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Policy Sciences
Published in: Policy Sciences 4/2011

01-11-2011

Strategic organizational drivers of corporate environmental responsibility in the Caribbean hotel industry

Author: Kalim U. Shah

Published in: Policy Sciences | Issue 4/2011

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Abstract

This study identifies strategic organizational drivers of corporate environmental responsibility (CER) in the Caribbean hotel sector. Hotels face institutional pressures that question their environmental legitimacy, competitive pressures that force market re-positioning decisions and constraints/advantages based on their resources and capabilities for managing CER. Empirical evidence collected here suggests that CER improves when hotels declare environmental policies; target eco-conscious tourists; are foreign owned; affiliated to MNCs; and experience healthy financial performance. The latter three factors also enable the implementation of environmental policies thereby strengthening CER. They play no such role in how market re-positioning strategies impact CER. Neither did strategic targeting of luxury tourists affect CER. These findings are useful to policy makers in tourism-dependent economies where CER is intrinsically tied to sustainable development and the tourism product is so dependent on the quality of the natural environment in which it is immersed.
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Footnotes
1
Kazim (2007) and other provide detailed examples of such eco-conscious preferences.
 
2
This is the British Rating system adopted by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). It is inconsequential to this study since “Stars” are not measured, but rather actual room rates ($). See “Hotel Classification Systems” a report by the CTO (2002) for detailed discussion.
 
3
Typical Caribbean hotel rates range from US$150 to US$350 per night, while “luxury” hotels are typically over three times more (KPMG 2008).
 
4
Data collection was part of a larger five country study. This study focuses on only the tourism sector data collected. National Statistical Offices and Hotel Associations were key stakeholders throughout the project cycle.
 
5
On advice of local hoteliers’ associations who suggested that “micro” operations had little or no capacity to complete questionnaires properly and could compromise data quality.
 
6
Results of a power analysis indicated that a sample of at least 215 observations was necessary to have an 80% chance of rejecting a false null hypothesis at 95% confidence (Cohen 1988). This is assuming that “CER” the independent variable of interest, has a “small” anticipated effect size on the regression model (about 5% unique variance of the dependent variable explained).
 
7
After interview, in <10% of cases, respondents asked for additional time to answer questions. This was allowed and in all such cases, completed questionnaires were returned to surveyors in 1–3 days.
 
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Metadata
Title
Strategic organizational drivers of corporate environmental responsibility in the Caribbean hotel industry
Author
Kalim U. Shah
Publication date
01-11-2011
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Policy Sciences / Issue 4/2011
Print ISSN: 0032-2687
Electronic ISSN: 1573-0891
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-011-9130-x