Summary Articles Week 1
BSS ARTIKEL WEEK 1.1
This early qualitative empirical analysis is one of the most fundamental papers in the field of
organizations and the environment. Focus on the motives of why firms go green at
different levels of analysis.
We conducted a qualitative study of the motivations and contextual factors that induce
corporate ecological responsiveness.
Three motivations for going green:
1. Competitiveness,
2. Legitimation, and
3. Ecological responsibility.
These motivations for going green were influenced by three contextual conditions:
1. Field cohesion,
2. Issue salience, and
3. Individual concern.
In this article, we also identify the conditions that likely lead to high corporate ecological
responsiveness.
During the last decade, researchers concerned with organizations and the natural
environment have investigated why firms respond to ecological issues.
They have examined why some firms em- brace ecologically responsive initiatives,
while oth- ers in seemingly similar circumstances do not even comply with existing
legislation.
Understanding the motives for corporate ecological responsiveness is critical for two
reasons.
1. First, this understanding could assist organizational theorists to predict eco- logically
based behaviors. For example, if corporations adopt ecologically responsive
practices merely to meet legislative requirements, then firms will engage in only
those activities that are man- dated.
2. Second, this understanding could expose the mechanisms that foster ecologically
sustainable organizations, allowing researchers, managers, and policy makers to
determine the relative efficacy of command and control mechanisms, market
measures, and voluntary measure
,The purpose of this study was to examine why companies "go green" and, in so doing, to
refine a model that explains corporate ecological responsiveness by identifying motivations
for adopting ecological initiatives and the underlying factors that lead to each motivation
Corporate ecological responsiveness = a set of corporate initiatives aimed at mitigating a
firm's impact on the natural environment.
- These initiatives can include changes to the firm's products, processes, and policies,
such as reducing energy consumption and waste genera- tion, using ecologically
sustainable resources, and implementing an environmental management system.
As noted, the data analysis suggested three basic motivations for ecological
responsiveness:
1. Competitiveness,
2. Legitimation, and
3. Ecological responsibility
We define the term "competitiveness" here as the potential for ecological responsiveness to
improve long-term profitability.
Ecological responses that improved competitiveness included energy and waste
management, source reductions resulting in a higher output for the same inputs
(process intensification), ecolabeling and green marketing, and the development of
"eco products".
Firms motivated by competitiveness expected that their ecological responsiveness
led to sustained advantage and hence improved their long-term profitability.
Competitive advantage can be gained through environmental responsibility.
Competitiveness, in contrast to other motivations, resulted in greater attention paid to the
cost- benefit analyses of ecological response
Firms motivated by competitiveness actively innovated ecologically benign processes and
products to enhance their market positions.
A motive of legitimation refers to the desire of a firm to improve the appropriateness of its
actions within an established set of regulations, norms, values, or beliefs.
Examples of legitimation as shown by the data included:
Complying with legislation,
Establishing an environmental committee or environmental manager position to
oversee a firm's ecological impacts and advise senior management,
Developing networks or committees with local community representation,
Conducting environmental audits,
, Establishing an emergency response system,
Aligning the firm with environmental advocates.
Threats to a firm's legitimacy were believed to undermine a firm's license to operate or its
long-term survival.
- The data suggested that legitimation was directed toward complying with institutional
norms and regulation.
- Firms motivated by legitimation were focused on the stakeholders most influential
in prescribing or articulating legitimacy concerns.
We viewed ecological responsibility as a motivation that stems from the concern that a firm
has for its social obligations and values.
Within the data, initiatives motivated by ecological responsibility included:
The redevelopment of previously used land to green areas,
The provision of a less profitable green product line,
Donations to environmental interest groups and other local community groups,
The use of recycled paper,
The replacement of retail items or office products with ones more ecologically benign,
The recycling of office wastes.
A salient feature of this motivation was a concern for the social good. The ethical aspects of
ecological responsibility, rather than the pragmatic, were emphasized, which clearly
differentiated this motivation from the other two
Firms motivated by ecological responsibility often pointed to a single individual who had
championed their ecological responses.
- The decision process was often based on the values of powerful individuals or on the
organization's values rather than a widely applied decision rule
As a result of individual leadership and a desire to uncover the most ecologically benign
solutions, firms motivated by ecological responsibility often chose independent and
innovative courses of action, rather than mimicking other firms whose motive was
legitimation.
- In essence, these firms were looking to do the "right thing".
