Dimensions of environmental values (to keep eyes opened) in the "green" field for eco-sustainability practices
From: Kagan, R. A., N. Gunningham, et al. (2003). "Explaining corporate environmental performance: How does regulation matter?" Law and Society Review 37(1): 51-90+1. (p. 57)... We based our assessment of each mill’s ‘‘environmental management style’’ on (1) managers’ ‘‘expressed attitudes’’ toward environmental problems, (2) managers’ actions and implementa- tion efforts to meet specific economic, regulatory, and community challenges, and (3) their explanations for those actions. We relied on our interview data to score each firm on three related dimensions of commitment to environmental values:
We sought to increase the validity of our assessment of each firm on these dimensions by coding the qualitative data separately so that all three members of our research team agreed on the same characterization of the firm’s environmental management style.
- the intensity of managerial scanning for environmentally relevant information, including the search for ‘‘win-win’’ expenditures identified as both environmentally good and economically desirable for the firm; >> my take: this practice (scanning for env. relevant info) might be useful for my study in understanding how the green culture is becoming more prevalent in the studied organisation.
- the management’s degree of responsiveness to environmentally relevant information, including demands from regulators, customers, neighbors, and environmental activists; >> my take: the responsiveness of the management (could be influenced by their own dispositions/habitus toward eco-sustainability) is also useful to understand how green culture is shaped and emerged into a more prevalent green field, and into the practice of Green IS in the organisation.
- the assiduousness with which the facility had institutionalized implementing routines to ensure high levels of environmental consciousness and control capacity (including activities such as self-auditing, employee training, and close integration of environmental and production-oriented training and decision making). >> my take: this is also relevant as the institutionalisation of Green IS as practice can only emerge as a function of the assiduous effort by the whole organisation across all levels, horizontal and vertical in recognising, taking action (using on frequent basis) and eventually institutionalising Green IS practice for eco-sustainability. However, the dynamic interactions among agents in the field, the resources (capital) available to them, their habituses, surrendering to certain symbolic violence, the influence of dominant and dominating power relations all come into play in making the practice to come to being must be understood as well. One thing for sure, the phenomenon is expected to be very COMPLEX AND HARD TO GRASP!
We sought to increase the validity of our assessment of each firm on these dimensions by coding the qualitative data separately so that all three members of our research team agreed on the same characterization of the firm’s environmental management style.