Environmental Motivations: The Pathway to Complete Environmental Management

The aim of this research is to ascertain whether a firm’s environmental motivations may help to predict how complete or incomplete its environmental management will be, understanding incomplete management to be that which neglects one or more of the three keys aspects of such management, namely, monitoring, action and results. We specifically posit that while motivations based on the search for legitimation lead to more incomplete styles of environmental management, competitive motivations entail a more complete management. The analyses conducted with a sample of 1,902 plants provide empirical evidence in favour of such reasoning. The contribution this research makes, therefore, is not restricted solely to showing the effect motivations have on the environmental performance of organisations, as it also introduces a new dimension of environmental management—the degree of completeness, which needs to be considered when understanding and evaluating this effect.     

Mediatized Humanitarianism: Trust and Legitimacy in the Age of Suspicion

The article investigates the implications of mediatization for the legitimation strategies of humanitarian organizations. Based on a (full population) corpus of ~400 pages of brochure material from 1970 to 2007, the micro-textual processes involved in humanitarian organizations’ efforts to legitimate themselves and their moral claim were examined. A time trend analysis of the prioritization of actors in the material indicates that marked shifts in legitimation loci have taken place during the past 40 years. A discourse analysis unfolds the three dominant discourses behind these shifts, namely legitimation by accountancy, legitimation by institutionalization, and legitimation by compensation. The analysis relates these changes to a problem of trust associated with mediatization through processes of mediation.     

What Drives Substantive Versus Symbolic Implementation of ISO 14001 in a Time of Economic Crisis? Insights from Greek Manufacturing Companies

This paper analyses the role of external pressures, internal motivations and their interplay, with the intention of identifying whether they drive substantive or instead symbolic implementation of ISO 14001. The context is one of economic crisis. We focus on Greece, where the economic crisis has weakened the country’s institutional environment, and analyse qualitatively new interview data from 45 ISO 14001 certified firms. Our findings show that (a) weak external pressures can lead to a symbolic implementation of ISO 14001, as firms can defend their legitimacy without incurring the costs of internalization in the local market; (b) weak external pressures can lead to substantive implementation of ISO 14001 when firms have strong internal motivations seeking to strategically differentiate from competitors in international markets. Firms internalize ISO 14001 so as to restore their legitimacy and reputation in foreign markets and stimulate their competitiveness; and (c) strong internal motivations pave the way for companies to stimulate their competitiveness by enhancing their efficiency, as some companies might strengthen their position in the local market by implementing ISO 14001 substantively. The contribution of this paper to the literature on ISO 14001 internalization lies in refining existing theory on the importance of internal motivations for the substantive implementation of ISO 14001 in the context of economic crisis. In addition, this paper extends current theory by challenging studies that dismiss the importance of external pressures. We argue that the intensity of external pressures influences the internalization of ISO 14001, but propose that this relationship might not be linear.     

Ownership structure and the diversification and performance of publicly-listed companies in China

The growth and heightened competitiveness of listed companies in China share several central features. These include the gradual transition of state-owned assets to private investors, a rapid pace of product diversification, and impending rapid growth into international markets. In this article, we focus on measuring and identifying the implications of the ownership structure and diversification strategy of listed companies in China. We highlight recent developments in the ownership transition of China's companies, and point to an ownership classification system that can better identify and address differences in the motivations, strategies, and performance of these companies.     

Determinants and Performance Effects of Social Performance Measurement Systems

This study investigates the performance measurement systems adopted by companies to manage their social responsibility activities, a theme that remains under-researched despite the important role that these mechanisms may play in helping firms control and improve their social performance. An integrative model is developed to examine how the three fundamental drivers of corporate social strategies, i.e., business motivations, perceived stakeholder pressures, and top management’s social commitment, influence the use of social performance indicators for internal decision-making and control and how such use impacts companies’ social and economic performance. The results from a survey of 97 Italian companies suggest that economic motivations and top management’s commitment are associated with a more intensive use of social performance indicators for decision-making and control, whereas perceived pressures from stakeholders do not represent a significant determinant of such use. The use of social performance indicators, in turn, is found to directly influence a firm’s social performance and, indirectly, its bottom line.     

Configuration and Development of Alliance Portfolios: A Comparison of Same-Sector and Cross-Sector Partnerships

This paper explores the intersection between three processes associated with globalisation. First, the rise of emerging economies like China, Brazil and India, the so-called ‘Rising Powers’, and their potential to define the contours of globalisation, global production arrangements and global governance in the twenty-first century. Second, the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals in the shaping of global trade rules and industrial practices. Third, the significance of small firm clusters as critical sites of industrial competitiveness. Some of the most significant examples of successful, innovative and internationally competitive small firm clusters from the developing world are located in the ‘Rising Powers’ and cluster promotion is a core element of national industrial policy in some of these countries. There is also evidence of engagement by clustered actors with corporate social responsibility goals around labour and environmental impacts. While these three processes have been separately studied there has been no attempt to explore their intersections. This paper addresses this gap through a comparative analysis of secondary data, and a detailed reading of the literature, on CSR and clusters in Brazil, China and India. It assesses the evidence on small firm clusters in the Rising Power economies and considers how these Rising Power clusters engage with CSR goals pertaining to labour, social and environmental standards. It argues for a greater focus on the formal and informal institutional context, termed the ‘social contract’, in explaining divergent experiences and practices observed across these countries. This raises important questions for future academic and policy research on clusters, CSR and the Rising Powers. The paper concludes by outlining a research agenda to explore the local and global consequences of the relationship between Rising Power clusters and international labour and environmental standards.     

物流企业基于供应链的营销管理创新研究

我国中小型物流企业大多由运输企业、仓储企业演变而来,营销理念、营销模式、营销机制、营销策略、营销手段滞后,做"业务"的多,做"营销"的少;贪大求全的多,市场细分的少;拉业务订单的多,建立战略伙伴关系的少;中小型物流企业很多,营销能力强的企业较少.当今的市场竞争是供应链与供应链的竞争,物流企业要谋求生存与发展,在竞争激烈的市场中做大做强.立于不败之地,必须把握国家振兴和发展物流业的大好机遇,贯彻落实"客户至上、服务为本"的经营理念,整合各种资源,加强基于供应链的营销创新与服务,通过导入营销组合、优化营销组合、创新营销组合.融入供应链、协同供应链、服务供应链,不断提高营销力与核心竞争力.     

基于组织间供应链网络的民营企业境外拓展能力分析——以浙江省为例

本文在对企业组织间供应链网络及企业国际化文献的研究基础上,提出有关民营企业基于组织间网络的境外拓展能力的假设。在经验研究部分,以浙江省为例,对已经开展境外拓展的民营企业进行问卷调查并检验这些假设。研究结果表明,当前,浙江省民营企业在境外拓展中遇到的障碍依其重要性依次为贸易壁垒、市场信息匮乏和产品缺乏竞争力,而资金匮乏不是其境外拓展中的主要障碍。民营企业在境外拓展过程中应该加强培育和构筑网络关系,而非仅仅依赖企业自身的力量,其中行业组织这一网络成员的作用尤其重要。     

Why do people buy organic food? The moderating role of environmental concerns and trust

Although consumer interest in organic food has risen over time, resulting in a generally positive attitude toward these organic food products, scholarly research suggests a comparatively low volume of its consumption in the market. This has resulted in an urgent need to study the motivations which enhance consumers’ proclivity to purchase food items produced organically. The current research attempts to understand potential associations between motivations (intrinsic and extrinsic), attitude, and buying behaviour towards organic food. Self-determination theory (SDT) was applied to develop a theoretically grounded framework which was evaluated with 378 organic food consumers. The hypotheses were tested by analyzing the data through structural equation modelling (SEM), wherein environmental concerns and trust were the moderating variables. The study results demonstrate the significant influence of intrinsic motivation, integrated and external regulation on consumer attitude, and buying behaviour. But, attitude had no significant association with buying behaviour. The findings indicate consumers’ motivation may be stimulated to encourage higher frequencies of purchasing organic food by emphasizing values that reflect motivations arising from ethical or green consumerism, health, and social benefits. Furthermore, policymakers should focus on avenues to integrate organic food as permanent parts of individual lives and a socially exalting behavioral action.     

Culture’s effects on corporate sustainability practices: A multi-domain and multi-level view

With a triple-bottom-line lens on sustainability, this study examines the effects of culture on companies’ economic, social, and environmental sustainability practices. Drawing on institutional theory and project GLOBE, we delineate cultural practices dimensions that consistently predict sustainability practices related to each of the three domains. Based on a sample of 1924 companies in 36 countries and nine cultural clusters, we find that future orientation, gender egalitarianism, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance practices positively, and performance orientation practices negatively, predict corporate sustainability practices. Further, our findings suggest that these effects might vary according to the country vis-à-vis cluster level of analysis.     

Environmental practices in the wine industry: An empirical application of the theory of reasoned action and stakeholder theory in the United States and New Zealand

Industry transformation related to environmental stewardship has received significant scholarly attention over the past decade. However, limited theoretical and empirical work examines the motivations for improving environmental performance in an industry in different countries. In this paper, we develop a set of hypotheses, based in the theory of reasoned action and stakeholder theory, regarding drivers of the adoption of environmental practices in the wine industries of New Zealand and the United States. We test our hypotheses using data from survey questionnaires collected in each country. Our findings suggest that subjective norms and internal stakeholder pressures are common drivers of the adoption of environmental practices in these two countries. However, managerial attitudes and external stakeholder pressures are not significant drivers. We also find that managerial attitudes and export dependence are stronger determinants of environmental practice adoption in New Zealand compared to the U.S.     

江苏省上市公司绿色竞争力评价研究

对江苏省上市公司披露的环境信息进行了分析。遵循若干原则设置评分观测点,对现有企业绿色竞争力评价指标体系作了完善设计,进而构建模糊综合评价模型对各企业的绿色竞争力量化评分,最终得出江苏省上市公司的绿色竞争力排名,并提出提升企业绿色竞争力水平的对策建议。     

Do online sales channels save brands of global companies from consumer boycotts? A geographical analysis

This study empirically investigates the link between global companies' brand strength and consumers' actual purchase behavior by considering online purchasability and the geographical area in the context of boycott campaigns. To test the hypotheses, we employ a hierarchical multiple regression model using online survey data collected from 571 South Korean consumers. Our findings reveal that online purchasability with strong brand strength could be a beneficial strategy for global companies to increase consumers’ actual purchase behavior. Further, non-metropolitan consumers show an increase in actual purchase behavior as compared to metropolitan consumers. This study has implications for global companies to adequately respond to unexpected consumer boycotts.     

Legitimizing Negative Aspects in GRI-Oriented Sustainability Reporting: A Qualitative Analysis of Corporate Disclosure Strategies

Corporate sustainability reports are supposed to provide a complete and balanced picture of corporate sustainability performance. They are, however, usually voluntary and thus prone to interpretation and even greenwashing tendencies. To overcome this problem, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) provides standardized reporting guidelines challenging companies to report positive and negative aspects of an organization’s sustainability performance. However, the reporting of “negative aspects” in particular can endanger corporate legitimacy if perceived by the stakeholders as not being in line with societal norms and values. Starting from the theoretical lenses of economics-based disclosure theories and socio-political theories of disclosure, the focus of this study therefore was to analyze the communicative legitimation strategies companies use to report “negative aspects,” i.e., negative ecological and social impact caused by corporate activity. Using qualitative content analysis of GRI-oriented sustainability reports from companies listed on the US Dow Jones Industrial Average Index and on the German DAX Index, we identified six legitimation strategies. We discuss these strategies regarding to symbolic and substantial management of legitimacy. We show that symbolic legitimation strategies aiming at modifying the perception of legitimizing stakeholders dominate in the reports at hand. Such persuasion, however, does not meet the requirement of impartiality as postulated by the GRI guidelines. Building upon this conclusion we propose a concise characterization of “negative aspects” and develop a GRI-compliant schema of reporting about them. In doing so, we offer a way to improve the overall “balance” of sustainability reporting contributing to a true and fair view in sustainability disclosure.     

Business Cases and Corporate Engagement with Sustainability: Differentiating Ethical Motivations

This paper explores links between different ethical motivations and kinds of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to distinguish between different types of business cases with regard to sustainability. The design of CSR and corporate sustainability can be based on different ethical foundations and motivations. This paper draws on the framework of Roberts (Organization 10:249–265, 2003) which distinguishes four different ethical management versions of CSR. The first two ethical motivations are driven either by a reactionary concern for the short-term financial interests of the business, or reputational, driven by a narcissistic concern to protect the firm’s image. The third responsible motivation works from the inside-out and seeks to embed social and environmental concerns within the firm’s performance management systems, and the fourth, a collaborative motivation, works to bring the outside in and seeks to go beyond the boundaries of the firm to create a dialogue with those who are vulnerable to the unintended consequences of corporate conduct. Management activities based on these different ethical motivations to CSR and sustainability result in different operational activities for corporations working towards sustainability and thus have very different effects on how the company’s economic performance is influenced. Assuming that corporate managers are concerned about creating business cases for their companies to survive and prosper in the long term, this paper raises the question of how different ethical motivations for designing CSR and corporate sustainability relate to the creation of different business cases. The paper concludes by distinguishing four different kinds of business cases with regard to sustainability: reactionary and reputational business cases of sustainability, and responsible and collaborative business cases for sustainability.     

Multinational Firms’ Motivations and Foreign Direct Investment Decisions: An Analysis of the Software and IT and Financial Services Sectors in the Irish Context

This article focuses on the way greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) in different sectors is influenced by locational characteristics and explores the role of policy in attracting and retaining foreign investment. We contribute to the literature by empirically investigating the investment motivations of multinational companies in the software and information technology (IT) and financial services sectors in Ireland and those locational factors that contribute to the retention of FDI. The methodology used in this research is of a qualitative nature, and an exploratory deductive approach is adopted in order to gain an understanding of firms’ internationalization decisions and motivations. The data demonstrate that companies in the two sectors follow different investment motivations. Firms in the software and IT sector entered Ireland primarily because of the availability of a high‐quality workforce, whereas firms in the financial services sector entered Ireland following the deregulation of markets and the subsequent ease of doing business. The article builds on these findings to develop policy recommendations. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An Empirical Investigation on Firms’ Proactive and Passive Motivation for Bribery in China

This research investigates firms’ bribery motivations in China. Based on resource dependence theory and anomie theory, we identify resource conditions as firms’ proactive motivation to bribe and firms’ perceived institutional environment as their passive motivation to bribe. We use the data from 2002 World Business Environment Survey, collected by the World Bank, to investigate firms’ bribery in the world’s largest emerging market, China. We employ a multi-level logistic model to test our hypotheses. The results show that unsatisfactory general and task environmental conditions may trigger firms to bribe in order to compete for better resources and opportunities; institutional conditions such as the security expenditure and anomie climate may make firms perceive bribery as a common phenomenon and thus induce firms to bribe. This research provides some insights to understand business bribery behaviors in emerging market. It also discusses some managerial implications and guidelines for policy-making from the findings.     

The Effect of Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility on Environmental Performance and Business Competitiveness: The Mediation of Green Information Technology Capital

With the emergence of environmental sustainability and green business management, increasing demands have been made on businesses in the areas of environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR). Furthermore, the influence of ECSR on green capital investment, environmental performance, and business competitiveness has also been the subject of attention from enterprises. However, in previous studies, the mediating role of green information technology (IT) capital in the relationship between ECSR, environmental performance, and business competitiveness, has not been investigated by researchers. In order to bridge this gap in the ECSR literature, this study aims to examine the influence of ECSR on green IT capital, and the consequent effect of green IT capital on environmental performance and business competitiveness. Data were collected from 358 companies from the top 1000 manufacturers in Taiwan. The results confirmed that ECSR has significant positive effects on green IT human capital, green IT structural capital, and green IT relational capital. Green IT structural capital and green IT relational capital have positive effects on environmental performance and business competitiveness, and environmental performance has a positive effect on business competitiveness. In addition, green IT structural capital and green IT relational capital have partial mediating effects on ECSR, environmental performance, and business competitiveness. The implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Corporate environmental sustainability reporting in the context of national cultures: A quantile regression approach

This work, based on previous evidence within international business management research, aims to test the influence of communities’ culture features on corporate environmental sustainability reporting (CESR) practices. To overcome some limitations of conventional statistical approaches applied by previous research, a quantile regression (QR) model is implemented which allows setting a framework to test the working hypotheses in different scenarios that cover divergent firms’ commitment levels to stakeholder engagement and CESR practices development. Our central results addresses that different national culture dimensions present a non-monotonic influence on CESR practices. This result, which is analyzed through the Stakeholder Theory proposals, can be explained because corporate sustainability behaviors are highly sensitive to stakeholders’ pressures and demands which are ultimately conditioned by the cultural environment. Some interesting recommendations for companies’ strategic management and governmental policy-making processes are reported.