管理者解释如何影响企业环境战略选择:调节定向理论视角

How Do Managerial Interpretations Influence Firms’ Environmental Strategy Choices:The Perspective of Regulatory Focus Theory

环境问题已成为制约我国可持续发展的主要因素,企业应选择前瞻型环境战略以改善环境质量、建设生态文明。本文以调节定向理论为基础,从管理者微观主体对自然环境问题的解释出发,探讨管理者解释与企业环境战略选择的关系,明晰了调节定向的中介作用和组织结构的调节作用。通过对309家重污染企业的中高层管理者的实证分析发现:①管理者机会解释对企业前瞻型环境战略具有显著的正向预测效果,促进定向在两者关系中起到部分中介作用;管理者威胁解释促使企业采取反应型环境战略,防御定向在两者关系中起到完全中介作用。②与机械式组织结构相比,有机式组织结构能够强化促进定向与企业前瞻型环境战略的正向关系,弱化了防御定向与反应型环境战略的正向关系。

Environmental strategy refers to a pattern in actions over time in order to manage the interface between firms and the natural environment and it can be categorized into proactive and reactive environmental strategy.Then why do some firms pursue proactive environmental strategy while others choose reactive environmental strategy?In this study,we draw upon the regulatory fo?cus theory and explore the relationship among managerial interpretations,regulatory focus,and corporate environmental strategy.We also examine the moderating role of organization structure.We collected data from 309 heavy pollution firms to test our hypotheses.Our results show that managerial opportunity interpretation has a positive effect on proactive environmental strategy;promotion focus plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between managerial opportunity interpretation and proactive environmental strategy.We find that managerial threat interpretation has a positive effect on reactive environmental strategy;prevention focus plays a fully mediating role in the relationship between managerial threat interpretation and reactive environmental strategy.Our findings show that organization structure moderates the relationship between promotion focus and proactive environmental strategy.It appears that the positive relationship between promotion focus and proactive environment strategy is stronger when a firm*s organization structure is organic than when it is mechanical.Our study makes important contributions to the environmental strategy literature.We propose a new way to broaden the theoretical perspective of environmental strategy,and we use the regulatory focus theory to explore the mediating role of regulatory focus in the relationship between managerial interpretations and environmental strategy choices.