Environmental Stewardship in the Private Sector: Arriving at a Green Hands Theory
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ABSTRACT Title: Environmental Stewardship in the Private Sector: Arriving at a Green Hands Theory Halley Aelion, Ph.D. Candidate, 2013 Directed By: Dr. Nathan Hultman, Maryland School of Public Policy Views on the intent and outcomes of corporate social responsibility (CSR) range from laudatory to skeptical. Regardless of the mixed reception and questions raised about the meaning of CSR, it is clear that the private sector’s increasing power in the 21st century requires a correspondingly well-defined range of responsibilities. This dissertation investigates why and how firms choose to engage in CSR. It does so through three essays that explore the private sector’s approach to environmental stewardship CSR (ESCSR) with particular emphasis on the role of employees in ESCSR. The first essay engages in an empirical study that asks broad questions about private sector employees’ opinions towards CSR. It asks how employees understand CSR; how they prioritize environmental goals under the CSR umbrella; and whether or not their CSR- and ESCSR-related activities impact their feelings of personal well-being and career fulfillment. The results of this essay’s original survey suggest that the private sector’s approach to ESCSR should leverage employees’ interest in and enthusiasm for CSR and ESCSR to achieve environmental stewardship and CSR goals. The second essay investigates the actual extent to which private sector leadership engages with employees on matters related to CSR and ESCSR through both a statistical and case study. The statistical study asks what variables make firms more likely to afford employees a substantial role in CSR activities, resulting in the discovery that a more diverse and larger leadership body is a significant indicator of a firm’s willingness to engage employees. The case study then pushes the statistical findings into more detail by illuminating three firms’ rationales behind their ESCSR approaches. The final, ethics-focused essay builds on the findings of the first and second essays to propose an original theory that builds on the legal theory of clean hands to arrive at ‘green hands.’ This green hands theory outlines a specific and normatively robust framework firms can adopt to achieve goals related both to employee and environmental stewardship. I conclude by discussing implications for policy recommendations and areas for future research. ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR: ARRIVING AT A GREEN HANDS THEORY By Halley Mallama Aelion Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2013 Advisory Committee: Professor Nathan Hultman, Chair Professor Carol Graham Professor David Crocker Professor Elisabeth Gilmore Professor Leigh Anenson © Copyright 2013 by Halley Mallama Aelion Acknowledgements The value of this dissertation was made possible by my wonderful committee members. I owe a debt of extraordinary gratitude to my adviser, Nathan Hultman, as well as to Leigh Anenson, David Crocker, Elisabeth Gilmore, and Carol Graham. All flaws and mistakes are my own. My research and writing was also improved by faculty, students, and readers too numerous to list. I tremendously appreciate their patience, good humor, thoughtfulness, praise and criticism all in equal measure. This dissertation was also made possible by my family, who will tell me I can do anything no matter the reality. ii Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................... vi I. Introduction: CSR Origins and Recent ESCSR Theories ............................................................. 1 A. Identifying the Background and Scope of CSR Research ............................................................ 1 B. Defining CSR Activity and Investment ........................................................................................ 4 C. Situating This Thesis: ESCSR Drivers and Actors ....................................................................... 7 D. Understanding the Link Between CSR and ESCSR ................................................................... 10 E. Expanding the Field of ESCSR Knowledge ............................................................................... 14 1. First Essay: Do Employees Want Firms to Serve as Environmental Stewards? ........................ 16 2. Second Essay: ESCSR Approaches: Green Screen or Green Scene? ......................................... 18 3. Third Essay: ESCSR Best Practices: Arriving at a Theory of Green Hands .............................. 20 II. First Essay: Do Employees Want Firms to Serve as Environmental Stewards? ........................ 22 A. Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... 22 B. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 22 C. Essay Motivation ........................................................................................................................ 29 D. Survey Content and Goals........................................................................................................... 31 E. Target Audience .......................................................................................................................... 32 F. Mode of Collection ..................................................................................................................... 37 G. Respondents Profile .................................................................................................................... 42 H. Results and Discussion ............................................................................................................... 50 I. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 58 III. Second Essay: ESCSR Approaches: Green Screen or Green Scene? ......................................... 63 A. Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... 63 B. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 63 i. EMG Programs as the Dependent Variable ................................................................................ 64 ii. Organizational Strategy Literature: Corporate CSR Approaches ............................................... 67 iii. Organizational Strategy Literature: Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) ...................... 71 C. Statistical Study .......................................................................................................................... 73 i. Results and Discussion ............................................................................................................... 77 D. Case Study .................................................................................................................................. 84 i. Green Screen or Green Scene ..................................................................................................... 87 iii ii. DTE Energy ................................................................................................................................ 92 iii. FMC Corporation ........................................................................................................................ 99 iv. International Business Machines (IBM) ................................................................................... 105 E. Analysis and Discussion ........................................................................................................... 109 F. Next Steps and Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 114 IV. Third Essay: ESCSR Best Practices: Arriving at a Theory of Green Hands ............................ 117 A. Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 117 B. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 117 i. Ethics in Private Sector Management ....................................................................................... 121 ii. Ethics in Environmental Stewardship Responsibilities ............................................................. 130 iii. Ethics in the Process: Deliberative Democracy ........................................................................ 132 C. Green Hands: Practice and Theory ........................................................................................... 135 i. Planting ..................................................................................................................................... 136 ii. Nurturing ................................................................................................................................... 138 iii. Cultivating................................................................................................................................