Value-Led Green Initiatives: Exploring the Mechanisms of the Impact of Leadership Responsibility on Employees' Voluntary Environmental Behaviors
Lu Yu, Bo Li, Xinyu Zhong
Keywords:
responsible leadership, organizational citizenship behavior for the environment, environmental passion, environmental corporate social responsibility
Abstract:
Through a multilevel analytical framework, this study explains how responsible leadership (RL) cultivates workforce ecological citizenship, as manifested through discretionary pro-environmental actions that constitute organizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCBE). On the basis of cognitive-affective system theory, our research establishes and validates a dual-pathway framework clarifying how RL fosters OCBE. Our analysis of survey responses from 486 employees across multiple industries demonstrates that RL substantially promotes OCBE through parallel cognitive and affective mechanisms. Specifically, our findings demonstrate that environmental passion (EP) serves as a key affective mediator, whereas environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) operates as the primary cognitive mediating mechanism. This research contributes meaningful theoretical refinements to existing RL frameworks and yields evidence-based recommendations for organizations aiming to enhance employee-driven environmental initiatives through targeted leadership interventions. These contributions advance both the theoretical discourse and practical implementation of workplace environmental management strategies.
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 Value-Led Green Initiatives: Exploring the Mechanisms of the Impact of Leadership Responsibility on Employees' Voluntary Environmental Behaviors [PDF file] [Filesize: 498.15 KB]
 10.7441/joc.2026.SI.09
Yu, L., Li, B., & Zhong, X. (2026). Value-led Green Initiatives: Exploring the Mechanisms of the Impact of Leadership Responsibility on Employees' Voluntary Environmental Behaviors. Journal of Competitiveness, 18(SI 2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2026.SI.09
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