Research Briefs

Gathering data on US facilities subject to the US Clean Air Act, researchers investigated a wide array of areas of environmental practice and regulation. What they found was that regulators interpret a facility’s voluntary disclosure of environmental violations as a signal of effective self-policing.

In this study, researchers looked at a number of widely used environmental performance indicators from the big ratings agencies and categorized their metrics into two broad categories of measures: environmental processes and environmental outcomes. The researchers found a better environmental processes score was linked to a higher market valuation of the firm.

Firms can realize both social and financial value from their environmental, social, and governance investments by maintaining consistent positive relationships with key stakeholders.

Individual retail investors follow data on economic performance indicators such as market share, product innovation and customer satisfaction data. It was found that investors wanted this CSR information from third party entities such as NGOs or rating agencies. Likewise, investors prefer economic performance and sustainability information to be available through assurance providers and third party entities.

From 1980-2009, companies with eco-harmful behavior were increasingly penalized with lower than predicted stock returns over ten years. Over that same time, ecologically responsible firms met with higher than predicted stock returns—but the margin by which returns exceeded expectations diminished with each decade.

Employees who value a volunteer program have stronger intentions to remain in an organization, take greater pride in belonging to an organization, and are more likely to actively defend and promote the organization externally. In exchange for the benefits they receive from a volunteer program, employees will go above and beyond expected and required tasks at work.

Employees who gave to employee support programs saw the company as more caring which affected their commitment to the company positively. Overall, employees who gave to the program experienced increased job satisfaction, as a result of stronger commitment and an improved perception of the company.

Organizations seeking to strengthen their environmental performance should appoint individuals with strong personal commitment to lead environmental efforts and provide budgetary and other forms of organizational support to emphasize their commitment.

Researchers find that by putting voluntary environmental standards in place, employee training and employee networks improve, and labor productivity improves by 16 percent.

Researchers looked at whether companies that were ISO 14001 certified were more likely to monitor and require higher environmental performance of their suppliers as well, and found support for green supply chain management.

Employees should utilize inspirational appeals, rational persuasion, and consultation when trying to build buy-in within their organization during the development of environmental projects. The study found that inspirational appeals are positively related to gaining the commitment of others.

Research finds that companies that proactively engage with their suppliers or customers on environmental issues may reap the rewards in performance. By working closely with suppliers and customers, research suggests that both environmental and manufacturing performance can be improved.