Corporate environmental behaviour - a comparison between Nordic and US firms

Abstract

The green challenge will be one of the key strategic issues facing businesses in the coming decades. Some argue that it is important for mankind as a whole. In this article the opinions of Nordic and US managers on environmental matters are investigated and compared. A questionnaire was sent to senior managers mainly in four industries: forest and paper, electronics, telecommunications and the printing industry. The results show that US managers perceive government laws and actions to be more stringent than Nordic managers do and the time to adapt was felt to be too short. There were no differences between the two regions in the degree of pro‐activeness and environmental innovation. However US managers reported a shortage of skilled labour. Managers both in the Nordic countries and the USA considered themselves to be ahead of their competitors in environmental actions. Nordic managers were much more positive toward the competitive effects and profitability of environmental measures than their US counterparts. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

The whole relationship between environmental variables and firm performance: Competitive advantage and firm resources as mediator variables

“…Although there have been advances in products and processes, the more significant effects seem to appear in marketing and image-building. The same results were reported in the study of Lindell and Karagozoglu (2001). Thus, managers in the hotel sector have excellent opportunities to establish a close link with customers and other stakeholders so as to develop loyalties and legitimacy based on ecological preservation, which in turn leads to differentiation competitive advantage (Sharma et al, 2007).…”

“…These findings are relevant because they show that the ultimate consequence of any competitive advantage derived from proactive environmental management is improved financial performance (Gonzá lez-Benito and Gonzá lez- Benito, 2005). This relationship also appears in the conclusions of Claver et al (2007), Lindell and Karagozoglu (2001) and Russo and Fouts (1997). Thus, our study is also important for managers because it reveals the opportunistic character of firms.…”

“…Improving their environmental performance allows firms to enhance their competitive edge in terms of reducing costs, gaining a strong reputation among customers and increasing their competitiveness in international markets. These benefits may, in turn, positively impact on the firm's overall financial performance (Lindell and Karagozoglu, 2001). Russo and Fouts (1997) support this argument with a model based on the resource-based view of the firm.…”

Effects of Green Innovation on Environmental and Corporate Performance: A Stakeholder Perspective

“…The rigor of the regulations and firms' perceptions of the stringency of the regulations will determine the extent to which companies actually implement environmental protection practices [1,42]. Moreover, the degree to which the government supports/enforces the regulations has a significant impact on companies' environmental policies [48,49], making this an important task to investigate. Therefore, we propose hypothesis 2:…”

“…Environmental performance comprises the inclusion of recyclable materials in products, reduced pollution emissions and waste at the source, improvements in energy efficiency, reduction of environmentally hazardous substances, and more [48,68]. With respect to long-term environmental impacts, a company's regulatory measures, including pollution prevention as well as resource and waste reduction, are more productive than end-of-pipeline solutions [69,70].…”