IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i9p4659-d541084.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Approach to Applying the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity Theory to Identify the Driving Factors of Green Employee Behavior in the Hotel Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Adina-Raluca Sibian

    (Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Transilvania University of Brașov, 29, Eroilor Str., 500036 Brasov, Romania)

  • Ana Ispas

    (Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Transilvania University of Brașov, 29, Eroilor Str., 500036 Brasov, Romania)

Abstract

In the context of climate change and all other harmful effects of pollution, companies should improve their environmental performances. As part of their strategies, companies should explore the consequences of their environmental practices from the perspective of internal stakeholders and must be more attentive to employee environmental behavior. This study’s purpose was to identify the motives that encourage the employees of a green hotel to adopt pro-environmental behaviors. Qualitative research was conducted using semi-structured interviews among three-star hotel employees from Brașov, Romania. This research uses the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) theory that could lead to a better understanding of employee green behavior. Data analysis revealed that less than half of the respondents have a proper understanding of the concept of environment and only a third of them are aware of the harmful effects caused by people, both at work and at home. Moreover, most of the respondents know little of the measures implemented by the hotel in order to reduce resource consumption, the extrinsic motivation being dominant. Consequently, the results lead to the recommendation that the hotel managerial team should invest in the employees’ training and motivation, creating a corporate environment and a proper organizational culture to develop green behaviors among the employees. The results of this study should be a starting point for those hotels, which face the challenge of involving their employees in the process of greening their activity.

Suggested Citation

  • Adina-Raluca Sibian & Ana Ispas, 2021. "An Approach to Applying the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity Theory to Identify the Driving Factors of Green Employee Behavior in the Hotel Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-19, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:4659-:d:541084
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/4659/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/4659/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eric Lamm & Jennifer Tosti-Kharas & Cynthia King, 2015. "Empowering Employee Sustainability: Perceived Organizational Support Toward the Environment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 207-220, April.
    2. Olivier Boiral, 2003. "ISO 9000: Outside the Iron Cage," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(6), pages 720-737, December.
    3. Maria-del-Mar Alonso-Almeida & Alfredo Rocafort & Fernando Borrajo, 2016. "Shedding Light on Eco-Innovation in Tourism: A Critical Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Carmen Florido & Marta Jacob & Margarita Payeras, 2019. "How to Carry out the Transition towards a More Circular Tourist Activity in the Hotel Sector. The Role of Innovation," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-16, June.
    5. Maria Saleem & Faisal Qadeer & Faisal Mahmood & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Heesup Han, 2020. "Ethical Leadership and Employee Green Behavior: A Multilevel Moderated Mediation Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-16, April.
    6. Welters, Riccardo & Mitchell, William & Muysken, Joan, 2014. "Self determination theory and employed job search," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 34-44.
    7. Paillé, Pascal & Raineri, Nicolas, 2015. "Linking perceived corporate environmental policies and employees eco-initiatives: The influence of perceived organizational support and psychological contract breach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2404-2411.
    8. Pascal Paillé & Jorge Humberto Mejía-Morelos & Anne Marché-Paillé & Chih Chieh Chen & Yang Chen, 2016. "Corporate Greening, Exchange Process Among Co-workers, and Ethics of Care: An Empirical Study on the Determinants of Pro-environmental Behaviors at Coworkers-Level," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 655-673, July.
    9. Olivier Boiral & David Talbot & Pascal Paillé, 2015. "Leading by Example: A Model of Organizational Citizenship Behavior for the Environment," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 532-550, September.
    10. Emma J Adams & Dale W Esliger & Ian M Taylor & Lauren B Sherar, 2017. "Individual, employment and psychosocial factors influencing walking to work: Implications for intervention design," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-14, February.
    11. Adina Nicoleta CANDREA & Gabriel BRĂTUCU, 2012. "The perspectives for environmental management in small and medium accommodation units. The case of Braşov, Romania," Management & Marketing, Economic Publishing House, vol. 7(3), Autumn.
    12. Nicolae Lupu & Mihail Ovidiu Tanase & Ana-Maria Nica, 2014. "Perception About Business Education in the Tourism Domain and the Hospitality Industry," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 16(37), pages 800-800, August.
    13. Michelle Man Suet Law & Peter Hills & Billy Chi Hang Hau, 2017. "Engaging Employees in Sustainable Development – a Case Study of Environmental Education and Awareness Training in Hong Kong," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 84-97, January.
    14. Leonidou, Leonidas C. & Leonidou, Constantinos N. & Fotiadis, Thomas A. & Zeriti, Athina, 2013. "Resources and capabilities as drivers of hotel environmental marketing strategy: Implications for competitive advantage and performance," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 94-110.
    15. Fraj, Elena & Matute, Jorge & Melero, Iguácel, 2015. "Environmental strategies and organizational competitiveness in the hotel industry: The role of learning and innovation as determinants of environmental success," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 30-42.
    16. Catherine A. Ramus & Annette B. C. Killmer, 2007. "Corporate greening through prosocial extrarole behaviours – a conceptual framework for employee motivation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(8), pages 554-570, December.
    17. Chou, Chia-Jung, 2014. "Hotels' environmental policies and employee personal environmental beliefs: Interactions and outcomes," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 436-446.
    18. Jerónimo, Helena Mateus & Henriques, Paulo Lopes & Lacerda, Teresa Correia de & da Silva, Filipa Pires & Vieira, Pedro Rino, 2020. "Going green and sustainable: The influence of green HR practices on the organizational rationale for sustainability," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 413-421.
    19. Ones, Deniz S. & Dilchert, Stephan, 2012. "Environmental Sustainability at Work: A Call to Action," Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(4), pages 444-466, December.
    20. Kyoung Yong Kim & Seemantini Pathak & Steve Werner, 2015. "When do international human capital enhancing practices benefit the bottom line? An ability, motivation, and opportunity perspective," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 46(7), pages 784-805, September.
    21. Teodora Roman & Ionel Bostan & Adriana Manolică & Iustin Mitrica, 2015. "Profile of Green Consumers in Romania in Light of Sustainability Challenges and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-18, May.
    22. Marta Jacob & Carmen Florido & Eugeni Aguiló, 2010. "Research Note: Environmental Innovation as a Competitiveness Factor in the Balearic Islands," Tourism Economics, , vol. 16(3), pages 755-764, September.
    23. Kuvaas, Bård & Buch, Robert & Weibel, Antoinette & Dysvik, Anders & Nerstad, Christina G.L., 2017. "Do intrinsic and extrinsic motivation relate differently to employee outcomes?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 244-258.
    24. Olivier Boiral, 2007. "Corporate Greening Through ISO 14001: A Rational Myth?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 127-146, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ioana-Simona Ivasciuc & Ana Ispas, 2023. "Exploring the Motivations, Abilities and Opportunities of Young Entrepreneurs to Engage in Sustainable Tourism Business in the Mountain Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-28, January.
    2. Shaha Faisal, 2023. "Green Human Resource Management—A Synthesis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Xiaoyan Huo & Arooj Azhar & Nabeel Rehman & Nauman Majeed, 2022. "The Role of Green Human Resource Management Practices in Driving Green Performance in the Context of Manufacturing SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Yuan Wu & Jin Zhang & Shoulin Liu & Lianrui Ma, 2022. "Does Government-Led Publicity Enhance Corporate Green Behavior? Empirical Evidence from Green Xuanguan in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-32, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Matthew C. Davis & Kerrie L. Unsworth & Sally V. Russell & Jennifer J. Galvan, 2020. "Can green behaviors really be increased for all employees? Trade‐offs for “deep greens” in a goal‐oriented green human resource management intervention," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 335-346, February.
    2. Olivier Boiral & Nicolas Raineri & David Talbot, 2018. "Managers’ Citizenship Behaviors for the Environment: A Developmental Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 395-409, May.
    3. Mert Gürlek & Muharrem Tuna, 2018. "Reinforcing competitive advantage through green organizational culture and green innovation," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(7-8), pages 467-491, June.
    4. Paillé, Pascal & Francoeur, Virginie, 2022. "Enabling employees to perform the required green tasks through support and empowerment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 420-429.
    5. Chiara Pellegrini & Francesco Rizzi & Marco Frey, 2018. "The role of sustainable human resource practices in influencing employee behavior for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1221-1232, December.
    6. Noor Ullah Khan & Haoqiang Wei & Guiling Yue & Nabila Nazir & Noor Raihani Zainol, 2021. "Exploring Themes of Sustainable Practices in Manufacturing Industry: Using Thematic Networks Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-26, September.
    7. Felix Ostertag, 2023. "Integrating OCBE Literature and Norm Activation Theory: A Moderated Mediation on Proenvironmental Behavior of Employees," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-27, May.
    8. Noor Ullah Khan & Wenya Wu & Roselina Binti Ahmad Saufi & Nur Ain Ayunni Sabri & Ashfaq Ahmad Shah, 2021. "Antecedents of Sustainable Performance in Manufacturing Organizations: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-23, January.
    9. Pascal Paillé & Nicolas Raineri & Olivier Boiral, 2019. "Environmental Behavior On and Off the Job: A Configurational Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 253-268, August.
    10. Khalid Farooq & Mohd Yusoff Yusliza & Ratri Wahyuningtyas & Adnan ul Haque & Zikri Muhammad & Jumadil Saputra, 2021. "Exploring Challenges and Solutions in Performing Employee Ecological Behaviour for a Sustainable Workplace," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-19, August.
    11. Andrea Kim & Youngsang Kim & Kyongji Han, 2019. "A Cross Level Investigation on the Linkage Between Job Satisfaction and Voluntary Workplace Green Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(4), pages 1199-1214, November.
    12. Saleh Althnayan & Areej Alarifi & Saleh Bajaba & Abdullah Alsabban, 2022. "Linking Environmental Transformational Leadership, Environmental Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and Organizational Sustainability Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-19, July.
    13. Maria Saleem & Faisal Qadeer & Faisal Mahmood & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Heesup Han, 2020. "Ethical Leadership and Employee Green Behavior: A Multilevel Moderated Mediation Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-16, April.
    14. repec:eco:journ2:2017-04-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Fan Gu & Jiaqi Liu, 2022. "Environmentally Specific Servant Leadership and Employee Workplace Green Behavior: Moderated Mediation Model of Green Role Modeling and Employees’ Perceived CSR," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-18, September.
    16. Olivier Boiral & Pascal Paillé & Nicolas Raineri, 2015. "The nature of employees’ pro-environmental behaviors," Post-Print hal-03795985, HAL.
    17. Sakshi & Shashi & Roberto Cerchione & Harbhajan Bansal, 2020. "Measuring the impact of sustainability policy and practices in tourism and hospitality industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1109-1126, March.
    18. Faiq Aziz & Nomahaza Mahadi & Rahayu Tasnim & Adriana Mohd Rizal & Shathees Baskaran & Suzilawati Kamarudin & Farzana Quoquab & Jihad Mohammad, 2018. "Linking Emotional Intelligence with Employee ProEnvironmental Behavior," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 8(2), pages 502-522, February.
    19. Mengying Wu & Lei Zhang & Wei Li & Chi Zhang, 2022. "How Institutional Pressure Affects Organizational Citizenship Behavior for the Environment: The Moderated Mediation Effect of Green Management Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-17, September.
    20. Palmié, Maximilian & Rüegger, Stephanie & Holzer, Matthias & Oghazi, Pejvak, 2023. "The “golden” voice of “green” employees: The effect of private environmental orientation on suggestions for improvement in firms’ economic value creation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    21. Francesco Testa & Olivier Boiral & Iñaki Heras‐Saizarbitoria, 2018. "Improving CSR performance by hard and soft means: The role of organizational citizenship behaviours and the internalization of CSR standards," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(5), pages 853-865, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:4659-:d:541084. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.