Environmental Dilemma? Explicating Stakeholder Engagement in Kenyan Firms

ABSTRACT

Stakeholder pressure is among the pathways through which firms are being prodded to adopt environmental management practices. Owing to research paucity from the context of developing countries and overall inconclusiveness, this research investigates whether mimetic, normative, and coercive pressures (which encompass stakeholder pressure) sway firms into adopting resource management and energy efficiency. An analysis of data from 852 firms in Kenya using a simple probit model, suggests that all the three types of stakeholder pressure positively influenced corporate resource management and energy efficiency. This augments our postulations on both stakeholder and neo-institutional theories. Based on these findings, it is plausible to view stakeholders as critical ‘tools’ that can foster corporate sustainability initiatives in developing countries.

KEYWORDS:

• Stakeholder pressure
• cleaner production
• environmental management practices
• resource management
• energy efficiency

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Industrial and commercial sectors in Kenya as classified by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM): (1) Building, mining, and construction, (2) chemical and allied, (3) energy, electrical, and electronics, (4) food and beverages, (5) leather and footwear, (6) metal and allied, (7) automotive, (8) paper and board, (9) pharmaceutical: health services and medical equipment, (10) plastic and rubber, (11) business services- consultancy (12) financial services (13) textile and apparel, (14) timber, wood, and furniture, (15) agriculture- farming, fishing, and forestry, (16) hospitality.

2 NACE (Nomenclature des Activities Economiques dans la Communaute Europeenne): Building (D), mining (C), and construction (F); chemical and allied (D), energy (E); electronics and electrical (D); leather and footwear (D); metal and allied (D); automotive (G); plastic and rubber (D); timber wood and furniture (D).