Diffusion of landscaping services in organizations: a two nation study of determinant factors

Abstract

Purpose

Environmentalists, researchers, policy makers, governments, and the general public have frequently expressed the concern for the depleting state of the environment. As a panacea, many governments have called on organizations and individuals to pay greater interest in landscaping and embark on landscaping projects through planting trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses in their immediate and distant environments. Through landscaping, the greenery, beauty, and scenic architecture of a place are preserved. This research, therefore, aims to evaluate landscaping adoption and adoption determinants by Malaysian and Nigerian organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the theory of organizational buying behavior and the innovation diffusion theory, a list of potential facilitators of landscaping adoption was derived and used as the basis for collecting data from the organizations. These data were factor analyzed to determine the key dimensions of facilitators for landscaping adoption. On the basis of the resulting dimensions, discriminant analysis was conducted to identify the factors that are sufficient in discriminating between the organizations that have adopted landscaping (adopters) and those that have not done so (non‐adopters).

Findings

The results show that organizational factors such as environmental sensitivity of the firm, organization's size, organization's people, and cost implication, as well as innovation characteristics, namely relative advantage, compatibility, and complexity, are significantly sufficient for discriminating between adopters and non‐adopters. An organization's structure and divisibility are not significant determinants.

Practical implications

The finding of this research is beneficial in designing strategies for the protection and enhancement of the greenery and beauty of the environment, and for overall environmental management.

Originality/value

The outcome of this research provides valuable pioneer information on factors that discriminate between organizational adopters and non‐adopters of landscaping in Malaysia and Nigeria that can be used to enhance landscaping diffusion and overall environmental management.

Citation

Oly Ndubisi, N. and Chukwunonso, N.C. (2005), "Diffusion of landscaping services in organizations: a two nation study of determinant factors", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 291-308. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777830510601181