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Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis from the natural‐resource‐based view of the firm Elena Fraj Eva Martínez Jorge Matute

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To cite this document: Elena Fraj Eva Martínez Jorge Matute, (2013),"Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis from the natural#resource#based view of the firm", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 28 Iss 5 pp. 396 - 410 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/08858621311330245 Downloaded on: 26 October 2014, At: 19:59 (PT) References: this document contains references to 87 other documents. To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 1841 times since 2013*

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(2007),"Environmental management systems "must measure green performance"", Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 18 Iss 2 pp. Jerónimo de Burgos#Jiménez, Diego Vázquez#Brust, José A. Plaza#Úbeda, Jeroen Dijkshoorn, (2013),"Environmental protection and financial performance: an empirical analysis in Wales", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 33 Iss 8 pp. 981-1018 Lez Rayman#Bacchus, Sumita Sindhi, Niraj Kumar, (2012),"Corporate environmental responsibility – transitional and evolving", Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 23 Iss 6 pp. 640-657

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Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis from the natural-resource-based view of the firm
´ Elena Fraj, Eva Martınez and Jorge Matute
´ ´ Departamento de Direccion de Marketing e Investigacion de Mercados, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
Abstract Purpose – Following the natural resource based view of the firm, this paper seeks to analyse the influence of a green marketing strategy on the performance of business-to-business organisations. Also, it aims to explore the role of organisational resources as drivers of proactive environmental management. Design/methodology/approach – A model based on structural equations with partial least squares analysis is used to test the hypotheses. This model was tested on a sample of 181 industrial organisations. Findings – The findings confirm that managers indirectly play a key role in the design and development of green marketing strategies through the integration of environmental values into the organisational culture. They also reveal that, while market-oriented practices directly determine economic performance, internally oriented activities indirectly influence financial results through the improvement of the firm’s environmental performance. Research limitations/implications – This research partially integrates organisational resources as drivers of environmental behaviour, and does not explore the role of capabilities. The article proposes different implications considering the competitive consequences of a green marketing strategy. Practical implications – The article includes different practical implications about the effect of different environmental practices on different dimensions of organisational performance. It sheds light on the controversial link between environmental proactivity and performance. Originality/value – This research tests empirically some of the theoretical underpinnings of the natural resource based view of the company in an under-researched context like the business-to-business context. Keywords Green marketing strategy, Natural-resource-based view, Business-to-business context, Organisational performance, Business-to-business marketing Paper type Research paper

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An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.

1. Introduction
In recent decades, industry has not remained isolated from social and institutional pressures regarding environmental problems that have required managers to improve their firms’ environmental performance (Banerjee, 2002). Organisations’ support for sustainability issues has arisen due to moral and ethical mandates, legal pressures, legitimacy searching and competitive opportunities (Hart and Milstein, 2003). This has resulted in the environmental transformation of industrial activities, the substitution of obsolete technologies, the development of cleaner goods, and the adoption of environmental positions to align corporate behaviour with ´ market concerns (Aragon-Correa and Sharma, 2003). Unquestionably, organisational interest in environmental issues has recently received a great deal of attention from researchers, and different special issues on the topic have been
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published in several of the most salient journals. Despite this attention, some important questions still remain unclear. The debate about the competitive consequences of environmental management is still open, since some studies show a positive link between proactive strategies and performance (Christmann, 2000; Menguc and Ozanne, 2005) and others report that reactive firms obtain higher benefits under certain circumstances (Sarkis and Cordeiro, 2001; Jacobs et al., 2010). One of the main explanations for these heterogeneous findings is the lack of solid theoretical foundations, and this is reflected in a great amalgam of studies that include different variables, propose fragmented causal relationships and ´ employ diverse measurement procedures (Lopez et al., 2009). Therefore, academics and practitioners are still interested in some normative questions that have been given non-unanimous answers, for instance: does it really pay to be green? What organisational resources favour the implementation of proactive environmental strategies? (Hillman and Keim, 2001; Delmas et al., 2011).
The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support provided by the following sources: Plan Nacional I þ D þ i project (ECO2009-08283) and ´ GENERES project (ref. S-09, Departamento de Ciencia, Tecnologıa y ´ Universidad del Gobierno de Aragon y Fondo Social Europeo). Received 30 September 2011 Revised 10 February 2012 12 June 2012 Accepted 27 June 2012

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing 28/5 (2013) 396– 410 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0885-8624] [DOI 10.1108/08858621311330245]

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Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis ´ Elena Fraj, Eva Martınez and Jorge Matute

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2013 · 396 –410

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Moreover, environmental management has been underresearched in the context of business-to-business (B2B) relationships, since academics have been more interested in exploring how consumer firms, characterised by their high visibility and exposure to stakeholders, have been successful in implementing and communicating environmental practices. In the B2B context, the development of green marketing strategies is becoming essential for building long-term relationships, not only because of buyers’ demands for greener products and services (Sharma et al., 2010), but also because of their potential to contribute to the firm’s operational and environmental efficiency (Russo and Fouts, 1997). However, to date, few papers have been devoted to analysing how industrial firms develop green marketing strategies, what resources and capabilities affect their implementation, and what the main organisational consequences of integrating green issues into the supply chain are. In order to contribute to filling such gaps in the literature, this paper aims to analyse the influence of the development of proactive environmental marketing practices on the performance of B2B organisations. To do this, the paper employs Hart’s (1995) natural-resource-based view (NRBV) of the company, exploring: . the role of environmental culture and managerial support for environmental practices as drivers of green marketing strategy (GMS) in the B2B context; and . the impact of GMS on firms’ competitiveness, specifically studying its influence on financial and environmental performance. This work is structured as follows. First, we offer a literature review based on Hart’s (1995) NRBV of the firm, and explore the conceptualisation of GMS. Second, we propose a model that investigates the links between GMS, organisational resources and performance. Third, we present the research design, with emphasis on the data collection methods and measurement of variables. Fourth, the findings are presented based on a partial least squares analysis. Lastly, we discuss the main conclusions, managerial implications and limitations of this study.

2. The NRBV of the firm: the role of GMS
Contrary to the traditional views of strategic management, which consider that organisational strategy should act as a knee-jerk reaction to environmental pressures, Hart (1995) states that one of the most salient determinants for the development of new organisational capabilities comes from the restrictions of the natural environment. Theoretical underpinnings of the NRBV of the firm have their origin in Barney’s (1991) resource theory, which sustains that differences in organisational performance are a consequence of the heterogeneity of firms’ resources. Resources lead to the development of organisational capabilities that are usually complex, tacit, rare and difficult to copy, and that eventually influence performance by generating differentiation and cost advantages. The NRBV considers innovative environmental solutions as key elements in the generation of organisational capabilities that require firms to go beyond reactive and endof-pipe solutions. These capabilities are related to modern and innovative strategies like product stewardship, pollution prevention technologies, and the adoption of an 397

organisational culture based on the principles of sustainable development. Thus, the proactive integration of environmental issues into strategic management seeks to convert potential threats to the natural environment into competitive opportunities for organisations (Sharma et al., 2007). Hart’s (1995) theoretical arguments have been empirically tested in recent research, and the results suggest that environmental proactivity allows firms to improve their performance and to achieve competitive advantages (Judge and Douglas, 1998; Chow et al., 2008; Vachon and Klassen, 2008; Ates et al., 2012). ¸ Following the NRBV, as environmental pressures increase, firms are forced to create new strategies that should translate into competitive advantages (Gladwin, 1993). One of these new strategies, GMS, is related to the degree to which companies adjust their organisational and environmental objectives to improve the satisfaction of their customers’ expectations (Menon and Menon, 1997; Banerjee et al., 2003). GMS has been seen as a determinant of firms’ economic performance and of the generation of organisational capabilities such as new product performance (Baker and Sinkula, 2005). It involves actions aimed at responding to market demands for environmentally designed products and services, and practices related to logistics processes, and to the consideration of green aspects in pricing and communication strategies (Fuller, 1999). However, it cannot be seen as an isolated strategy focused on capturing the attention of greener buyers that aim to purchase environmentally certified goods (Crane, 2000). Rather, it encompasses all proactive, environmentally grounded actions that reveal a desirable corporate behaviour and that require a commitment from the whole organisation. Therefore, GMS is seen as a dynamic and flexible organisational strategy that stimulates internal capabilities and focuses on the firm’s desire to respond and be sensitive to diverse environmental and social concerns from various stakeholders (Polonsky, 1995). However, the concept of GMS has also been criticised by academics because of its weak conceptual and theoretical development (Rivera, 2007). One of these criticisms comes from the fact that the marketing literature focuses on business-to-consumer (B2C) markets, where firms are easily recognised by audiences and face stronger social pressures. While the positive competitive consequences of environmental marketing in the B2C sphere are now accepted, research on the integration of environmental practices in the B2B context remains under-explored (Sharma et al., 2010). Attention to the marketing-manufacturer interface is also scarce, in terms of a competitive scenario where organisations are responding to environmental pressures by trying to design a greener supply chain that involves suppliers and buyers in the development of sustainable environmental policies (Zhu and Sarkis, 2004). In this paper, we view GMS as an organisational strategy that encompasses all of the organisational activities that B2B firms carry out in order to satisfy their customers’ environmental demands. It therefore involves not only modifications of products and processes to align corporate behaviour to buyers’ demands, but also all the decisions aimed at externally communicating an environmentally responsible behaviour towards stakeholders.

Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis ´ Elena Fraj, Eva Martınez and Jorge Matute

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2013 · 396 –410

3. Proposed model and development of hypotheses
3.1 Managerial support of environmental practices and environmental culture as drivers of GMS Resources and capabilities have been shown to play a pivotal role within the NRBV. Organisational abilities related to continuous innovations, improving the shared vision of the organisational members, or to the firm’s adaptability to stakeholder pressures explain why companies are successful in the implementation of their environmental strategies (Christmann, 2000). But the literature has primarily focused on technological and operations-oriented assets as sources of operational and environmental efficiency, and little research aims to explore the potential of more intangible aspects (Russo and Fouts, 1997). Managers’ ethical backgrounds are frequently reflected in their choices, not only as individual consumers, but as decisions makers within their companies (Sharma and Nguan, 1999). Their individual values, ideals, knowledge of problems, or even lifestyles may, therefore, affect their decisions at work and determine organisational orientation towards the environment (Fryxell and Lo, 2003). Previous research has widely debated the extent to which decision makers’ personal characteristics are transferred into a professional ethic that aims to translate private values into the corporate vision, to achieve corporate excellence and to attain environmental leadership within an industry (Roome, 1992; Gadenne et al., 2006). On the one hand, some studies report that while managers may consider environmental values within their personal life, they are not good emissaries of the environment if sustainability is not an emergent issue within their industry (Fineman, 1997). On the other hand, several authors see the individual commitment of managers, owners or founders as being directly connected to environmental practices, including green supply chain management. For example, Ramus and Steger (2000) reported that managerial support for environmental protection is positively related to employees’ willingness to become involved in eco-initiatives. Menon and Menon (1997) saw managers concerned with sustainability values as the main catalysts of environmental integration. They discussed the power base of the “converts”, a term used to refer to managers who are becoming champions of environmental causes and that try to influence other organisational members’ views on the environment. If the degree of influence of these converts is high enough, their values, concerns and behaviours will determine other executives’ behaviours and influence the firm’s commitment towards the environment. However, this influence may be moderated by the level of dominance of the executive’s coalition within the organisation, and managerial concern for environmental leadership can be hindered if he/she does not ´ belong to a dominant group (Aragon-Correa et al., 2004). One of the consequences of managers’ support for environmental principles is their desire to integrate these values into the organisational culture. Banerjee (2002) observes that one dimension of corporate environmental behaviour involves the firm’s effort to create an internal climate in which organisational members share a set of values and beliefs related to environmental protection. While GMS refers to the degree of integration of environmental values within the strategic management process and marketing activities, environmental culture encompasses the extent to which organisational members recognise the legitimacy of 398

environmental issues. Rather than being limited to specific operational and commercial activities, environmental culture is revealed through employees’ support for environmental practices, and is frequently codified in mission, vision and procedure statements (Stone et al., 2004). Since it implies the generation and dissemination of environmental information and knowledge across functions, the adoption of organisational environmental culture is associated with the generation of central capabilities for the successful development of environmental practices. Such information is a key element for the generation of organisational learning that allows firms to construct impactful ideas and to implement management practices efficiently. Knowledge, because of its intangible nature, is a valuable organisational resource that acts as a catalyst in the implementation of environmental policy within strategic and operational areas (Marcus and Geffen, 1998). Moreover, organisational culture is related to a shared-vision capability, because it favours employees’ learning, creativity and support for eco-initiatives (Ramus and Steger, 2000), and enhances cross-functional integration capacity, favouring the coordination, communication and involvement of different areas and departments (Song and Montoya-Weiss, 2001). Since knowledge is a collective rather than an individual process, devoting resources to creating and maintaining an organisational climate that encourages environmental protection can facilitate the implementation of complex environmental transformations. For example, the existence of green cross-functional teams can facilitate internal dialogue not only between departments within the organisation, but also other organisations in the supply chain that contribute to the identification of environmental inefficiencies (Denison et al., 1996; Denton, 1999). From these arguments we expect that managerial support and environmental culture, as valuable resources, affect the implementation of activities related to GMS in B2B firms. Companies with a stronger environmental culture and with a managerial team that supports green causes will accumulate abilities related to environmental protection that will allow them to more efficiently implement environmental issues at an operational level. In addition, it is expected that managerial interest in sustainability issues will be reflected in an effort to create an organisational climate oriented towards sustainability. Thus, it is hypothesised that: H1. Managerial support for environmental protection positively affects the firm’s development of GMS in the B2B context. Environmental culture positively affects the firm’s development of GMS in the B2B context. Managerial support for environmental protection positively affects environmental culture in the B2B context.

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H2. H3.

3.2 The influence of GMS on organisational performance Numerous studies have previously analysed the relationship between the development of environmental strategies and organisational performance. For most organisations, aligning sustainability issues with shareholder value creation is still a challenge, and some see these as incompatible aims (Hart and Milstein, 2003). Obviously, sustainability requires firms to expand their economic responsibilities to social and

Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis ´ Elena Fraj, Eva Martınez and Jorge Matute

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2013 · 396 –410

environmental areas, and to devote resources to interacting with secondary stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations, environmental groups, etc. Thus, researchers and practitioners have been interested in similar questions, for instance: in a global and capitalist economy where organisations face important economic pressures, does it pay to become sustainable? Is expanding responsibilities to social and environmental areas in conflict with shareholder-value creation and capital market demands (Hillman and Keim, 2001)? Empirical research and theoretical developments have not led to unanimous conclusions about the link between sustainability and profit maximisation (Freedman and Jaggi, 1982; Karagozoglu and Lindell, 2000; Mathur and Mathur, 2000), mainly because of the scarcity of theoretical ´ foundations (Lopez et al., 2009). This lack of theoretical underpinnings is reflected in the heterogeneous employment of different variables to conceptualise and measure environmental management and its consequences. For example, previous studies have seen environmental performance as a proxy measure of the firm’s commitment towards the environment, while recent studies argue that environmental behaviour and performance are closely related and interdependent, but are different constructs (Zhu and Sarkis, 2004). Environmental performance is the most salient outcome of environmental management (Klassen and McLaughlin, 1996). Previous literature has shown how proactive practices typically favour the minimisation of pollution emissions and, thus, seek to improve environmental performance indicators (Hart and Ahuja, 1996; Melnyk et al., 2003). However, the impact of environmental management on environmental performance varies depending on the nature of the technical and organisational activities. Most traditional and reactive measures, which are related to end-of-process solutions, fail to have any real impact on improving environmental performance since they are oriented towards reducing pollution emissions from the moment they are released into ´ the environment (e.g. installation of filters on pipes) (AragonCorrea, 1998). On the other hand, innovative proactive practices aim to redesign or to develop new processes, products and technologies that allow organisations to eliminate environmental inefficiencies before they are generated. These methods do not focus on repairing damage that has already been done, but rather are oriented towards redesigning organisational practices and operations in order to reduce waste and consumption, and to prevent the excessive generation of pollutants (Sharma and Vredenburg, 1998). They are usually a consequence of self-organisational initiative and responsibility towards the environment and society, and not a knee-jerk reaction to social or legal pressures. This pollution prevention approach requires firms to undertake complex modifications of their technologies, products and processes (e.g. the implementation of integral management processes or reverse logistics), but its impact on environmental performance is stronger than that of reactive practices (Shrivastava, 1995). The development and implementation of proactive environmental strategies requires firms to identify all the environmental impacts of their organisational, productive and commercial activities. In this process, firms must devote technical and financial resources and time to identifying environmental risks that will have a material impact on their financial performance (Miller and Cardinal, 1994). In 399

addition, environmental investments do not always have support from the market, and buyers frequently reject environmental products with higher prices or perceive them as being inferior in terms of quality (Karagozoglu and Lindell, 2000). Contrary to these views, some academics see proactive environmental strategies as a source of cost and differentiation advantage (Porter and van der Linde, 1995). Identifying and preventing environmental risks also allows firms to find new ways to cut operational costs, reduce consumption, re-use products and materials, or differentiate their image from that of their competitors (Ambec and Lanoie, 2008). Opportunities to reduce costs from greener practices mainly come from the introduction of operational modifications that allow companies to reduce consumption of supplies, substitute raw materials with recycled and cheaper alternatives, or recycle or re-utilise components that were previously discarded (Vachon and Klassen, 2008). Moreover, the simplification of processes and the avoidance of economic fines and sanctions contribute to reducing costs and avoiding poor environmental performance (Vastag et al., 1996). Focusing on differentiation advantages, GMS is related to sales growth (Baker and Sinkula, 2005), new product success (Pujari et al., 2003) and the capability of charging higher prices for environmental products (Stead and Stead, 1995). In the B2B context, it has been observed that large companies can become more credible by emphasising their environmental activities to their organisational customers (Drumwright, 1994). Initiatives related to environmental certifications, eco-labelling or eco-design may open new market opportunities for environmentally-oriented companies generating first-to-market-advantages (Bellas and Nentl, 2007). It is also argued that organisational buyers prefer to establish close working relationships or formal partnerships with environmentally certificated sellers (Klassen and Johnson, 2004). The optimisation of the firm’s environmental performance may also exert a positive impact on financial indicators. As highlighted above, environmentally proactive companies implement activities that have an immediate impact on environmental performance and allow them to reduce exploitation and liability costs, and to benefit from pioneer ´ advantages (Lopez et al., 2009). Apart from a material impact on consumption and waste management, these practices also influence stakeholders’ perceptions in such a way that the diffusion of environmental performance information opens access to new market segments, institutional financial support, and favourable evaluations from stockholders (Hamilton, 1995). Indeed, some studies report that improving environmental performance indicators allows companies to increase their value in the capital markets (Konar and Cohen, 2001). Prior research focusing on analysing social communications also suggests that organisations can benefit from publishing social and environmental reports. Richardson and Welker (2001) found that financial markets’ reactions to social disclosure were different from reactions to financial disclosure. However, the existence of such a positive link is determined by the nature of the social activity reported. For instance, Godfrey et al. (2009) found that reporting about social initiatives aimed at a secondary stakeholder or society at large provides an “insurance-like” benefit. On the contrary, announcements about social activities that involve technical modifications yield no such benefits. Similarly, financial institutions typically

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Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis ´ Elena Fraj, Eva Martınez and Jorge Matute

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2013 · 396 –410

perceive higher risks in investing in firms with poor environmental performance, and usually demand a higher risk premium from these companies or directly deny them credit (Henriques and Sadorsky, 1999). Consequently, it is expected that GMS will entail internal improvements in the organisational processes that will allow companies to reduce environmental damage and, eventually, to increase profitability. In addition, the optimisation of a firm’s environmental performance will lead it to achieve a superior performance overall, by reducing impacts and consumptions and by enhancing key stakeholders’ perceptions of the company. Thus, it is hypothesised that: H4. H5.
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H6.

GMS positively influences environmental performance in the B2B context. GMS positively influences economic performance in the B2B context. Environmental performance positively influences economic performance in the B2B context.

Figure 1 shows the theoretical model and the hypotheses underlying it. It proposes environmental culture and managers’ support for environmental practices as drivers of GMS. Moreover, it explores whether firms that develop proactive environmental initiatives attain significantly better economic and financial performance in the B2B context.

4. Method
4.1 Sample and data collection Data was obtained from a survey mailed to 2,098 industrial organisations’ environmental managers operating in a European country. This target population was extracted from a purchased database and covered firms operating in various industrial sectors, and with a minimum of 150 employees. The choice of the target population was made on the basis of: . its importance for the economy of the country; . the size of the organisation, because larger firms tend to be more aware of their environmental impacts; and . the broad range of environmental practices and situations that companies pertaining to different sectors are involved in. Figure 1 Proposed model and hypotheses

The most relevant sectors within this population were food, textiles, wood and paper, non-mineral, chemical, machinery, metallurgy, electronics, furniture, automobiles and other organisations. In order to improve the response rate, managers were given the option of receiving a report with the main conclusions of the study, once it had been completed. One month after the first mailing, a reminder was sent to the organisations’ environmental managers. Some 361 valid questionnaires were received, giving a response rate of 17.20 per cent. Of the 361 questionnaires, 181 were returned by firms that exclusively operated in B2B contexts, and 180 were from organisations involved in business-toconsumer, business-to-retailer, or mixed practices. t-Tests revealed no differences between B2B and B2C organisations in terms of the variables studied. However, when testing these differences for individual items, B2C companies were more intensively implementing certain activities related to environmental communications and positioning. This can be explained by the high levels of visibility of B2C organisations, who find it desirable to implement these measures to gain social legitimacy (Bowen, 2000). Almost 71 per cent of the respondents reported being environmental managers or deputies, and the remainder were general managers or persons in charge of departments such as marketing, engineering or research and development. t-Tests revealed no differences between the environmental managers’ responses and those of other managers. Non-response bias was analysed following Armstrong and Overton’s (1977) procedure, and revealed no differences between early and later respondents. In addition, the common method bias was examined using Harman’s one-factor test (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986). All the variables (excluding environmental performance, which was conceived as a formative construct) were entered into an exploratory factor analysis. The results revealed that no single factor emerged from this analysis, and that there was no single factor that could account for the majority of the variance, thus suggesting that common method bias was not a major problem in this research. 4.2 Measurement of variables The variables in the study were measured through different scales elaborated as a result of an exhaustive literature review (Table I). However, to measure GMS we designed a novel

400

Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis ´ Elena Fraj, Eva Martınez and Jorge Matute

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2013 · 396 –410

Table I Measurement of variables
Variable Managerial support for environmental practices (Banerjee et al., 2003) Environmental culture (Banerjee, 2002; Banerjee et al., 2003) Items MSEP1 MSEP2 MSEP3 EC1 EC2 EC3 EC4 EC5 EC6 GMS1 GMS2 GMS3 GMS4 GMS5 GMS6 GMS7 GMS8 GMS9 GMS10 GMS11 GMS12 GMS13 GMS14 ECP1 ECP2 ECP3 ECP4 ECP5 ENP1 ENP2 ENP3 ENP4 ENP5 ENP6 ENP7 ENP8 ENP9 The top management team in our firm is committed to environmental preservation Our firm’s environmental efforts receive full support from our top management. Our firm’s environmental strategies are driven by the top management team. Environmental issues are very relevant to the major function of our firm At our firm, we make a concerted effort to make every employee understand the importance of environmental preservation We try to promote environmental preservation as a major goal across all departments Our firm has a clear policy statement urging environmental awareness in every area of operations Environmental preservation is a high priority activity in our firm Preserving the environment is a central corporate value in our firm Use environmental considerations in product design Use ecological and clean materials in packaging Develop market research to detect green needs in the market Launch green-positioned brands onto the market Use recycled or re-usable containers in logistics Use recycled or re-usable materials in our products Consider environmental issues in distribution and reverse logistics systems Select cleaner transportation systems Provide information about environmental management to consumers and institutions Form green alliances or collaboration agreements with governmental agencies Employ green arguments in advertising and promotions Use eco-labels or environmental certification Provide sponsorship or patronage for environmental groups or events Consider environmental aspects within price policy Firm’s profitability Sales growth Firm’s economic results Profit before tax Market share Generation of atmospheric emissions Dumping and toxic waste Transportation systems Territory occupation Biodiversity Noise Impact on landscape and ecosystems Renewable resources consumption Non-renewable resources consumption

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Green marketing strategy (ad hoc scale based on different authors and a qualitative approach)

Economic performance (Sharma and Vredenburg, 1998; ´ ´ Gonzalez-Benito and Gonzalez-Benito, 2005b, etc.) Environmental performance (Klassen and McLaughlin, 1996; ´ Lopez et al., 2009, etc.)

scale based on both the literature review and on a qualitative approach that consisted of the development of in-depth interviews with seven managers working within the industrial sector. These interviews were semi-structured and their duration ranged between 60 and 90 minutes. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed using NudistNVivo software. The data was supplemented with additional information in the form of sustainability reporting, advertising and communications material, etc. Coherently with current conceptualisations of GMS, the final scale included a plethora of activities that help firms to attain their environmental, economic and marketing objectives (Table I). It consisted of 14 items that managers had to evaluate in terms of the degree of implementation of different activities within their organisations (1 ¼ nil intensity; 5 ¼ high intensity). 401

To measure top management support for environmental practices and organisational environmental culture, we employed the scales proposed in Banerjee’s (2002) study, and subsequently validated in Banerjee et al. (2003). These five-point Likert scales collected different propositions where managers had to indicate their degree of agreement (1 ¼ total disagreement; 5 ¼ complete agreement). Managers’ support for environmental practices included three items involving aspects relating to the degree of executives’ commitment to environmental preservation, managerial team support for the firm’s environmental progress, and their roles as drivers and coordinators of such policies. The firm’s environmental culture scale referred to the degree of integration of the environmental values into the organisational culture. It collected six items that assessed facets relating to the efforts of the organisation towards inculcating environmental values

Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis ´ Elena Fraj, Eva Martınez and Jorge Matute

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2013 · 396 –410

in their employees, establishing a formal environmental policy, and internally communicating the importance of environmental protection. Since executives are usually less reluctant to offer subjective information than to provide objective data involving their organisations’ performance, this aspect was also measured by means of a subjective procedure. To capture economic performance, a five-item scale adapted from other studies ´ (Sharma and Vredenburg, 1998; Gonzalez-Benito and ´ Gonzalez-Benito, 2005b) was designed. It included items involving pecuniary indicators of the firm’s performance, such as profitability, sales growth, overall results, profit before tax and market share. The answers were on a five-point Likert scale where managers had to indicate the position of their company by comparing it with the performance of their main competitors (1 ¼ compared to our competitors, our position is much worse; 5 ¼ compared to our competitors, our position is much better). The environmental performance scale covered nine items which the environmental managers had to evaluate using a five-point Likert scale (1 ¼ nil impact; 5 ¼ high impact), according to the impact on their organisations of different facets relating to atmospheric emissions, waste, land occupation, biodiversity, consumption of resources, etc. This conception of environmental performance is coherent with Klassen and McLaughlin (1996), who view it as a measurement of the impact of organisational activity on the environment. It should be noted that, while the other scales can be considered reflective because the concept they measure antecedes the indicators, the environmental performance scale is essentially formative. The different items that compose the different organisational impacts on the environment build the construct and may have a relative importance (Chin, 1998a). For example, although one organisation may exert a high impact on the landscape and ecosystems, its emphasis on the consumption of renewable resources does not necessarily have to be high. Therefore, indicators do not necessarily have to be correlated as the construct is reflective. Considering that the sample includes organisations from different industries with different operations, processes and technologies, this is even clearer, since the industries will have dissimilar patterns of environmental impact (one indicator can have a high weight in one industry and have minor relevance in others). Therefore, it is the combination of these variant measures (different indicators of environmental performance) which defines the construct of environmental performance (Petter et al., 2007). Consequently, for this scale, each indicator captures different aspects of environmental performance, and as a result, the construct should be interpreted as formative.

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development of the structural model, the initial psychometric properties of the reflective scales were examined (Bontis, 1998) through an exploratory factor analysis. Cronbach’s a values for all the scales, as can be seen in Tables II and III, were above the critical threshold of 0.7, which guarantees their internal consistency. At this stage, items ECP2 and ECP5 were deleted because of their low correlation with the rest of the scale. Exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation revealed the unidimensionality of managerial support, environmental culture and economic performance scales. Factor analysis for the GMS scale revealed the existence of two different dimensions that explained 62.12 per cent of the variance (Table III). The first dimension covers activities that involve complex environmental transformations of products and processes that have a major potential for reducing environmental impact. The second encompasses activities that organisations carry out with the purpose of improving their relationships with external stakeholders such as society, their clients or the community. Activities included in this factor do not require firms to incorporate complex changes into their processes, but can be seen as tactical decisions that allow them to project an image of environmental responsibility in the marketplace. The first dimension was named process-oriented GMS (POGMS), and the second was called market-oriented GMS (MOGMS). It should be noted that this multi-dimensional solution is consistent with previous research. For example, Menon and Menon (1997) theoretically conceived environmental marketing as a multidimensional construct according to the strategic nature of environmental decisions. Strategic and quasi-strategic dimensions referred to product and process transformation (implementation of pollution prevention technologies, ecodesign, etc.), in which the main motivation is to improve Table II Exploratory factor analysis and reliability of managerial support for environmental practices, environmental culture and economic performance scales
Items Factor loading

Managerial support for environmental practices (MSEP)a MSEP1 0.94 MSEP2 0.93 MSEP3 0.90 Economic performance (ECP)b ECP1 ECP3 ECP4 Environmental culture (EC)c EC1 EC2 EC3 EC4 EC5 EC6

0.89 0.94 0.90

5. Results analysis
The data obtained was analysed using the partial least squares (PLS) statistical regression method (Grey and Meister, 2004). The reason for selecting this technique lies in its advantages over covariance-based methods, since PLS facilitates the simultaneous utilisation of formative and reflective scales (Chin, 1998b; Haenlein and Kaplan, 2004), and new and previously validated measurement instruments (Holland, 1999). In addition, it is less sensitive to sample size compared to covariance-based methods (Chin, 1998a). The PLS method allows researchers to simultaneously assess measurement and structural models. Before the 402
0.84 0.86 0.88 0.86 0.91 0.86

Notes: aVariance explained ¼ 85:8 per cent, a ¼ 0:91; bvariance explained ¼ 83:5 per cent, a ¼ 0:90; cvariance explained ¼ 75:3 per cent, a ¼ 0:93

Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis ´ Elena Fraj, Eva Martınez and Jorge Matute

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2013 · 396 –410

Table III Exploratory factor analysis and reliability of the GMS scale
Items GMS1 GMS2 GMS3 GMS4 GMS5 GMS6 GMS7 GMS8 GMS9 GMS10 GMS11 GMS12 GMS13 GMS14 Factor 1: Process-oriented (POGMS) 0.87 0.83 0.36 0.36 0.81 0.83 0.82 0.39 0.17 0.14 0.02 0.13 0.12 0.19 Factor 2: Market-oriented (MOGMS) 0.18 0.16 0.68 0.64 0.07 0.20 0.30 0.70 0.71 0.70 0.61 0.73 0.73 0.67

Notes: Total variance explained ¼ 68:33 per cent; POGMS a ¼ 0:89, MOGMS a ¼ 0:87

environmental performance and require larger investments and co-operation from other members of the supply chain. More tactical levels include reversible and short-term focus decisions (green advertising, environmental positioning, communications, etc.), the implementation of which is frequently the responsibility of the marketing department. In this line, Rivera (2007) also distinguished between operational and commercial-market dimensions of ´ environmental marketing strategy. Gonzalez-Benito (2005a, b) also defended the idea that the environmental proactivity construct is comprised of different dimensions that are affected differently by diverse economic, market, ethical and social motivations; and which influence the different dimensions of corporate performance, depending on the nature of each dimension. Having explored the validity and reliability of the scales, the structural model was validated using SmartPLS 2.0 (Ringle et al., 2005) through a bootstrapping procedure of 500 subsamples. In this process, to guarantee convergent validity, indicators GMS4 and GMS11 were excluded because their factorial loadings were inferior to 0.6. The results obtained from the model’s validation process are shown in Table IV. Once again, the reliability indicators show acceptable levels, and their reliability and average variance extracted (AVE) indicators exceed the minimum thresholds. It is important to note that, for the formative construct, the weights indicate the relative importance of each indicator in the dependence formation. Formative indicators of the environmental performance construct do not have to be correlated and, consequently, traditional reliability analyses cannot be applied in this case. In addition, following Bollen and Lennox (1991), items with non-significant weights were not discarded, in order to preserve content validity. SPSS also confirmed the inexistence of multicollinearity for this construct, since the VIF value was below 3.3 (Diamantopoulos and Siguaw, 2006). To assess discriminant validity, we compared every construct AVE indicator with the correlations between such variables (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). As can be seen in Table 403

V, the model does not present discriminant validity problems since the squared roots of the AVE indicators are above the correlation values. Having validated the measurement model, the next step consisted of the evaluation of the structural model through a bootstrapping procedure. The predictive capacity of this model was confirmed, since the R2 values for all the predicted variables in the model are above the minimum threshold of 0.1 (Falk and Miller, 1992), which allows us to evaluate the significance of the structural parameters (Table VI). It should be highlighted that, at this stage, the two main factors obtained in the exploratory factor analysis for the GMS construct have been considered as independent factors. This will allow us to analyse the relationships between variables independently, and therefore to obtain richer and more disaggregated information about the structural parameters that constitute the proposed model. As a consequence, H1, H2, H4 and H5, which involve the direct antecedents and consequences of the GMS, are built as double hypotheses where two relationships will be examined. On the basis of the results of the structural model, H1 cannot be supported. The influence of managerial support for environmental practices on the degree of implementation of GMS is positive, but not significant. However, firms with a strong environmental culture are also more intensive in terms of their development of GMS at process and market levels, confirming H2. Moreover, as expected, managerial support for environmental issues favours the creation of a stronger environmental culture, thus supporting H3. These findings suggest that top executives are not directly involved in the design and implementation of GMS, but their commitment to environmental protection is materialised in their effort to create an internal environmentally responsible climate. The findings also show that operationally focused GMS positively influences environmental performance. However, marketoriented actions do not have a significant impact on this variable. This result is not surprising, since market-oriented practices involve decisions relating to the firm’s desire to project an image of environmental responsibility, but do not imply the tangible modification of products and processes. This finding leads us to partially support H4. Coherently with the nature of the dimensions of GMS, only market-oriented practices positively influence economic performance. Developing environmental activities that differentiate the company from its competitors may allow it to increase sales or to impose higher prices on their products. However, the influence of process-oriented practices on economic performance is not direct, but rather is indirect through economic performance. These activities allow companies to improve their environmental performance by reducing pollutants and consumption or by managing resources more rationally, which, in turn, will have a positive influence on economic results. Figure 2 summarises the significant paths in the structural model.

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6. Conclusions, implications for management and limitations of the study
The purpose of this research was to test empirically the effect of GMS on firm performance and the extent to which this strategy is driven by intrinsic organisational resources such as managerial support for environmental practices and environmental culture. Thus, this study contributes to the

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Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2013 · 396 –410

Table IV Reliability and convergent validity of the structural model
Item Loading 0.94 * * * 0.93 * * * 0.90 * * * Weight N/A 100.15 75.24 44.77 0.93 0.84 * * * 0.86 * * * 0.88 * * * 0.86 * * * 0.91 * * * 0.86 * * * N/A 38.54 34.79 48.47 39.57 69.99 37.57 0.89 0.87 * * * 0.84 * * * 0.82 * * * 0.83 * * * 0.82 * * * N/A 43.60 26.89 25.53 26.67 26.02 0.87 0.72 * * * 0.70 * * * 0.74 * * * 0.73 * * * 0.69 * * * 0.73 * * * 0.72 * * * N/A 16.22 14.72 18.75 18.25 15.21 18.78 19.74 N/A N/A 0.51 * * * 0.32 * * 0.14 0.14 0.35 * * 0.26 * * 0.18 * 0.27 * 0.38 * * 2.80 2.42 1.04 1.00 2.42 2.06 1.67 1.71 2.46 0.91 0.89 * * * 0.94 * * * 0.91 * * * N/A 32.82 81.81 51.57 0.94 0.83 N/A N/A 0.89 0.52 0.91 0.70 0.95 0.75

t-value

Cronbach’s a 0.92

Compose reliability 0.94

Extracted variance 0.85

MSEP MSEP1 MSEP2 MSEP3 EC EC1 EC2 EC3 EC4 EC5 EC6
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POGMS GMS1 GMS2 GMS5 GMS6 GMS7 MOGMS GMS3 GMS8 GMS9 GMS10 GMS12 GMS13 GMS14 ENP ENP1 ENP2 ENP3 ENP4 ENP5 ENP6 ENP7 ENP8 ENP9 ECP ECP1 ECP3 ECP4

Notes: See Tables I-III; *p , 0:10; * *p , 0:05; * * *p , 0:01

literature by explicitly testing the path process between different relevant variables that reinforce the NRBV of the company, and clarifying how organisational resources determine organisational commitment to the environment. The findings suggest that GMS in the B2B context encompasses two different dimensions that involve activities that differ radically in their orientation. On the one hand, process-oriented activities refer to environmental actions, including transformations of products and internal processes, that are aimed at reducing environmental impact. Decisions 404

relating to eco-design, the substitution of materials or the implementation of green logistics are environmental decisions that require substantial internal modifications that allow industrial companies to improve their environmental performance. On the other hand, market-oriented activities are undertaken with the purpose of projecting externally a greater environmental commitment. This dimension does not require complex organisational changes, but may be useful in capturing the attention of industrial buyers who seek to

Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis ´ Elena Fraj, Eva Martınez and Jorge Matute

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2013 · 396 –410

Table V Discriminant validity
MSEP MSEP EC POGMS MOGMS ENP ECP 0.92 0.71 0.26 0.36 0.20 0.35 EC 0.86 0.55 0.63 0.25 0.28 POGMS MOGMS ENP ECP

0.83 0.12 0.34 0.20

0.72 0.29 0.43

N/A 0.33

0.91

Notes : Figures on the diagonal indicate the square root of the AVE; figures not on the diagonal show estimated correlations; see Tables I-III

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establish relationships with environmentally responsible suppliers. In relation to organisational resources, the findings show that firms with a strong environmental culture tend to integrate environmental issues into their marketing strategies more intensively. This occurs because creating an environmental culture means generating and disseminating information across levels and departments to allow decision makers to develop tacit and valuable knowledge around environmental strategies. Companies that allocate resources to creating an internal climate oriented towards sustainability issues, that promote employee participation in eco-initiatives, or that simply codify this commitment into formal policies and norms, will more efficiently transfer environmental values into specific strategies and actions. Therefore, prior to the Table VI Structural model
Hypothesis Path MSEP ! GMS EC ! GMS MSEP ! EC GMS ! ENP GMS ! ECP ENP ! ECP
2 2

development of an environmental transformation, firms need to devote resources to developing their organisational capabilities, in order to create new knowledge that is relevant for different organisational areas (Marcus and Geffen, 1998). This is especially significant in the industrial context, where technological, environmental, marketing, social and managerial issues are frequently closely related. Thus, the existence of cross-functional teams involved in the design and development of proactive environmental initiatives can benefit companies by improving coordination and integration, and favouring innovation (Denison et al., 1996). Indeed, Denton (1999) highlights that employee involvement is essential in improving pollution control, and that the existence of cross-functional green teams facilitates cooperation and knowledge sharing in order to solve environmental inefficiencies. However, developing an environmental culture is not an easy task, since employees often have little knowledge of environmental issues in their personal life, or in their organisations. As discussed by Macnaghten (2003, p. 80), institutional and organisational initiatives should begin from “people’s concern for themselves, their families and localities as points of connection for the wider, ‘global’ environmental issues”. In addition, firms should consider that knowledge creation can result from interactions with internal members, but also arise as a result of co-operation with external stakeholders (Poncelet, 2004). As recently argued by Delmas et al. (2011), firms that have previously established research

Standardised b 0.064 0.077 0.501 0.632 0.679 0.295 0.022 0.012 0.291 0.248
2 2

Bootstrap t-value 0.83 0.67 5.78 * * * 9.57 * * * 15.63 * * * 2.26 * * 0.17 0.15 3.33 * * * 2.18 * *

Hypothesis verification Rejected Supported Supported Partially supported Partially supported Supported

H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6

MSEP ! POGMS MSEP ! MOGMS EC ! POGMS EC ! MOGMS MSEP ! EC POGMS ! ENP MOEMS ! ENP POGMS ! ECP MOGMS ! ECP ENP ! ECP
2

Notes: R ðPOGMÞ ¼ 0:21; R ðMOGMÞ ¼ 0:35; R ðECÞ ¼ 0:46; R ðENPÞ ¼ 0:11; R ðECPÞ ¼ 0:16; see Tables I-III

Figure 2 Results of the structural model

405

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Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2013 · 396 –410

partnerships will be more efficient in the building of new capabilities relating to emerging environmental technologies. However, managerial support for environmental practices does not directly determine the development of process- and market-oriented GMS, though it does determine organisational environmental culture. This result could indicate that environmental managers see top managers as not being directly involved in the design and development of more operational environmental practices. This does not mean that executives’ environmental values and visions are not reflected in their professional life, however. As explained by Wycherley (1999), environmental activities reflect a “way of life”, and top managers’ and founders’ visions about the environment are filtered through the whole organisation. However, certain operational and environmentally friendly purchasing practices are the consequence of middlemanagement support (Carter et al., 1998; Walker et al., 2008). Thus, the influence of top management on environmental culture indicates that managerial involvement in environmental protection practices is at the corporate level, and that middle and lower managers are responsible for implementing specific tactics and strategic actions. According to our findings, process-oriented GMS does not directly determine firms’ economic results, but rather is seen indirectly through environmental performance. Incorporating green aspects into product design or into production and logistics processes may initially bring about complex modifications and higher costs. However, the results indicate that developing proactive initiatives at this level pays, and that it drives industrial firms not only to reduce environmental impacts, but also to achieve superior performance. Environmental operational modifications require firms to reduce waste and emissions and to substitute pollutants, which positively determines environmental performance but, eventually, contributes to cost reductions, operational improvements and organisational efficiency. On the contrary, because of its commercial and externally oriented nature, market-oriented practices do not influence environmental performance, but do directly determine economic indicators. Implementing actions to communicate the firm’s environmental responsibility may bring about opportunities to increase sales and revenues and gain market share. As previously noted, industrial buyers frequently give priority to suppliers that meet certain environmental standards. However, environmental certifications have limited impact with regards to differentiating firms, since they have become widespread standards that the great majority of companies have adopted. Environmental marketing actions may allow industrial firms to go further and to inform and communicate their green practices more efficiently, which, in turn, will differentiate them from their competitors. In any case, market-oriented practices should not be seen as a business panacea to project a desirable image in a scenario where consumer and financial markets penalise undesirable behaviours. Understanding MOGMS as a set of isolated activities that can occasionally be employed to dispel a “bad reputation” can be interpreted by stakeholders as a “legitimacy-search” tactic, rather than a truly environmental shift. This raises relevant questions for academics and practitioners: what is the real motivation behind certain market-oriented practices? Is environmental positioning and image a consequence of a real internal transformation, or is it 406

merely a short-term market-motivated decision? How can organisations differentiate themselves through environmental or social positioning? Are organisations sincere and credible when disclosing environmental information, or are they just trying to provide candid information about good environmental news? In industrial markets, where the adoption of ecological positioning seems less attractive than in B2C contexts, adherence to an environmental norm is a prerequisite to accessing certain clients that demand their suppliers to be certified. However, being certified does not imply that environmental management is optimal, and when facing certain requirements, an organisation may encounter obstacles in meeting such demands (e.g. changes in product design, problems related to the use of recoverable packaging or containers, etc.). Yet few companies seem to understand that adopting a proactive, environmentally oriented philosophy requires them to support their information and communicational practices with tangible changes to products and processes, such as packaging modifications, replacement of polluting materials, renewable energy use, etc. Without these changes, companies can be seen to be using false “pseudo-green marketing” that will eventually generate distrust among consumers and adversely affect corporate reputation. Thus, for small businesses, being environmentally certified is a necessary prerequisite for accessing certain clients, but is not a strategy for differentiating themselves in industrial markets. However, the adoption of more proactive positions can allow companies to go a step further, in terms of adapting their strategies towards the needs of the value chain, increasing the flexibility of their processes and enhancing their innovativeness and gaining the trust of customers. Despite the evidence in these findings that there exist potential benefits associated with GMS, managers of B2B organisations should be aware that the “greening” of the supply chain requires firms to implement more integrated approaches. These include intra- and inter-firm diffusion of best environmental practices, environmental technology transfers, organisational co-operation and partnership, and environmental performance measurement (Angell and Klassen, 1999). As noted above, once again, knowledge seems to play a pivotal role in the integration of green values within the supply chain. Developing these integrated approaches requires organisational capabilities that are embedded within the entire organisation, since it requires involvement of subsidiaries and suppliers, employee training, and internal and external knowledge-sharing or regular auditing of suppliers’ and retailers’ performance (Andersen and Skjoett-Larsen, 2009). Certainly, this can provide obvious competitive and environmental opportunities for B2B companies in terms of cost and waste reduction, internal and external stakeholders’ identification, or corporate reputation. However, the emergence of economic benefits may be delayed, since the implementation of an environmental transformation within the supply chain requires not only large investment, but also profound and complex changes at different levels and in different organisational areas. Finally, some limitations and future research lines should be highlighted. First, this study employs subjective measures of environmental practices, and of their consequences for performance, which may suffer from social desirability bias. Furthermore, our data is cross-sectional, so we cannot observe the dynamic consequences of environmental

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Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis ´ Elena Fraj, Eva Martınez and Jorge Matute

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2013 · 396 –410

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decisions. Reinforcing these findings with objective measures and developing longitudinal studies should represent priorities in this type of investigation. Second, it should be pointed out that the respondents included environmental managers who were asked about their perceptions of top management’s concern with sustainability issues. As has been shown, executives’ interests in these issues are reflected in cultural aspects more than in specific operational and marketoriented actions. It would be interesting to explore how the values of environmental managers are reflected in the firm’s environmental decisions, and whether their belongingness to dominant coalitions within the organisation determine these practices. Third, the paper is constrained to analysing the role of environmental culture and corporate commitment as drivers of GMS. At this point, case studies and qualitative approaches should be developed in the B2B context in order to identify critical resources in the implementation of proactive environmental initiatives, and complementary capabilities that are consequences and facilitators of environmental decision making. For example, it is important to analyse how learning orientation manifestations (shared vision, intra-organisational knowledge sharing, openmindedness, etc.) affect environmental innovation capability, and how they contribute to creating an environmental culture not only within the organisation, but also within the supply chain. In this context, current approaches must be expanded by considering that organisational capabilities can be generated not just inside the organisation, but also externally as a result of collaboration and co-operation with external stakeholders (e.g. by establishing partnerships, technologies and knowledge transfer, etc.). Little is known about how green teams catalyse changes in other levels of the supply chain to demonstrate best practices and its benefits, and involve members in the search of more efficient solutions. Knowledge creation and organisational learning should also be examined as a result of external collaboration, a process where green teams can perform a pivotal role.

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Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis ´ Elena Fraj, Eva Martınez and Jorge Matute

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2013 · 396 –410

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Further reading
Langerak, F., Peelen, E. and van der Veen, M. (1998), “Exploratory results on the antecedents and consequences of green marketing”, Journal of Market Research Society, Vol. 40 No. 4, pp. 323-335.

Corresponding author
Jorge Matute can be contacted at: jmatute@unizar.es

Executive summary and implications for managers and executives
This summary has been provided to allow managers and executives a rapid appreciation of the content of the article. Those with a particular interest in the topic covered may then read the article in toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive description of the research undertaken and its results to get the full benefit of the material present. Mention “green” marketing or “green” initiatives and many people will think “Yes, yes, we know all about that.” The

Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis ´ Elena Fraj, Eva Martınez and Jorge Matute

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Volume 28 · Number 5 · 2013 · 396 –410

concept has been well-documented, discussed and delivered. In the B2B context, the development of green marketing strategies is considered essential for building long-term relationships, not only because of buyers’ demands for greener products and services, but also because of their potential to contribute to the firm’s operational and environmental efficiency. So we know all about “going green” and recognize its importance to business do we? We know what we need to know about how industrial firms develop green marketing strategies? About what resources and capabilities affect their implementation, and what are the main organizational consequences of integrating green issues into the supply chain? Noting that B2B managers might need more help in answering two fundamental questions – “Does it really pay to be green?” and “What organizational resources favor the implementation of proactive environmental strategies? – Elena Fraj et al. analyze the influence of green marketing strategy on the performance of business-to-business organizations and explore the role of organizational resources as drivers of proactive environmental management. In “Green marketing in B2B organizations: an empirical analysis from the natural-resource-based view of the firm” they find that companies that allocate resources to creating an internal climate oriented towards sustainability issues, that promote employee participation in eco-initiatives, or that simply codify this commitment into formal policies and norms, will more efficiently transfer environmental values into specific strategies and actions. Therefore, prior to the development of an environmental transformation, firms need to devote resources to developing their organizational capabilities, in order to create new knowledge that is relevant for different organizational areas. This is especially significant in the industrial context, where technological, environmental, marketing, social and managerial issues are frequently closely related. Therefore, the existence of cross-functional teams involved in the design and development of proactive environmental initiatives can benefit companies by improving coordination and integration, and favoring innovation. The study employs the natural-resource-based view (NRBV) of the company, exploring the role of environmental culture and managerial support for environmental practices as drivers of green marketing strategy (GMS) in the B2B context, and the impact of GMS on firms’ competitiveness, specifically studying its influence on financial and environmental performance. The NRBV considers innovative environmental solutions as key elements in the generation of organizational capabilities that require firms to go beyond reactive solutions. These capabilities are related to modern and innovative strategies like product stewardship, pollution prevention technologies, and the adoption of an organizational culture based on the principles of sustainable development. Thus, the proactive integration of environmental issues into strategic management

seeks to convert potential threats to the natural environment into competitive opportunities for organizations The findings suggest that GMS in the B2B context encompasses two different dimensions which involve activities that radically differ in their orientation. On the one hand, process-oriented activities refer to environmental actions, including transformations of products and internal processes that are aimed at reducing environmental impact. Decisions relating to eco-design, the substitution of materials or the implementation of green logistics are environmental decisions that require substantial internal modifications which allow industrial companies to improve their environmental performance. On the other hand, market-oriented activities are taken with the purpose of externally projecting a greater environmental commitment. This dimension does not require complex organizational changes, but may be useful in capturing the attention of industrial buyers that seek to establish relationships with environmentally responsible suppliers. Firms with a strong environmental culture tend to integrate environmental issues into their marketing strategies more intensively. However, developing an environmental culture is not easy. Institutional and organizational initiatives should begin from people’s own concerns about themselves, their families and communities as points of connection with wider “global” environmental issues. Process-oriented GMS does not directly determine firms’ economic results, but rather is seen indirectly through environmental performance. Incorporating green aspects into product design or into production and logistics processes may initially bring about complex modifications and higher costs. However, the results indicate that developing proactive initiatives at this level pays, and that it drives industrial firms not only to reduce environmental impacts, but also to achieve superior performance. Environmental operational modifications require firms to reduce waste and emissions and to substitute pollutants, which positively determines environmental performance but, eventually, contributes to cost reductions, operational improvements and organizational efficiency. Implementing actions to communicate the firm’s environmental responsibility may bring about opportunities to increase sales and revenues and gain market share. Industrial buyers frequently give priority to suppliers who meet certain environmental standards. However, environmental certifications have limited impact with regard to differentiating firms, since they have become widespread standards. Environmental marketing actions may allow industrial firms to go further and to inform and communicate their green practices more efficiently, which, in turn, will differentiate them from their competitors. ´ (A precis of the article “Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis from the natural-resource-based view of the firm”. Supplied by Marketing Consultants for Emerald.)

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To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

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This article has been cited by: 1. Ross Brennan. 2014. The End of Corporate Social Responsibility: Crisis & Critique, by Peter Fleming and Marc T. Jones. Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing 21, 141-143. [CrossRef]

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...oriented philosophy is so important. The phrase market-oriented is used in marketing conversations as an adjective describing a company with a marketing orientation. Market orientation more describes the company's approach to doing business. Market-oriented defines the company itself. If a company is market-oriented, its board and executive leadership believe that the best way to succeed is to prioritize the marketplace above products. This usually goes over well with customers, but the company also must have adequate research and development to provide what the market wants. Hence, a market-oriented organization is one whose actions are consistent with the marketing concept. Difference Between Marketing Orientation & Market Oriented by Neil Kokemuller, Demand Media http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-marketing-orientation-market-oriented-14387.html Marketing is a management process and management support for marketing concept is very important element in success. If a company wants to be successful then it is market oriented. Marketing involves identifying the customer requirements and estimate the customer requirements in future. It requires planning which is very important process of marketing. To satisfy the needs the business should provide benefits – offering right marketing at right time at right place. Generally market based companies adopt strategic level marketing that defines the mission and long term objectives of the company. Market oriented...

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Marketing

...qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwer...

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Marketing

...Assessment: MKC1 Market Environmental Variables Reading: Contemporary Marketing: Chapter 3 Questions: 1. How would you categorize Generation X using the five segments of the marketing environment? A: Competitive Environment B: Political-legal environment C: Economic environment D: Technological environment E: Social-cultural environment 2. Joe and Ryan both have storefronts in the local mall. Joe sells candies and Ryan sells pretzels. Are Joe and Ryan in direct competition with each other? A: Yes B: No Consumer Behavior and Marketing Reading: Contemporary Marketing: Chapter 5 Questions: 1. Rachel and Sarah’s parents always purchased groceries from the local Aldi marketplace. What is this type of behavior an example of? A: Cultural influences B: Social Influences C: Personal factors 2. Maryanne purchases Maxwell House coffee every two weeks from the grocery. What is this type of behavior an example of? A: Routinized Problem Solving B: Limited problem solving C: Extended problem solving 3. Aaron does research on several local colleges before applying to his first three choices. This is an example of: A: High – involvement purchase decision B: Low – involvement purchase decision Marketing Plans Reading: Contemporary Marketing: Chapter 2 + Ch. 2 Appendix Web sites: http://www.jpec.org/handouts/jpec33.pdf http://www.netmba.com/marketing/process/ Questions: 1. Strategies are designed to meet objectives...

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