Environmental practices and firm performance in emerging markets: the mediating role of product quality

Environmental practices have not received as much research attention in emerging market contexts as traditional topics like quality. However, the importance of environmental practices for a firm’s production strategy has been increasing at an unprecedented level across the globe. Our research objective is, therefore, to investigate the interplay between environmental practices and quality in the pursuit of firm performance. Relying on 492 responses from Turkish manufacturers to test our hypotheses, we show that environmental practices directly improve the quality of products over and above the effect of quality management practices in emerging markets. Product quality, in turn, is important for increasing firm performance, acting as a mediator for the positive effects of environmental practices on performance. Thus, we reveal that product quality functions as an instrumental conduit between environmental practices and firm performance in emerging markets like Turkey where stakeholder pressures are weak, and regulations are often not properly enforced.     

Green supply chain management innovation diffusion and its relationship to organizational improvement: An ecological modernization perspective

Drawing on diffusion of innovation and ecological modernization theories, we identify three types of industrial manufacturers, namely early adopters, followers, and laggards, based on the adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices among Chinese manufacturers. Test results indicate that differences exist between the three types of GSCM adopters in terms of their environmental, operational, and economic performance. Understanding how Chinese manufacturers adopt GSCM practices and if this adoption affects their performance contributes theoretical advancement to the diffusion of innovation theory. Practically, the results provide managerial insights for manufacturers to benchmark for environmental management practices and performance improvement.     

An integrated framework of mimetic pressures,quality and environmental management,and firm performances

Abstract

Manufacturers have extensively recognised the strategic importance of quality and environmental management. However, there is little guidance on how they adopt and exercise both management practices in a way that enhances firms’ performance outcomes. To fill the research gap, this paper empirically investigates the relationships among mimetic pressures, a firm’s quality management practices (QMPs), environmental management system (EMS), and environmental and financial performances. By using a data set collected from 212?U.S. manufacturing firms, this study examines the proposed hypotheses. Our major findings are: first, mimetic pressures are a driving factor for EMS but do not motivate the adoption of QMPs; second, QMPs are an important enabler not only for enhancing firms’ financial performance but also for promoting EMS and environmental performance; and finally, EMS does not influence firms’ financial performance directly, but indirectly does so through enhancing environmental performance. This study contributes to the literature of quality and environmental management and provides practical implications by addressing motivating factors of both QMPs and EMS, and identifying factors for successful environmental management practices.     

What is Driving Corporate Environmentalism: Opportunity or Threat?

Environmental management systems (EMSs) can differ considerably in the mix of practices and the number of practices adopted by firms. This paper explores the various incentives motivating adoption of different types of practices by a sample of Standard & Poor's 500 firms and provides an explanation for why firms adopt practices selectively. Observable firm characteristics, proxies for the incentives faced by firms, are used to determine the types of firms more likely to adopt certain types of practices. We find that practices, such as having an internal environmental policy, corporate environmental standards and environmental auditing are motivated more strongly by regulatory pressures, while practices such as total quality environmental management and environmental reporting are motivated more strongly by the potential for gaining competitive advantage and improving relations with stakeholders.     

An analysis of environmental management, organizational context and performance of Spanish hotels

This paper addresses the factors that determine the deployment of environmental management practices and its effects on firms’ financial performance. Empirical evidence supporting this investigation is gathered from the Spanish hotel industry. Our results find support for the notion that age of facilities, size, chain affiliation, stakeholder environmental pressures, and their use of operations management techniques exert a lasting influence on the degree of implementation of environmental management practices by hotel firms. Moreover, our findings show a positive relationship between environmental management practices and firms’ financial performance.     

Institutional Predictors of and Complements to Industry Self‐regulation with Regard to Labor Practices

In recent years, there has been increasing managerial and academic attention given to a variety of mechanisms for companies to respond to stakeholder concerns about global business ethics. One area that merits further analysis is the role of industry‐level cooperation regarding issues in global business ethics such as labor practices. There are two main issues that we will address in this article: institutional pressures that predict when an industry will create a code of conduct and institutional complements for an industry‐level code of conduct to be “successful” with regard to responding to stakeholder concerns about international business operations. We offer a number of propositions—bringing together work from both the corporate social responsibility and (neo)institutional theory literatures—with regard to both predictors and complements of industry self‐regulation in reference to labor practices.     

Strategic intent in the management of the green environment within SMEs: An analysis of the UK screen-printing sector

What drives the environmental behaviour of companies is an under-researched and under-developed area of study, particularly in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This article investigates to what extent the responses by UK screen-printing companies to pressures to improve their environmental performance represented a deliberate attempt by senior managers to provide their organisations with a strategic competitive advantage.Using both a quantitative and qualitative approach, the research shows that the environmental responses of this sector tended to be reactive, defensive and driven by – and frequently limited to – legislative compliance. Even though companies accepted that there were potential commercial benefits to be gained from environmental action, there was very little evidence to indicate that managerial decisions were motivated by strategic intent or that managerial mindsets were tuned to the notion that a proactive environmental response could offer a competitive edge. The article discusses the management implications of this lack of strategic orientation and highlights how a more innovative response by companies could provide both demand and supply side benefits.     

Firm-level correlates of emergent green supply chain management practices in the Chinese context

Greening the supply chain is increasingly a concern for many business enterprises and a challenge for logistics management in the 21st century. Of particular concern is how to arouse organizational environmental awareness and put environmental activities into practice in the logistics activities of their supply chains. This paper investigates the correlation of two major factors, organizational learning and management support, with the extent of adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices in Chinese manufacturing firms, where their inbound and outbound logistics activities are potential polluters to the environment. Organizational and operational learning was derived from the firm's experience with programs such as total quality management and environmental management systems. Management support included support for GSCM ideas and practices from top and middle-level management and cooperation across organizational functions. We find significant positive relationships between organizational learning mechanisms, organizational support and the adoption of GSCM practices, after controlling for a number of other influences including regulations, marketing, supplier, cost pressures, industry levels of the relevant practice and organizational size. Implications of our findings on logistics management are discussed.     

Does managerial ability influence the quality of financial reporting?

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of managerial ability on the quality of their financial reporting. Using a large bank sample from nine different countries and for the time period 2004–2010, we expect that bank earnings quality and accounting conservatism increase with more able managers that disclose more accurate earnings and who report higher information about banks’ future earnings and cash flows.The results confirm that managerial abilities play a significant role in the quality of financial reporting in banks, and that capable bank managers are less likely to manage earnings opportunistically. This study is timely and relevant given the recent emphasis on earnings quality of banks over the last few years, and the criticisms of managerial abilities after the financial crisis. The evidence from this study can help standard-setters and regulators to better understand the business practices and accounting behavior of banks in the light of managerial abilities.     

Green supply chain management practices in India: an empirical study

This paper presents an empirical study of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices in the Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India. Although the research in the area of GSCM has grown in recent times, the literature has yet to furnish an accepted explanation for why green practices are to be manifested in supply chain management given external and internal pressures. These MSMEs have been involved in such green supply chain practices only to the extent of their participation as suppliers, distributors and in other capacities as business partners. This study confirms and validates that Indian MSMEs face significant pressures from external stakeholders to adopt GSCM practices. Among internal pressures, on-the-job training forces MSMEs in India to adopt GSCM practices. It has been also established that external pressures and adoption of GSCM are fully mediated by internal pressures.     

QUALITY AND WORK FORCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES: THE MANAGERIAL PERFORMANCE IMPLICATION

Quality has been in the limelight as organizations have sought to create a competitive advantage and theorists have sought to understand the implications of quality management. This paper examines the synergistic effects of the quality emphasis in the organizations, the use of appropriate work force management practices, and the managerial performance outcomes as interactive phenomena. Using data from multiple levels of employees in manufacturing units in various industries, we tested hypotheses regarding the managerial performance impact of the synergy in work force management practices and the quality emphasis. The results indicate that the effectiveness of work force management practices in enhancing managerial performance varies with the emphasis on quality that is manifested by meeting and exceeding customer needs and preferences through accurate, consistent, reliable, and durable products, and by making design changes in the products as desired by the customer.     

Environmental Factors,Managerial Processes,and Information Technology Investment Strategies

Although significant research attention has been directed at understanding the value of information technology (IT) investments for firms, very little attention has been paid to understand the IT investment behavior of firms. This article seeks to fill this void. We introduce the concept of IT investment strategy, defined by dimensions of intensity and proactiveness, to characterize the IT investment behavior of firms. Synthesizing the environmental deterministic and strategic choice perspectives of a firm's strategic decision making, we examine the effects of environmental factors, managerial processes, and the interplay between them on IT investment strategy. Specifically, we examine the impact of environmental factors such as industry clockspeed and information intensity on IT investment strategy. We also incorporate the strategic choice perspective to argue that managerial processes such as frequent chief executive officer—chief information officer communications and collective information systems planning play a critical role in shaping the firm's IT investment strategy. The empirical results show that the environmental variables are related to IT investment strategy. Besides, managerial processes serve as a means to understand the environment and thus moderate the relationships between the environmental variables and the various facets of IT investment strategy. The conceptualization of IT investment strategy and the focus on both environmental determinism and strategic choice should enrich our understanding of firms’ IT investing behavior.     

An empirical test of the relationship between agency/communion and influence in work groups

A model for understanding effective managerial practices is introduced. Effective Japanese and American managerial practices are explored for their relationship with the model's key concepts of agency (a goal-oriented sense of self, characterized by self-assertion, self-expansion, and self-protection) and communion (selflessness—a willingness to admit vulnerability and need to create nurturing relationships). It is hypothesized that agency and communion are each positively related to influence effectiveness. The hypothesis is tested with 120 individuals from 13 U.S. Navy decision-making groups using two questionnaires (ISQ-I and ISQ-II) completed by different subgroups of one's fellow group members. These questionnaires, respectively, measure agency/communion (independent variables) and various forms of influence on the group (dependent variables). Additionally, express-control and want-control preferences are measured, using the FIRO-B questionnaire, to test if these variables' relationship with agency and communion is in the expected direction. Both hypotheses were strongly confirmed.     

Middle Managers’ Work in Recession and Austerity: A Longitudinal Study

Although researchers have explored the impacts of structural changes on managerial work, few insights have been generated into whether the turbulent economic environment induced by a recession and/or an extended period of austerity accelerate known changes to managerial work and/or whether recession/austerity are revealing or causing previously unknown effects. This paper explores and analyses middle managers’ reflections on how, if at all, their work is fundamentally changed by economic pressures such as recession and/or by choices of executives to impose such pressures during and post recession (commonly referred to as ‘austerity measures’). The findings suggest that middle managers responded to the recession and ongoing economic austerity in a differentiated manner, with the initial responses being largely positive. Responses became negative over time, with examples of disillusionment and cynicism, as middle managers believed that their superiors were using the disguise of recession and austerity to introduce changes that impacted profoundly on their working lives and those of their subordinates.     

A Comparison of Ethical Practices of Russian and American Managers

This study examines perception of various business practices of Russian and American managers. Using data collected from 136 Russian managers and 252 American managers we found that cross-national differences account for many differences between perceptions of business practices. Implications for managerial practice are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A Trojan Horse? The implications of managerial coaching for leadership theory

This article examines the behaviours associated with managerial coaching and assesses the implications for leadership theory. Survey data from 521 line managers are analysed to: (i) identify the behaviours associated with managerial coaching, (ii) examine factors that affect the propensity of managers to undertake coaching and (iii) discuss the implications of the manager as coach role for leadership theory and practice. First, the analysis indicates that workplace coaching is distinct from specialized coaching practices. Second, demographic characteristics of individual managers, such as their age, experience or level of management qualification are unlikely to affect their propensity to undertake managerial coaching. However, leader-team member relationships (leader-member exchange) and occupational self-efficacy (OSE) are predictive of managerial coaching behaviours. Third, managerial coaching challenges traditional leader-centric models of leadership and requires an acknowledgement of reciprocity, collaborative ‘meaning-making’ and a diminished ‘distance’ between leaders and team members.     

高绩效工作系统与组织绩效:中国连锁行业的实证研究

本文分析了一项对中国83家连锁企业的人力资源实践状况的最新调查。本文对管理人员和生产人员及其不同的人力资源实践类型进行了区分,同时基于人力资源实践的组合,使用聚类分析划分了它们的高低水平组别。本文在高水平组别中,分析了人力资源实践的不同组合对公司绩效的影响。论文的研究结果增加了我们在高绩效工作系统方面的知识,为经理人员规划有效的人力资源管理战略提供了重要的启发。     

Designing and facilitating collaboration in R&D: A case study

This case study aims to highlight the strategic decisions and managerial practices in the formation and operation of a co-located research unit within a national laboratory. The empirical evidence is based on interviews with members of the research unit as well as responses from a research environment survey. The findings of the case study suggest specific strategies that are conducive not only for the co-location of research units but also for research management in general. Principal among these are the need to balance increases in diversity and complexity with mechanisms of integration and the use of specific management practices and leadership qualities that support these activities.     

Empirical research opportunities in reverse supply chains

This study reviews the literature in reverse supply chains (RSCs) and develops 10 research propositions to be studied using empirical research methods. Businesses increasingly have to cope with product returns, mandated environmental regulations and increasing costs associated with product disposal. Through effective management of the RSC, managers can improve process efficiencies, customer service, supply chain design, product design, after-market product sales and after-sales service. Most research in RSCs has relied on case studies and optimization models. Opportunities exist to use survey-based research methods to explain current practices, predominant and critical issues, and managerial techniques used to manage the RSC.