IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v131y2015i1p183-197.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Proactive Environmental Strategies in Healthcare Organisations: Drivers and Barriers in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Marta Pinzone
  • Emanuele Lettieri
  • Cristina Masella

Abstract

This study sheds new light on why healthcare organisations are having difficulty responding to the growing pressure from stakeholders to proactively address their responsibility to deliver high-quality services without harming the environment. Basing our work on past research on stakeholder pressure and environmental barriers, we conceptualise and empirically test the effect of the interplay between stakeholder pressure and internal barriers on healthcare organisations’ adoption of proactive environmental strategies (PESs). To test the proposed hypotheses, a survey was carried out among medical directors of Italian healthcare organisations in 2012. Our results show that the lack of commitment to environmental issues within the organisation represents the main barrier to healthcare organisations’ implementing PESs. Furthermore, the difficulties in evaluating the impacts of advanced environmental practices negatively moderate the influence of stakeholders on developing PESs. Our findings contribute to extending previous knowledge on PESs in two ways: (i) focusing on the healthcare sector, our study investigates the phenomenon in a research context that has been largely overlooked in the sustainability literature; and (ii) cross-cutting previous research on stakeholder pressure and internal barriers, the study conceptualises and tests a more complete framework for understanding the adoption of PESs. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Pinzone & Emanuele Lettieri & Cristina Masella, 2015. "Proactive Environmental Strategies in Healthcare Organisations: Drivers and Barriers in Italy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 183-197, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:131:y:2015:i:1:p:183-197
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2275-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-014-2275-8
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-014-2275-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carroll, Archie B., 2000. "Ethical Challenges for Business in the New Millennium: Corporate Social Responsibility and Models of Management Morality," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(1), pages 33-42, January.
    2. Kristel Buysse & Alain Verbeke, 2003. "Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 453-470, May.
    3. Julie Battilana, 2011. "The Enabling Role of Social Position in Diverging from the Institutional Status Quo: Evidence from the UK National Health Service," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 817-834, August.
    4. Sanjay Sharma & Irene Henriques, 2005. "Stakeholder influences on sustainability practices in the Canadian forest products industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 159-180, February.
    5. Magali Delmas & Michael W. Toffel, 2004. "Stakeholders and environmental management practices: an institutional framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 209-222, July.
    6. Dima Jamali & Ramez Mirshak, 2007. "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Theory and Practice in a Developing Country Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 72(3), pages 243-262, May.
    7. Bulent Menguc & Seigyoung Auh & Lucie Ozanne, 2010. "The Interactive Effect of Internal and External Factors on a Proactive Environmental Strategy and its Influence on a Firm's Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 279-298, June.
    8. Eva Carmona-Moreno & José Céspedes-Lorente & Jerónimo De Burgos-Jiménez, 2004. "Environmental strategies in spanish hotels: contextual factors and performance," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 101-130, May.
    9. Deborah de Lange & Timo Busch & Javier Delgado-Ceballos, 2012. "Sustaining Sustainability in Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(2), pages 151-156, October.
    10. Quaglio, GianLuca & Karapiperis, Theodoros & Van Woensel, Lieve & Arnold, Elleke & McDaid, David, 2013. "Austerity and health in Europe," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 13-19.
    11. Magali A. Delmas & Michael W. Toffel, 2010. "Institutional Pressures and Organizational Characteristics: Implications for Environmental Strategy," Harvard Business School Working Papers 11-050, Harvard Business School.
    12. repec:kap:iaecre:v:13:y:2007:i:1:p:35-46 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Javier González‐Benito & Óscar González‐Benito, 2006. "A review of determinant factors of environmental proactivity," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(2), pages 87-102, March.
    14. Nicole Darnall & Irene Henriques & Perry Sadorsky, 2010. "Adopting Proactive Environmental Strategy: The Influence of Stakeholders and Firm Size," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 1072-1094, September.
    15. David Christopher Sprengel & Timo Busch, 2011. "Stakeholder engagement and environmental strategy – the case of climate change," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(6), pages 351-364, September.
    16. George P. Huber & Danial J. Power, 1985. "Retrospective reports of strategic‐level managers: Guidelines for increasing their accuracy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 171-180, April.
    17. Javier Delgado-Ceballos & Juan Aragón-Correa & Natalia Ortiz-de-Mandojana & Antonio Rueda-Manzanares, 2012. "The Effect of Internal Barriers on the Connection Between Stakeholder Integration and Proactive Environmental Strategies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 107(3), pages 281-293, May.
    18. de Belvis, Antonio Giulio & Ferrè, Francesca & Specchia, Maria Lucia & Valerio, Luca & Fattore, Giovanni & Ricciardi, Walter, 2012. "The financial crisis in Italy: Implications for the healthcare sector," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 10-16.
    19. Josefina L. Murillo‐Luna & Concepción Garcés‐Ayerbe & Pilar Rivera‐Torres, 2008. "Why do patterns of environmental response differ? A stakeholders' pressure approach," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(11), pages 1225-1240, November.
    20. Thompson, Ceri R. & McKee, Martin, 2004. "Financing and planning of public and private not-for-profit hospitals in the European Union," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 281-291, March.
    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. Christin Seifert & Edeltraud Guenther, 2020. "Who cares?—Stakeholder relevance for voluntary environmental management in hospitals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1786-1799, July.
    2. Ali Uyar & Cemil Kuzey & Merve Kilic & Abdullah S. Karaman, 2021. "Board structure, financial performance, corporate social responsibility performance, CSR committee, and CEO duality: Disentangling the connection in healthcare," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1730-1748, November.
    3. Serdar Cop & Uju Violet Alola & Andrew Adewale Alola, 2020. "Perceived behavioral control as a mediator of hotels' green training, environmental commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior: A sustainable environmental practice," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3495-3508, December.
    4. Christin Seifert, 2018. "The Barriers for Voluntary Environmental Management Systems—The Case of EMAS in Hospitals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-19, May.
    5. Huixiang Zeng & Xuemei Li & Qiong Zhou & Lin Wang, 2022. "Local government environmental regulatory pressures and corporate environmental strategies: Evidence from natural resource accountability audits in China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3060-3082, November.
    6. Christin Seifert & Matthias Damert & Edeltraud Guenther, 2020. "Environmental Management in German Hospitals—A Classification of Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-24, May.
    7. Zakaria Elkhwesky, 2022. "A systematic and major review of proactive environmental strategies in hospitality and tourism: Looking back for moving forward," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3274-3301, November.
    8. Ana Nave & João Ferreira, 2019. "Corporate social responsibility strategies: Past research and future challenges," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 885-901, July.
    9. Yiğit Kazançoğlu & Muhittin Sağnak & Çisem Lafcı & Sunil Luthra & Anil Kumar & Caner Taçoğlu, 2021. "Big Data-Enabled Solutions Framework to Overcoming the Barriers to Circular Economy Initiatives in Healthcare Sector," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-21, July.
    10. Oksana Seroka‐Stolka & Kamil Fijorek, 2020. "Enhancing corporate sustainable development: Proactive environmental strategy, stakeholder pressure and the moderating effect of firm size," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2338-2354, September.
    11. Teena Bharti & Satish Chandra Ojha & Aviral Kumar Tiwari, 2022. "Interplay of Workplace Sustainability, Sustainable Work Performance, Optimism, and Resilience: The Moderating Role of Green Creativity in Luxury Hotels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-15, November.
    12. Ying Guo & Lifang Wang, 2022. "Environmental Entrepreneurial Orientation and Firm Performance: The Role of Environmental Innovation and Stakeholder Pressure," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440211, February.
    13. Antonia Madrid‐Guijarro & Antonio Duréndez, 2024. "Sustainable development barriers and pressures in SMEs: The mediating effect of management commitment to environmental practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 949-967, February.
    14. Jesús Valero-Gil & Pilar Rivera-Torres & Conchita Garcés-Ayerbe, 2017. "How Is Environmental Proactivity Accomplished? Drivers and Barriers in Firms’ Pro-Environmental Change Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-15, July.
    15. Caterina Cavicchi & Chiara Oppi & Emidia Vagnoni, 2022. "Back and Forth on Sustainable Development: A Focus on Healthcare Organisations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, April.

    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. Christin Seifert & Edeltraud Guenther, 2020. "Who cares?—Stakeholder relevance for voluntary environmental management in hospitals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1786-1799, July.
    2. Oksana Seroka‐Stolka & Kamil Fijorek, 2020. "Enhancing corporate sustainable development: Proactive environmental strategy, stakeholder pressure and the moderating effect of firm size," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2338-2354, September.
    3. Julia Wolf, 2013. "Improving the Sustainable Development of Firms: The Role of Employees," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 92-108, February.
    4. Paola Garrone & Luca Grilli & Boris Mrkajic, 2018. "The role of institutional pressures in the introduction of energy‐efficiency innovations," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1245-1257, December.
    5. David G Hyatt & Nicholas Berente, 2017. "Substantive or Symbolic Environmental Strategies? Effects of External and Internal Normative Stakeholder Pressures," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1212-1234, December.
    6. Vinod Kumar & Zillur Rahman & A. A. Kazmi, 2016. "Assessing the Influence of Stakeholders on Sustainability Marketing Strategy of Indian Companies," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(3), pages 21582440166, September.
    7. Anton Shevchenko, 2021. "Do financial penalties for environmental violations facilitate improvements in corporate environmental performance? An empirical investigation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1723-1734, May.
    8. Qi Guoyou & Zeng Saixing & Tam Chiming & Yin Haitao & Zou Hailiang, 2013. "Stakeholders' Influences on Corporate Green Innovation Strategy: A Case Study of Manufacturing Firms in China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, January.
    9. Jörn H. Block & Pramodita Sharma & Lena Benz, 2024. "Stakeholder Pressures and Decarbonization Strategies in Mittelstand Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(3), pages 511-533, September.
    10. Quang Le Van & Thanh Viet Nguyen & Manh Hung Nguyen, 2019. "Sustainable development and environmental policy: The engagement of stakeholders in green products in Vietnam," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 675-687, July.
    11. Defeng Yang & Aric Xu Wang & Kevin Zheng Zhou & Wei Jiang, 2019. "Environmental Strategy, Institutional Force, and Innovation Capability: A Managerial Cognition Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(4), pages 1147-1161, November.
    12. Elisa Alt & Emilio Díez-de-Castro & Francisco Lloréns-Montes, 2015. "Linking Employee Stakeholders to Environmental Performance: The Role of Proactive Environmental Strategies and Shared Vision," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 167-181, April.
    13. Christin Seifert & Matthias Damert & Edeltraud Guenther, 2020. "Environmental Management in German Hospitals—A Classification of Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-24, May.
    14. Corsini, Filippo & Appio, Francesco Paolo & Frey, Marco, 2019. "Exploring the antecedents and consequences of environmental performance in micro-enterprises: The case of the Italian craft beer industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 340-350.
    15. Kanwalroop K. Dhanda & Joseph Sarkis & Dileep G. Dhavale, 2022. "Institutional and stakeholder effects on carbon mitigation strategies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 782-795, March.
    16. Adolfo Carballo‐Penela & Juan Luis Castromán‐Diz, 2015. "Environmental Policies for Sustainable Development: An Analysis of the Drivers of Proactive Environmental Strategies in the Service Sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 802-818, December.
    17. Alvaro Rojas & Daniel Lorenzo, 2021. "Environmental and Social Goals in Spanish SMEs: The Moderating Effect of Family Influence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, February.
    18. Papadas, Karolos-Konstantinos & Avlonitis, George J. & Carrigan, Marylyn & Piha, Lamprini, 2019. "The interplay of strategic and internal green marketing orientation on competitive advantage," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 632-643.
    19. Steffen Maas & Tassilo Schuster & Evi Hartmann, 2018. "Stakeholder Pressures, Environmental Practice Adoption and Economic Performance in the German Third-party Logistics Industry—A Contingency Perspective," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(2), pages 167-201, February.
    20. Concepción Garcés‐Ayerbe & Pilar Rivera‐Torres & Inés Suárez‐Perales, 2019. "Stakeholder engagement mechanisms and their contribution to eco‐innovation: Differentiated effects of communication and cooperation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1321-1332, November.

    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:kap:jbuset:v:131:y:2015:i:1:p:183-197. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.