General managers’ environmental commitment and environmental involvement of lodging companies : The mediating role of environmental management capabilities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test links from hotel general managers’ (GMs’) environmental commitment to hotel companies’ environmental management capabilities and then to hotel companies’ involvement in environmental practices. The secondary goal of this study is to identify the common, critical environmental management capabilities in the lodging business context. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 172 GMs, working for hotels affiliated with two state lodging associations located in the northwest region of the USA, participated in this study. GMs’ responses were gathered via an online survey. The structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model. Findings – The results show that GMs’ environmental commitment affects their firms’ involvement in environmental practices both directly (GMs’ commitment and firms’ involvement) and indirectly via firms’ environmental management capabilities (GMs’ commitment, firms’ capabilities and firms’ involvement). The five common, critical hotel environmental management capabilities are identified: employee training, communicating environmental initiatives to guests, knowledge and skills to implement environmental practices, capital to invest in environmental management and support from employees. Practical implications – The hotel industry-specific environmental management capabilities enhance hotel practitioners’ understanding of the critical components for the success of hotel environmental programs and assist GMs to effectively prepare and operate their hotels’ environmental initiatives. Originality/value – This study demonstrates the essential role of individual actors, specifically hotel GMs, in firms’ environmental involvement, and advances our understanding of hotel environmental management in hospitality literature.