積極保護環境台灣公司之探討

Abstract

Researchers have found that a variety of factors influence whether a firm pursues environmentally proactive behavior. External and industrial factors include geographic location, regulation, stakeholder pressure, industry sector, level of concentration and field cohesion. Organizational attributes and internal factors include firm size, level of internationalization, financial performance, position in the value chain, the presence of a champion and information flow. Other factors include a strategic attitude of seeking to “world-class” or highly innovative, perceiving environmental proactivity as a way to enhance the competitiveness of an existing business or an opportunity to enter new green businesses. Also a long-term view and a supportive managerial attitude are factors. However, much of the previous research has focused on firms in a Western context, with scant attention on firms in other nations or especially in Taiwan. Why do firms in Taiwan undertake environmental proactivity and are the reasons similar to those found for firms in other geographical contexts? This research employed an interview-based case study method of four firms in a variety of sectors in Taiwan. The research showed that firms in Taiwan proactively engaging in environmental efforts do tend to have most of the attributes associated with environmentally proactive firms in Western contexts. However, the presence of an environmental champion at the top of the organization seemed to be one crucial defining factor that appeared in all the case study firms. This finding may be related to the high power distance and collectivistic culture found in Taiwan. This paper contributes to establishing the replicability of previous studies and extending their generalizability. It is also the first to identify a mixture of factors leading Taiwanese firms to pursue environmental proactivity. The findings can be used by firms in establishing their green endeavors and by stakeholders hoping to influence Taiwanese firms to become greener.