resources, save energy, and reduce pollution and waste (e.g., Berkhout & Rowlands, 2007;Delmas & Montes-Sancho, 2010;Esty & Winston, 2009). In our view, Hawken's vision of a new, green capitalism presented in TEoC was instrumental in launching the NCE (as a social movement and as an academic field of study).…”

Challenges of Professional Development: Balancing the Demands of Employers and Professions in Federal Natural Resource Agencies

“…Because of the differentiation in the types of work that the two agencies perform, we expected that the organizational cultures and values would differ, too. Organizational culture and values can influence both organizational initiatives (Berkhout & Rowlands, 2007;Hoffman & Henn, 2008;Howard-Grenville, 2006) and the organizational climate, or the psychological impact of the work environment on employee well-being (Larsen & Valentine, 2007). In this context, we expected the following: (a) organizational culture and values would shape the degree to which agency policies supported professional development and the types of professional development they supported and (b) these policies would influence the well-being of employees to whom professional development was important.…”