Exploring the proactivity levels and drivers of environmental strategies adopted by Vietnamese seafood export processing firms: A qualitative approach

Abstract

Export processing firms from emerging markets often need to adjust their export strategies towards environmentally friendly directions to address strict regulatory requirements and increasingly environmental concerns among the public and consumers in advanced countries. This study aims to explore and evaluate different proactivity levels and drivers of environmental strategies (ESs) adopted by Vietnamese seafood export processing firms. Data was obtained from two sources: Public archival data of 32 listed firms, and semi-structured interviews with 44 managers from seafood export processing firms. Content analysis revealed that reactive ESs were adopted the most by Vietnamese seafood export processing firms, followed by opportunistic ESs, focused ESs and proactive ES, respectively. The findings also demonstrated that both internal factors and external factors in home and host countries motivate the firms to pursue different ESs. This study sheds light on unexplored characteristics and drivers of ESs in Vietnam and it assists key stakeholders including export processing firms and policymakers in the adoption, development and promotion of ESs.