Chinese government's formal institutional influence on corporate environmental management

Abstract

Due to the gravity of its environmental problems where 16 of the 20 most polluted cities on earth reside in China, the national development strategy for environmental protection has become more focused since the Sixth National conference on Environmental Protection in 2006. The government has set the strategic goal of striving for a harmonious "Xiaokang" Society by the year 2020. The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) is keen to encourage the busines ssector to engage in environmental initiatives.This paper is part of a larger empirical study grounded on senior managers' perceptions of corporate environmental management (CEM) in the People's Republicof China (PRC). To explore the emerging phenomenon of CEM in Shanghai, anappropriate research methodology is used. "Coercive Government Institutional Involvements" emerged as one of the major influencing factors in corporate environmental initiatives. The State regulatory regime has been perceived by Chinese managers to be the most influential, most complex, and least predictable on organisational environmental performance.The study is limited to an investigation of CEM in Shanghai but the implications of this exploratory research is that environmental management systems that work in developed nations should not be directly transplanted to developing nations without considering institutional contexts. Business enterprises operating in the PRC needs to be vigilant and aware that notwithstanding, its dynamic economic boom and modernisation, the state has tremendous influence.