The Profitability of Environmental Proactivity in Business Education Institutions: an Investigation of University Administrators

Abstract

Over the last decades, the implementation of an environmentally-proactive behavior has taken on a new priority as part of the environmental planning strategies at higher education institutions. Nonetheless, this trend has exerted a heterogeneous impact on business education centres. Moreover, prior studies have found that administrators’ efforts play a crucial role to foster a school climate supportive of environmental proactivity. This paper contributes to investigate how and why universities, i.e. organizations not guided primarily by financial profits, decide to undertake an environmentally-proactive behavior. Specifically, we analyze deans’ perceptions in relation to the economic advantages that may be derived out of different levels of environmental proactivity of the centres. To that aim, we draw on a sample of 74 deans. Contrary to our original expectations, results reveal that there are no significant differences in deans’ perceptions of the economic advantages from their centres’ environmental proactivity.