How firms leverage corporate environmental strategy to nurture green behavior: Role of multi-level environmentally responsible leadership

The implementation of a firm's corporate environmental strategy is contingent on a practical mechanism between leaders and employees as stakeholders to spread a collective stimulus of responsible behaviors from top to bottom. This study builds on the theoretical underpinnings of social identity theory to examine the influence of corporate environmental strategy on employees' voluntary green behavior through the mediating role of middle managers' environmentally responsible leadership and the moderating role of CEOs' environmentally responsible leadership. The sample included 1532 middle managers-subordinate dyads from 91 automotive firms and their supply chain business partners in China. Multi-source data on CEOs' and managers' environmentally responsible leadership and employees' voluntary green behavior were collected in two stages and analyzed with multilevel structural equation modeling through the MPlus 8.3 software. The findings supported all the hypothesized relationships in predicting employees' voluntary green behavior, including the mediating and moderating mechanisms. Theoretical and managerial implications are offered, along with limitations and suggestions for future research.