Mean scores of items measuring Organizational Identification (IO), Environmental Responsibility (ER) and Green Human Resources Management (GHRM), defined as Eco-training and Eco-reward, in Portugal and Slovakia.
As sustainability becomes an increasing concern, employees’ contribution to environmental initiatives within their organizations is crucial. Organizations are striving to improve their environmental impact, and the role of employees in promoting and practicing environmentally friendly behaviors is more important than ever. A new adaptation and validation of a questionnaire offers a reliable way to measure these behaviors in different cultural contexts, providing valuable insights into how organizations can better support and encourage their workforce to contribute to sustainability goals.
A team of researchers has successfully adapted and validated a questionnaire measuring organizational citizenship behavior towards the environment (OCBE) for use in both Portuguese and Slovak cultural contexts. This effort was led by Dr. Candida Manuel together with Dr. Carla Magalhães, Dr. Claudia Huber, Professor Artur Costa and José Alves from the University of Lusófona, and Dr. Lukáš Smerek from Matej Bel University. Their findings are published in the journal Administrative Sciences.
The main motivation behind this study was the increasing importance of environmental performance within organizations and the need for reliable tools to measure employee behaviors that contribute to sustainability. As organizations around the world strive to improve their environmental impact, the role of employees in promoting and practicing environmentally friendly behaviors is crucial.
The research team employed a rigorous methodological procedure to ensure that the questionnaire was reliable and valid in different cultural contexts. The process included translation, adaptation and validation, involving bilingual translators, expert reviews and pre-testing to ensure relevance and clarity of content. The final questionnaire was tested with samples from Portugal and Slovakia, demonstrating good functional equivalence, content validity and reliability. Dr. Manuel highlighted the importance of this study: “Our research highlights the importance of cross-cultural adaptation to create reliable tools to measure organizational citizenship behaviors towards the environment. This work is essential for organizations that aspire to implement effective environmental sustainability practices.”
The researchers used a comprehensive approach to adapt the questionnaire, which included forward and backward translations, reviews by an expert committee, and pre-testing. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire were evaluated with participants from Portugal and Slovakia. The study concluded that the adapted questionnaire was valid and reliable for assessing the impact of employee practices and organizational management in promoting environmental sustainability.
One of the most important findings of the research was the similarity in the factor structure of the OCBE between Portuguese and Slovak organizations. This similarity underlines the effectiveness of the adaptation process and highlights the universal applicability of the OCBE construct. The questionnaire revealed that employees in both countries engage in eco-helping actions and eco-civic engagement, which demonstrates their commitment to environmental sustainability.
Moreover, in both countries, mean scores decreased in the order of Organizational Identification (IO) > Environmental Responsibility (ER) > Green Human Resource Management (GHRM), meaning that employees responded more positively to questions about how they identify with the organization’s values than to questions about the organization’s responsibility towards the environment and green management. These results also suggested that Portuguese employees and organizations in this study are more aware of environmental issues because Slovakia had lower scores than Portugal. Surprisingly, this finding is not corroborated by the fact that Slovakia is currently ranked 18th, with an Environmental Performance Index (EPI) score of 60.0, while Portugal is ranked 48th, with a score of 50.4, updated in 2022. The EPI is a crucial tool that provides a quantitative basis for assessing the environmental performance of 180 countries.
Dr. Manuel noted, “The cross-cultural adaptation process was meticulous, ensuring that the questionnaire was not only accurately translated but also culturally relevant. This approach ensures that the results are robust and applicable in diverse cultural settings.”
The results indicated that employees in Portugal and Slovakia perceive a strong organizational identification and commitment to environmentally responsible behaviors, despite differences in environmental management practices. This finding suggests that organizational culture and leadership play a vital role in promoting environmental behaviors among employees.
The results have important implications for organizations seeking to improve their environmental performance. By understanding the factors that influence employee behaviors toward the environment, organizations can develop targeted strategies to promote sustainability. The adapted questionnaire provides a reliable tool to measure these behaviors and can be used in future research to further explore the impact of organizational practices on environmental sustainability.
In conclusion, the cross-cultural adaptation of the OCBE questionnaire by Dr. Candida Manuel and her colleagues has provided a valuable tool for organizations seeking to measure and improve their environmental performance. This study highlights the importance of cultural adaptation in creating reliable measurement tools and underscores the universal relevance of organizational citizenship behaviors toward the environment.
Journal reference
Manuel, Candida Duarte, Carla Rebelo Magalhães, Claudia Maria Huber, Lukáš Smerek, Artur Fernandes Costa and José Ribeiro Alves. “Cross-cultural adaptation of a questionnaire measuring organizational citizenship behavior towards the environment”. Administrative Sciences 14 (2024): 57. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14030057
About the authors
Candida Duarte Manuel Associate Professor at the Lusophone University of Porto (UL-CUP), Director of the Degree Programme in Environmental Engineering and researcher. At the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Engineering and Technologies (FCNET) she teaches engineering subjects such as mathematics, statistics, analytical chemistry and water quality and treatment. Currently, her research focuses on indoor air quality and microbiology, environmental sustainability and pedagogical practices in higher education.
In 2008, he obtained a PhD in Engineering Sciences from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), specializing in the physicochemical and microbiological quality of drinking water, as well as the effects of biofilms and pipe materials. He also holds a Master's degree in Chemical Process Engineering and a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, both from FEUP.
Carla Marisa Rebelo from Magalhães She obtained her PhD in Business Sciences (Management-Human Resources) in 2009 from the University of Minho (Faculty of Economics and Management), in collaboration with the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, in Rio de Janeiro. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration (with specialization in Human Resources and Marketing), since 2003, from the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration – Getúlio Vargas Foundation (Rio de Janeiro) and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations, since 1997, from the Fernando Pessoa University. She is an Associate Professor at the Lusófona University (Faculty of Economic, Social and Business Sciences) and a Visiting Professor equivalent to Assistant Professor at the University of Minho (Faculty of Economics and Management). She carries out her research activity at the Intrepid Lab, which was integrated as a hub of CETRAD – Center for Transdisciplinary Studies for Development.
Claudia Maria Huber Professor at the Lusophone University of Porto since 2020. Between 2013-2019 she worked as a teacher at the Catholic University of Santa Catarina, in Joinville / Santa Catarina, Brazil. Between 2008-2011, she managed the human resources department at Unimed Noroeste. From 2006 to 2008, she coordinated the Human Resources Department at the University of Cruz Alta (UNICRUZ). At the same time, she founded a management consultancy, called “VR Consultoria Organizacional”, operating in the public and private sectors. With a post-doctorate and PhD in Management from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto (Portugal). Master in Development from the Regional University of the Northwest of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, UNIJUÍ (Brazil). Specialist in People Management from the Regional Integrated University of Alto Uruguay and Misiones, URI (Brazil), and graduate in Economics from the University of Cruz Alta, UNICRUZ (Brazil). Her research interests are related to management, in particular people management.
Lukas Smerek He works at the Faculty of Economics of Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica (Slovakia), where he holds the positions of Associate Professor and Vice Dean for International Relations and Cooperation with Practice. He teaches courses such as Human Resources Management and Managerial Communication in both Slovak and English.
He has participated in six national scientific projects, serving as a researcher, deputy project manager and project leader. He currently heads the project team for the Visegrad International Fund grant “Past, present and future challenges of human resource management in the V4 countries”. He also participated in the national project “Universities as drivers of the development of the knowledge society”, which was part of the Education operational programme.
His publishing activity is mainly focused on human resource management. He is the co-author of four scientific monographs, two scientific articles included in the WoS Current Content Database, four articles in journals registered in the WoS or Scopus databases and another 22 articles in national and international journals or proceedings. In addition, he has published 16 articles at national and international scientific conferences, 8 of which are registered in the WoS or Scopus databases, as well as 3 papers in both national and foreign professional journals. To date, more than 170 citations to his publications have been recorded, with more than 100 citations recorded in the WoS or Scopus citation indexes. He is an active member of several national and international non-university organisations, such as the European Association of Marketing and Management (EUMASS), the Slovak Academic Association of People Management (SAAPM) and the Association of Teachers and Career Counsellors (ALKP). He is also a regular evaluator of national projects and editor of the Journal of Human Resource Management – HR Advances and Developments.
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