International and domestic pressures and responses of Chinese firms to greening

Organizational responses to international and domestic institutional pressures may help proactive corporate environmental practices and routines diffuse to Chinese organizations, who are key participants in global product chains. Using the 2006 survey data on 377 Chinese manufacturers in six major industrial groups in Suzhou, Dalian, and Tianjin cities, we propose and test a relationship between normative, coercive and mimetic international institutional pressures and the adoption of three important proactive corporate environmental practices (routines) - ISO 14001, TQEM (total quality environmental management), and eco-auditing - by Chinese firms. We also argue for and find that this relationship is greater than that arising from corresponding normative, coercive, and mimetic internal domestic pressures. Finally, we find a positive effect of international parenting or partnering on the adoption of proactive corporate environmental practices and routines. These findings have important implications as Chinese organizations continue to go global and international organizations seek global product supply chain partners within China.

►Institutional forces influence the adoption of ISO 14001, TQEM, and eco-auditing. ►Foreign ownership causes influential environmental pressures on Chinese manufacturers. ►Domestic institutional pressures have weaker effects than international pressures.