Good intentions, negative Outcomes: Environmental consciousness and ambidexterity toward environmental performance in the resource-intensive mining industry

Abstract

We examine the link between environmental consciousness and individual ambidexterity and how these constructs enhance firm environmental performance in the mining sector. This study is based on responses from 243 employees and organizational data from a leading lime producer's 10 plants. We find that environmental consciousness does not significantly influence either CO2 combustion total emissions/number of people or CO2 combustion per ton of lime. However, the more individuals develop environmental consciousness, the more they use biomass, which is beneficial to the environment; at the same time, they use less gas, which could be harmful, since gas is cleaner than coal. Contrary to our expectations, we find that increased individual ambidexterity leads to higher CO2 combustion (both total emissions/number of people and per ton of lime) and lower biomass use in kilns. Therefore, our results indicate that individual ambidexterity is harmful to environmental performance. First, we contribute to the microfoundations perspective by showing that individual environmental consciousness does not directly lead to better organizational environmental performance. Second, we reveal that individual ambidexterity can have negative environmental effects, challenging the view that it always supports sustainability. Third, we extend existing research by applying a bottom-up lens to worker behavior in the lime industry, a traditional yet underexplored high-impact sector.