The Price of Being Green: Does It Really Matter?

This conceptual paper develops a theoretical framework that helps organizations better understand and strategize its green action. Drawing from institutional perspectives, most specifically isomorphism, this paper argues that although the price of being green in contemporary society and economy is high, organizations will eventually develop collective green action due to isomorphic pressures that they face. Three propositions are made to further discuss how coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures will lead to organizations' collective green action in their competitive fields. Notable examples provided to strengthen the arguments and propositions include REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), the Green Grid, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and European Waste Catalogs (EWC). The recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill that caused over $105 billion lose in stock price for BP serves as a concluding case that the cost of being 'not green' might be beyond any organization's measure. Empirical examination of the framework proposed could thus provide plenty research opportunities in various industries.