Exploring the business benefits of environmental stewardship

Abstract Environmental sensitivity has gained much attention in business organizations; however, there is little empirical evidence on the business benefits from environment‐oriented measures. Some of the many promised benefits from environmental sensitivity are categorized and rated. The framework proposed by the Management Institute for Environment and Business is used to assess company environmental stewardship. A pre‐tested questionnaire was used to collect data from 133 business organizations known to have undertaken at least some ‘green business’ activities. The results from Pearson correlation analysis suggest that companies showing higher degrees of environmental stewardship will derive greater business benefits than organizations which aim at minimum compliance with government regulations in this area.