Does environmental Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Organizational Competitiveness? What Factors are Involved in Sustaining their Relationship?

Abstract

Nowadays, the environmental decline has become a global dilemma. A lot of industrial practitioners, scholars, environmental legislatures, and businessmen these days agree that increasing air and water pollution, global warming, resource scarcity and the use of hazardous substances are all contributing factors to environmental degradation. Stakeholders are exerting heavy pressure on organizations to limit the adverse effects of their activities. Therefore, businesses need to shift from traditional to contemporary eco-friendly ways. However, in literature little attention has been devoted to green issues-especially in the developing countries. Thus, the study strives to bridge this gap by examining the influence of environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) on environmental performance and competitive advantage in Pakistan. The study also examines the mediating effects of green product innovation and green service innovation in a relationship of ECSR, with environmental performance and competitive advantage. Furthermore, moderating effects of organizational agility and individual green values for the relationship of ECSR and green innovation are also tested. A face to-face and online questionnaire survey was allocated to the middle-level employees of the manufacturing and service sectors of Pakistan in general and Lahore in particular. The data of 343 respondents were collected. WarPLS and SPSS 17 were used to further analysis the results of the study. The findings of the research not only contribute to the existing knowledge but also guide the policymakers and top management of corporate firms to minimize harmful emissions, water contamination, air pollution, waste, and energy conservation.