CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTALISM: REDESIGNING BUSINESS MODELS TO FIT STRATEGY, ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITIES AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

The increasing concern of citizens, nations and businesses on natural environment protection and respect lead companies to re-invent new ways of business activities and models. In that sense, new paradigms as the Circular Economy and stakeholders’ pressures move companies towards corporate environmentalism, which supposes to modify company’s aim, mission and strategy. The formulation and implementation of effective proactive environmental strategies implies the reconfiguration and development of new environmental organizational capabilities, especially those linked to business operations and market-related ones. In this new competitive arena, environmental innovations, green marketing and corporate image, environmental legitimacy and reputation are analyzed as main drivers of proactive environmental strategies and key decisions of new and sustainable business models.This paper develops an integrative review of previous concepts intimately related to corporate environmentalism and proposes some fruitfully avenues of future research for those, both academics and business practitioners, focused on how to fit firm’s activities and competitiveness and the respect and preservation of the natural environment.

Prioritizing Green HRM practices from policymaker’s perspective

Purpose This study aims to identify and prioritize Green human resource management (GHRM) practices from the policymaker’s perspective in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based manufacturing and service sectors to facilitate sustainable environmental performance. Design/methodology/approach Drawing upon the ability–motivation–opportunity (AMO) and corporate environmentalism theory, this study uses the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a multi-criteria decision-making model, to rank the most influential enablers of GHRM practices. Data were collected from 24 C-suite executives of UAE-based manufacturing and service units. Findings Top management orientation for Green, Green organizational culture and Green corporate strategic planning were the most critical enablers that promote GHRM practices in the UAE’s manufacturing and service firms. Past research has mostly overlooked the strategic variables and focused only on organizational level antecedents based on HR bundles of practices. Research limitations/implications Data were collected only from UAE firms, hence limiting its generalizability. The study shall help organizations operating in emerging countries adopt the best GHRM practices toward Green goal agendas. Originality/value This research provides an AHP framework that can be used to conceptualize and prioritize GHRM practices, which aids in a firm’s Green decision-making and transition toward sustainable Green growth. This study furthers understanding of GHRM practices play out at the various levels-of-analysis within organizations to present a comprehensive paucity of integrative and multi-level studies over recent years. The study may be relevant for other organizations in other national contexts with similar governance homogeneity.

The Virtuous Circle of Intellectual Capital and Corporate Environmentalism: Evidence from the Food Industry

The purpose of this paper is to address the relationship between intellectual capital and corporate environmentalism, assuming that intellectual capital may be an important precondition to foster environmental commitment and that, on the other side, corporate environmentalism may positively determine the level of intellectual capital in a reciprocal and virtuous circle. To address this topic, we conducted two OLS regression analysis on a worldwide sample of 235 firms operating in the food industry, over an eight years’ time horizon (2010-2017), with 1,686 firm-year observations gathered from Asset-4ESG and Worldscope. Results confirm our hypotheses thus providing important theoretical and managerial implications.