Do inter-organizational collaborations enhance a firm’s environmental performance? A study of the largest U.S. companies

Sustainability is no longer being questioned as a passing trend, but has been recognized as innovation’s new frontier. However, the complexity of environmental issues requires that firms collaborate with a wide range of external parties as they can supply environmental knowledge and competencies outside a firm’s main domain. This study proposes and tests a model suggesting that inter-organizational collaborations positively affect environmental performance, analyzing the behaviours of the largest publicly traded U.S. companies. The dependent variables are different types of companies’ environmental performance, as reported in the U.S. 500 Newsweek’s 2010 Green Ranking. Data for the independent variables (collaborations undertaken with several types of actor and concerning environmental issues) have been collected through the content analysis of companies’ environmental/sustainability reports and/or their website section devoted to environmental sustainability. Collected data have been analyzed through regression analysis. Results show that inter-organizational collaborations with actors both within (suppliers and customers) and outside the supply chain (government agencies and NGOs) are beneficial for a company’s overall environmental performance, the management of its environmental footprint, and a company’s environmental reputation.