Changing Environmental Practice: Understanding and Overcoming the Organizational and Psychological Barriers

Abstract

Since the early 1990s, the environmental management literature has grown from a small offshoot of mainstream academic study to become a vibrant field of its own. The contributions of this field lie in the study of corporations and their impact upon the natural world. We are impressed by the large quantity of good ideas that have developed concerning how to improve the environment in ways that are good for business. Yet we also have observed that many executives and organizations have been slow to adopt wise environmental practices. We offer insight from both behavioral decision research and organizational theory to explain the barriers to change, and suggest means of surmounting those barriers. After providing an overview of both the applied and academic areas of environmental management, we identify specific barriers to its implementation and offer direction for diffusing wise environmental management practices at a faster rate.