How Does CEO Environmentally Specific Servant Leadership Promote Corporate Environmental Responsibility? The Roles of TMT Proenvironmental Values, Proenvironmental Passion, and Long‐Term Orientation

This research investigates the role of the chief executive officer (CEO) in facilitating corporate environmental responsibility, a pivotal strategy for contemporary organizations seeking to cope with environmental challenges. Drawing on upper echelons theory and the cognitive–affective processing system framework, we expect that CEO environmentally specific servant leadership enhances corporate environmental responsibility by fostering proenvironmental values and passion within the top management team (TMT). Moreover, these indirect relationships are stronger (weaker) when TMT long‐term orientation is high (low). Data from 505 TMT members from 145 Chinese manufacturing corporations indicate that CEO environmentally specific servant leadership is positively related to corporate environmental responsibility, mediated by TMT proenvironmental values and passion in parallel. The results further reveal that TMT long‐term orientation strengthens the indirect relationships between CEO environmentally specific servant leadership and corporate environmental responsibility via TMT proenvironmental values and passion. This research expands the exploration of corporate environmental responsibility from the perspective of CEO–TMT interaction. It provides novel insights for practitioners seeking to facilitate corporate environmental responsibility through their leadership approach.