IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v24y2015i8p689-703.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Changing Behaviour: Successful Environmental Programmes in the Workplace

Author

Listed:
  • William Young
  • Matthew Davis
  • Ilona M. McNeill
  • Bindu Malhotra
  • Sally Russell
  • Kerrie Unsworth
  • Chris W. Clegg

Abstract

There is an increasing focus on improving the pro‐environmental attitudes, behaviour and habits of individuals, whether at home, in education, travelling, shopping or in the workplace. This article focuses on the workplace by conducting a multi‐disciplinary literature review of research that has examined the influence of organization‐based behaviour change initiatives. The review includes only research evidence that measured actual environmental performance (e.g. energy use) rather than solely using self‐reported methods (e.g. questionnaires). The authors develop an ‘employee pro‐environmental behaviour’ (e‐PEB) framework, which contains individual, group, organizational and contextual factors that have predictive relevance across different behaviours and organizations. The review shows that the strongest predictors are environmental awareness, performance feedback, financial incentives, environmental infrastructure, management support and training. A key finding from this review is that attitude change is not necessarily a pre‐requisite for behaviour change in the workplace. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Suggested Citation

  • William Young & Matthew Davis & Ilona M. McNeill & Bindu Malhotra & Sally Russell & Kerrie Unsworth & Chris W. Clegg, 2015. "Changing Behaviour: Successful Environmental Programmes in the Workplace," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 689-703, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:24:y:2015:i:8:p:689-703
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.1836
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1836
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.1836?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Theophilos P. Michailides & Michael G. Lipsett, 2013. "Surveying Employee Attitudes on Corporate Social Responsibility at the Frontline Level of an Energy Transportation Company," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(5), pages 296-320, September.
    2. Saunders, Harry D., 2000. "A view from the macro side: rebound, backfire, and Khazzoom-Brookes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 439-449, June.
    3. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    4. Vito Albino & Azzurra Balice & Rosa Maria Dangelico, 2009. "Environmental strategies and green product development: an overview on sustainability‐driven companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 83-96, February.
    5. Cairns, S. & Newson, C. & Davis, A., 2010. "Understanding successful workplace travel initiatives in the UK," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(7), pages 473-494, August.
    6. Young, William & Middlemiss, Lucie, 2012. "A rethink of how policy and social science approach changing individuals' actions on greenhouse gas emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 742-747.
    7. Olivier Boiral, 2005. "The impact of operator involvement in pollution reduction: case studies in Canadian chemical companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(6), pages 339-360, November.
    8. Julia Hertin & Frans Berkhout & Marcus Wagner & Daniel Tyteca, 2008. "Are EMS environmentally effective? The link between environmental management systems and environmental performance in European companies," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(2), pages 259-283.
    9. Andrew J. Hoffman, 1993. "The importance of fit between individual values and organisational culture in the greening of industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(4), pages 10-18, December.
    10. Cristina Ciocirlan & Caroline Pettersson, 2012. "Does Workforce Diversity Matter in the Fight against Climate Change? An Analysis of Fortune 500 Companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(1), pages 47-62, January.
    11. Helen Lingard & Guinevere Gilbert & Peter Graham, 2001. "Improving solid waste reduction and recycling performance using goal setting and feedback," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(8), pages 809-817.
    12. William Young & Fiona Tilley, 2006. "Can businesses move beyond efficiency? The shift toward effectiveness and equity in the corporate sustainability debate," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(6), pages 402-415, November.
    13. William Young & Kumju Hwang & Seonaidh McDonald & Caroline J. Oates, 2010. "Sustainable consumption: green consumer behaviour when purchasing products," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(1), pages 20-31.
    14. Berkhout, Peter H. G. & Muskens, Jos C. & W. Velthuijsen, Jan, 2000. "Defining the rebound effect," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 425-432, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Barkemeyer, Ralf & Young, C. William & Chintakayala, Phani Kumar & Owen, Anne, 2023. "Eco-labels, conspicuous conservation and moral licensing: An indirect behavioural rebound effect," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    2. Guang-Wen Zheng & Abu Bakkar Siddik & Mohammad Masukujjaman & Syed Shah Alam & Alvina Akter, 2020. "Perceived Environmental Responsibilities and Green Buying Behavior: The Mediating Effect of Attitude," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-27, December.
    3. Santarius, Tilman & Soland, Martin, 2018. "How Technological Efficiency Improvements Change Consumer Preferences: Towards a Psychological Theory of Rebound Effects," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 414-424.
    4. Alcott, Blake, 2008. "The sufficiency strategy: Would rich-world frugality lower environmental impact," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 770-786, February.
    5. Karen Turner, 2013. ""Rebound" Effects from Increased Energy Efficiency: A Time to Pause and Reflect," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    6. Orea, Luis & Llorca, Manuel & Filippini, Massimo, 2015. "A new approach to measuring the rebound effect associated to energy efficiency improvements: An application to the US residential energy demand," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 599-609.
    7. Sun, Xiaoqi & Liu, Xiaojia, 2020. "Decomposition analysis of debt’s impact on China’s energy consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    8. Yotam Rosner & Zohara Amitay & Amotz Perlman, 2022. "Consumer's attitude, socio-demographic variables and willingness to purchase green housing in Israel," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 5295-5316, April.
    9. Dimitropoulos, John, 2007. "Energy productivity improvements and the rebound effect: An overview of the state of knowledge," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 6354-6363, December.
    10. Liobikienė, Genovaitė & Mandravickaitė, Justina & Bernatonienė, Jurga, 2016. "Theory of planned behavior approach to understand the green purchasing behavior in the EU: A cross-cultural study," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 38-46.
    11. Ragna Nilssen & Geoff Bick & Russell Abratt, 2019. "Comparing the relative importance of sustainability as a consumer purchase criterion of food and clothing in the retail sector," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(1), pages 71-83, January.
    12. Jeroen Bergh, 2011. "Energy Conservation More Effective With Rebound Policy," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 48(1), pages 43-58, January.
    13. António Pedro Vieira & Gregor Radonjič, 2020. "Disclosure of eco‐innovation activities in European large companies' sustainability reporting," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2240-2253, September.
    14. Terlau, Wiltrud & Hirsch, Darya, 2015. "Sustainable Consumption and the Attitude-Behaviour-Gap Phenomenon - Causes and Measurements towards a Sustainable Development," 2015 International European Forum (144th EAAE Seminar), February 9-13, 2015, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria 206233, International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.
    15. Cansino, José M. & Román-Collado, Rocío & Merchán, José, 2019. "Do Spanish energy efficiency actions trigger JEVON’S paradox?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 760-770.
    16. Ji Li & Fuqiang Zhao & Silu Chen & Wanxing Jiang & Tao Liu & Shengping Shi, 2017. "Gender Diversity on Boards and Firms’ Environmental Policy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 306-315, March.
    17. Robert Huber & Bernhard Hirsch, 2017. "Behavioral Effects of Sustainability‐Oriented Incentive Systems," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 163-181, February.
    18. Su, Yu-Wen, 2019. "Residential electricity demand in Taiwan: Consumption behavior and rebound effect," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 36-45.
    19. C. William Young & Sally V. Russell & Cheryl A. Robinson & Phani Kumar Chintakayala, 2018. "Sustainable Retailing – Influencing Consumer Behaviour on Food Waste," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 1-15, January.
    20. Guido Martinolli & Marco de Angelis & Núria Tordera & Luca Pietrantoni, 2021. "The Organizational Climate for Sustainable Commuting: An Italian Validation Study in the Academic Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-15, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:24:y:2015:i:8:p:689-703. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.