Greening the Firm: The Politics of Corporate Environmentalism

by Aseem Prakash

Overview

Over the past two decades environmental issues have become important in public and business policy. This book asks why firms sometimes voluntarily adopt environmental policies that go beyond legal requirements. Prakash argues that existing explanations, especially from neoclassical economics, concentrate on external factors at the expense of internal dynamics. His argument is supported by analysis of two firms, Baxter International Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company, including interviews with managers, and access to meetings and documents. The book will be of interest to students of business and environmental studies, as well as political economy and public policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521664875
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/20/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	196
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.43(d)
Lexile:	1330L (what's this?)

About the Author

Aseem Prakash is Professor of Political Science and the Walker Family Professor for the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington. He is the founding, General Editor of the Cambridge University Press Series on Business and Public Policy and the co-editor of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. Professor Prakash's research examines core issues in the study of governance: how do institutions emerge, how they diffuse and get adopted, and how they impact outcomes. In doing so, he studies the complex relationship of businesses with governments and non-governmental organizations. His recent work focuses on the emergence, recruitment/diffusion, and efficacy of voluntary programs in the for-profit as well as the non-profit sectors. He is also examining issues pertaining to NGO advocacy, corporate responsibility, and the influence of trade and FDI networks on the cross-country diffusion of rules, standards, and norms in areas such as the environment, human rights, labor rights, property rights and women's rights. Aseem Prakash is co-author of The Voluntary Environmentalists: Green Clubs, ISO 14001, and Voluntary Environmental Regulations (Cambridge, 2006), and co-editor of Advocacy Organizations and Collective Action (Cambridge, 2010), Voluntary Regulations of NGOs and Nonprofits: An Accountability Club Framework (Cambridge, 2010),Voluntary Programs: A Club Theory Perspective (2009), Coping with Globalization (2000), Responding to Globalization (2000) and Globalization and Governance (1999). Professor Prakash received a joint PhD from the Department of Political Science and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA), Indiana University, Bloomington. His dissertation won the Academy of Management's 1998 Organization and the Natural Environment best dissertation award. Prior to gaining his PhD, he received an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and worked for Procter and Gamble, India. From 1997 to 2002, he served as

Table of Contents

1. Greening the firm: an introduction; 2. Environmental policymaking within firms; 3. Baxter and Lilly: evolution of environmental programs; 4. Baxter and Lilly: case studies; 5. Beyond compliance: findings and conclusions.

What People are Saying About This

Stuart Hart

Stuart Hart, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Greening the Firm shines the light of analysis where it has seldom been -- inside the "black box." It explores and explains why some firms pursue beyond compliance environmental activities while others do not based upon their internal processes, players, and politics. The book helps advance the debate about corporate greening beyond "one-size-fits-all" prescriptions based upon external pressures alone."

Nazli Choucri

Nazli Choucri, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A 'must' reading for political scientists, business strategists, economists, and all others interested in corporate responses to environmental challenges. Aseem Prakash shows how a combination of disciplined empirical inquiry guided by insightful theoretical probes generates new understandings transcending the common wisdom. This book contributes to the theory of the firm as well as to the emerging literature at the intersection of environment, business, and policy analysis.

David Vogel

David Vogel, University of California, Berkeley
Greening the Firm makes an important and original contribution to the literature on corporate environmentalism. This well-researched and theoretically sophisticated analysis links the study of environmental management to both organizational theory and political science. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in better understanding the dynamics of the business response to environmentalism.

Editorial Reviews

"Prakash should be commended for providing a wealth of valuable research questions for the future." Administrative Science Quarterly

From the Publisher