Environmental training in organisations: From a literature review to a framework for future research

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Abstract

Although the research on the relationship between human factors and environmental sustainability is slowly progressing, environmental training has attracted the most attention from researchers and practitioners. However, there remains a lack of research that integrates and systematises the available knowledge on organisational environmental training. Environmental training is fundamental to any successful activity of environmental management, conservation and recycling of resources. Thus, the aim of this paper was to present the results of a systematic literature review on environmental training in organisations. The main studies in this area were classified and coded, and a research agenda with 9 recommendations that may advance the field was presented. As a result of the gaps in the current literature, a framework was proposed aiming guide and strengthens the state-of-the-art research on environmental training. Additionally, results show that more research is needed on environmental training, combining training and green human resource management and defining/measuring the objectives of the environmental training actions. Future studies should also consider mixed methodologies and comparative perspectives.

Highlights

► Environmental training has attracted attention from researchers and practitioners. ► Lack of research that integrates the available knowledge on environmental training. ► We present the results of a literature review on environmental training in organisations.

Introduction

An increasing number of studies have concluded that adopting cleaner production and environmental management practices in companies requires mobilising a wide range of organisational resources (Daily et al., 2012, Kannan et al., 2012, Coelho et al., 2011, Murillo-Luna et al., 2011, Diabat and Govindan, 2011, Zhu et al., 2011, Govindan and Cheng, 2011). Thus, not only are environmental technologies needed (Kuehr, 2007), but a number of human resource factors and management practices are also necessary, which have recently been referred to as “green human resource management” (Jackson and Seo, 2010, Jackson et al., 2011, Renwick et al., 2013). The human factors include the organisational antecedents of environmental sustainability in companies (Pujari et al., 2004) as well as the drivers of the pro-environmental activity that these companies seek.

Although the research on the relationship between these human factors and environmental sustainability is slowly progressing (Wagner, 2011), environmental training has attracted the most attention from researchers and practitioners (Jabbour et al., 2010a, Teixeira et al., 2012). Environmental training is a priority because the companies can contribute little to sustainable development without it (Agenda 21, 1992). Environmental training is fundamental to any successful activity of environmental management, conservation and recycling of resources. Some studies on this subject were conducted since the 1990s (Hale, 1995). However, there remains a lack of research that integrates and systematises the available knowledge on organisational environmental training (Gunasekaran and Gallear, 2012), and a growing number of experts consider the advancement of environmental training literature and practice necessaries (Gunasekaran and Gallear, 2012, Gunasekaran and Ngai, 2012, Renwick et al., 2013, Jackson et al., 2011).

Consequently, the objectives of this paper are to accomplish the following:

  • Identify the most relevant articles describing for organisational environmental training;

  • Classify and codify the various characteristics of these articles;

  • Provide a brief summary of each article's contribution;

  • Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the studies in the available literature;

  • Provide a research agenda and a framework for addressing the major gaps in the current knowledge of environmental training.

To achieve these goals, we present below the research methodology (Section 2), the classification/coding method for the identified articles (Section 3), a brief conceptual background for environmental training (Section 4), the profiles and results of the studied articles (Section 5), the results and a proposed research agenda (Section 6), and final considerations (Section 7).

Section snippets

Research methodology

An integrative literature review was performed for this study (Huisingh, 2012). Such reviews are particularly useful for integrating the results of studies on emerging issues. Further, they provide an in-depth analysis of the principal state-of-the-art studies. Finally, integrative literature reviews characterise the research field and identify the challenges for developing future studies (Huisingh, 2012). Although several researchers have successfully used the review method (for example,

Classification and coding

After collecting and screening the major environmental training studies, a classification framework was constructed to classify and code the articles. This classification scheme included 9 major themes numbered from 1 to 9. Each of the classification numbers was also coded using alphabetical letters (A, B, C, and so on).

This classification therefore involved a combination of numbers and letters. A given article could receive more than one code for each item. Table 1 depicts the classification

A brief conceptual foundation of environmental training

Training can be defined as a systematic organisational process that gives employees the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to help organisations implement their missions and visions (Jabbour and Santos, 2008). The goal of environmental training is to train employees to take environmental action (Daily and Huang, 2001, Govindarajulu and Daily, 2004). The literature has labelled environmental training “green organisational antecedents” (Pujari et al., 2004), “green human/organisational factors” (

Results of the literature analysis

Table 3 presents the codifications for each research revised in this study.

Results and proposal for a research agenda

It is possible to weigh the strengths and weaknesses in the literature based on the results. It is also possible to consider the opportunities for planning future environmental training studies, as shown in Fig. 10. In this figure, the most well-studied issues and the subjects that still need to be explored are highlighted.

Categories “A, B” in the national context (Classification 1) were the least frequently addressed categories in the literature. These categories were composed of studies that

Conclusions

The aim of this paper was to present the results of a systematic literature review on environmental training in organisations. This type of literature review has proven useful for the scientific community (Seuring and Müller, 2008, Kampen et al., 2012, Lages Junior and Godinho Filho, 2010). The main studies in this area were classified and coded. Next, a research agenda with 9 recommendations that may advance the field was presented. Based on these recommendations, future studies may partially

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, 2011/23454-1) and by The Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, 300308/2010-8).

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