The Inverted U-Shaped Hypothesis and Firm Environmental Responsiveness: The Moderating Role of Institutional Alignment

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Eiadat, Y. H.& Férnandez Castro, A. M. (2018). The Inverted U-Shaped Hypothesis and Firm Environmental Responsiveness: The Moderating Role of Institutional Alignment. European Management Review 15(3), 411-426. https://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12135, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12135.This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.[Abstract]: The impact of regulatory coercion on firm environmental responsiveness is well discussed by institutional theorists. The intuitive nature of the relationship is positive and monotonic, i.e., the continuous strengthening of regulatory coercion prompts top management to be more environmentally responsive. This paper shows that (1) overall, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between regulatory coercion and firm environmental responsiveness, that is, the continuous strengthening of regulatory coercion induces top management to bring their firms’ environmental responsiveness up to a certain optimum level beyond which its ability to trigger more proactive and substantive environmental responsiveness begins to decelerate, while reactive and symbolic strategic conformity accelerates; (2) perceived institutional (mis)alignment moderates the Inverted U-shaped relationship between regulatory coercion and firm environmental responsiveness. Finally, results show that the Moderated Inverted U-shaped Hypothesis advances the long-standing and contentious debate about the relationship between regulatory coercion and firm environmental responsiveness.This research has been partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness within the framework of the State Programme for Research, Development and Innovation Aimed at the Challenges of Society. (Programme Call: 2013. Research Project Reference: DER2013-4733-R)

Do formal and informal institutions matter for firm-level strategic environmental actions? A multi-level perspective from Jordan

[Abstract]: We developed an overarching multi-level mediation model using 199 responses from 53 companies from the industrial sector in Jordan to examine (1) the mediation effect of firm-level environmental climate on the relationship between formal regulatory institutions and firm-level strategic environmental actions, and (2) the role that informal institutions conveyed via political, normative, and business connections plays on the environment-related cognitions of top managers. At the ‘within’ level, our results indicate that top managers with strong political connections develop negative environment-related cognitions while those with strong normative and business connections develop positive environment-related cognitions. At the firm-level, our results reveal that firm-level environmental climate – as an aggregated measure of the ‘within’ level environmental cognitions of top managers – fully mediates the relationship between formal regulatory institutions and firm-level strategic environmental actions. This study demonstrates how multilevel research is used to enrich understanding of firm-level strategic environmental actions, with implications beyond Jordan

Academic impact of sudden and unforeseen changes in the learning environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1504/IJIL.2022.126631[Abstract]: This study evaluates the impact of changes in the learning environment due to the COVID-19 restrictions at the university level in Singapore based on the grades and student evaluations of 282 students from two cohorts who in 2020 experienced in-class and online teaching consecutively and compares academic performance in both learning environments considering the existing relationship between student evaluations and teacher-student interaction. Results show differences in academic performance on the final exam between the two modes, however, these differences are not related to the student evaluation of the lecturer nor teacherstudent interaction as these remained unalterable despite the transition from in-class to online learning. The conclusion is that it is possible to maintain an optimum quality of education without alterations in student evaluations nor in teacher-student interaction in both online and inclass contexts. However, it is necessary to design a course appropriate assessment strategy consistent with the specific learning environmen

Rendimiento académico, valoración del docente e interacción alumno-profesor en la docencia online frente a presencial

Introducción: el cambio de entorno de aprendizaje, de presencial a online, provocado por la pandemia del coronavirus SARS-COV2 en el ámbito universitario de Singapur tuvo impacto en el rendimiento académico, la valoración del docente y la interacción alumno-profesor. Objetivo: evaluar el impacto del cambio de entorno de aprendizaje en el rendimiento académico, la valoración del docente y la interacción alumno-profesor. Método: se compararon las calificaciones y las encuestas de evaluación de 282 estudiantes de dos cohortes que en el año 2020 cursaron de forma consecutiva formación universitaria presencial y online. Resultados: los resultados muestran diferencias en el rendimiento académico, pero no así la valoración del docente y la interacción alumno-profesor. Discusión: es posible mantener una calidad educativa óptima sin alterar la valoración del docente y la interacción alumno-profesor, tanto en la modalidad online como presencial, pero es necesario presentar un método de evaluación coherente con la modalidad utilizada

Una perspectiva institucional de la responsabilidad social corporativa: propuesta de un modelo de medición a partir del modelo VBA

[Resumen]: La finalidad de este trabajo es establecer un marco teórico para entender la responsabilidad social corporativa desde la perspectiva de la teoría institucional. La responsabilidad social corporativa está en aumento en Jordania. Las empresas jordanas continúan enfrentándose a unas extremadamente desafiantes condiciones institucionales, incluyendo guerras, inestabilidad política, y conflictos religiosos y étnicos. Este estudio usa la teoría institucional para entender los factores que hacen posible una responsabilidad social corporativa en el sector químico en Jordania. Se postula que las presiones normativas, coercitivas y miméticas en un entorno institucionalizado podrían influir positivamente la predisposición de los gestores hacia la responsabilidad social corporativa. Para comprobar esta teoría se llevó a cabo una investigación basada en un cuestionario. Los datos para medir las presiones institucionales a las que se enfrentan las empresas se obtuvieron de informantes clave de cada empresa, incluyendo al CEO. Se desarrolló un modelo Logit, testeado con SPSS. El resultado más impactante es negativo: las regulaciones gubernamentales (presión coercitiva) tienen un impacto negativo en la propensión de las organizaciones hacia la responsabilidad social corporativa. Sorprendentemente, las presiones miméticas no tienen una influencia significativa, mientras que las presiones normativas son las que individualmente tienen una mayor influencia en la adopción de políticas de responsabilidad social corporativa.[Abstrac]: The purpose of this article is to set out a framework for understanding corporate social responsibility from the perspective of institutional theory. Corporate social responsibility is on the rise in Jordan. Jordanian companies continue to face extremely challenging institutional conditions including wars, political instability, religious and ethnic conflicts. This study uses institutional theory to understand the factors that enable corporate social responsibility in the chemical sector in Jordan. It posits that normative, coercive, and mimetic pressures existing in an institutionalized environment could positively influence managerial predisposition toward corporate social responsibility. Survey based research was carried out to test our theory. Data to measure the institutional pressures that firms face and their corporate social responsibility were collected from key informants from each Company, including the CEO. A Logit Model was developed and tested using SPSS. The most striking result is a negative one: government regulations have negative impact on organizations’ propensity to corporate social responsibility. Surprisingly, mimetic forces have no significant influence, while normative forces were the single strongest incentive to adopt corporate social responsibility policies

Green and competitive? An empirical test of the mediating role of environmental innovation strategy

This study examines links between the adoption of an environmental innovation strategy and firms' business performance. It illustrates ways in which an environmental innovation strategy is itself influenced by significant environmental pressures, including government environmental regulation, perceived importance of stakeholder pressures, and managerial environmental concerns. Survey data from the chemical industry in Jordan show that (1) environmental innovation strategy is associated with improved perceived firms' business performance; (2) the adoption of an environmental innovation strategy is influenced by certain environmental pressure forces, and (3) environmental innovation strategy fully mediates between certain environmental pressure forces and firms' business performance.

Desempenho acadêmico, avaliação do professor e interação aluno-professor e interação aluno-professor no ensino on-line vs. presencial

 Introduction: the change in the learning environment, from face-to-face to online, caused by the SARS-COV2 coronavirus pandemic in the Singapore university environment had an impact on academic performance, teacher assessment and student-teacher interaction. Objective: to evaluate the impact of the change in the learning environment on academic performance, teacher assessment and student-teacher interaction. Method: the grades and evaluation surveys of 282 students from two cohorts who studied in 2020 were compared consecutively face-to-face and online university training. Results: the results show differences in academic performance, but not the teacher’s assessment and student-teacher interaction. Discussion: it is possible to maintain an optimal educational quality without altering the teacher’s assessment  and the student-teacher interaction, both in the online and face-to-face modes, but it is necessary to present an evaluation method consistent with the modality used.Introducción: el cambio de entorno de aprendizaje, de presencial a online, provocado por la pandemia del coronavirus SARS-COV2 en el ámbito universitario de Singapur tuvo impacto en el rendimiento académico, la valoración del docente y la interacción alumno-profesor. Objetivo: evaluar el impacto del cambio de entorno de aprendizaje en el rendimiento académico, la valoración del docente y la interacción alumno-profesor. Método: se compararon las calificaciones y las encuestas de evaluación de 282 estudiantes de dos cohortes que en el año 2020 cursaron de forma consecutiva formación universitaria presencial y online. Resultados: los resultados muestran diferencias en el rendimiento académico, pero no así la valoración del docente y la interacción alumno-profesor. Discusión: es posible mantener una calidad educativa óptima sin alterar la valoración del docente y la interacción alumno-profesor, tanto en la modalidad online como presencial, pero es necesario presentar un método de evaluación coherente con la modalidad utilizada.Introdução: A mudança do ambiente de aprendizagem de presencial para on-line causada pela pandemia do coronavírus SARS-COV2 no nível universitário em Cingapura teve impacto sobre o desempenho acadêmico, a avaliação do professor e a interação aluno-professor. Objetivo: avaliar o impacto da mudança no ambiente de aprendizagem sobre o desempenho acadêmico, a avaliação do professor e a interação aluno-professor. Método: comparamos as notas e as pesquisas de avaliação de 282 alunos de dois grupos de alunos que fizeram cursos universitários consecutivos presenciais e on-line em 2020. Resultados: os resultados mostram diferenças no desempenho acadêmico, mas não na avaliação do professor e na interação aluno-professor. Discussão: é possível manter a qualidade educacional ideal sem alterar a avaliação do professor e a interação aluno-professor, tanto on-line quanto presencialmente, mas é necessário apresentar um método de avaliação que seja consistente com a modalidade utilizada