Attitudes of Managers to work with Sustainability in Medium and Large-Sized Corporations : Garbage Classification in Yangtze River Delta Region in China

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Attitudes of

Managers to work

with Sustainability

in Medium and

Large-Sized

Corporations

MASTER PROJECT

THESIS WITHIN: General Management NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15

PROGRAMME OF STUDY: Engineering Management AUTHORS: Donghui Yang & Jiateng Zhang

JÖNKÖPING May 2021

Garbage Classification in Yangtze River Delta

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Master Thesis Project in Business Management

Title: Attitudes of Managers to work with Sustainability in Medium and Large-Sized Corporations: Garbage Classification in Yangtze River Delta Region in China

Authors: Donghui Yang & Jiateng Zhang Tutor: Joaquin Cestino Castilla

Date: 2021-05-24

Key terms: Awareness; Attitudes; Sustainability; Management; Garbage Classification; China

Abstract

Sustainability is becoming an important role in almost all industries in the world. Sustainability can not only improve the quality of the environment, but also help the

enterprises to save cost in order to have more profit. It is necessary to have sustainability to help in the balance between human beings’ activities and nature. This research has the purpose of developing theories that can explain the current managers’ attitudes to work with sustainability in medium and large-sized corporations in China, by analyzing the garbage classification situation as the breakthrough point. The selected region is the most developed region in China, and all 13 interviewees are from medium and large-sized corporations within this region. The collected data shows that after the formation of managers’ attitudes,

improving positivity, engaging with stakeholders, gaining knowledge and increasing innovation are key roles in the formation of companies’ sustainable orientation.

There are seven parts of the research: Introduction, Frame of Reference, Methodology, Findings, Discussion, Limitations & Further Research, and Conclusion. The background of this study is introduced in the first part. Many literatures with similar study topics are used as references in the second part, and some developed theories from the literature are used to help develop new theories. The research approach, methods of collecting and analyzing data, and how authors ensure the quality and ethics of the whole research are explained in the

Methodology. Findings of data collected from interviews and conversations are presented, and related discussion about “how and why” is followed afterwards. The authors also

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discussed the limitations of this research and gave suggestions on how this research can be modified if any further research is conducted. The last part gives a general view of this research, and the developed theories are presented as well.

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List of Abbreviations

GDP – Gross Domestic Product

ESO – Environmental Sustainability Orientation SME – Small and Medium Enterprises

ANE – Attitudes toward the Natural Environment FCM – Facility Management

PET – Polyethylene terephthalate R & D – Research and Development

List of Figures

Figure 1. The Performance Level of Garbage Classification ... 22 Figure 2. The Model of the Relationship between Managers' Attitudes and Companies’ Sustainable Orientation ... 35

List of Tables

Table 1. Summary of Interviews ... 16 Table 2. Basic Interviewee Information ... 20 Table 3. Criteria of Performance Level ... 21

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1 Introduction

Global Sustainability

The world is becoming increasingly urbanized. Since 2007, more than half of the world’s population live in cities, and the prediction of this share will reach 60 percent by 2030. Cities and metropolitan areas contribute the most to the economic growth, approximately 60 percent of global GDP. However, they are also responsible for about 70 percent of global carbon emissions and more than 60 percent of resource use. Rapid urbanization has led to the increasing numbers of slum dwellers, inadequate and overburdened infrastructure and

services (such as waste collection, water and sanitation systems, roads and transportation), as well as increased air pollution and unplanned urban expansion. (UnitedNations, Cities, 2021)

However, with highly developed human civilization, the awareness of protecting and improving the environment has become stronger and stronger. Since 1987, the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development, coined the term “sustainable development” and defined it as “development that meets the need of present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Canada, 2013). Many research and investigations showed that since developed countries are more urbanized, and with a higher rate of educated people, they start to realize the importance of living in a sustainable way. However, it is a minor concern for developing countries to have sustainable developments, since reducing the numbers of people who are suffering from hunger and homelessness is still a big topic. Unguided urbanization is threatening sustainable development. Therefore, managing urbanization is essential to achieving sustainable development (Patrick Brandful Cobbinah, 2015).

China is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, as one of the developing countries, it invested a lot of time and money to reach sustainable development in many different ways. It is changing its economic model, shifting its fuel sources, developing new transportation systems, and embracing eco-friendly urbanization (Roach, 2019). On the way to achieve sustainable development, China faces three serious challenges, which are the so-called “three mountains” in the speech by Mr. Sha Zukang during the 2012 United Nations Conference. “First, when China began economic reform, it faced weak infrastructure,

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constraints. With all these problems China is facing, the necessity and the difficulty of having sustainable development are obvious. The third “mountain” indicates that China has had to pursue economic growth, social development, and environmental protection simultaneously within decades. Unlike the developed countries, the Chinese government had to implement a sustainable development strategy that is adapted to Chinese conditions (Zukang, 2012).

Environmental Sustainability

Environmental sustainability is the responsibility to conserve natural resources and protect global ecosystems to support health and wellbeing, now and in the future (Sphera, 2020). Another definition of environmental sustainability is “Environmental sustainability is responsibly interacting with the planet to maintain natural resources and avoid jeopardizing the ability for future generations to meet their needs.” (Evans, 2020). In “Our Common Future” Report prepared for the World Commission on Environment and Development, it defines sustainable development as “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”, therefore, it follows that environmental sustainability is ensuring that in meeting our needs for water, food, shelter as well as engaging in activities that make our lives enjoyable – including leisure activities and entertainment – we do not cause damage to our environment or deplete resources that we cannot renew (SustainableFriend, 2017).

Business and Environmental Sustainability

The new Global Goals lead to a process that has been more inclusive than ever. Where the world needs to go has been agreed on by all of us. By fulfilling these ambitions, all sectors in society must make an effort to make it happen, and business has a crucial role in this process (UnitedNations, Global Goals for People and Planet, 2021). Since the strategy has come out, many companies have come up with some innovative activities or internal policies not only by following the governmental policies, but also implementing and upgrading in their own ways to show their support to sustainable development in China. For example, they

encourage their employees to apply “sustainable development” into their daily lives and work by using public transportation, saving water, and separating garbage.

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Existing research has determined what motivates companies to respond to environmental issues, the organizational responses and their subsequent results (Christmann, 2000).

However, the majority of research has focused on developed countries with well-established institutional environments, and there are few cases on how companies in developing

countries adopt environmental sustainability (Belal & Cooper, 2011). While it has been established in the existing literature that various elements of the institutional environment and managerial characteristics have a significant influence on the environmental behaviors of firms, there is little empirical work that attempts to tease out these influences (Jackson & Apostolakou, 2010). Banjo & Alan pointed out that in the Philippines, managers’ attitudes towards the natural environment positively and directly impact the environmental

sustainability orientation (ESO) of small businesses (Banjo & Alan, 2012). More

investigations have been done based on this article during the past five years. However, those new researches do not cover the same range as Banjo & Alan’s. Most of the research only focuses on one specific factor which affects the managerial attitude. For example, one article presented that with a high degree of stakeholder integration, the indirect relationship between managers’ attitudes and ESO can be strengthened (Amankwah-Amoah, Danso, & Adomako, 2019). A survey study in Italy also showed that stakeholders help to generate environmental responsibility for SME, and that manager-owners should become more open in their relations with stakeholders before they can help the sustainability of SME (Veronica, Alexeis,

Valentina, & Elisa, 2019). In addition, the personal level also affects ESO. In the study of Indonesian SME owners, the author found that ESO is driven by entrepreneurs' explicit and implicit motivation (Handrito, Slabbinck, & Vanderstraeten, 2021). The trade-off between the personal values of managers and the economic constraints of SMEs will help to better understand the critical prerequisites for the sustainability of SMEs (Chasse & Courrent, 2018).

All these researches focused on the aspect of managers’ attitudes, and they investigated that stakeholder theory and personal ethics are of great importance for ESO. In contrast, there is limited research that explains the process of how managers’ attitudes towards sustainability shape their companies’ sustainability development. Consequently, this article is focused on this question.

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several cities like Shanghai in 2019 (Minghui, Shuilong, Yeshuang, & Anan, 2019). This means environmental sustainability can be said to have just developed in Chinese companies. Therefore, this article focuses on medium-sized and large companies in China as the target. Furthermore, an in-depth investigation is conducted into how managers’ attitudes towards the natural environment affect environmental sustainability. The conclusion further promotes the progress of environmental sustainability of companies in different developing countries.

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2 Frame of Reference

Environmental Sustainability of Small Businesses in Developing Countries According to previous research, in general, firm’s environmental attitudes and behaviors or that of the enterprises’ top management are mainly driven by the government's regulatory framework (Kusku, 2007). However, due to the relatively loose systems of national and local government agencies in developing countries for monitoring the environmental impact of enterprises, the scope of supervision of the local institutional environment may not even be as developed and advanced as the local economy (Banjo & Alan, 2012). Therefore, the

regulatory dimension has little effect on owner-managers’ attitudes toward the natural environment (ANE) in small companies in developing countries (Banjo & Alan, 2012). In addition, although many developing countries have tried and established various

environmental laws and regulations. For example, as early as 2000, China tried to carry out waste classification and recycling pilot programs in Beijing, Shanghai and other regions, in 2019, the policy of garbage classification was officially implemented (Meng, et al., 2019). However, while the implementation process was not easy, and the results did not meet expectations. As a result, even the environmental quality of the entire Asia-Pacific region continued to deteriorate to alarming levels (Cummings, 2008). In other words, except for regulations, there are more vital external factors that can explain why some companies are more proactive than others in their environmental sustainability orientation (ESO) and can achieve better results (Banjo & Alan, 2012).

Banjo & Roxas investigated one of the developing countries, the Philippines. After analyzing some data from some small companies in the Philippines they reached numerous conclusions. In the Philippines, the institutional environment can significantly affect the owner-manager’s attitude towards the natural environment. Active managers’ attitudes towards the natural environment can also bring positive feedback to the environmental sustainability of small businesses. The tendency to practice and commit to various natural environmental

sustainability measures of small companies in developing countries, like the Philippines, is determined mainly by their owner-managers and driven by the broader institutional

environment. The owner-manager determines that the overall strategic configuration of the company, including the whole organizational tendency of environmental sustainability, can

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lead the company to achieve better the goal of developing environmental sustainability well (Banjo & Alan, 2012).

Commitment Theory

According to previous research, when the institutional environment affects the manager’s ANE, some factors play a decisive role. Managers of small companies react strongly that during the process of raising awareness or implementing strategies, they felt that they would achieve better results by meeting constraints or complying with the expectations of

institutions that manage local communities. Effective enforcement of the mandatory and punitive powers of the regulatory agency ultimately determines the agency’s impact on the owner-manager’s positive ANE and the sample companies’ ESO. In addition, the community norms and values that form part of the normative institutional environment and the social norms that are shared and guided in society have the most significant impact on the owner-manager’s ANE compared to other institutional levels. These factors are divided into the regulatory dimension and the normative dimension. In general, from the perspective of implementation and results, this can be regarded as the theory of commitment (Banjo & Alan, 2012).

Commitment theory originated from organizational commitment but gradually evolved into a commitment theory that explains commitments to other goals and implements them. These goals include other organizational affiliations (for example, professions, unions), individuals inside and outside the organization (for example, suppliers, customers), and ideas and plans (values, goals, and change plans) (Becker, Klein, & Meyer, 2009). A large amount of research shows that employees committed to organizational goals can contribute to

organizational success (Klein, Molloy, & Cooper, 2009). Except for the commitment from the social and institutional environment, the theory of commitment can also explain how managers make commitments to subordinates, the environment and the company, and how these commitments can promote the companies’ sustainable development.

Commitment theory research shows that this connection binds the individual to the cause and maintains its support for behavior (Klein, Molloy, & Cooper, 2009). This means that the managers must have a specific emotional basis before committing. These emotional

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this kind of voluntary participation from their own emotions can they have a high degree of response like positive behaviors (Boiral, 2009) (Fernández, Junquera, & Ordiz, 2003)

(Ramus, 2001). Moreover, only managers who have a strong emotional commitment to goals (such as the environment) can initiate behaviors that exceed their scope of responsibility (Vandenberghe, 2009) .

Loi et al. (2012) examined the effect of the supervisor’s organizational commitment based on previous research. They found that it was positively correlated with the subordinate’s

organizational commitment and subsequent roles and task performance. In other words, even if there is no mandatory requirement and no obligation to perform some environmental protection behaviors in the work responsibilities of subordinates, managers with a high level of commitment can influence the thinking of subordinates through their own strong emotional investment and positive emotional attitude. That is, in the interaction with subordinates, managers are more likely to divert the attention of subordinates to goals and values related to the goals (Meyer, Becker, & Vandenberghe, 2004) .

The Awareness, and Environmental & Ethical Convictions of Managers

In the small business context, the beliefs, attitudes, personal expectations and responsibilities of the owner-managers largely determine the companies’ strategic orientation (Banjo & Alan, 2012). It was mentioned in the literature that the attitudes and sense of personal responsibility of owner-managers dictate the directions that SMEs follow regarding environmental

protection (Lewis & Cassells, 2011) (Williams & Schaefer, 2013). Those managers do not only have the identity as a manager, but also as an ordinary citizen. They have their own ethical standards and awareness towards sustainable development. In their daily life, their behaviors and awareness do not affect the companies’ orientation, but when they are positioned as a manager in the company, each behavior and emotion, could impact the companies’ decisions, as well as the employees’ motivation at work.

Moreover, it might influence the employees’ attitudes towards sustainable development, if they are willing to put in effort to contribute to the companies’ sustainability. Therefore, managerial attitudes are recognized as significantly affecting the formulation of new environmental policies and goals for environmental leadership (Berry & Rondinelli, 1998)

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mentioned that the beliefs, attitudes, intentions, biases and prejudices of the owner-manager of a small firm largely determine the strategic stance, direction and operations of the business (Banjo & Alan, 2012). The managerial attitudes that imply awareness and strong

environmental and ethical convictions allow smaller firms to implement sustainability tools and become pioneers of responsible behaviors (Juan, John, & Henning, 2014).

By comparing people's attitudes in three countries with different levels of economic

development, Cummings found that socio-economic development determines an individual's progressive attitude towards environmental issues (Cummings, 2008). However, no matter which country, people or organizations with a direct economic interest in the company are collectively called stakeholders. The stakeholders of the company can be internal and external. Externals can be customers and government officials. Internals can be employees and managers. Stakeholder engagement was identified as the defining factor increasing managers’ awareness, helping legislation to be effectively implemented, and making sustainability highly appealing to clients (Rodriguez-Melo & Mansouri, 2011). During the research, external stakeholders were the main focus to be studied. We base this assertion on recent research illustrating that external stakeholder can influence firms to consider

environmental practices (David E., Paula C., & Jennifer, 2015). If a supervisor believes that accommodating external stakeholders’ (e.g., customers, government officials) environmental preferences will result in favorable outcomes (e.g., increased sales, fewer inspections), then the supervisor will demonstrate a higher level of commitment to environmental practices (David E., Paula C., & Jennifer, 2015). Government engagement with professional, trade and industry associations such as the local chamber of commerce may be an effective tool to influence the local business culture toward environmental management (Banjo & Alan, 2012). However, while stakeholder pressures may exist, environmental initiatives may not be mandatory (compliance-driven) but driven by the organization's value system and/or

employees (David E., Paula C., & Jennifer, 2015).

Summary and Analysis

The current research illustrates and emphasizes the importance of the owner-manager’s positive attitudes of the company to influence the companies’ overall environmental

sustainability position (Banjo & Alan, 2012). This means that the manager plays an important role in the formation and implementation of the companies’ overall strategic configuration.

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To improve the overall environmental sustainability of the company, the awareness of managers must be improved (Banjo & Alan, 2012). However, at first, the previous research did not explain how this process occurs. According to previous literature, the formation of attitudes may be influenced by the external institutional environment to a large extent (Banjo & Alan, 2012). Laws, regulations, and social or community psychological models have a profound impact on the formation of positive or negative attitudes towards natural

environmental issues by owner-managers (Banjo & Alan, 2012). By making commitments to society, communities, employees and companies, managers will also be effectively

supervised (Klein, Molloy, & Cooper, 2009). Secondly, the manager's attitude towards environmental sustainability comes from his or her own ideology. Managers themselves need to have a very high level of environmental protection awareness and a sense of responsibility. Cummings also pointed out that one of the critical factors that can affect attitudes lies in the economic development of the society itself (Cummings, 2008). In other words, the attitude of stakeholders will also affect the manager's decision-making direction and the overall

allocation of resources to a large extent.

The previous research has already had some findings, but there are still many existing gaps. Firstly, the sample companies in the Philippines mentioned in Banjo & Alan’s research, are relatively small companies. The results show that the regulatory dimension has a great impact on the owner-manager ANE of young and very small companies included in the sample, because these companies may be in the early stages of the companies’ life cycle and therefore are in a "survival mode." (Banjo & Alan, 2012). Given the need to maximize the use of limited resources to maintain business, the main goal of newly established or young small companies is to comply with basic regulatory requirements (Williamson, Lynch-Wood, & Ramsay, 2006). Larger companies may have surpassed this "minimum regulatory

compliance" approach and have begun to pay more attention to management concepts that affect environmental sustainability and the cognition and normative aspects of organizational strategy orientation (Banjo & Alan, 2012). So, for those larger companies, is the manager’s attitude and awareness still under supervision and has a positive impact on the companies’ environmental sustainability? In addition, this investigation is set in China. It is sufficiently interesting to focus on larger corporations. Because in these corporations, managers are not owners, and the strategy setting is more complex. Taking these factors into account, in this study, the sample size is further reduced. This study targets medium and large companies in

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Regarding the question of how to improve the attitude of managers, most of the past literature was surveys and studies conducted in developed countries such as the United States and the European Union. However, due to economic development, political policies, and people's attitudes are quite different between developed and developing countries, specific measures on how to raise the awareness of managers in China are still unclear. In this regard, the main research question of this article is:

How do managers’ attitudes towards sustainability shape companies’ decisions about sustainability policies?

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3 Methodology

This chapter will elaborate on the reasons for carrying out this research, the research process, and the implementation steps. The purpose of the research is to find out how managers’ attitudes towards sustainability shape companies’ decisions about sustainability policies, so that the researchers are able to conclude the businesses’ attitudes to work with sustainability, in Yangtze River Delta Region in China.

In addition, it also reflects the researchers' value judgment, or the views and positions held, including the researchers' personal characteristics and background that may affect the research process and results. By describing the authors' reflexivity, readers can not only realize how the authors view the research object and the research itself, but also have important meanings for a transparent research process.

Research Philosophy

Research philosophy involves the source, nature, and development of knowledge. In

conclusion, research philosophy is the belief that data about related phenomena is collected, analyzed, and used. At present, in the scope of business research, there are four main research philosophies: pragmatism, positivism, realism, and interpretivism. (Dudovskiy, 2018)

In this research, the topic is based on the authors’ interests, and it contains a lot of subjective opinions. In this regard, this article is mainly using interpretivism. Interpretivism involves researchers explaining the elements of research. It is based on the critique of positivism in the social sciences and integrates people's interests into the research. Therefore, this philosophy emphasizes qualitative analysis rather than quantitative analysis.

Due to the strong subjectivity of interpretivism, data will be severely affected by personal opinions and values, so the reliability and representativeness of data will be damaged to a certain extent. However, in this research, the authors focus on collecting all the ideas from different industries, which can reduce the impact to a certain extent. Also, due to the use of interpretivism, qualitative research fields can be studied in-depth, such as leadership and the analysis of factors affecting leadership. The data in this type of research is often trustworthy and honest. (Dudovskiy, 2018)

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Research Approach

To answer the research question, we chose the Eisenhardt (1989) Method, which is inductive research. The method’s singular aim is theory building, especially with multiple cases and theoretical logic (Eisenhardt, 1989). Therefore, we have chosen to do a multi-case study to develop new theories. There are three main approaches: deductive, inductive, and abductive. Since we are developing new theories with the help of theories developed by previous research, we chose the abductive approach. Abduction is between deduction and induction, which is based on data analysis to explain "incomplete observations" or "surprising facts" (Creswell & Creswell, 2017).

At the beginning of this study, the authors confirmed the topic and research question based on many Chinese policies and related literature about garbage classification and environmental sustainability. However, after further investigation into this research, the authors found some gaps. Also, considering the topic refers to managers' attitudes, which means communications in depth are necessary. Therefore, we use interviews to collect data to develop new theories and combine them with some existing theories from previous studies to fill in the gaps. This aligns with an abductive approach.

Data Collection 3.3.1 Sampling Process

The first step in the preparation for data collection is the development of a sampling strategy that informs the selection of potential research participants and methods for data collection (Smith, Thorpe, Jackson, & Jaspersen, 2018). The researchers chose Maximum-Variation Sampling Strategy for collecting the data. The definition of Maximum-Variation Sampling Strategy is that the selection aims to include a wide range of incidents of a given

phenomenon, including extreme cases (Tracy, 2013). Since the research object of this article is managers, in the process of selecting samples, the authors considered the influence of each person's personal background and the relationship between the researcher and the research process and results.

The sampling method the researchers chose is Judgmental Sampling. Judgmental Sampling is also called purposive sampling or authoritative sampling, it is a non-probability sampling

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technique in which the sample members are chosen only based on the researcher’s knowledge and judgment. As the researcher’s knowledge is instrumental in creating a sample in this sampling technique, there are chances that the results obtained will be highly accurate with a minimum margin of error (Questionpro, 2021). In this research, both authors are from the Yangtze River Delta Region, and both authors have a management study background. Based on these two factors, the scope of the research and the selection of the samples are decided.

The interviewees are 13 managers from different companies, since the research needs to conclude a general situation of the Yangtze River Delta Region. Therefore, it is necessary to include businesses from different industries within this region. The industries include an insurance company, medical company, government organization, business consulting company, etc. The reason for having 13 interviewees is that there is a limited time for the researchers to have more interviews; after several interviews, the researchers found that some of the answers are repetitive. Moreover, the gathered information so far is enough to describe a general situation for the Delta Region. Furthermore, all the interviewees must sign a

contract of anonymity, which claims that they are doing the interviews of their own will and are willing to share the information during the interviews. They also need to authorize the researchers that the collected data shall be used in the research thesis and only in the research thesis.

3.3.2 Types of Data

The research is qualitative, and two types of qualitative data are collected: secondary data and primary data. Qualitative data are pieces of information gathered in a non-numeric form. The most common types of qualitative data are accounts of what a research participant has said or done; for example, interview recordings and transcripts, written notes of observations, and images, videos, and documents (e.g., company reports and meeting minutes) (Smith, Thorpe, Jackson, & Jaspersen, 2018).

Secondary data are research information that already exists in the form of publications or other electronic media, which is collected by the researcher (Smith, Thorpe, Jackson, & Jaspersen, 2018). Secondary data are used to complement primary data, and the sources include websites, advertisements, company or government official reports, books, and

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In the research, secondary information is collected from websites mainly, for example, the companies’ official website, government’s website and different organizations’ official websites, newspapers published and sold within the Yangtze River Delta Region. The advantage of secondary data is to save the time and effort of the researcher, and the data sources often appear to be of high quality, especially when published by firms and governments (Smith, Thorpe, Jackson, & Jaspersen, 2018).

Primary data are new information collected directly by the researcher, and it aims to create original data (Smith, Thorpe, Jackson, & Jaspersen, 2018). Commonly, in the form of observations, interviews, surveys, experiments, measurements and user inputs (Spacey, 2019). In the research, the interview has been chosen to collect the primary data. Qualitative interviews are directed conversations evolving around questions and answers about a certain topic (Lofland&Lofland, 1984). Interviews differ from everyday conversations in that they are based on series of questions that follow a particular purpose, usually the in-depth exploration of a particular topic or experience (Charmaz, 2014).

However, the researchers cannot have face-to-face interviews due to the pandemic, so remote interviews are chosen instead. Remote interviews are more flexible and give the interviewees less pressure than a face-to-face interview if the interviewees are confident or feeling

uncomfortable while facing someone.

3.3.3 Collection Process

The most popular qualitative data collection and analysis methods in business research are interviews, focus groups, observations, case studies, games, and role-playing. In this research, interviews were used. There are three different formats of interviews: structured,

semi-structured, and unstructured. Semi-structured interviews are composed of structured and unstructured. In this type of interview, the interviewer will provide the same set of questions. However, researchers may ask other questions based on the current situation for further expansion during the interview process. (Dudovskiy, 2018)

In this study, semi-structured interviews are used, because compared to the other two types of interviews, this method has a certain degree of freedom and is also very reliable. It improves

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the possibility of collecting more detailed information, but also during the interview process, the interviewers can control the process themselves, and further elaborate on some problems that may arise in the process. Therefore, considering a series of factors, semi-structured interviews are the best choice.

During the research process, the authors collect all the information in detail by asking questions and recording. The questions that were asked during the interviews are focused on garbage classification and about sustainable measures taken in the companies; answers for each question are collected during the conversations. Existing information is also collected while interviewees are talking freely without any structure limit. All the interviews are done by having voice calls through a Chinese social media application and recorded by both authors in Sweden. The conversations are all in Chinese to have more accurate and original information since all the interviewees are Chinese. The content of the interviews was transcribed and translated afterwards to facilitate the later coding analysis and discover the connections between different evidence. The final conclusion and process are described and displayed in a narrative way.

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Position Firm Type of Company Duration Reference

Regional Manager A Financial Sector:

Insurance 53 minutes Sample 1

Regional Manager B Pharmaceutical

Industry 50 minutes Sample 2

Deputy Director C Government Facility 47 minutes Sample 3

Project Manager D Consulting

Company 47 minutes Sample 4

Supply Chain

Manager E Food & Beverage Industry 57 minutes Sample 5 Project Manager F Pharmaceutical

Industry 43 minutes Sample 6

Logistics Manager G State-owned Enterprise

42 minutes Sample 7

R & D Manager H Technology

Finance Manager I Construction Industry

51 minutes Sample 9

R & D Manager J Technology

Sales Manager K Electronic Equipment Company

50 minutes Sample 11

Project Manager L Electronic Equipment Company

Deputy Director M State-owned Enterprise

Table 1. Summary of Interviews

Table 1 shows the overview of interviews. We interviewed 13 managers in total. The length of the interviews varied, with an average of 50 minutes. These managers are employed in different industries, but all come from medium and large companies. Since the structure of medium and large companies is more complicated than that of small companies, even though

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they are positioned as managers, there are some conditions where different departments or different levels exist, so the scope of their powers and the specific policies or measures they can manage are both different.

Data Analysis

After collecting enough data, content analysis was used to draw the final conclusion. Content analysis is a research tool; it is an explanatory and naturalistic method. It is both

observational and narrative, with less reliance on experimental elements (reliability, validity, and universality) usually associated with scientific research. Content analysis has many uses, such as determining the intent, focus, and communication trends of individuals, groups, or organizations, or determining individuals and groups' psychological or emotional states. It has the advantage of being able to check and analyze using text directly, and also provide valuable historical and cultural insights over time. (Carol, et al., 1994 - 2012)

The first step was to obtain the data from interviews, and also transcribe these data into text. Then, in order to use content analysis to analyze the text, the text must be encoded or

decomposed into code categories for class management for analysis to further summarize the data (Carol, et al., 1994 - 2012). After that, the researchers translated and read the entire text in the second step, checked whether there is a certain relationship between the samples, and determine the level of analysis: that is, a mixture of words, phrases, sentences, and topics. Then, the authors select categories and codes with general meanings such as words or phrases to simplify the text. The third step explored the relationship between concepts; that is, after encoding the words, analyze and understand the different encodings. Then, the relationships or statements between these concepts need to be coded again. The fourth step is the last step. After all the coding and analysis, the results need to be displayed through various drawing representations, such as thinking models, tables, flowcharts, etc., to help explain the relationship between understanding and finally get to the conclusion.

In the whole process, the researchers manually code to eliminate some conceptual

understanding errors. All researchers follow the same coding analysis method, and after the end of the coding, another researcher conducts a second check and inspection. The same analysis method is used during this inspection. In addition, there are unified standards and norms for text classification.

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Research Quality

Research Quality is the trustworthiness of research. Trustworthiness is a concept adapted and promoted by Lincoln and Cuba (1985). It is considered to be the most typical framework for evaluating qualitative research (Favourite, 2019). Trustworthiness has four key components: Credibility, Transferability, Dependability and Confirmability.

In the research, researchers used triangulation to prove the credibility of the research. Both researchers had interviews with different participants, but with the same questions within the same semi-structured interviews. During coding, to ensure the credibility of the data, the researchers chose manual coding instead of software. For double-guarantee, one of the researchers is responsible for doing the initial coding part, and the second researcher is responsible for the checking part. The purpose is to reduce the possible misunderstandings or mistakes during the coding process.

This research is focused on the specific region in China to conclude the situation and the level of development in sustainability in China. However, the conclusion can possibly be applied to other developing countries with similar situations, which shows the transferability of the research. Regarding dependability, except for two researchers, the colleagues and the supervisor of the researchers also participated in the review and checking process. The interviews during the research were all conducted in the interviewees’ mother tongue --- Chinese, and all the contents were translated into English by the researchers. To avoid adding the researchers’ opinions or biases, both researchers did direct translation with double-check contents. Therefore, confirmability is assured.

Research Ethics

Ethical Considerations can be specified as one of the essential parts of the research. Dissertations may even be doomed to failure if this part cannot be done well or is even missing. Nevertheless, it exists during the process of research, especially some primarily like seeking access, data analysis, and reporting. According to Vanclay, Baines and Taylor

(2013), some ethical principles need to be considered for qualitative interviews. For example, full respect for participants; ensure that participants can voluntarily choose whether to

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participate in the interview and that they are informed of the risks in advance; no harm to the participant; confidentiality of personal matters, and so on (Vanclay, Baines, & Taylor, 2013).

In order to ensure that the above requirements are met, researchers fully consider these ethical issues before conducting research. At first, the researchers ensure that the respondent participates in the research voluntarily, and participants have the right to withdraw at any stage. Secondly, the interviewees participate based on informed consent, and the researchers provide sufficient information and guarantee that they will not exert any pressure or show coercive behavior. Third, during the interview process, the interviewers pay attention to the words and methods of speaking and ensure that any offensive and discriminatory language is avoided. Finally, privacy and anonymity are very important. Therefore, during the entire interview and subsequent analysis and writing process, any interviewee's privacy, such as name, company name, etc., will not be mentioned.

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4 Findings

This chapter presents the empirical results of interviews and some online secondary data, starting with an overall description of basic information and final results. Then, some further findings come from different factors. Finally, all the data are directly used as evidence to support these findings. Furthermore, some pictures and tables were used to explain those findings better. The table below shows the general information about the interviewees.

Sample No.

Gender Age City City level Classification

1 Female 51 Nanjing New tier 1

2 Female 28 Shanghai Tier 1

3 Male 47 Huaian Tier 3

4 Male 51 Changzhou Tier 2

5 Male N/A Shanghai Tier 1

6 Female N/A Nanjing New tier 1

7 Male 51 Nanjing New tier 1

8 Male 34 Shanghai Tier 1

9 Female 47 Yangzhou Tier 2

10 Male 45 Hangzhou New tier 1

11 Female 25 Hangzhou New tier 1

12 Female 37 Suzhou New tier 1

13 Male 52 Yangzhou Tier 2

Table 2. Basic Interviewee Information

Table 2 describes some basic information about the interviewees. In this study, the authors interviewed 13 managers, of which six were male and seven were female. These interviewees are from some central cities in the Yangtze River Delta, such as Nanjing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. According to the five dimensions index of commercial resource agglomeration, urban hub, urban occupant activity, lifestyle diversity, and future plasticity, 337 cities at prefecture-level and above in China are evaluated. The component analysis method comprehensively obtains the final result, and selects first-tier cities, new first-tier cities, second-tier cities, third-tier cities, fourth and fifth-tier cities. For the convenience of analysis in the article, the authors use the classification of cities as the description object. See

Appendix 2 for details on the classification of cities in this article. These cities have all implemented some policies and publicity related to garbage classification in 2019. Among them, Shanghai is the earliest and currently the most comprehensive city in terms of related policies. In addition, the average age of these 13 managers is 43 years old, of which the youngest is 25 years old, and the oldest is 52 years old.

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Firm Governmental (Basic)

Garbage Policy (Additional) Internal Garbage Policy

Other Sustainable

Measures Performance Level

A No No No Low

B Yes No No Low

C No No No Low

D Yes No Yes High

E Yes Yes Yes High

F Yes No No Low

G Yes No Yes High

H Yes No No Low

I Yes Yes No High

J Yes No Yes High

K No No Yes High

L Yes No Yes High

M No No No Low

Table 3. Criteria of Performance Level

This table describes how the firms perform regarding sustainability. According to the interview, the final implementation results of various companies are different. They are divided into highs and lows according to three criteria: Governmental (Basic) Garbage Policy, Internal (Additional) Garbage Policy, and Other Sustainable Measures. In order to better understand this table, we give some definitions for them.

High means firms with one “Yes” in either Internal Garbage Policy or in Other Sustainable Measures in Table 3. Low means firms without “Yes” in Internal Garbage Policy and Other Sustainable Measures in Table 3.

Definition of Governmental (Basic) Garbage Policy:

If where the firm is, it has governmental garbage classification policies, and the firm strictly follows the governmental policy. à Yes

If where the firm is, it does not have governmental garbage classification policies, or there is a governmental policy, but the firm does not strictly follow the governmental policy. à No

Definition of Internal (Additional) Garbage Policy:

If the firm has an additional garbage classification policy, and all the employees strictly follow the internal policy. à Yes

If the firm has an additional garbage classification policy, but not all the employees strictly follow the internal policy. Or there is no additional policy at the firm. à No

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Definition of Other Sustainable Measures:

If the firm has other sustainable measures besides garbage classification. For example: using solar energy, recycling plastic waste. à Yes

If the firm does not have any other sustainable measure. à No

According to these two categories, the authors extracted relevant information from the interview information and classified the 13 companies according to that information. Details see Appendix 3. The figure below shows the information about the performance level of garbage classification from those 13 companies.

Figure 1. The Performance Level of Garbage Classification

The authors classified the performance of each companies’ waste classification based on the information from the managers. According to the above information, although all these samples belong to medium-sized or large-sized companies in the Yangtze River Delta, the results of the waste classification’s implementation are different. Various factors may affect the final results. Therefore, based on the information from interviews and the performance level, the researchers here conduct a specific analysis of these two parts: the formation of managers’ attitudes and the formation of companies' sustainable orientation. The authors

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clarify the findings by analyzing the relationships between the results with these two parts and conclude.

Basic Information of Governmental Policy

When coding and analyzing the interview content, the authors found that the geographic location and type of waste significantly influence the formulation and implementation of the relevant garbage classification policy in every company. Policy about geographic location and type of waste is mainly decided by the government in China, which means the

government policy impacts the company.

4.1.1 Different Geographic Locations

Because of different geographical locations, such as different provinces and each city below, or even each city area, the local government formulates local policies. Therefore, the

government policies followed by each company are different. For example, S12 from New Tier 1 city, followed the standards set by the local government, which is somewhat different from other regions’ policies. Nevertheless, overall, it is not much different from nearby cities, but the interviewee thought the policy gap between Suzhou and Shanghai is relatively large.

Although the classification criteria may not be the same due to geographical differences, the overall gap is not large. By studying Samples 2, 5, and 8, which belong to first-tier cities, it is known that the current garbage classification policy in first-tier cities is relatively strict. The classification is more detailed and complicated compared to other cities. The government has also set up some punishment and reward measures which other cities have not had yet. As a few samples of new first-tier cities and second-tier cities, they showed the same attitudes as S1, who said:

“At present, the government has only just implemented garbage classification. Now it mainly starts from the perspective of the people. There will be more community management, and the company has not fully popularized it. Each industry will publicize and advocate garbage classification. The specific policies are formulated by the local government and supervised by the environmental sanitation department. The classification is relatively simple and not complicated, so our company only needs to follow the policies issued by the government. At

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present, some communities will have encouraging policies such as reward points, but the company does not have them.”

Currently the local government in S3, the only third-tier city, only promotes waste classification and has not issued specific measures.

Combining the basic information from Table 2 with the implementation performance level of Figure 1 shows that there is a condition of both high performance and low performance in each city level. For example, in new tier 1 cities, S1 and S6 are in the low-performance level, while the implementation results of S7, S10, S11, and S12 are high. This means that although policies vary according to geographic location, there is also a strict level gap. These might affect the company's garbage classification policy but cannot affect the company's sustainable development much. Therefore, according to the geographic location, government policies that vary according to the geographic location are not the key to determining the company's sustainable development orientation.

4.1.2 Different Types of Garbage

According to the information obtained from the interviews, although the interviewed industries are different, the difference in garbage classification is not very big. The specific difference is mainly reflected in the treatment of different types of garbage. This garbage can be mainly divided into domestic garbage and production waste. For example, samples 1, 3, 4, 8, and 10 are not production-type companies. According to them, the garbage that the

company needs to classify is mainly from life, such as wastepaper in the office, pen refills. In addition, there is also kitchen waste in the canteen, or employees who order takeaways and need to be sorted by themselves. For this type of company that only needs to deal with

domestic waste, the final effect is not uniform. There are good examples and also poor cases.

In addition, samples like 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, and 13 are all production enterprises, so they need to dispose of some domestic waste and have special requirements about the production waste in the everyday production work. Among them, S2, S6, S7, and S12 are mainly

responsible for office work and do not know the production department, so they only manage domestic waste daily, and the execution results are all above the average level. On the other

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hand, the managers of S5 and S9 have a good understanding of both the production department and the office, and they have formulated relevant policies.

S11 is mainly responsible for the management of the classification of domestic waste in the office. Also, because of the company’s publicity, this manager has a particular understanding of the production of waste:

“Our company has many measures and innovations in the production process, such as the process of making toilets. The conference uses a splicing design to reduce unnecessary waste in production. At the same time, there are many ways to deal with production waste. There will be special waste disposal points, including our company itself, which will also design and produce some waste processors for employees to dispose of by themselves. At present, our company has regulations for detailed classification, there is a special worker to clean it up.”

Furthermore, S13 also said that because he is the director of the production department, the government has many policies on the disposal of production waste. He always supervises the employees to classify the waste strictly, and the final results are also very good. However, regarding some domestic wastes, there are no clear regulations on who will take care of this responsibility, so on the contrary, the disposal of domestic waste is relatively poor.

According to the particularity of the industry, production waste is treated in different ways. For example, S5 mainly produces beverages, so it is very professional in treating plastics and water. S9 is a construction company. They have a very detailed set of regulations on the treatment of iron, glass, aluminum alloy and other substances produced in the production process. S2 and S6 belong to pharmaceutical companies, so their company's production department has stringent requirements for all kinds of medicines containing chemical substances and medicine bottles for storing medicines. As the person in charge of the production department, S13 also mentioned that they are very experienced in processing textiles in their factories. However, no matter what kind of production waste, each company has strict regulations and controls their production waste, and employees can also complete the classification well.

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Production waste is very harmful to the environment. Government policies have high requirements in this respect, but managers can also strictly control themselves and their employees. Nevertheless, for domestic garbage, there are still many problems. According to the final implementation results, different types of waste can only affect the company's differences in garbage classification, but do not greatly impact the company's sustainable development. However, through the attitudes and attention of managers to production waste, it can be found that most managers have begun to pay attention to the ecological environment and have an attitude about sustainability.

The Formation of Managers' Attitudes

In all the interviews, managers talked about the importance of policy. The policy can be used as a factor that affects the companies’ sustainable development of the environment and plays a supervisory role for managers. However, in addition to policies, many factors can affect the attitude of managers, which in turn affects the companies’ environmentally sustainable development. Therefore, in this chapter, the authors will analyse the content of the interviews from the perspectives of personal awareness, commitment and supervision, and stakeholder influence, and draw the results at last.

4.2.1 Personal Ethical Convictions

During the interviews, we asked some questions about the attitude of managers. In all the responses, many managers mentioned the level of personal awareness. For example, S2 said that:

“The higher the manager’s environmental awareness, the influence on the formulation of policies will be more positive. If managers can attach importance to sustainable

development, then execution will become stronger. I think manager’s attitude determines the strength of the companies’ internal execution.”

In addition, according to most interviews, the more ethical and more concerned about

sustainability the managers are, the more they can serve as role models for other mangers and their employees. Managers play an exemplary role and can also drive the enthusiasm of the surrounding employees. Only when the manager's consciousness reaches a certain level it can affect the companies’ future development of environmental sustainability. Regarding the

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questions of how to improve managers' awareness, most of the answers hope that the government can use some small activities to educate managers about environmental sustainability and enhance their level of personal awareness.

4.2.2 Commitment and Supervision

The role of commitment is crucial for managers. The managers S2, 10, and 12 all mentioned the importance of commitment, and S10 said:

“Making and committing can effectively improve the image of managers in the minds of employees, which is conducive to better management. In my opinion, commitment is more important because it is subjective and will be more positive, while supervision will ignore the initiative of the individual.”

In addition, managers can also use the commitment theory to make employees make promises to managers, which can also improve the motivation of employee so that they can work more effectively.

Because garbage classification is still in its infancy in China, sustainability is also making progress. In the initial stage of China, all interviewees believed that supervision from the government is of great importance. Mandatory is much better than initiative. Moreover, corporate supervision also plays a key role, and most companies are now not very strict in supervision. It is one of the reasons that lead to a poor final effect of garbage classification. Managers also feel that supervision can help them to form better attitudes. In addition, S4, 5, 7, 9, 12 mentioned social responsibility. In the interview, S4 said:

“Supervision from society, consumers or the entire social group, will bring social

responsibilities to the company, and even global environmental protection will also bring certain pressures. These responsibilities and pressures will play a supervisory role,

improving the companies’ and individual’s sense of social responsibility. These all can lead both managers and employees to try their best to make some contributions.”

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4.2.3 Stakeholders Influence

Many managers in the interview mentioned stakeholder influence. The stakeholders are mainly divided into two parts. The first part is about internal stakeholders such as managers and employees. First of all, managers who have sufficient environmental awareness can improve their personal image and make themselves more credible. Employees will also work hard to classify garbage well to better improve their personal image in managers' minds. In addition, everyone mentioned rewards and penalties. All these help managers to form their attitudes. They are eager to achieve both credits and benefit from employees and companies. However, the samples without relevant policies also mentioned incentive measures when they asked how to let better employees and managers classify garbage. For example, S2 said,

“I hope that the results of the employee's personal garbage classification are added to the performance appraisal, which directly affects the bonus.”

The second part is that external stakeholders are mainly government departments and customers. Government departments in some areas, such as Shanghai, have very strict measures about incentives and penalties. Therefore, firstly, in order not to be fined or get some government rewards, most managers have a higher awareness of garbage classification and environmental sustainability. Secondly, to protect the companies’ credibility in

government departments and improve the companies’ image, managers also contribute to this.

The customer's point of view is mainly divided into two points: target customer groups and global trends. S4 said in the interview:

“We attach great importance to the image of the company. For example, the company has a management system and an international quality management system ISO9001, and

environmental certification is one of them. In addition, customers and suppliers have an impact. Such as, Epson printers will be environmentally friendly. Therefore, it is required that customers have to evaluate suppliers, and there will be certain index requirements.”

In order to obtain more customers, the managers are willing to spend more time and energy on measures about environmental sustainability, which can give them significant benefits. Then there is the issue of megatrends. S10 and S12 both mentioned the issue of carbon

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integration in their interviews. They are more willing to devote more attention to the issue of reducing carbon emissions than waste classification.

The Formation of Companies’ Sustainable Orientation

After managers formed sustainable attitudes, it does not mean that they can directly affect the companies’ sustainable orientation. On the one hand, as managers, their influence can be huge. However, on the other hand, it is also affected by employees, customers, and regulatory authorities. The measures that managers can take are also limited, and the final results are not the same. As shown in Figure 1, the performances of companies are divided into low and high. Therefore, in this chapter, companies in these two levels will be analysed separately to draw some findings with some part of the information from interviews, and more detail can be seen in Appendix 4.

4.3.1 Analysis Based on Companies with Low Performance

Companies with poor performance generally only have basic policies stipulated by the government. Managers have not formulated additional policies. At the same time, companies have no other sustainable development policies other than garbage classification. During the interview, we found that all the managers have an overall understanding of sustainable development. For example, all managers mentioned their awareness about sustainable in the interview, like S9 said:

“Sustainable development is very important now, not only in daily life but also in the company, there should be some corresponding measures. At present, China has been slowly developing this aspect. As a manager, I will also have this consciousness to do something.”

However, compared to managers with high-performance levels, managers with

low-performance levels seem to be more passive. This is mainly reflected in the formulation and implementation of relevant policies. These managers mainly abide by the rules set by the government. When asked why there are no sustainable policies and additional measures for garbage classification, some of them (S2, S6, S8) have the similar replies like S2, who said:

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“The government has currently released some detailed and good policies. I don't think there is any need to formulate some new policies. The garbage classification has not been done yet, so I did not expect other sustainable development measures.”

While others (S1, S3, S13) mentioned other reasons. In the interview, S13 answered:

“I don't think it makes any sense. Now the government has a lot of policies for the community, but not some policy requirements for the company. As a manager, I have spontaneously formulated some waste classification policies and called on my employees to do the same. But this is useless. One reason is that after we finish doing classification, the garbage company puts all the garbage in one place again, which means we don’t have to classify it at the beginning. Secondly, this is not a government regulation and not all employees follow it. The situation will get worse. So, I have no enthusiasm anymore.”

Based on the information above and more details from Appendix 4, we can find that the managers with low-performance levels are generally lacking in positivity. Although these managers have realized that sustainable development is very important nowadays, they are unwilling to take any measures. They lack the positivity to formulate any new policies. Some of them may be affected by problems that come from implementing the policy, and gradually consume enthusiasm. On the contrary, managers with good performance are more positive. At the same time, in the case of policy problems, these managers choose to provide feedback to the government or requests help.

In addition, the lack of authority to formulate and comment is another cause of negativity. According to the interviews, the garbage that needed to be classified can be divided into domestic garbage and production waste. The types of garbage are determined by the department that managers belong to. For example, among the companies with

low-performance levels, S2 is a Pharmaceutical Industry, and they need to classify both domestic garbage and production waste. However, since the manager's department is Office, the main garbage she needs to classify daily is domestic. While, as the manager of the Production

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Department, S13 is mainly responsible for the disposal of production waste. Nevertheless, no matter which company it is, managers are only responsible for the requirements of their own positions. For example, S2 has no knowledge of the disposal of production waste, and S13 never calls on employees to classify domestic garbage.

This is because compared to SME, medium and large-sized companies are very complicated. The owner-managers of SME can make all the decisions on their own and are responsible for supervising the implementation of them. In medium and large companies, there are many different departments. Although they are all managers, because the company is relatively large and there are many classes, the authority is entirely different. The decisions of

companies’ policy regarding garbage classification are determined by different departments of each company. In companies of low-performance level, after the government released policies, the companies’ personnel department decides whether to modify and then notify the managers of each department to call on employees to implement them. Managers felt that if they do not have any authority to decide or comment on the measures, there is no reason for them to do extra work. S8 said:

“I think I am not that important, nor do I have any motivation or enthusiasm to do this.”

However, companies with high-performance levels all have specific departments like Sustainability Department, Logistics Department and Facility Management (FCM) to deal with it. They are special departments that focus on sustainable development, and if any managers meet some problems or have some ideas, they can directly give their feedback and suggestions to these departments.

4.3.2 Analysis Based on Companies with High Performance 4.3.2.1 Stakeholders Engagement

Compared with managers at low-performance levels, managers at high-performance levels are generally very positive about garbage classification and sustainable development.