Corporate Environmental Strategy: A Perspective & a Theoretical Framework

Abstract

Recent times are witness to the business — environment debate becoming more frequent and also tempered with a greater sense of urgency. The present article begins by examining the business—environment interdependence and reasons for corporate environmentalism. Since environmental challenges can significantly alter the competitive context of organisations, they demand a strategic response from firms. The basic premise of the article is to present an analytical review of existing literature on Corporate Environmental Strategy (CES) in order to understand the range of environmental strategies available to organisations, examine the factors that influence the choice of a firm's green strategies and, advocate the outcomes of a well‐designed CES. Based on the review, the article goes on to suggest a theoretical framework for CES. The framework provides a useful representation of relationships between the dominant paradigm of the firm, factors influencing CES, the CES itself and its outcomes for the organization. It is hoped that the suggested relationships will help set an agenda for empirical research and also help firms in developing a competitive Environmental Strategy.