Opportunities and constraints on voluntary environmental strategies: A comparative case study of integrated resource management in Alberta, Canada

The purpose of this study is to explore the external and internal challenges to, and opportunities for, voluntary environmental strategies. Using inter-firm integrated resource management (IRM) as an example of a voluntary strategy, this study employs a qualitative research approach to compare inter-firm IRM in two case study areas, one without these initiatives and one with proposed developments. Previous studies of corporate greening have typically focussed on the determinants of voluntary reform within the firm's external environment, and internal environment within control of the firm itself. This study highlights the constraints posed by the larger external environment, such as the style of environmental governance, and the impacts from activities of other corporations, while also recognizing the importance of internal organizational factors on corporate greening. These findings illustrate how theories in environmental sociology, particularly ecological modernization theory, should focus on both the macro and micro-level processes in environmental reform.