Under the Tip of the Iceberg: Absorptive Capacity, Environmental Strategy and Competitive Advantage
Although existing research evaluates how the adoption of proactive environmental strategies affects corporate performance, there is little understand-ing of the organizational mechanisms that link such strategies to competitive advantage. It is, therefore, unclear how environmental strategies relate to other management strategies that could lead to a competitive advantage. In this article, we analyze the organizational capabilities that underlie a firm’s ability to generate competitive advantage from the adoption of proactive environmental strategies. We develop and test a model where absorptive capacity facilitates the development of proactive environmental strategies that result in competitive advantage. Results from a survey of 157 German chemical firms strongly support the model.
Published Work | 2011 | Business and Society