A Multilevel Model of Environmentally Specific Social Identity in Predicting Environmental Strategies: Evidence from Technology Manufacturing Businesses

Abstract

This study proposed a multilevel model of environmentally specific social identity based on upper echelons theory and examined how environmentally specific transformational leadership influenced the environmentally specific social identity of the top management team (TMT), which consequently influenced a corporation’s choices of proactive environmental strategies. Besides, the environmentally specific transformational leadership atmosphere at the TMT level also influenced the environmentally specific social identity atmosphere at the TMT level, which consequently influenced a corporation’s choices of proactive environmental strategies at the same time. In particular, this study proposed a novel concept–environmentally specific social identity based on social identity theory, including environmentally specific self-categorization, environmentally specific affective commitment, environmentally specific self-esteem. This study employed a hierarchical linear model and collected longitudinal data of 210 chief executive officers with their 840 members of TMTs at technology manufacturing businesses of Greater China at three waves over six months to analyze the theoretical model. This study found that individual-level environmentally specific transformational leadership and TMT-level environmentally specific transformational leadership (atmosphere) influenced individual-level environmentally specific social identity and TMT-level environmentally specific social identity (atmosphere), which consequently influenced proactive environmental strategies. These findings provide theoretical insights for the field of sustainable development that can advance the literature on proactive environmental strategies.