The impact of perceived environmental corporate social responsibility on idea generation and idea implementation

Scholars have already made a few outcomes regarding the effect of environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) on employees’ workplace behaviors. However, research on how perceived ECSR influences employee innovation remains largely unexplored. Drawing from the social identity theory (SIT) and stakeholder theory, this research fills this gap by examining: (a) the influence of perceived ECSR on idea generation (IG). (b) the influence of perceived ECSR on idea implementation (II). (c) the moderating effects of psychological capital (PsyCap) on these relationships. Using data on 348 employees from Chinese firms, the results demonstrate that perceived ECSR effectively fosters IG and II, yet when PsyCap is high, the positive influence of perceived ECSR is stronger. Our findings offer new insights for understanding the role of ECSR perception in the employee innovation domain by revealing that perceived ECSR can generate IG and promote II, and delimiting their boundaries from a psychological perspective. In addition, our findings make several practical implications for firms to cultivate their employees’ ECSR perception and improve employees’ IG and II to achieve sustainable development.

Li Yu, Weiwei Wu