This site uses cookies for learning about our traffic, we store no personal details. ACCEPT COOKIES DECLINE COOKIES What are cookies?
univerge site banner
Original Article | Open Access | Int. J. Manag. Account. 2021; 3(6), 122-129 | doi: 10.34104/ijma.021.01220129

Implications of Green Management Practices in the RMG Industries of Bangladesh- An Environmental Sustainability Perspective

Kazi Saifur Rahman* Mail Img

Abstract

As of today, the whole world is riddled with a major dilemma whether it goes with gigantic industrialization or ensuring environmental sustainability. At the cost of a green environment, infrastructural development means no dependable future. Therefore, this study aims to examine the implications of green management practices in the readymade garments industries of Bangladesh. The perspective of the study entails environmental sustainability in such a way that depicts the perception of employees towards green management practices. In order to conduct this study, 100 respondents have been selected and all of them are employees in a similar type of RMG industry. For the analytical purpose, Henry Garrets table rating scale has been utilized because it not only provides clear responses from the selected respondents but also subjective judgment. The study explored four important impact factors that play a vital role in the context of environmental sustainability such as the development of green management practices, motivating employees towards green management practices, enabling participation in green opportunities and last but not least continuous maintenance of green attitude. After substantial analysis, the study concluded that the investment in green management system development, recording and publicly disclosing green job performance, participatory involvement in green discussions, and having a specific code of conduct for green management are the most important ones arising from implications of green management practices.

INTRODUCTION

Green management practices in readymade garments industry has become a buzzword for the world eco-nomy. Environmental sustainability has made green HR a crucial aspect in day to day operations of the orga-nizations. Environmental sustainability has become a very important concern over the recent years because of increasing threat towards the global environment due to huge expansion of industrial aspects. Environmental sustainability can be defined as the capability to fulfill the present demand of the population in such a way that protects the interest of the future generation. Global environment management has been obtaining global acceptance because people of this century are more aware, more knowledgeable about the effect global warming currently has. In environmental literature, green management for sustainable development has various implications (Saha et al., 2020). 

There must be a balance between the industrial growth and safeguarding the natural environment. All over the world organizations are facing critical challenges that ultimately influence the performance and sustainability of not just the business organization but also the society and community. Going green is not just a phrase; it is a crying need now (Rahman and Rahman, 2020). Going green would ensure adopting such means and methods that would not negatively influence the environment. But to prove that investing in green management practices and still be a profitable operation is quite a challenge. Therefore, business organizations are in a crying need to identify, implement and maintain green management practices which is of paramount impor-tance to the researchers in this particular field. In Bangladesh RMG manufacturers usually focus on the international perspective. When these companies can display to the foreign regulatory bodies as well as international buyers that they are investing their com-mitment towards making the environment a safer one by following environmental protocol, they can enjoy a substantial increase in their market share. Offering environmentally safe products to the customers enable the companies to create demand in existing as well as new market. Green management approaches not only think about the betterment of the environment but also it assists the employee to work in safer surroundings. Establishing an interpolation of green management, employees green behaviors and environmental sust-ainability can be considered as a major challenge.

Objective of the study

The broad objective of the study is to examine the implications of green management practices in ready-made garments industries of Bangladesh. The pers-pective of the study entails environmental sustainability in such a way that depicts the perception of employees of readymade garments industries of Bangladesh to-wards green management practices. The specific objectives can be summarized as the followings:

a) To determine the effective ways how green man-agement practices can enable the employees to act for promoting sustainable growth in the organi-zation and environment.

b) To explore the extent of commitment of the ready-made garments industry owners to initiate and pro-mote green environment for the employees. 

c) To assess the impact of green management prac-tices and employees green behavior on environ-mental sustainability.

Literature review

Mesmer-Magnus et al. (2012) argued that environ-mental sustainability is not an isolate approach, all of the stakeholders of the company need to work together to promote green management practices in the organi-zation. Daily and Huang, (2001) have emphasized that there must be a balance between the growth potentials and environmental perspective. Organizations are profit centered entity but for that motive sacrificing the environment is not a wise choice. Therefore the man-agement must think long term and act according to protect and preserve the environment.

Murari and Bhandari, (2011) argued that a company might generate profit even after initiating and imple-menting green management practices. Investment in green management may not generate revenue instantly but they create a better chance of having a positive future environment for business. Harmon et al. (2010) claimed that in every organization human resource management department plays a crucial role to create, maintain and promote sustainability culture. Individual employee might be unaware about the environmental impact but if the organization emphasizes on the importance of it, the employees cannot feel reluctant to adhere to environmental practices. 

Hines et al. (1987) represented that within organization if the employees have adequate knowledge about the environmental issues or the firm makes them know-ledgeable about that then it is possible that a positive attitude towards environmental approach may evolve. Moreover, when an organization make it visible for the employee that it stands for sustainability and envi-ronmental commitment, then the employees also com-mit towards the same goals (Das & Kumar Singh, 2016; Grolleau et al. 2012; McWilliams & Siegel, 2001; Mesmer-Magnus et al., 2012). It was found that the brand image of an organization, culture, values and employee commitment can be positively reinforced by the environment friendly strategies (Grolleau et al., 2012). 

While considering the recruitment process, the management must keep in mind the sustainability issue because if the new employees are acquainted with the green policies while starting their career then it will be longer lasting and more effective (Del Brío, et al., 2007). Phillips, (2007) reported that specifying the number of environmental aspects in the job description will increase the acceptability of green management practices. Environmental training has been gaining mass acceptance all over the world because it nurtures environment friendly culture and values not just for the employees but also for the key stakeholders of the org-anization (Jabbour et al., 2013; Teixeira et al., 2012). Initiation and continuous monitoring through green HR is very effective tool in cases like carbon omission. When an organization incorporates its environmental performance with its business performance, they make sure that there must be protection against any damage done to the environment (Alfred & Adam, 2009; Epstein & Roy, 1997).

To make the sustainable behavior successful and effective in the organization there are some key ele-ments like better industrial relations, supportive culture for decision making, involvement of the employees, and their empowerment (Clarke, 2008). After revie-wing the literature regarding environmental sustain-ability and green management practices it appears to be a crucial fact that in developed countries, green management is a common and widely used pheno-menon but in developing countries like Bangladesh, green management practices are still growing. In the specific case of green management practices in ready-made garments industries of Bangladesh, there is little literature available. Therefore this study advocates that there is a research gap in this field and the study is therefore found ground breaking. This approach intends to find out the prevailing situations regarding green management in Bangladesh, what are the thoughts of the employees and management perspective on envi-ronmental sustainability.

METHODOLOGY

This study has been conducted considering theoretical as well as empirical concepts. A survey questionnaire with well-structured factor analysis has been imple-mented face to face to the selected employees of ready-made garments industries of Bangladesh. For the analytical purpose Henry Garrets table rating scale has been utilized because it not only provides clear res-ponse from the selected respondents but also subjective judgment. In this analysis, different dimensions of green management practices have been included so that the respondents can clearly express their notion about the present condition of environmental sustainability in Bangladesh, especially in readymade garments Indus-tries of Bangladesh. 100 employees have been surveyed in order to achieve their valuable perception about environmental sustainability. The highest priority has been assigned numeric 1 (One) and for lowest assigned numeric is 5 (Five), using an isolated column for orga-nizing ranks. This study focused on 100readymade garments industry employees currently working in Chattogram, Bangladesh. The well-structured survey questionnaire has been classified into four (04) impor-tant factors relevant to environmental sustainability as such: development of green management practices, motivating employees towards green management practices, enabling participation in green opportunities and last but not the least continuous maintenance of green attitude. Each factor has different relevant activities assigned with the numeric number on which readymade garments industry employees put their opinion marks. In order to use Henry Garrets rating scale to examine how green management practices plays vital role in the promotion of environmental sustainability, the first step is to calculate the percentage score as given as:

Formulae of percentage score = 100 (Rij- 0.5) / Nj

Whereas, Rij is the rank provided for the ithitem and jth individual and Njis the number of items ranked by jth individual.

By using Garret Table, scale value has been calculated after attaining the percentage score. It is mentionable that percentage value is obtained for all the items from “1” to “n”. All of the percentage value has been converted to scale value by taking into consideration of the Garret Value from Garrets conversion table. After-wards, total number of respondents has been multiplied by the score value. Then, entire scores are found by adding all of the score values of each rank of a parti-cular element. This process has been applied to every group of factors. Finally ranking is provided according to the comparison of numeric values like highest to lowest as already mentioned highest rank is assigned by 1 (One) and lowest rank is assigned by 5 (Five).

Analysis and findings of the study

After analyzing the structured questionnaire, the study finds the first impact factor as development of green management practices. The impact factor in Table 1 has been examined based upon the dimension of App-lication of green HR plan, Inclusion of green manage-ment practices in job description, Assessment of green training needs and offering environmental awareness training and Investment in green management system development. The response from 100 readymade gar-ments industry employees are as following:

Table 1: Development of green management practices.

Note: x = Value of Scale; f = Number of respondents 

From Table 1, it can be observed that Investment in green management system development has been ran-ked first. Since the readymade garments industry is export oriented and the main market for the export product is Europe, the industry has to adhere by the rules established by the buyers overseas. In order to compete in the international market the organizations have to show to the foreign buyers that they think about the preservation of the environment, betterment of the employee and most importantly they want a world with sustainability and growth. Besides, there are govern-ment restrictions to maintain environmental consider-ation. In order to get incentives, service facilities and other financial as well as non-financial benefits from the government, industries intend to follow a particular protocol that ensures environmental sustainability. Assessment of green training needs and offering environmental awareness training is the least ranked impact factor. The employees of readymade garments industry do not get green training on a regular basis. To promote the environmental awareness and minimize industrial wastage, firms should make continuous efforts to let the employees know the best envi-ronmental practices. But in reality this is not the case. Many of the employees that have been surveyed never get the chance to attend a training program relevant to environmental awareness. 46% employees in this industry shows that they are continuously getting green HR facilities whereas only 3% employees knew about environmental sustainability while joining in the orga-nization and working in a hazardous work environment

The dimensions of impact factor 02 (Motivating emp-loyees towards green management practices) are As-sessment of employee environmental performance, Recording and publicly disclosing green job perfor-mance, Offering rewards for excellent green perfor-mance and Offering green benefits and promoting green means. From Table 2 it is obvious that res-pondent employees of readymade garments industry has considered Recording and publicly disclosing green job performance as the most important. Due to govern-ment policies and transparency to international com-munity, garments industries have to keep record as well as disclose their green job performance so that parti-cipation in environmental approach can be easily tracked. Offering green benefits and promoting green means has been getting popularity over the recent years because to encourage the employee following environ-ment friendly strategies and offering them the means of green job completion. From the survey it appears that 32% of the employees in readymade garments industry get benefits whereas only 4% employees do not enjoy such kind of benefits. Offering rewards for excellent green performance is still not common to many orga-nizations in this industry because of lack of incentive by the management. Thats why it has been ranked as fourth. 42% of the employees never get any rewards or benefits for adhering to environmental guidelines. So sometimes that does not interest them to take extra precaution because they will not get any additional benefit. But 6% employees get rewards for parti-cipating in environment friendly strategy and operation and they become more invested towards sustainable environment

Table 2: Motivating employees towards green management practices.

Note: x = Value of Scale; f = Number of respondents

Table 3: Enabling participation in green opportunities.

Note: x = Value of Scale; f = Number of respondents

Table 3 clearly provides a picture of the ranking gar-ments industry employees have provided. The dimen-sions of the impact factor have the highest ranking for Participatory involvement in green discussions. 38% of the surveyed employee has been given the opportunities to involve and participate in green discussion. But there is also the other side of the coin. 4% employee never attended any green discussion in their firms where they can participate and share their thoughts. So they just listen and there is no opportunity to provide feedback. Many organizations do not have any green team to monitor whether the green management practices are followed by them or not. Thats why only 6% emp-loyee has said that they have active green team who continuously monitors the environmental parameters and take necessary actions if required. Introducing environmental management education program is also getting popular since the present world is the world of technology. Enormous numbers of training and deve-lopment tools are available now. RMG firms are recently more invested in ensuring supportive mana-gerial behaviors in green management. Employees are highly encouraged and managerial behaviors are significantly reinforced to maintain a workplace where employees can feel safe, work safe and stay safe.

Table 4: Continuous maintenance of green attitude.

Note: x = Value of Scale; f = Number of respondents

Having specific code of conduct for green management relating to environmental management has been ranked first by the respondent RMG employees. 48% of them stated that their firm has established code of conduct in written format and they are made aware of this on a periodic basis. There were none who dont have any code of conduct in their organizations. Implementation of electronic data management and knowledge sharing replacing paperwork has been ranked second. Many organizations are focusing more and more on electronic database and relying less on paperwork. Ensuring a green workplace with environment friendly mechanism and creating various initiatives to reduce employee stress and occupational disease caused by hazardous work environment are the third one in ranking impact factor. But it is also unfortunate that in 34% cases system of disciplinary action against violation of green practices is absent and ultimately that creates a chance of deviation from obtaining environmental sustain-ability goals. 

Limitations and directions for future research

The major limitation of the study is the sample size. The employees of the RMG sectors are selected ran-domly so it cannot be said with utmost confidence that those firms represent the entire industry. More impor-tantly the tenure of the work experience of the res-pondents surveyed matters in this study. Some of the employees are newly recruits so they are not fully accustomed to the organizational ins and outs. Some-times it takes time to have a clear understanding of issues like environmental sustainability. Most of the employees taken as respondents for the study were from City Corporation. Urban areaemployees are not taken into consideration. In order to expand the future research insight, expansion of geographic range is highly advised. One of the major limitations of the study is that it is based on primary data. Qualitative judgment can be influenced by various extenuating factors. Only four factors of environmental sustain-ability have been considered in this study but there are others too. 

CONCLUSION

Since RMG sectors are the single most foreign cur-rency earning sector in Bangladesh, it is crucial to maintain environmental sustainability and attract international buyers to Bangladesh. This study can help the policy makers to identify the key areas in which they should focus more. All the stakeholders are required to act in concerted effort in order to achieve environmental sustainability. Traditional management is still present in a lot of organizations. But accepting green management practices and make it integral to the organizational optimal goal achievement is not an easy task. Various obstacles will stand in the way but this is important to make sure for the managers, policy makers, researchers and community leaders that distin-ctive efforts will always take place and there will be no compromise in terms of environment.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author would like to convey heartfelt gratitude to the previous researchers whose literature have been cited and reviewed for preparing this study. There was no financial assistance or support received in order to complete the study.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

There was no potential conflict of interest concerning any party in preparing this study.

Article References:

  1. Aggarwal, S., & Sharma, B. (2015). Green HRM: need of the hour, International Journal of Management and Social Science Research Review, 1(8), 63-70.
  2. Alfred, A. M., & Adam, R. F. (2009). Green management matters regardless, Academy of Management Perspectives, 23(3), 17-26. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2009.43479261  
  3. Apotheker, L. (2010). Sustainability is the new mantra, Bloomberg Business Week.
  4. Beechinor, F. (2007). How to reduce your carbon footprint, People Management, 13, 46-47. 
  5. Bissing¬-Olson, M. J., Iyer, A., Fielding, K. S., &Zacher, H. (2013). Relationships between daily effect and pro¬-environmental behavior at work: The moderating role of pro¬-environ-mental attitude, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(2), 156-175. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1788  
  6. Chen, Z., Hossen, M. M., Muzafary, S. S., & Begum, M. (2018). Green banking for environmental sustainability-present status and future agenda: experience from Bangladesh, Asian Economic and Financial Review, 8(5), 571-585. https://archive.aessweb.com/index.php/5002/article/view/1696/2501  
  7. Cherian, J., & Jacob, J. (2012). A study of green HR practices and its effective imple-mentation in the organization: A review, Inter-national J. of Business and Management, 7(21), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v7n21p25 
  8. Clarke, M. (2008). Understanding and managing employability in changing career contexts, Journal of European Industrial Training, 32(4), 258-284.
  9. Cochran, W. (1963), Sampling Techniques (3rd ed.). New York, USA: Wiley.
  10. Cohen, E., Taylor, S., & Muller-Camen, M. (2012). HRMs role in corporate social and environmental sustainability, SHRM report, 1(1), 1-16.
  11. Dabholkar, P. A., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2002). An attitudinal model of technology-based self-service: moderating effects of consumer traits and situational factors, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 30(3), 184-201. https://doi.org/10.1177/00970302030003001  
  12. Daily, B. F., & Huang, S. C. (2001). Achieving sustainability through attention to human resource factors in environmental management, International J. of Operations & Production Management, 21(12), 1539-1552.
  13. Daily, B. F., Bishop, J. W., & Massoud, J. A. (2012). The role of training and empowerment in environmental performance: A study of the Mexican maquiladora industry, International J. of Operations & Production Management, 32(5), 631-646. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443571211226524  
  14. Das, S. C., & Kumar Singh, R. (2016). Green HRM and organizational sustainability: An empirical review, Kegels Journal of Social Science, 8(1), 227-236. https://www.ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT1892065.pdf   
  15. Dutta, D. (2012). Greening people: A strategic dimension, ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research, 2(2), 143-148. 
  16. Rahman MM., and Rahman MS. (2020). Green reporting as a tool of environmental sust-ainability: some observations in the context of Bangladesh, Int. J. Manag. Account. 2(2), 31-37. https://doi.org/10.34104/ijma.020.031037  
  17. Saha S, Sarker R, and Ahmed SM. (2020). Impact of Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) practices in garment industry: Bangla-desh perspective, Int. J. Manag. Account. 2(2), 22-30. https://doi.org/10.34104/ijma.020.022030   

Article Info:

Academic Editor

Dr. Doaa Wafik Nada, Associate Professor, School of Business and Economics, Badr University in Cairo (BUC), Cairo, Egypt.

Received

October 15, 2021

Accepted

November 21, 2021

Published

November 29, 2021

Article DOI: 10.34104/ijma.021.01220129

Corresponding author

Kazi Saifur Rahman*

Department of Finance & Banking Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University Trishal, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.

Cite this article

Rahman KS. (2021). Implications of green management practices in the RMG industries of Bangladesh- an environmental sustainability perspective, Int. J. Manag. Account. 3(6), 122-129. https://doi.org/10.34104/ijma.021.01220129 

Views
262
Download
908
Citations
Badge Img
Share