The Integration of Best Environmental Management Practices in Corporate Strategy: Empirical Evidence From Italian Local Governments

Abstract

Local governments represent an important moving force in promoting sustainable development policies as they make up the level of governance closest to the citizens. The aim of this article is to examine whether Italian local governments exercise de facto their vital role in fostering sustainable development policies. In particular, we analyzed municipality behavior about adopting “green management strategies.” We investigated the main factors identified in management literature which might boost the adoption of these strategies. Several implications ensue from our findings. In particular, the research provides information to improve local government attitudes toward the sustainable development challenge.

Keywords:

• best environmental management practices
• green management strategies
• Italian local governments
• sustainability plan

Notes

¹ The English translation is ours.

² See the Appendix.

³ In this article, we considered “critical” the relationships between independent variables that had a Pearson correlation index >|.40|.