Corporate environmental market responsiveness: A model of individual and organizational drivers

This study examines the psychological and organizational drivers of corporate environmental market responsiveness (CEMR). Drawing on the relevant literature, the study identifies several variables of potential importance in CEMR and builds on the theory of planned behavior to propose a model of hypothesized relationships among these variables. The study tests hypotheses in an empirical study using a large sample of environmental managers from eleven members of the European Environmental Agency. The research findings show that the environmental behaviors of managers are largely determined by social judgments and perceptions. The present study has implications for managers who wish to pursue an environmental market-oriented approach to business. These results also have important implications for organizational theory and the debates about whether economic or social factors determine the effects of environmental issues on competitive advantage.

► I modeled psychological and organizational drivers of environmental market responsiveness.
► The model addresses the question of whether or not managers are rational decision-makers.
► Stakeholders and behavioral dispositions have a major influence on managerial decision-making.
► Purposive managerial behavior is less guided by economic than psychological factors.
► Managerial decisions are less restricted by organizational context than suggested in the literature.