Antecedents of environmentally conscious operations in transitioning economies: Insights from Russia
International Journal of Operations & Production Management
ISSN: 0144-3577
Article publication date: 1 June 2015
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
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited