The impact of coercive pressure and ethical responsibility on cross-functional green management and firm performance

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand whether firms are driven by external pressure or intrinsic value to conduct green management; this study examines the effects of coercive pressure and ethical responsibility on cross-functional green strategy alignment (GSA) and green process coordination (GPC), and in turn, market and environmental performance. Design/methodology/approach: Based on data from 206 Chinese manufacturers, this study empirically tests the proposed relationships using structural equation modeling. Findings: The results highlight the role of coercive pressure in promoting both GSA and GPC that represent functional green efforts at both strategic and operational levels, indicating firms’ critical concern of obtaining external legitimacy from stakeholders. Ethical responsibility as an intrinsic value promotes GPC that demands joint working from different functions at the operational level. Besides, the authors find that GSA improves market and environmental performance, whereas GPC only enhances environmental performance. Originality/value: This study adds to the knowledge of the drivers of cross-functional green management from external pressure and intrinsic value perspectives. The findings are also fruitful for practitioners and policymakers.