Abstract
Implementing environmental regulations in Pakistan remains an ideological thought with little or no enforcement. In this context, an organization’s sincerity towards corporate social responsibility initiatives is proven when it operates responsibly without regulatory pressures. Aimed at advancing the discourse on social identity and self-determination theories, this paper examines the influencing mechanism of multilevel responsible leadership on employees’ voluntary green behavior from a vertical perspective through leader identification and autonomous motivation for the environment. The sample included 357 employees working in 97 teams from pharmaceutical, cement manufacturing, and textile sector companies. Multi-source data were collected in two phases and analyzed with multilevel structural equation modeling through MPlus 8.3 software. The results support the hypothesized direct and mediating mechanisms of responsible leadership in shaping employees’ voluntary green behavior. Theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and future research suggestions are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Authors do not have permission to share data due to restrictions by the university.
References
Abbas, A., Chengang, Y., Zhuo, S., Manzoor, S., Ullah, I., & Mughal, Y. H. (2021). Role of responsible leadership for organizational citizenship behavior for the environment in light of psychological ownership and employee environmental commitment: A moderated mediation model. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(1), 01–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.756570
Abubakar, S. (2020). Pakistan 5th most vulnerable country to climate change, reveals Germanwatch report. DAWN. Retrieved April 23, 2022 from https://www.dawn.com/news/1520402
Afsar, B., Maqsoom, A., Shahjehan, A., Afridi, S. A., Nawaz, A., & Fazliani, H. (2020). Responsible leadership and employee’s proenvironmental behavior: The role of organizational commitment, green shared vision, and internal environmental locus of control. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(1), 297–312. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1806
Andersson, L., Jackson, S. E., & Russell, S. V. (2013). Greening organizational behavior: An introduction to the special issue. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(2), 151–155. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1854
Ashforth, B. E., & Mael, F. (1989). Social identity theory and the organization. Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 20–39. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1989.4278999
Chen, Y. S., & Chang, C. H. (2013). The determinants of green product development performance: Green dynamic capabilities, green transformational leadership, and green creativity. Journal of Business Ethics, 116(1), 107–119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1452-x
Daily, B. F., Bishop, J. W., & Govindarajulu, N. (2009). A conceptual model for organizational citizenship behavior directed toward the environment. Business & Society, 48(2), 243–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650308315439
Davis, C. G., Thake, J., & Vilhena, N. (2010). Social desirability biases in self-reported alcohol consumption and harms. Addictive Behaviors, 35(4), 302–311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2009.11.001
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
Faraz, N. A., Ahmed, F., Ying, M., & Mehmood, S. A. (2021). The interplay of green servant leadership, self-efficacy, and intrinsic motivation in predicting employees’ pro-environmental behavior. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 28(4), 1171–1184. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2115
Fleiss, J. (1999). Reliability of Measurement. In The design and analysis of clinical experiments (pp. 1–32). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118032923.ch1
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error: Algebra and statistics. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(3), 382–388. https://doi.org/10.2307/3150980
Gagné, M., & Deci, E. (2005). Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(4), 331–362. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.322
Geldhof, G. J., Preacher, K. J., & Zyphur, M. J. (2014). Reliability estimation in a multilevel confirmatory factor analysis framework. Psychological Methods, 19(1), 72–91. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032138
Graves, L. M., Sarkis, J., & Zhu, Q. (2013). How transformational leadership and employee motivation combine to predict employee proenvironmental behaviors in China. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 35, 81–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2013.05.002
Groves, K. S. (2011). Integrating leadership development and succession planning best practices. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 39(3), 64–81. https://doi.org/10.1109/EMR.2011.6019093
Gumusluoglu, L., Karakitapoğlu-Aygün, Z., & Scandura, T. A. (2017). A multilevel examination of benevolent leadership and innovative behavior in r&d contexts: A social identity approach. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 24(4), 479–493. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051817705810
Guo, Y. G., Zhu, Y. T., & Zhang, L. H. (2020). Inclusive leadership, leader identification and employee voice behavior: The moderating role of power distance. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00647-x
Han, Z., Wang, Q., & Yan, X. (2019a). How responsible leadership motivates employees to engage in organizational citizenship behavior for the environment: A double-mediation model. Sustainability, 11(3), 605. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030605
Han, Z., Wang, Q., & Yan, X. (2019b). How responsible leadership predicts organizational citizenship behavior for the environment in China. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 40(3), 305–318. https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj-07-2018-0256
He, J., Morrison, A. M., & Zhang, H. (2021). Being sustainable: The three-way interactive effects of CSR, green human resource management, and responsible leadership on employee green behavior and task performance. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 28(3), 1043–1054. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2104
Hofmann, W., Friese, M., & Strack, F. (2009). Impulse and self-control from a dual-systems perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4(2), 162–176. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01116.x
Islam, T., Khan, M. M., Ahmed, I., & Mahmood, K. (2020). Promoting in-role and extra-role green behavior through ethical leadership: Mediating role of green HRM and moderating role of individual green values. International Journal of Manpower, 42(6), 1102–1123. https://doi.org/10.1108/Ijm-01-2020-0036
Ismail, S. S. M., & Hilal, O. A. (2022). Behaving green who takes the lead? The role of responsible leadership, psychological ownership, and green moral identity in motivating employees green behaviors. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, early access. https://doi.org/10.1002/joe.22177
Kanwal, S. (2018). The environmental issues in Pakistan. The Frontier Post. Retrieved March 22 from https://thefrontierpost.com/the-environmental-issues-in-pakistan/
Kaplan, H., & Madjar, N. (2015). Autonomous motivation and pro-environmental behaviours among bedouin students in Israel: A self-determination theory perspective. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 31(2), 223–247. https://doi.org/10.1017/aee.2015.33
Kim, K. S., Sin, S. C. J., & Tsai, T. I. (2014). Individual differences in social media use for information seeking. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 40, 171–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2014.03.001
Kim, A., Kim, Y., Han, K., Jackson, S. E., & Ployhart, R. E. (2017). Multilevel influences on voluntary workplace green behavior: Individual differences, leader behavior, and coworker advocacy. Journal of Management, 43(5), 1335–1358. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206314547386
Li, Z., Xue, J., Li, R., Chen, H., & Wang, T. (2020). Environmentally specific transformational leadership and employee’s pro-environmental behavior: The mediating roles of environmental passion and autonomous motivation. Frontiers in Psychology, 11(1408). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01408
Liao, Z., & Zhang, M. (2020). The influence of responsible leadership on environmental innovation and environmental performance: The moderating role of managerial discretion. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(5), 2016–2027. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1942
Liao, Y., Liu, X. Y., Kwan, H. K., & Li, J. (2015). Work–family effects of ethical leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(3), 535–545. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2119-6
Lin, F. J. (2008). Solving multicollinearity in the process of fitting regression model using the nested estimate procedure. Quality & Quantity, 42(3), 417–426. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-006-9055-1
Lu, H., Xu, W., Cai, S., Yang, F., & Chen, Q. (2022). Does top management team responsible leadership help employees go green? The role of green human resource management and environmental felt-responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 29(4), 843–859. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2239
Maak, T., & Pless, N. M. (2006). Responsible leadership in a stakeholder society – a relational perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 66(1), 99–115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9047-z
Mael, F., & Ashforth, B. E. (1992). Alumni and their alma mater: A partial test of the reformulated model of organizational identification. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13, 103–123. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030130202
Maier, E. R., & Branzei, O. (2014). On time and on budget”: Harnessing creativity in large scale projects. International Journal of Project Management, 32(7), 1123–1133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2014.02.009
Miska, C., & Mendenhall, M. E. (2018). Responsible leadership: A mapping of extant research and future directions. Journal of Business Ethics, 148(1), 117–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2999-0
Norton, T. A., Parker, S. L., Zacher, H., & Ashkanasy, N. M. (2015). Employee green behavior:A theoretical framework, multilevel review, and future research agenda. Organization & Environment, 28(1), 103–125. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026615575773
Norton, T. A., Zacher, H., Parker, S. L., & Ashkanasy, N. M. (2017). Bridging the gap between green behavioral intentions and employee green behavior: The role of green psychological climate. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(7), 996–1015.
Osbaldiston, R., & Sheldon, K. M. (2003). Promoting internalized motivation for environmentally responsible behavior: A prospective study of environmental goals. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23(4), 349–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(03)00035-5
Pelletier, L. G., Tuson, K. M., Green-Demers, I., Noels, K., & Beaton, A. M. (1998). Why are you doing things for the environment? The motivation toward the environment scale (MTES). Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28(5), 437–468. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1998.tb01714.x
Pless, N. M. (2007). Understanding responsible leadership: Role identity and motivational drivers. Journal of Business Ethics, 74(4), 437–456. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9518-x
Pless, N. M., & Maak, T. (2011). Responsible leadership: Pathways to the future. Journal of Business Ethics, 98(1), 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1114-4
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
Preacher, K. J., Zyphur, M. J., & Zhang, Z. (2010). A general multilevel SEM framework for assessing multilevel mediation. Psychological Methods, 15(3), 209–233. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020141
Priyankara, H. P. R., Luo, F., Saeed, A., Nubuor, S. A., & Jayasuriya, M. P. F. (2018). How does leader’s support for environment promote organizational citizenship behaviour for environment? a multi-theory perspective. Sustainability, 10(1), 271. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/1/271. Accessed 15 Mar 2023
Robertson, J. L., & Barling, J. (2017). Toward a new measure of organizational environmental citizenship behavior. Journal of Business Research, 75, 57–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.02.007
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.55.1.68
Singh, S. K., Del Giudice, M., Chierici, R., & Graziano, D. (2020). Green innovation and environmental performance: The role of green transformational leadership and green human resource management. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 150(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2019.119762
Stahl, G. K., & Luque, M. S. (2014). Antecedents of responsible leader behavior: A research synthesis, conceptual framework, and agenda for future research. Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(3), 235–254. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2013.0126
Tian, H., & Suo, D. (2021). The trickle-down effect of responsible leadership on employees’ pro-environmental behaviors: Evidence from the hotel industry in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(21). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111677
Tuan, L. T. (2019). Effects of environmentally-specific servant leadership on green performance via green climate and green crafting. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 38(3), 925–953. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-019-09687-9
Ullah, I., Wisetsri, W., Wu, H., Shah, S. M. A., Abbas, A., & Manzoor, S. (2021). Leadership styles and organizational citizenship behavior for the environment: The mediating role of self-efficacy and psychological ownership. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 683101. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.683101
van Knippenberg, D., van Knippenberg, B., De Cremer, D., & Hogg, M. (2004). Leadership, self, and identity: A review and research agenda. The Leadership Quarterly, 15(6), 825–856. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2004.09.002
van Knippenberg, B., van Knippenberg, D., De Cremer, D., & Hogg, M. A. (2005). Research in leadership, self, and identity: A sample of the present and a glimpse of the future. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(4), 495–499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.06.006
Vexler, A., Wu, C., & Yu, K. F. (2010). Optimal hypothesis testing: From semi to fully bayes factors. Metrika, 71(2), 125–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00184-008-0205-4
Voegtlin, C. (2011). Development of a scale measuring discursive responsible leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 98(1), 57–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1020-9
Voegtlin, C., Frisch, C., Walther, A., & Schwab, P. (2019). Theoretical development and empirical examination of a three-roles model of responsible leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 167(1), 411–431. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04155-2
Walumbwa, F. O., & Hartnell, C. A. (2011). Understanding transformational leadership–employee performance links: The role of relational identification and self-efficacy. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 84(1), 153–172. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317910X485818
Wang, X., Zhou, K., & Liu, W. (2018). Value congruence: a study of green transformational leadership and employee green behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(1946). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01946
Wang, Y., Font, X., & Liu, J. (2020). Antecedents, mediation effects and outcomes of hotel eco-innovation practice. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 85, 102345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.102345
Wang, Y., Shen, T., Chen, Y., & Carmeli, A. (2021). CEO environmentally responsible leadership and firm environmental innovation: A socio-psychological perspective. Journal of Business Research, 126, 327–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.004
Xiao, X., Zhou, Z., Yang, F., & Qi, H. (2021). Embracing responsible leadership and enhancing organizational citizenship behavior for the environment: A social identity perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 632629. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.632629
Ye, J., Zhang, X., Zhou, L., Wang, D., & Tian, F. (2022). Psychological mechanism linking green human resource management to green behavior. International Journal of Manpower, (ahead-of-print). https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-11-2020-0508
Ying, M., Faraz, N. A., Ahmed, F., & Raza, A. (2020). How does servant leadership foster employees’ voluntary green behavior? a sequential mediation model. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(5), Article 1792. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051792
Yuriev, A., Boiral, O., Francoeur, V., & Paillé, P. (2018). Overcoming the barriers to pro-environmental behaviors in the workplace: A systematic review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 182, 379–394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.02.041
Zhang, Y., & Chen, C. C. (2013). Developmental leadership and organizational citizenship behavior: Mediating effects of self-determination, supervisor identification, and organizational identification. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(4), 534–543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.03.007
Zhang, Y., Zheng, Y., Zhang, L., Xu, S., Liu, X., & Chen, W. (2019). A meta-analytic review of the consequences of servant leadership: The moderating roles of cultural factors. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 38(1), 371–400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-018-9639-z
Zhang, J., Ul-Durar, S., Akhtar, M. N., Zhang, Y., & Lu, L. (2021). How does responsible leadership affect employees’ voluntary workplace green behaviors? A multilevel dual process model of voluntary workplace green behaviors. Journal of Environmental Management, 296, 113205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113205
Zhao, H., & Zhou, Q. (2019). Exploring the impact of responsible leadership on organizational citizenship behavior for the environment: A leadership identity perspective. Sustainability, 11(4), 944, Article 944. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11040944
Zhu, W., He, H., Trevino, L. K., Chao, M. M., & Wang, W. (2015). Ethical leadership and follower voice and performance: The role of follower identifications and entity morality beliefs. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(5), 702–718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.01.004
Funding
This study is supported by the Key Project of the National Social Science Foundation of China (21AJY016) and the major Project of the Social Science Achievement Appraisal Committee of Hunan Province (XSP21ZDA010).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics and informed consent
The researchers clarified the academic nature of the study and obtained approval from relevant authorities in organizations to proceed with data collection. The questionnaire included a clear statement assuring participants of complete anonymity, confidentiality, explained they had the right to withdraw anytime during the study, and that proceeding to fill in the questionnaire shall deem their informed consent. The study was non-invasive, did not involve any intervention or manipulation of the human subjects, and participants were not vulnerable to any physical or psychological harm. Responses were accessible by researchers only.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare there is no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Ahmed, F., Faraz, N.A., Xiong, Z. et al. The multilevel interplay of responsible leadership with leader identification and autonomous motivation to cultivate voluntary green behavior. Asia Pac J Manag (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-023-09893-6
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-023-09893-6