The ‘win–win’ paradigm and stakeholder integration

Abstract

Firms are under pressure to invest in environmental management systems (EMSs) to reduce the environmental impacts of their activities. Many advocates of EMS adoption promote the idea of 'win-win' gains, where improvements in environmental performance are accompanied by fi nancial rewards. The empirical evidence on this is mixed and suggests that the' right' conditions must exist within the fi rm for genuine environmental performance gains to materialize. The paper uses a survey of 129 Spanish manufacturing fi rms to investigate managerial perceptions about what these right conditions might be. Results indicate that enhanced environmental performance following EMS adoption is linked to managers' belief in the win-win paradigm, and that managers who adhere to the win-win story also tend to integrate other stakeholder demands into their business strategies. Policy implications conclude the paper.

A study of determinant factors of stakeholder environmental pressure perceived by industrial companies

“…Other authors believe that the key question is not simply whether top management supports environmental initiatives but rather whether the company is inclined to implement specifi c environmental practices on the basis of the managers' beliefs, expectations, perceptions and opinions (Banerjee, 2001;Branzei et al, 2004;Cordano and Frieze, 2000;Fineman and Clarke, 1996;Flannery and May, 2000;Plaza-Úbeda et al, 2008). Wagner and Schaltegger (2004) observe that managers' opinions about the potential outcomes of environmental management infl uence the relationship between economic and environmental performance.…”

Translating environmental motivations into performance: The role of environmental performance measurement systems

“…Stakeholders-oriented arguments have been extensively applied within the environmental management literature to explain why firms may voluntarily adopt environmental protection initiatives that are not required by law (Plaza-Úbeda et al, 2009). On the contrary, they have not been subject to thorough investigation in management control research (Pondeville et al, 2013).…”

Stakeholders Pressures and Strategic Prioritisation: An Empirical Analysis of Environmental Responses in Argentinean Firms

“…In other words it captures the notion that it 'pays to be green'. Our rational for including this variable in a list of otherwise common firm factors is based on results found in Plaza-Ubeda et al (2009) suggesting that Spanish firms who adhere to this perspective were typically 'greener' than their rivals. We posit that a similar effect may arise here.…”