Southern Illinois University Carbondale OpenSIUC Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 12-1-2010 How an Organization's Environmental Orientation Impacts Environmental Performance and its Resultant Financial Performance through Green Computing Hiring Practices: An Empirical Investigation of the Natural Resource-Based View of the Firm Andrew Aken Southern Illinois University Carbondale, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Aken, Andrew, "How an Organization's Environmental Orientation Impacts Environmental Performance and its Resultant Financial Performance through Green Computing Hiring Practices: An Empirical Investigation of the Natural Resource-Based View of the Firm" (2010). Dissertations. Paper 194. This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at OpenSIUC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of OpenSIUC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HOW AN ORGANIZATION’S ENVIRONMENTAL ORIENTATION IMPACTS ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE AND ITS RESULTANT FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE THROUGH GREEN COMPUTING HIRING PRACTICES: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCE BASED VIEW by Andrew Joseph Aken B.S., Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 1991 M.S., Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 1993 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree. Department of Business Administration in the Graduate School Southern Illinois University Carbondale December, 2010 DISSERTATION APPROVAL HOW AN ORGANIZATION’S ENVIRONMENTAL ORIENTATION IMPACTS ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE AND ITS RESULTANT FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE THROUGH GREEN COMPUTING HIRING PRACTICES: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCE BASED VIEW By Andrew Joseph Aken A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of Business Administration Approved by: Dr. Michael Michalisin, Chair Dr. Steve Karau Dr. Peter Mykytyn Dr. Chuck Litecky Dr. Dunren Che Graduate School Southern Illinois University Carbondale July 23, 2010 AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF ANDREW JOSEPH AKEN, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Business Administration, presented on Friday, July 23, 2010 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale TITLE: How an Organization’s Environmental Orientation Impacts Environmental Performance and its Resultant Financial Performance through Green Computing Hiring Practices: An Empirical Investigation of the Natural Resource-Based View MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Michael D. Michalisin This dissertation uses the logic embodied in Strategic Fit Theory, the Natural Resource- Based View of the Firm (NRBV), strategic human resource management, and other relevant literature streams to empirically demonstrate how the environmental orientation of a firm's strategy impacts their environmental performance and resultant financial performance through the firm's Information Technology hiring practices. Specifically, it was hypothesized that firms with a strong relationship between the environmental orientation of their strategy and their green computing hiring practices will achieve higher environmental performance, and, as a result, higher levels of financial performance than firms lacking such fit. The organization’s environmental orientation was measured via content analysis of the annual report texts (ARTs). Environmental performance was measured using KLD's award- winning environmental performance metrics. I triangulated across efficiency, effectiveness, and i market-based metrics to capture a more holistic measure of the firm's financial performance using data from Compustat/Research Insight. The firm's green computing hiring practices were measured utilizing a web content data mining application that pulled job ads for computing graduates and then extracted the environmentally-oriented skills identified in such ads using content analytic techniques. Various control variables were employed to eliminate possible alternative explanations of my research findings. A number of statistical and analytical techniques were used to assess the nature and strength of the relationships in my theoretical model as are articulated in the proposed hypotheses. The sample size of firms is fairly large, thus increasing the statistical power of the empirical tests. Previous empirical testing of the relationship between environmental strategy and financial performance is still in the developmental stages and has produced mixed results, partly because important intervening mechanisms, such as green computing hiring practices, has not received adequate attention in the empirical literature. The combination of using a large sample of real world firms, a powerful combination of qualitative and quantitative methodological techniques to tap into key trace evidence not available through other methodological techniques, and leveraging an award-winning environmental data set has enhanced the robustness of the empirical findings in addressing this important gap in the literature. The results of the analyses show that there is a strong relationship between an organization’s environmental posturing and its environmental performance. Additionally, this effect is mediated by the organization’s environmental hiring practices, indicating that implementing the organization’s environmental strategy through its hiring practices is important in achieving improved environmental performance. The current research also shows that there is ii a strong and positive relationship between an organization’s environmental performance and financial performance. Surprisingly, these relationships are not significantly impacted by the organization’s industry affiliation, which broadens the generalizability of the results of this study. Keywords: Environmental Sustainability, Green IT, Resource-Based View (RBV), Natural Resource-Based View (NRBV), Strategic Fit, Strategic Human Resource Management, Knowledge-Based View, Content Analysis iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am extremely thankful to my wife and children for tolerating me while I pursued my Ph.D. while simultaneously working multiple jobs. Don’t worry girls, we’ll be together again soon. I would also like to thank each member of my dissertation committee for various and integral contributions to my knowledge in the various areas covered in this dissertation and the development of my interest in these topics. Dr. Michalisin, I would like to thank you for initially getting me interested in strategy and providing a firm foundation from which I am able to achieve some understanding of the relevant literature. I would also like to thank you for your unsurpassed understanding and commitment to myself and all of your other students. Dr. Mykytyn, I would like to thank you for providing me a comprehensive background in the Resource-Based View of the Firm (particularly in its manifestation within MIS literature). Dr. Karau, I would like to thank you for your excellent class in methodologies which contributed dramatically to my understanding of how to set up my theoretical models and constructs in ways which has allowed me to adequately test for reliability and validity. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude in demonstrating your own flexibility, encouragement, and sacrifice in enabling me to complete the dissertation process. Dr. Litecky, I would like to thank you for your contributions to my understanding of the importance of understanding the skills requirements of organizations and your assistance in the development of the content analysis and web content mining software. Dr. Che, I would like to thank you for your excellent class in data mining that really started me on this 3-year project of collecting and analyzing the skills found in the job ads. I would also like to thank the institutions of the College of Business (although you will always be CoBA to me) for giving me the initial opportunity to teach at the University and iv subsequently pursue my desire to work towards a Ph.D. I would also like to thank the SIU-C community as a whole for everything that it has provided to me. Although my degrees may be homogenous, they have helped me achieve more than I ever thought would have been possible. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Contributions.................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Limitations