Institutional pressures and corporate environmental management maturity

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate environmental management strategies at different environmental management maturity (EMM) stages are influenced by institutional forces in the service sector organizations of a developing country. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a multiple case study approach in this study. Institutional isomorphic pressures (coercive, mimetic and normative) at different EMM stages were used as the analytical framework. Findings – The study finds coercive pressures largely shape the corporate environmental management strategiesatthereactivestagewhilemimeticpressureshavethegreatestinfluenceontheinternalintegration stage. Combined mimetic and normative pressures influence the environmental strategies at the external integration stage. Further, it emphasizes the importance of various institutional pressures in propelling the organizations in the developing countries to benefit from higher levels of EMM. Originality/value – This paper offers a new theoretical approach that highlights the importance of consideringtheinstitutionalinfluenceofthetop-downprocessofdiffusionandsimultaneouscounter-processof invention by which the lower level organizational actors shape and change their environmental management practices for corporate EMM.