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Antecedents of environmentally conscious operations in transitioning economies: Insights from Russia

Julia Hartmann (Department of Operations, EBS Business School, Wiesbaden, Germany)
Richard Germain (College of Business, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA)
Anna Grobecker (Department of Operations, EBS Business School, Wiesbaden, Germany)

International Journal of Operations & Production Management

ISSN: 0144-3577

Article publication date: 1 June 2015

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify and empirically examine antecedents to environmentally conscious operations (ECOs) and to investigate the effect of ECOs on performance in the transitioning economy Russia. The authors examine organizational antecedents such as innovativeness, proximity to major urban centers of gravity, and interaction with international customers because there is evidence that external antecedents such as stakeholder pressure may not be as effective in transitioning economies as they are in developed countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors develop a structural equation model to test the hypothesized relationships on a sample of 769 private sector manufacturing companies located in Russia having used the survey method for data collection.

Findings

The authors find that the proximity to major urban centers of gravity, interaction with international customers and a firm-internal culture of innovativeness are positively related to ECOs. The authors also find evidence that ECOs are positively related to performance. ECOs partially mediate the relationship between international trade and firm performance.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies to investigate antecedents to ECOs in Russia and one of the few that uses diffusion of innovations theory to unpack potential ECO antecedents.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Deutsche Bahn and Russian Railways Center for International Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the St Petersburg State University, Russia. The authors also thankfully acknowledge the support from Dachser GmbH & Co. KG.

Citation

Hartmann, J., Germain, R. and Grobecker, A. (2015), "Antecedents of environmentally conscious operations in transitioning economies: Insights from Russia", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 35 No. 6, pp. 843-865. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-02-2014-0050

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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