Organizational practices promoting employees’ pro-environmental behaviors in a Visegrad Group country: How much does company ownership matter?

Abstract

Although company ownership (local vs. foreign) has been used as a contingency variable that differentiates companies’ environmental activities and performance, the current understanding of these differences is fragmented. None of the previous studies examined the relationships between company ownership and a complex set of organizational practices which promote employees’ pro-environmental behaviors. The article fills the gap in previous research by analyzing the extent to which a total of 37 organizational practices are used. These practices are divided into technical (20 are related to environmental management) and “soft” (17 are related to HRM policies). For this study, both literature studies and a survey covering 199 companies located in Poland were used. In the theoretical part, the paper presents various typologies of factors that enhance employees’ green behavior, with the focus on organizational practices. There is also a review of studies on environmental sustainability which used company ownership as a variable. The results of the empirical research show that–although in foreign companies environmental issues are increasingly perceived as important or very important–many of the practices which are treated as crucial for developing employees’ eco-friendly behaviors are rarely used in both local and foreign companies. Moreover, company ownership was important in the context of using 88% of the “soft” practices and 50% of the technical practices discussed in the article. The article provides implications for policy and practice, as well as directions for further research.

Fostering three types of green behavior through green HRM in the energy sector: the conditional role of environmental managerial support

“…This is also the first study to explore the moderating role of EMS on the relationship between GHRM and EGBs. It fulfills the postulate that more research should be conducted on the antecedents of these behaviors and should focus on industry (Piwowar-Sulej and Kołodziej, 2022). Likewise, it enriches the research which uses the SET and the SDT by providing evidence of the usefulness of these theories in explaining EGBs.…”

“…Considering the growing concerns about environmental problems, the interest in factors of EGBs has been growing among academics (Piwowar-Sulej and Kołodziej, 2022). While GHRM has received a great deal of attention, elaboration on and investigation of the influence of GHRM practices on employee behaviors is still rare (Islam et al.…”

“…Moreover, there is a dearth of empirical studies about the antecedents of EGBs in the form of green in-role, extra-role and innovative behaviors (Islam et al. , 2021) and it is recommended to explore the factors stimulating such EGBs (Piwowar-Sulej and Kołodziej, 2022). Therefore, this paper first aims to examine the direct relationship between GHRM and employee green in-role, extra-role and innovative behaviors.…”

“…Transformation toward environmental sustainability will require innovative actions and Poland’s indicators relating to infrastructure, business development and innovation are lower than those of Europe as a whole (World Bank Group, 2018). Poland – being a developed market, the sixth largest economy in the European Union, and the tenth largest in all of Europe (by nominal GPD) – has the potential to be a role model for under-developed and developing nations (Piwowar-Sulej and Kołodziej, 2022). Therefore, it is justifiable to assess the level of GHRM, EGB and EMS as well as the relationships between these variables in the companies which are the main players in Poland’s energy sector and are responsible for energy generation, distribution and trading (including supply).…”

Pro‐environmental practice among young population: A scoping review

“…The importance of environmental concerns is rising; nevertheless, both domestic and international businesses rarely apply many of the practices that are thought to be essential for encouraging employees to adopt environmentally friendly practices (Piwowar-Sulej et al, 2022).…”