Corporate culture and strategy in environmental sustainability interventions

Abstract

The influence of corporate culture on the strategies used by firms to meet the environmental sustainability challenge has been explored in this dissertation. This was investigated through web-based questionnaires that were administered to employees in companies who would have knowledge of both their employer‟s corporate culture and corporate sustainability practices.To determine this, the respondents were requested to rate both the corporate strategies undertaken to meet the environmental challenge, as well as the corporate culture where they work. The corporate strategies were evaluated using a bespoke instrument which was constructed from various strategy instruments found in the literature. The corporate culture was evaluated using a well-known organisational culture instrument available in the literature. Potential contextual variables pertaining to the perceptions of the respondents, as well as to the business and industry sector characteristics, were evaluated as well.The findings indicated that the contextual variables had little or no effect on either the corporate culture or the corporate strategies undertaken by the firm, and that a strong comprehensive culture correlated strongly with positive corporate strategies. Corporate cultures that emphasise social coordination (or organic culture forms) exhibited stronger correlations with positive corporate strategies than those which emphasise formal control methods (or mechanistic forms). The focus of the firm, whether on internal dynamics or the external environment, did not show a significant effect on the corporate strategies that were undertaken by the firm.A sustainability culture was synthesised from the findings of the research, which concludes with recommendations regarding further research into this topic.