IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v127y2015i2p459-478.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Personal Values Influence the Propensity for Sustainability Actions? A Policy-Capturing Study

Author

Listed:
  • Joel Marcus
  • Heather MacDonald
  • Lorne Sulsky

Abstract

Using a policy-capturing approach with a broad student sample we examine how individuals’ economic, social and environmental values influence their propensity to engage in a broad range of sustainability-related corporate actions. We employ a multi-dimensional sustainability framework of corporate actions and account for both the positive and negative impacts associated with corporate activity—termed strength and concern actions, respectively. Strong economic values were found to increase the propensity for concern actions and the willingness to work in controversial industries. Individuals with balanced values were as likely as those with strong economic values to pursue positive economic outcomes, but without the same downside potential for concern actions. We also found significant gender effects, with females being less likely to engage in concern actions and more supportive of social and environmental strength actions. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Joel Marcus & Heather MacDonald & Lorne Sulsky, 2015. "Do Personal Values Influence the Propensity for Sustainability Actions? A Policy-Capturing Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 459-478, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:127:y:2015:i:2:p:459-478
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-2032-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-013-2032-4
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-013-2032-4?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "Value Maximization, Stakeholder Theory, and the Corporate Objective Function," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 32-42, January.
    2. Locke, Edwin A., 1991. "The motivation sequence, the motivation hub, and the motivation core," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 288-299, December.
    3. Ye Cai & Hoje Jo & Carrie Pan, 2012. "Doing Well While Doing Bad? CSR in Controversial Industry Sectors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 108(4), pages 467-480, July.
    4. Elms, Heather & Brammer, Stephen & Harris, Jared D. & Phillips, Robert A., 2010. "New Directions in Strategic Management and Business Ethics," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 401-425, July.
    5. Dilek Cetindamar, 2007. "Corporate Social Responsibility Practices and Environmentally Responsible Behavior: The Case of The United Nations Global Compact," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 76(2), pages 163-176, December.
    6. Anonymous, 2013. "Introduction to the Issue," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 243-243, December.
    7. Marianne Bertrand & Kevin F. Hallock, 2001. "The Gender Gap in Top Corporate Jobs," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 55(1), pages 3-21, October.
    8. David Fritzsche & E. Oz, 2007. "Personal Values’ Influence on the Ethical Dimension of Decision Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 75(4), pages 335-343, November.
    9. Damodar Suar & Rooplekha Khuntia, 2010. "Influence of Personal Values and Value Congruence on Unethical Practices and Work Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(3), pages 443-460, December.
    10. Sungchul Choi & Alex Ng, 2011. "Environmental and Economic Dimensions of Sustainability and Price Effects on Consumer Responses," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(2), pages 269-282, December.
    11. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    12. Anonymous, 2013. "Introduction to the Issue," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 129-130, November.
    13. Ans Kolk, 2003. "Trends in sustainability reporting by the Fortune Global 250," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(5), pages 279-291, September.
    14. R. J. Welford, 1998. "Editorial: Corporate environmental management, technology and sustainable development: postmodern perspectives and the need for a critical research agenda," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(1), pages 1-12, February.
    15. Robin, Donald & Babin, Laurie, 1997. "Making Sense of The Research on Gender and Ethics in Business: A Critical Analysis and Extension," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(4), pages 61-90, October.
    16. Pratima Bansal, 2003. "From Issues to Actions: The Importance of Individual Concerns and Organizational Values in Responding to Natural Environmental Issues," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(5), pages 510-527, October.
    17. Marianne Bertrand & Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 2009. "Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young Professionals in the Corporate and Financial Sectors," NBER Working Papers 14681, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Hoje Jo & Haejung Na, 2012. "Does CSR Reduce Firm Risk? Evidence from Controversial Industry Sectors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(4), pages 441-456, November.
    19. Jaepil Choi & Heli Wang, 2007. "The Promise of a Managerial Values Approach to Corporate Philanthropy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 75(4), pages 345-359, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rok Črešnar & Zlatko Nedelko, 2020. "Understanding Future Leaders: How Are Personal Values of Generations Y and Z Tailored to Leadership in Industry 4.0?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-19, May.
    2. Juliane Peters & Ana Simaens, 2020. "Integrating Sustainability into Corporate Strategy: A Case Study of the Textile and Clothing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-35, July.
    3. Shraddha Yadav & Yingjiao Xu & Helmut Hergeth, 2024. "Walking the Talk: Unraveling the Influence of the Sustainability Features of Leather Alternatives on Consumer Behavior toward Running Shoes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-19, January.
    4. Paul Shrivastava & Günter Schumacher & David Wasieleski & Marko Tasic, 2017. "Aesthetic Rationality in Organizations: Toward Developing a Sensibility for Sustainibility," Post-Print hal-01515126, HAL.
    5. Tatjana Korte & Lars Otte & Henning Amel & Marco Beeken, 2022. "“ Burger.i.doo ”—An Innovative Education Game for the Assessment of Sustainability from Meat and Substitute Products in Science Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    6. Fuan Li & Xingyuan Wang & Rajiv Kashyap, 2019. "Socially Responsible Practice and CSR Orientation of Chinese Managers: The Role of Confucian Ethics and Confucian Dynamism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-13, November.
    7. Won‐Moo Hur & Tae‐Won Moon & Han‐Geun Lee, 2018. "Employee engagement in CSR initiatives and customer‐directed counterproductive work behavior (CWB): The mediating roles of organizational civility norms and job calling," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1087-1098, November.
    8. Chung-wen Chen & Hsiu-Huei Yu & Kristine Velasquez Tuliao & Aditya Simha & Yi-Ying Chang, 2021. "Supervisors’ Value Orientations and Ethics: A Cross-National Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 167-180, April.
    9. Joel Marcus & Jason Roy, 2019. "In Search of Sustainable Behaviour: The Role of Core Values and Personality Traits," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 63-79, August.
    10. Abdullah Abdulaziz-Alhumaidan & Mohammad Jamal Khan, 2024. "The Effect of Ethical Strategy and Innovation on Economic Performance: a Study on Tunisian B2B Enterprises," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 2589-2606, March.
    11. Jesse R. Catlin & Michael Gerhard Luchs & Marcus Phipps, 2017. "Consumer Perceptions of the Social Vs. Environmental Dimensions of Sustainability," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 245-277, September.
    12. Zlatko Nedelko & Vojko Potocan, 2021. "Sustainability of Organizations: The Contribution of Personal Values to Democratic Leadership Behavior Focused on the Sustainability of Organizations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, April.
    13. Zachary Oliphant & Chae M. Jaynes & Richard K. Moule Jr., 2020. "Social Preferences and Environmental Behavior: A Comparison of Self-Reported and Observed Behaviors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-16, July.
    14. Matthew A. Maxwell-Smith & Paul J. Conway & Joshua D. Wright & James M. Olson, 2018. "Translating Environmental Ideologies into Action: The Amplifying Role of Commitment to Beliefs," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 839-858, December.
    15. Dabić, Marina & Maley, Jane F. & Črešnar, Rok & Nedelko, Zlatko, 2023. "Unappreciated channel of manufacturing productivity under industry 4.0: Leadership values and capabilities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    16. Talavera, Oleksandr & Yin, Shuxing & Zhang, Mao, 2016. "Managing the diversity: board age diversity, directors’ personal values, and bank performance," MPRA Paper 71927, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Maria Jose Murcia & Pilar Acosta, 2023. "Accounting for Plural Cognitive Framings of Growth and Sustainability: Rethinking Management Education in Latin America," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(2), pages 299-313, June.

    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. Francesco Gangi & Jérôme Méric & Rémi Jardat & Lucia Michela Daniele, 2019. "Business for society," Post-Print hal-02382307, HAL.
    2. Gerson Francis Tuazon & Rachel Wolfgramm & Kyle Powys Whyte, 2021. "Can You Drink Money? Integrating Organizational Perspective-Taking and Organizational Resilience in a Multi-level Systems Framework for Sustainability Leadership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(3), pages 469-490, January.
    3. Hyeong Joon Kim & Seongjae Mun & Seung Hun Han, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and the alignment of CEO and shareholders wealth: Does a strong alignment induce or restrain CSR?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 720-741, March.
    4. Regina F. Bento & Lasse Mertins & Lourdes F. White, 2017. "Ideology and the Balanced Scorecard: An Empirical Exploration of the Tension Between Shareholder Value Maximization and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(4), pages 769-789, June.
    5. Mukherjee, Abhishek & Bird, Ron & Duppati, Geeta, 2018. "Mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility: The Indian experience," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 254-265.
    6. Hui-Ju Tsai & Yangru Wu, 2022. "Changes in Corporate Social Responsibility and Stock Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 735-755, July.
    7. Chakraborty, Atreya & Gao, Lucia Silva & Sheikh, Shahbaz, 2019. "Managerial risk taking incentives, corporate social responsibility and firm risk," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 58-72.
    8. Bai Xue & Zhuang Zhang & Pingli Li, 2020. "Corporate environmental performance, environmental management and firm risk," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1074-1096, March.
    9. Jannik Gerwanski, 2020. "Does it pay off? Integrated reporting and cost of debt: European evidence," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2299-2319, September.
    10. Gangi, Francesco & Meles, Antonio & Monferrà, Stefano & Mustilli, Mario, 2020. "Does corporate social responsibility help the survivorship of SMEs and large firms?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    11. Rainer Lueg & Maria Medelby Pedersen & Søren Nørregaard Clemmensen, 2015. "The Role of Corporate Sustainability in a Low‐Cost Business Model – A Case Study in the Scandinavian Fashion Industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 344-359, July.
    12. Bu, Luofan & Chan, Kam C. & Choi, Ahrum & Zhou, Gaoguang, 2021. "Talented inside directors and corporate social responsibility: A tale of two roles," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    13. Saif Ullah & Ravi S. Mateti, 2021. "Do appearances deceive? The curious case of CSR activities and shunned companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 11-29, January.
    14. Khine Kyaw & Mojisola Olugbode & Barbara Petracci, 2017. "The Role of the Institutional Framework in the Relationship between Earnings Management and Corporate Social Performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(6), pages 543-554, November.
    15. Ntim, Collins G., 2016. "Corporate governance, corporate health accounting, and firm value: The case of HIV/AIDS disclosures in Sub-Saharan Africa," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 155-216.
    16. Kyaw, Khine & Chindasombatcharoen, Pongsapak & Jiraporn, Pornsit & Treepongkaruna, Sirimon, 2021. "Do co-opted boards strategically choose LGBT-supportive policies?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    17. Kerstin Lopatta & Thomas Kaspereit & Sebastian A. Tideman & Anna R. Rudolf, 2022. "The moderating role of CEO sustainability reporting style in the relationship between sustainability performance, sustainability reporting, and cost of equity," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(3), pages 429-465, April.
    18. Jongwon Park & Sunyoung Kim & Albert Tsang, 2023. "CEO Personal Hedging and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(1), pages 199-221, January.
    19. Li Cai & Jinhua Cui & Hoje Jo, 2016. "Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Firm Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 563-594, December.
    20. Jeffrey S. Harrison & Joyce van der Laan Smith, 2015. "Responsible Accounting for Stakeholders," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(7), pages 935-960, November.

    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:kap:jbuset:v:127:y:2015:i:2:p:459-478. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.