Paper

10.5464.AMBPP.2011.132.a

UNDERSTANDING EMPLOYEE PROENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR: A TEST OF A THEORETICAL MODEL LAURA M. GRAVES Graduate School of Management Clark University 950 Main St. Worcester MA. 01610 JOSEPH SARKIS Clark University QINGHUA ZHU Dalian University of Technology INTRODUCTION Research on corporate sustainability has focused primarily on the organizational-level; the mechanisms that foster the proenvironmental behaviors (PEBs) at the employee-level are not well-understood (Boiral, 2009; Daily, Bishop, & Govindarajulu, 2009). Seeking to increase understanding of employees’ PEBs, we offer and test a theoretical model of the processes that facilitate such behaviors among employees. Integrating literature on corporate sustainability, organizational behavior, and psychology, we focus on the impact of organizational commitment to the natural environment, managerial leadership, and employee motivation on employees’ PEBs. Corporate sustainability research has demonstrated that a strong organizational commitment to protecting the environment is critical for effective environmental management in organizations (Banerjee, Iyer, & Kashyap, 2003; Del Brío, Junquera, & Ordiz, 2008). Such commitment may also be important in fostering employees’ proenvironmental behaviors (e.g., Anderson, Shivarajan, & Blau, 2005; Boiral, 2009). The environmental leadership provided by employees’ immediate managers is also likely to be critical in fostering PEBs. Employees’ managers are important representatives of the organization (Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, & Sowa, 1986), and are likely to have a substantial impact on employees’ environmental attitudes behaviors (Anderson, et al., 2005; Daily et al., 2009; Ramus & Steger, 2000). We focus specifically on the transformational leadership (e.g., Bass, 1985; Bass, Avolio, & Atwater, 1996) provided by managers. Enhancing employees’ environmental performance is likely to involve substantial changes in behavior; the values-based,...