Abstract
This article analyzes the adoption of voluntary environmental management programs by firms operating in Mexico. Mexican firms can obtain national certification (Clean Industry) and/or international certification (ISO 14001). Based on institutional entrepreneurship theory, we posit that the role played by first movers as institutional entrepreneurs is crucial if these programs are to become established with sufficient strength and appeal. This understanding is especially important in an environment where more than one program can be adopted. We tested several hypotheses on the behaviors of 1328 facilities operating in Mexico, half of which (664) had certified environmental management programs. Of the 664 certified facilities, 217 were classified as early adopters. Three variables predicted the likelihood of a facility being an early adopter: (1) connected to international market, (2) in the maquila sector, and (3) linked to an industry association that offers free resources.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Acutt, N. J., V. Medina-Ross and T. O’Riordan: 2004, ‘Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility in the Chemical Sector: A Comparative Analysis of the Mexican and South African Cases’, Natural Resources Forum, 28, 302–316.
Ahn, S. and D. J. Denis: 2004, ‘Internal Capital Market and Investment Policy: Evidence from Corporate Spinoffs’, Journal of Financial Economics, 71(3), 489–516.
Arthur, W. B.: 1989, ‘Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events’, The Economic Journal, 99(394), 116–131.
Bansal, P. and W.C. Bogner: 2002, ‘Deciding on ISO 14001: Economics, Institutions, and Context’, Long Range Planning, 35(3), 269–290.
Blackman, A.: 2007, ‘Voluntary Environmental Regulation in Developing Countries. Fad or Fix?’ (Resources for the Future, Washington, DC).
Carroll, A. B.: 1999, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility: Evolution of a Definitional Construct’, Business & Society, 38(3), 268–295.
Child, J., Y. Lu and T. Tsai: 2007, ‘Institutional Entrepreneurship in Building an Environmental Protection System for the People’s Republic of China’, Organization Studies, 28(7), 1013–1034.
Christmann, P. and G. Taylor: 2001, ‘Globalization and the Environment: Determinants of Firm Self-Regulation in China’, Journal of International Business Studies, 32(3), 439–458.
Daley, L., V. Mehrotra and R. Sivakumar: 1997, ‘Corporate Focus and Value Creation: Evidence from Spinoffs’, Journal of Financial Economics, 45(2), 257–281.
Dasgupta, S., H. Hettige and D. Wheeler: 2000 ‘What Improves Environmental Compliance? Evidence from Mexican Industry’, Journal of Environmental Economics & Management, 39(1), 39–66.
David, P.A.: 1985, ‘Clio and the Economics of QWERTY’, American Economics Review, 75(2), 332–337.
Delmas, M. and I. Montiel: 2009, ‘Greening the Supply Chain: When is Customer Pressure Effective?’ Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 18(1), 171–201.
DiMaggio, P. J.: 1988, ‘Interest and Agency in Institutional Theory’ in L. G. Zucker (ed.), Institutional Patterns and Organizations: Culture and Environment (Ballinger, Cambridge, MA), pp. 3–22.
Dittmar, A. and A. Shivdasani: 2003, ‘Divestitures and Divisional Investment Policies’, Journal of Finance, 58(6), 2711–2744.
Eisenstadt, S.N.: 1980, ‘Cultural Orientations, Institutional Entrepreneurs, and Social Change: Comparative Analysis of Traditional Civilizations’, The American Journal of Sociology, 85(4), 840–869.
Fligstein, N.: 1997, ‘Social Skill and Institutional Theory’, American Behavioral Scientist, 40(4), 397–405.
Granovetter, M. S.: 1973, ‘The Strength of Weak Ties’, The American Journal of Sociology, 70(6), 1360–1380.
Handfield, R., R. Sroufe, and S. Walton: 2005 ‘Integrating Environmental Management and Supply Chain Strategies’, Business Strategy and the Environment, 14(1):1–19.
Hoovers: 2006, ‘Hoovers Company Directory’, www.hoovers.com.
Ingram, P. and B. S. Silverman: 2002, The New Institutionalism in Strategic Management, Vol. 19 (Elsevier Science Ltd.: Amsterdam).
ISO: 2007, ‘The ISO survey – 2007’, International Standardization Organization, www.iso.org
Jiang, R. J. and P. Bansal: 2003, ‘Seeing the Need for ISO 14001’, Journal of Management Studies, 40 (4), 1047–1067.
Jirillo, R., A. Rocchi and O. Martucci: 2003, ‘EMAS and its Local Diffusion in Italy’, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 10 (1), 40–49.
King, A. and M. Lenox: 2001, Who Adopts Management Standards Early? An Examination of ISO 14001 Certifications (Academy of Management Conference, Washington, DC), pp. A1–A6
King, A., M. Lenox and A. Terlaak: 2005, ‘The Strategic Use of Decentralized Institutions: Exploring Certification with the ISO 14001 Management Standard’, Academy of Management Journal, 48(6), 1091–1106.
Kollman, K. and A. Prakash: 2002, ‘EMS-Based Environmental Regimes as Club Goods: Examining Variations in Firm-Level Adoption of ISO 14001 and EMAS in UK, US and Germany’, Policy Sciences, 35(1), 43–67.
Lawrence, T. B. and R. Suddaby: 2006, ‘Institutions and Institutional Work’ in S.R. Clegg, C. Hardy, T.B. Lawrence and W.R. Nord (eds.), Handbook of Organization Studies, (Sage, London), pp. 215–254.
Maguire, S., C. Hardy, and T. B. Lawrence: 2004, ‘Institutional Entrepreneurship in Emerging Fields: HIV/AIDS Treatment Advocacy in Canada’, Academy of Management Journal, 47(5), 657–679.
McFadden, D.: 1974. ‘Conditional Logit Analysis of Qualitative Choice Behavior’ in P. Zaremka (ed.), Frontiers in Econometrics. (Academy Press: New York), pp. 105–142.
Medina-Ross, V.: 2005. ‘La Gestión Ambiental Voluntaria en el Sector Químico en México’, in R. Jenkins and A. Mercado (eds.), Industria y Medio Ambiente, (El Colegio de Mexico: México D.F.).
Melnyk, S. A., R. P. Sroufe, and R. Calantone: 2003, ‘Assessing the Impact of Environmental Management Systems on Corporate and Environmental Performance’, Journal of Operations Management, 21(3), 329–351.
Mikkelson, W. H. and M. M. Parth: 2003, ‘Do Persistent Large Cash Reserves Hinder Performance?’ Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 38(2), 275–294.
Perkmann, M. and A. Spicer: 2007, ‘Healing the Scars of History: Projects, Skills and Field Strategies in Institutional Entrepreneurship’, Organization Studies, 28(7), 1101–1122.
Powell, W.: 1991, ‘Expanding the Scope of Institutional Analysis’ in W. Powell & P. J. DiMaggio (eds.), The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis (University of Chicago Press, Chicago), pp.183–203.
PROFEPA: 2006, ‘Listado de Instalaciones Certificadas con Certificado Industria Limpia’, www.profepa.gob.mx.
QSU: 2006, ‘Whosregistered.com Global’, www.whosregistered.com.
Rao, H., C. Morrill and M. Zald: 2000, ‘Power Plays: Social Movements, Collective Action, and New Organizational Forms’, Research in Organizational Behavior, 22, 237–281.
Restrepo, I.: 2004, ‘Los grandes pendientes ambientales de Mexico’ Teorema Ambiental, Revista Tecnico-Ambiental, http://www.teorema.com.mx.
Rivera, J. and P. de Leon: 2004, ‘Is Greener Whiter? Voluntary Environmental Performance of Western Ski Areas’, Policy Studies Journal, 32(3), 417–437.
Sabatini, J.: 2000, ‘In Search of ISO’, Automotive Manufacturing & Production, 112(3), 96.
Schneider, B. R.: 2002, ‘Why is Mexican Business so Organized?’ Latin American Research Review, 37(1), 77–118.
Shleifer, A. and R. Vishny: 1997, ‘A Survey of Corporate Governance’, The Journal of Finance, 52(2), 737–783.
SIEM: 2006, ‘Sistema de Información Empresarial Mexicano’, www.siem.gob.mx.
SII: 2004, ‘Mexico’s Maquila Online Directory’, www.maquiladirectory.com.
Sissell, K: 1997, ‘Mexico Overhauls Environmental Law’, Chemical Week 159(25), S32–S35.
Suchman, M. C.: 1995, ‘Managing Legitimacy: Strategic and Institutional Approaches’, Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 571–610.
Thornton, R. V.: 2000, ‘ISO 14001 Certification Mandate Reaches the Automobile Industry’, Environmental Quality Management, 10(1), 89–93.
Tirado, R.: 2006, ‘El Poder de las Cámaras Industriales de México’, Foro Internacional, 184(2), 197–226.
Tolbert, P. and L. Zucker: 1983, ‘Institutional Sources of Change in the Formal Structure of Organizations: The Diffusion of Civil Service Reform, 1880–1935’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 28(1), 22–39.
Wijen, F. and S. Ansari: 2007, ‘Overcoming Inaction through Collective Institutional Entrepreneurship: Insights from Regime Theory’, Organization Studies, 28(7), 1079–1100.
Wilson, R. C.: 1998, ‘The Developing World Looks to ISO 14000 for Help’, Pollution Engineering, 30(2), 37.
WorldPreferred: 2004, ISO 14001 World Preferred Registry (WorldPreferred, Ontario)
Zilber, T. B.: 2007, ‘Stories and the Discursive Dynamics of Institutional Entrepreneurship: The Case of Israeli High-Tech after the Bubble’, Organization Studies, 28(7), 1035–1054.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Montiel, I., Husted, B.W. The Adoption of Voluntary Environmental Management Programs in Mexico: First Movers as Institutional Entrepreneurs. J Bus Ethics 88 (Suppl 2), 349–363 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0282-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0282-y