Triple Embeddedness And Legitimacy Consciousness:Driving Mechanism Of Green Transformation Of State-owned Enterprises

Enterprises are one of the main bodies of environmental pollution.Promoting enterprises’ active participation in environmental governance is an important part of the construction of ecological civilization.Paying attention to and studying the environmental behavior of enterprises is a key link that cannot be ignored.According to the hypothesis of "economic man",enterprises are profit-seeking economic organizations,and the economy of enterprises makes environmental protection run counter to its fundamental goal.However,more and more enterprises gradually show environmentally friendly behaviors,such as positive green transformation,and the social logic behind them needs to be further explained.This study takes a large state-owned energy and chemical enterprise as an example,adopts the analytical perspective of embeddedness theory and organizational legitimacy theory,and uses the case study method of qualitative research methods to deeply analyze the driving mechanism of enterprise green transformation.According to the basic assumption of embeddedness theory,enterprises are not complete economic men,but organizations embedded in social relations.Organizational actions are embedded in real operating social systems,and social factors have structural influences on organizational actions.Specifically guided by the embeddedness theory of Zugin and DiMaggio,this thesis analyzes the reality of the embeddedness of state-owned enterprises in society from three dimensions of politics,culture and cognitive embeddedness,presents the operation mechanism of the embeddedness of politics,culture and cognition in state-owned enterprises,and analyzes the drive of the triple embeddedness to the environmental behavior of state-owned enterprises--green transformation.In terms of political embedding,politics is "hard" embedding.This thesis analyzes the driving force and effect of politics in promoting the green transformation of state-owned enterprises from the perspectives of the Party’s embedment,the government’s decision on the merger and reorganization of state-owned enterprises,the organizational structure setting of state-owned enterprises,the discipline of environmental policy and system,the constraints of environmental supervision and assessment,the operation of enterprise project system,and the appointment and removal of state-owned enterprise leaders.In terms of cultural embeddedness,culture is "soft" embeddedness.China’s traditional environmental culture and Central Plains regional environmental culture are embedded into state-owned enterprises in different ways.Traditional environmental culture plays a value-leading role in enterprise environmental behavior from a macro perspective,while regional environmental culture produces instrumental regulation in enterprise environmental behavior from a meso perspective.The two cultures are embedded in the corporate culture,while the corporate environmental culture plays a role in adjusting the corporate environmental behavior from the micro perspective.In this way,driving enterprises to green transformation.In terms of cognitive embedding,cognition is "soft"embedding.It shows the driving force of environmental cognition on the green transformation of state-owned enterprises.The environmental cognition of enterprise executives and employees,residents,association organizations and experts follows the embedded mechanism of"knowledge-trust-action" to restrict,supervise and guide the environmental behavior of enterprises.Under the embedment of people’s environmental cognition,enterprises will move towards green transformation.The above political,cultural and cognitive embedment of enterprises is the driving mechanism that drives state-owned enterprises to start green transformation,and the logical manifestation of "coping"green transformation of state-owned enterprises under the embedment of social factors.The triple embeddedness promotes the green transformation of state-owned enterprises,and the enterprises carry out a variety of green transformation practices.From the adjustment of business strategy and system to environmental governance and utilization,the supplement and extension of industrial chain,and then to the development of circular economy and the upgrading of environmental protection technology,the practice of green transformation brings the acquisition of environmental legitimacy.This positive feedback has encouraged enterprises to re-examine the significance and value of green transformation.Not only that,the prominent effect of green transformation has brought benefits to enterprises,but also brought benefits to residents and cities.Based on this,the environmental legitimacy of enterprises is enhanced and they become environmental protection models.The spread of environmental protection reputation brings them more resources and development convenience.Legitimacy consciously drives state-owned enterprises to"conscious" green transformation.The legitimacy consciousness of enterprises is awakened,and the legitimacy of enterprises drives them to"conscious" green transformation.Enterprises exert their initiative to maintain and manage environmental legitimacy,and the green transformation of enterprises becomes active in order to maintain and enhance environmental legitimacy.So far,the green transformation of enterprises has changed from the "response type" under the embedment to the "conscious type" driven by the autonomy.Legitimacy consciousness is the driving mechanism for enterprises to "conscious" green transformation.However,by leveraging,building and applying environmental legitimacy,enterprises can reduce the resistance to sustainable green transformation,and facilitate the development of new paths for enterprises.Triple embeddedness and legitimacy consciousness are the driving mechanism of green transformation of state-owned enterprises and towards conscious green transformation.Based on the fact that enterprises are embedded in the society,the relationship between enterprises and society is demonstrated.The environmental behavior of enterprises is transformed under the action of social factors,and enterprises start green transformation.The acquisition and promotion of environmental legitimacy is the turning point of the change of the nature of green transformation of enterprises,and legitimacy consciousness is the password of driving enterprises to consciously green transformation.Under the effect of conscious coupling of embeddedness and legitimacy,state-owned enterprises can realize green transformation and conscious green transformation.Finally,the whole society should actively build an environment conducive to the green transformation of enterprises,promote the sustainability of the green transformation of enterprises,break the misunderstanding of the zero-sum game between economy and environmental protection,and make the green transformation of enterprises become a green model to practice the theory of two mountains.