MOTIVATING FACTORS IN HOSPITAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

摘要

Environmental responsibility has been a widespread research theme. Its emergence in the health care sector, however, is relatively recent. Because the need for healthcare services tends to increase due to greater life expectancy and environmental externalities produced by human activity are having negative effect on human health, a deeper understanding of this relationship is appropriate. To contribute to this effort, this article aims to investigate the main motivations driving hospital managers to adopt environmental responsibility programs and the actions implemented by them. A multiple case study was conducted involving four hospitals in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, selected from different ownership types. Public and private hospitals were selected for interviews and secondary data analysis. The research found that the main motivational factors (competitive, ethical and regulatory) drive the sustainability efforts of these hospitals and that the competitive and regulatory motivators have the potential to establish a baseline for environmental performance that varies across ownership type (public or private). Further, the research also indicated that the comprehensiveness of environmental actions correlates with the motivators that drive hospitals to adopt those actions. Two conceptual models are proposed to illustrate these findings and offer bases for further research.