Impact of Business Environment Perception on Pro-Ecological Activities in Polish Firms

Purpose: Studies in sociology and scientific management indicate that the actions of people and organizations depend on how they perceive the changes taking place in their environment. The changes taking place create both threats and opportunities. Threats trigger defensive behaviour and opportunities trigger actions that lead to their exploitation. People and organizations, including enterprises, face the need to take pro-environmental actions. The purpose of this article is to deepen the understanding of the impact of perceptions of changes in the macroenvironment and industry environment on the pro-ecological decisions of medium and large sized enterprises. Design/Methodology/Approach: There is an extensive literature on the benefits and barriers associated with pro-environmental transformation of enterprises. However, there are few publications on perceptions of changes in the environment and their relationship to "greening" activities of enterprises. Thus, there is a research and cognitive gap that we are trying to fill by verifying the hypothesis that a positive attitude to the changes taking place in the environment allows one to see opportunities in pro-environmental transformation processes. We verify this hypothesis through an empirical study, which was conducted in 150 medium and large enterprises operating in Poland. The data obtained were processed using the following tests: Spearman's rank correlation, Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA and multiple rank comparisons as well as descriptive statistics. Findings: Although we found that a positive attitude toward changes in the business environment encourages companies to make pro-ecological transformations, it is not perceived as a market opportunity. It is not reflected in positive business development trends. This transformation is rather forced by regulations regarding the Green Deal. Practical Implications: Our research results indicate the importance of recognizing changes in the business environment. This is essential for discovering and creating market opportunities. In order to notice opportunities related to pro-ecological transformation among these changes, managers must more deeply recognize trends in buyers' expectations regarding sustainable products. Originality/Value: Analysing for the first time how medium and large enterprises operating in Poland perceive changes in their environment and whether these observations impact implementing by them pro-ecological activities.