Journal of Organizational Behavior Special Issue Call for Papers
Greening Organizational Behavior
The editors of the Journal of Organizational Behavior will publish a special
issue of the journal on the subject of Greening Organizational Behavior.
Guest Editors: Lynne Andersson, Temple University; Susan Jackson, Rutgers
University; Sally Russell, Griffith University
Background and Rationale for the Special Issue
Behavioral scholars interested in making an impact and doing work that is
relevant have many challenges to choose from. Among the most pressing and
prominent challenges facing organizations today is that of ameliorating or
preventing ecological degradation. Many environmentalists fear that only an
ecological crisis of enormous magnitude will be sufficient to shock business
leaders into taking proactive steps toward achieving environmental
sustainability. Others believe that individual actions and the forces of
capitalism and business competition will lead organizations to acknowledge
the depth of ecological issues facing the world today, and induce a
paradigmatic shift in how business is conducted.
How is scholarship in organizational behavior contributing to knowledge that
can be used to improve the health of planet Earth? What do we know about the
behavior of individuals and groups that provides useful insights that can be
applied in organizations as they begin to address ecological issues? From
the board room to the shop floor, addressing ecological concerns inevitably
involves change. How do decision-making processes support or discourage
systemic change? Ecological pleas and demands to corporate executives are
often formulated and enacted by individuals within the operating core of the
organization. How do individual employees contribute to (or detract from)
their companies efforts to go green? The presence of an individual with
environmental knowledge, skills and influence within the company who can
champion environmental issues is one of the keys to successful environmental
management programs. What is the role of rational arguments and emotional
appeals in efforts to influence organizational leaders concerning ecological
issues? Under what conditions are ecological champions likely to emerge, be
heard, be silent, or be silenced? How can good intentions go bad, creating
dysfunctional backlash?
With this special issue, we seek to disseminate new, creative and high
quality scholarship aimed at providing a clearer picture of how individuals,
groups, and the organization can work in synchronicity to solve global
ecological issues. We welcome theoretical and empirical papers that explore
individual and group phenomena relevant to the greening of organizations. In
addition to the questions already mentioned, the list below suggests several
other potential topics for contributors:
Employees ecological values, attitudes and behaviors and their effect on
organizations
Ecological entrepreneurs, champions, and other individual voluntary
environmental initiatives
Ecological decision making within organizations
Changing habits and institutional routines
Personality traits and individual ecological behavior within organizations
Ecological value (in)congruence between employees and organizations
Employee emotions and emotional labor concerning ecological issues
Leading and motivating employees to act upon ecological issues
Individual morality and ethics concerning ecological issues
The advantages or disadvantages of relying on voluntary or mandatory
approaches
Personal and organizational politics as barriers to successful greening
Greening of organizational culture
Organizational policies and practices encouraging or detracting from
individual ecological behavior
Consequences of organizational ecological policies and practices on
employee health and well-being
Use of employee involvement and green teams for achieving ecological goals
The role of social networks in shaping ecological behavior and attitudes
Multilevel research that examines the relationships between individual,
group, and organizational behavior that leads to organizational greening
Contributors should note:
This call is open and competitive, and the submitted papers will be blind
reviewed in the normal way
Submitted papers must be based on original material not under
consideration by any other journal or outlet
For empirical papers based on data sets from which multiple papers have
been generated, the editors must be provided with copies of all other papers
based on the same data
The editors will select a number of papers to be included in the special
issue, but other papers submitted in this process may be published in other
issues of the journal
The deadline for submissions is 1 February 2011. The special issue is
intended for publication in mid 2012. Papers to be considered for this
special issue should be submitted online via
http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/job (selecting Special Issue Paper as the
Manuscript Type). Please direct questions about the submission process, or
any administrative matter, to Managing Editor, Kaylene Ascough,
k.ascough@uq.edu.au
The editors of the special issue are very happy to discuss initial ideas for
papers, and can be contacted directly:
Lynne Andersson,
landerss@temple.edu
Susan Jackson,
sjackson@smlr.rutgers.edu
Sally Russell,
s.russell@griffith.edu.au