Employee Involvement in the Waste Management Implementation Process : Volvo Cars Corporation

Abstract: Abstract Aim: This project deals with ‘employee involvement in the implementation process of waste management. The research focus on Volvo Cars Corporation since the company involves a set of departments in such process. The purpose is to identify the dominant factor(s) affecting employee involvement during waste management execution. These factors are ‘the creators of employee involvement’ and they are organizational culture; communication; training and education; teams; employee empowerment; and rewards. Thus, the research question that has been addressed is ‘how does employee involvement take place in organizations during the implementation of waste management strategies?’ Method: Case study design was applied since it serves as ground for understanding the phenomenon; and it is connected to qualitative research. The authors collected mixed data. Secondary data were gathered from the firm’s sustainability reports, while primary data is obtained from interviews with Volvo’s employees who were related to waste management implementation. Results were offered by applying coding, categorization and content analysis. Results and Conclusions: Volvo demonstrates a green corporate culture with informal and participative channels of communication. Employees work in cross-sectional and self-managed teams and they are not intensely trained in environmental oriented issues. Decentralization in decision-making is the common approach within the company. Moreover, a bonus reward system exists there. Limitations and Suggestions for further research: As the results from representative case studies design cannot be generalized, a comparative case study design regarding a number of automotive companies is recommended. The employee involvement factor has been explored in this study, however, additional research regarding firm’s performance and employee involvement outcomes is decidedly suggested. In addition, the authors recommend to conduct further studies related to other green strategies such as lean production, reduction of toxic emissions, reuse, recycle, etc. Contribution: training and education programs plus rewards packages are found irrelevant in the employee engagement with waste management. Conversely, the conducted study find out additional factors. They are the ‘social component’ and the ‘ecological mentality’ of the business which have to be considered for managers and society as important dimensions in the course of the employee involvement. Key words: HRM, employee involvement, waste management implementation process, creators of employee involvement.