Promoting Sustainable Workplace Routines: The Identity and Practice Interdependence Model

Marcia Frezza () and Karen E. White
Additional contact information
Marcia Frezza: Departmento de Psicologia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade de Fortaleza, Fortaleza 60811-905, CE, Brazil
Karen E. White: Psychology Department, Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Science, Vanier College, Montreal, QC H4L 3X9, Canada

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-23

Abstract: To clarify how the interaction of socio-material and human factors impacts the implementation of sustainable workplace routines, we developed the identity and practice interdependence model and then applied it to empirical data collected from a major Brazilian steel-producing facility. This qualitative exploratory study examined the model’s assumption that employee identity construction principles (e.g., self-esteem, self-efficacy, distinctiveness, continuity) and elements of practices (e.g., materials, meanings, competencies) provided by organizations directly impact routines and also interact in a continuous, interdependent process. Company documents, on-site observations, and data from three focus group sessions with a total of thirty employees from all levels were examined. A deductive reflexive thematic analysis was carried out on the data using Atlas.ti v 8. The results show that the model allows for the identification of the factors and their interactions, providing insights into how greener routines are created, accepted, resisted, maintained, and/or altered. When changes in practice elements can provide a path towards satisfaction of identity principles, rather than threats, there is good engagement in more sustainable routines. Employees seeking satisfaction of identity principles also take initiative, addressing practice elements that can allow for improved routines. Organizations/companies can apply some of the insights that this model provides to facilitate changes towards more sustainable work routines.

Keywords: sustainability; workplace routines; environmentally responsible behavior; identity construction principles; social practices; interdependence model; change management; employee engagement; environmental and social responsibility; sustainable consumption and production (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/3/993/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/3/993/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:3:p:993-:d:1325136

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().