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Chinese firms’ sustainable development—The role of future orientation, environmental commitment, and employee training

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  • Zhiqiang Liu
  • Ji Li
  • Hong Zhu
  • Zhenyao Cai
  • Luning Wang

Abstract

In this research, we study the issues of corporate sustainable development in China. Based on relevant research, we propose a theoretical model showing the relationship among business environmental commitment, cultural value, employee training, and firm performance of sustainable development. It is argued that a cultural value (i.e., organizational future orientation) should be a key antecedent predicting business environmental commitment. On the other hand, a firm’s sustainable performance, such as performance in environmental protection, should be a major consequence of its business environmental commitment. Moreover, the relationship between business environmental commitment and sustainable performance can be moderated positively by the level of employee training. Other conditions being equal, the better the employee training is, the stronger the relationship between business environmental commitment and sustainable development performance. Testing the relevant hypotheses in China, we find evidence supporting our model proposed in this paper. We conclude with a discussion on the implications of our findings for academic researchers and practitioners. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Zhiqiang Liu & Ji Li & Hong Zhu & Zhenyao Cai & Luning Wang, 2014. "Chinese firms’ sustainable development—The role of future orientation, environmental commitment, and employee training," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 195-213, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:asiapa:v:31:y:2014:i:1:p:195-213
    DOI: 10.1007/s10490-012-9291-y
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