"Switch the lights off” : Employee argumentation on acceptance or rejection of corporate environmentalism in a financial corporation

Abstract

This study explores the rhetorical strategies used by employees in a financial corporation to reject or accept corporate environmentalism among corporate responsibilities. The study is theoretically based on rhetoric and on prior research on acceptance or rejection of corporate environmentalism among other corporate responsibilities in an organization. A qualitative study, based on face-to-face interviews was conducted among 30 employees in a Finnish financial corporation. The study shows that employees reject corporate environmentalism based on value priorities and perception of little or no environmental impacts. They accept corporate environmentalism among other responsibilities based on the need for change due to multiplicity of environmental impacts and value congruence between environmental and other organizational values. The study contributes prior research by showing that the perception of little environmental impacts in a business branch can still act as a powerful blinder of environmental responsibility.