Environmental motivations: A classification scheme and its impact on environmental strategies and practices

Abstract

Ecological deterioration has significantly changed the role of businesses in society and the way they are perceived. In fact, consumers are more aware of environmental issues and are demanding that the businesses take appropriate action in preserving the environment. Extant research suggests that stringent regulations had been instrumental to the timing and direction of many firms' responses to environmental preservation. In addition to these legislative requirements, firms also adopt ecologically responsive practices for various other reasons. Therefore, understanding the different motivations of environmental initiatives is pertinent. Additionally, it is also important to determine whether environmental strategies and practices differ significantly across firms with different motivations. With the above ambition in mind, this manuscript addresses the crucial issues related to corporate environmental strategy through the development of an empirical taxonomy of environmental motivations and the subsequent testing of any significant differences in corporate environmental strategy and green practices across the clusters. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.