The impact of individual attitudinal and organisational variables on workplace environmentally friendly behaviours

Manika, D.; Wells, V.K.; Gregory-Smith, D.; Gentry, M.

Abstract

Although research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown steadily, little research has focused on CSR at the individual level. In addition, research on the role of environmental friendly organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) within CSR initiatives is scarce. In response to this gap and recent calls for further research on both individual and organizational variables of employees’ environmentally friendly, or green, behaviors, this article sheds light on the influence of these variables on three types of green employee behaviors simultaneously: recycling, energy savings, and printing reduction. An initial theoretical model identifies both individual (employees’ general environmentally friendly attitudes and the importance of an organization’s environmentally friendly reputation to the employee) and organizational (perceived environmental behavior of an organization and perceived incentives and support from an organization) variables that affect different types of green behaviors as a stepping stone for further research. The results reveal managerial implications and future research directions on the design of effective social marketing interventions that motivate different types of OCBs in the workplace. In particular, the results suggest that creating separate interventions for each type of environmental behavior, as well as for each organization, sector, and type of organization (public vs. private), is necessary. In addition, this research illustrates patterns of attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors by exploring individual and organizational variables and behaviors across seven different organizations belonging to different sectors.

Citation

Manika, D., Wells, V., Gregory-Smith, D., & Gentry, M. (2015). The impact of individual attitudinal and organisational variables on workplace environmentally friendly behaviours. Journal of Business Ethics, 126(4), 663-684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1978-6

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 18, 2013
• Online Publication Date: Nov 29, 2013
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Dec 5, 2013
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 4, 2014
• Journal: Journal of Business Ethics
• Print ISSN: 0167-4544
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-0697
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 126
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 663-684
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1978-6
• Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, Organizational citizenship behaviors, incentives and support, Environmental attitudes and perceptions, Social marketing.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1466117