ENVIRONMENTALLY SPECIFIC SERVANT LEADERSHIP AND EMPLOYEES' PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR: MEDIATING ROLE OF GREEN SELF-EFFICACY, WITH A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SELECTED APPAREL MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN BATTICALOA DISTRICT

Abstract

Business and human activities are central to the debate on global environmental challenges. The apparel industry is a major economic sector in most countries with significant contribution to employment and economic growth. However, the apparel industry also negatively affects the environment through over consumption of natural resources, pollution and solid*-and liquid waste. Employees' pro-environmental behaviour serves as a cornerstone in realizing organizations' sustainability initiatives. Leadership plays a vital role in shaping and nurturing the desired employee behaviors. This study has developed and tested a research model that investigated the mediating role of green self-efficacy in the relationship between environmentally specific servant leadership and employees' pro-environmental behaviour. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey method. Questionnaires were issued to 358 employees in selected apparel manufacturing firms in Batticaloa district. Among them, information from 340 respondents was analyzed. In this study, the statistical tools used to analyze the levels of variables, while relationships were measured by Pearson correlation, linear regressions for further mediation analyses. The result of the correlation analysis indicates that all the variables are positively related to the employees' pro-environmental behavior and the result of regression analysis shows that the factors in the research model explain 575% of the changes in the pro-environmental behaviour of employees' selected apparel manufacturing firms in Batticaloa district. Research result shows that green self-efficacy (GSE) mediates the relationship between environmentally specific servant leadership (ESSL) and employees' pro-environmental behaviour (EPEB). Based on the research result researcher has made green self-efficacy played an interactive role with environmentally specific servant leadership in shaping employees' pro-environmental behaviour. This research responds to multiple calls for research and advances the knowledge on servant leadership and pro-environmental behaviour.