Proposing Stewardship Theory as an Alternate to Explain the Relationship between CSR and Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behavior

Abstract

The aim of the current analysis is to test the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employee’s pro-environmental behavior (E-PEB) with the mediating effect of servant leadership (SL). The data of the current study were collected from banking employees (n = 392) serving in different banks of Pakistan through a self-administered (paper–pencil method) questionnaire and analyzed by employing structural equation modeling (SEM). The empirical results revealed that CSR directly influences E-PEB; however, this relationship is better explained in the presence of SL as a mediator (mediation explained 35% variation in E-PEB). The findings of this analysis will help academia and the banking industry improve their understanding of CSR to shape employees’ environment-specific behavior. Further, these findings will also help to deal with climate change by engaging the bank employees in different environment-specific activities to improve the overall environmental footprint of a bank.