Talk the talk or walk the talk? A systematic review and bibliometric analysis of organizational green culture and environment performance

Abstract

This study examines whether organizational green culture (OGC) is a superficial slogan or can promote environmental performance (EP). Following the PRISMA guidelines, this study conducted a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of 54 OGC-EP articles from the Scopus database. Findings reveal that OGC’s impact on EP does not depend on its existence, but rather on the in-depth embeddedness within the Schein three-level cultural structure. When OGC manifests only as artifacts, organizations tend to engage in greenwashing as they talk the talk. Only when OGC is internalized as espoused values or even basic underlying assumptions do organizations walk the talk. This study further identifies three mechanism pathways driving this process: resources, capabilities, and responsibilities. Based on these findings, future research should focus on three directions, which include enhancing the conceptual clarity of OGC to distinguish it from similar constructs, promoting methodological pluralism to overcome the limitations of cross-sectional surveys, and expanding contextual diversity to validate the framework’s applicability in developed economies. This study not only clarifies the logic of OGC’s impact but also provides theoretical guidance and practical pathways for organizations to transition from symbolic green commitments to substantive environmental actions.