Grenoble Ecole de Management, France

Cognitive group influence on sustainability investment

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Abstract

In this study, we reveal that the interplay between affiliation to a cognitive group favorable to CSR and the extent to which the firm appropriates the group identity jointly influences the top-managements team’s decision to commit fund to environmental issues. We reason that this is the result of organization attention parameters. Specifically, we argue that cognitive strategic groups that are favorable to CSR redirect the firm’s focus of attention toward sustainability issues in the firm’s universe. Given that managers are more likely to provide answer to issues that arise in their focus of attention due to bounded rationality, redirecting the focus of attention toward sustainability increase the likelihood that the firm will invest in environmental issues. Furthermore, the results reveal that the capital structure of the firm (asset, liabilities and debt) does not have a statistically significant association with the probability to invest in environmental issues.

Biography

Martial is a PhD student at Grenoble Ecole de Management. His research interests include cognition and strategy, cognition and CSR, as well as the association between corporate social performance and corporate financial performance. Prior to joining the PhD program at Grenoble Ecole de Management, Martial earned a Master of Science in Business Analytics from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. As a result, he developed an appreciation for using big data and machine learning techniques such as automated textual analysis in management research. Martial also has a previous professional experience in the private sector. Precisely, he held positions in information technology within the healthcare and software industries in the United States. In his free time, Martial enjoys movies, music and watching sport.