Linking Environmental Transformational Leadership, Environmental Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and Organizational Sustainability Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model

Abstract

Although considerable research has been conducted on improving sustainability performance, many important questions remain. Drawing on Social Learning Theory (SLT) and Stakeholder Theory (ST), our model suggests a mechanism, Environmental Organizational Citizenship Behavior (EOCB), through which Environmental Transformational Leadership (ETL) influences Organizational Sustainability Performance (SP). In addition, employees’ Work Passion (WP) will moderate the relationship between ETL and EOCB. A total of 240 full-time employees in Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical industries submitted responses via survey questionnaires, and the proposed hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression analysis. Results were consistent with the hypothesized conceptual scheme in that ETL indirectly impacts SP through EOCB. In the meantime, the WP of employees plays a moderating role in the relationship between ETL and EOCB as well as in the indirect effect of ETL on SP via EOCB. As a way to improve their sustainability performance, organizations must hire and nominate ETLs who can influence their employees to become aware of environmental protection and instill these values. Furthermore, employees’ passion for their work encourages them to engage in voluntary environmental behaviors. A discussion of the findings, implications, limitations, and future research avenues is included.

1. Introduction

Sustainability involves balancing the needs of the existing generation with the needs of the future generations in order to ensure that the next generation is able to meet their own needs in the future [1]. This definition takes both current and future perspectives into consideration. Sustainability includes the concept of “Triple Bottom Line” that suggests the necessity for an appropriate alignment among the three dimensions, Environmental Performance (EP), Social Performance (SP), and Financial Performance (FP), to achieve organizational sustainability [2]. From a business point of view, Sustainability Performance (SP) is the organization’s ability to meet existing business and its stakeholders’ needs while maintaining and enhancing the natural and human resources needed for the future [3]. A sustainable organization is an organization that participates in sustainable development by meeting these three dimensions altogether: social equity, financial efficiency, and environmental performance in an organization’s operational practices [3,4].

Sustainability performance has become the prime concern of many organizations worldwide, providing long-term opportunities for growth and development, financial viability, and competitive advantages [5]. A significant contribution to the GDP of many countries can be attributed to the petrochemical industries, and this plays a significant role in economic development at the national level. Even though this is the case, there is a conflict between the sustainability concept and the objectives of petrochemical companies, whose operations negatively impact environmental aspects by producing general and hazardous wastes, emitting toxic gases, polluting the environment, and producing high levels of greenhouse gases as a result of their operations [6]. Aside from that, they are also responsible for using non-renewable feedstock and storing a large volume of flammable and toxic materials, which pose a high risk to the population, assets, and environment in their vicinity [7]. These issues endanger sustainability’s social and environmental dimensions [8]. This adverse effect can be prevented, and ultimately, organizational performance can be improved by encouraging these organizations to strive for a balance between their operational and financial performance.

However, developing and sustaining operations can be difficult and requires all stakeholders’ unanimity and collective effort to succeed [9]. An organization’s leaders play a crucial role within the framework of these stakeholders because they have the responsibility to develop and implement appropriate strategies, acquire and use the right resources, and motivate their staff to work towards achieving sustainable goals, desired organizational objectives, and results together [10]. The organization’s leader must demonstrate sustainable ideas to activate employees’ behavioral intentions toward environmental conservation to improve sustainability performance and competitive advantage [11]. In order to enhance the organizational capacity and capability to achieve superior environmental, financial, and social performance, a leadership style with the right attributes can foster cross-learning and establish values, norms, and voluntary environmental behavior [12]. Therefore, this study aims to examine the indirect impact of ETL on organizational SP through the EOCB. Moreover, it investigates the moderating role of WP in the relationship between ETL and EOCB in the context of Saudi petrochemical companies in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Although leadership styles have been well established to have an impact on different aspects of organization performance, there is a dearth of empirical studies looking at how leadership styles affect SP. Among these few studies, most are focused on responsible leadership [13], sustainable leadership [10], and vision-based leadership [14] and their impact on the organization’s SP, while there is a severe lack of studies about the impact of ETL on SP. Although numerous OCB studies have investigated either safety-specific or environmental-oriented OCB, there is no unifying perspective on sustainability issues at the organizational level. More specifically, there was no previous study regarding the EOCB and SP. There is, therefore, a recommendation to empirically investigate this relationship [15,16]. In addition to leadership abilities, followers’ capabilities and behaviors also play a role [17]. Hence, investigating ETL’s impact on SP requires a more holistic approach incorporating more factors, such as WP and EOCB. In addition, petrochemical companies are among the largest energy consumers and sometimes violate environmental protection rules, which necessitates the transition to sustainable practices that are vital to the survival of this sector. Thus, examining these relationships in petrochemical organizations is significant in light of previous gaps.

The study offers both a theoretical and practical contribution. In theory, this study examines the impact of ETL on an organizational SP by taking into account the impact of EOCB and WP, which were not taken into account by previous studies (e.g., [18,19,20,21]). Consequently, this study would contribute to the ETL, EOCB, and SP literature. This study follows a multi-theoretical approach, using Social Learning Theory (SLT) and Stakeholder Theory (ST), to understand an organizational SP from a holistic perspective. Thus, it contributes to these theories by examining the relationships between variables included within the hypothesized model. Furthermore, this study evaluates the impact of WP on the relationship between ETL and EOCB. It validates and highlights the relevance of ETL and EOCB in improving an organization’s SP from a theoretical and practical viewpoint. The Saudi Vision (2030) highlights sustainability and sustainable performance as key elements in reducing air pollution, one of the government’s objectives. A study of this sort might offer organizations recommendations for achieving sustainable performance.

The following sections will discuss the literature, hypotheses formulation, and research framework. Then, we will discuss the methodology and results. After that, we will present the limitations and suggest possible directions for future research.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Theoretical Background

By incorporating a multi-theoretical approach, i.e., principles of Social Learning Theory (SLT) as well as Stakeholder Theory (ST), this study aims to investigate the impact of ETL on organizational SP by considering the impact of the EOCB and WP in such a relationship. Due to the fact that SP consists of a variety of dimensions, as well as the fact that antecedents of this performance had a wide range of complex decisions and behaviors across different levels of an organization, a multi-theory approach was considered more appropriate to study such phenomena [22,23]. Managers’ leadership orientation, WP, and EOCB play a very important role in this context, among a number of other factors. Taking the SLT perspective, employees consider their leader to be a role model and follow his behavior, values, and reliable actions to develop a favorable mindset toward environmental behavior within the company [24]. The leader participates in various activities, such as demonstrating acceptable behaviors that impact followers to behave in a good way [25,26], such as raising environmental standards, and focusing on the environmental obligations that help organizations establish and implement environmental visions and participate in sustainable activities [27]. This indicates that ETL can influence the organizational SP through beliefs, procedures, directions, and attitudes. Moreover, in line with SLT [25,26,28,29], the leader’s role has a direct impact on the employee’s EOCB, as it builds trust and demonstrates the leader’s attitude as well as influences the employees to engage in pro-environmental activities such as using green sustainable resources, reducing energy consumption, and fostering others to engage in activities that are environmentally friendly [30].

ST assumes that in order to guarantee outstanding business results, an organization must be able to target the interests of multiple stakeholders in its activities [31]. Stakeholders can be further classified into primary and secondary stakeholders based on their interests. Primary stakeholders are people who own and operate the company, shareholders, employees, communities, and secondary stakeholders are groups that represent business and industry, legislative agencies, suppliers, the media, and competitors. In addition to instilling environmental values and a sense of ownership in the organization, an ETL is more likely to be responsible for leading and assuring the appropriate organization’s governance, performance, social responsibility, and sustainability that satisfy the expectations of stakeholders. Further, employees play a vital role in the execution of leaders’ instructions. It is for this reason that the WP of employees should also be aligned with the philosophies and values of the leaders. Accordingly, it can be assumed that the WP of the employees will play a moderating role in the process of assessing the impact of leadership on the EOCB of the employees. It is likely that sustainable relationships between ETL and stakeholders can result in positive outcomes for society as well as the environment as a whole [32]. Therefore, ETL has been identified as an antecedent to SP in this study.

2.2. ETL and EOCB

Transformational leadership (TL) is an approach to leadership in which the leader and followers engage in meaningful communication with the goal of leading them through a vision-driven change [33]. It is a positive and active style of leadership comprised of four related behaviors: (a) idealized influence, (b) inspirational motivation, (c) intellectual stimulation, and (d) individualized consideration [34]. Morton et al. [35] applied transformational leadership theory to parenting behaviors and developed a scale measuring this style of leadership. Based on this research, Robertson and Barling [36] applied their target-specific transformational leadership theory to environmental contexts in an effort to further extend the application of this theory. In doing so, they describe Environmental Transformational Leadership (ETL) as a manifestation of TL where the content of the leadership behaviors is all focused on encouraging pro-environmental initiatives. It consists of four ideal behaviors: Environmental Idealized Influence (EII); Environmental Inspirational Motivation (EIM); Environmental Intellectual Stimulation (EIS); and Environmental Individualized Consideration (EIC). Specifically, EII is the moral obligation to an environmentally sustainable planet and actual engagement in pro-environmental actions through which the leader demonstrates a pro-environmental example to their followers. EIM is the motivating the followers passionately in order to ignore their self-interests and strive for a shared pro-environmental vision. EIS is the stimulation of followers to challenge the long-held assumptions about the current environmental practices, and to treat environmental issues in creative ways. EIC is the development of deep relationships with followers so that leaders can help them to develop pro-environmental skills [36].

Boiral [37] defines EOCB as “individually and optionally social behaviors that are not formally recognized by the organization’s formal reward system and contribute to an effective environmental management”. EOCB is a specific type of Pro-Environmental Behavior (PEB) to ensure improvement in the organizational SP [38,39]. According to Boiral and Paillé [40], the three main types of EOCB are Eco-Initiatives (EI), Eco-Civic Engagement (ECE) and Eco-Helping (EH). EI is defined as the voluntary behavior that might not be recognized or rewarded by the formal reward system in an organization, but that accumulatively helps improve the organization’s environmental performance over time. ECE consists of voluntary and unrecognized engagement in environmental activities which have been established by the organization and contribute to the improvement of the organization’s reputation. EH can be described as voluntary and unrewarding behaviors that are used to give coworkers a better understanding of the importance of balancing environmental concerns at work [40]. Amongst these behaviors are various initiatives, such as educating the organization’s employees on how to prevent pollution in the workplace, suggesting waste reduction solutions, participating in environmental conferences on behalf of the organization, and collaborating with the organization’s environmental department and agencies to implement green technology and practices. An important concept of EOCB is that the organization does not reward individual voluntary behavior as part of its reward system. It may seem that each of these behaviors is minor and unimportant when taken individually. The promotion of these behaviors throughout an organization can, however, have a considerable positive effect and improve the environmental performance of the organization since they will become collective [41].

Buil et al. [42] found that TL can promote a high-quality relationship with followers. Consequently, followers’ care and loyalty to their organization will increase, and they will thus volunteer to implement positive behaviors and attitudes. Therefore, promoting EOCB from the perspective of TL is an effective way to accelerate the environmental transition. By enacting TL behaviors, ETL outline an environmental vision to their employees and encourage them to participate in environmental protection activities [43,44]. Therefore, the employees clearly comprehend the importance of protecting the natural environment to their leader, and they are committed to ensuring that they carry out acts that are beneficial to the environment. It has been shown that ETL and employees’ environmental behavior and involvement have a positive association over and above the general TL style. This is primarily because ETL can induce employees’ pro-environmental motivation, pro-environmental harmonious passion, and pro-environmental psychological climate on the job [44,45,46,47]. Moreover, Robertson [46] demonstrates that ETL also creates a pro-environmental working environment by increasing the number of employees who appreciate and promote issues related to the environment. As a result of this, it is conceivable that our association between ETL and EOCB may also exist in the same way. It is particularly important to note that by utilizing each of the four ETL behaviors mentioned above, leaders can provide verbal and behavioral cues that demonstrate the value and expectation of EOCBs [46]. If employees interpret these cues correctly, they will realize that their leaders want them to exhibit and participate in EOCBs to demonstrate their commitment to their organizations and (as a result) their participation will be acknowledged and valued by their managers. Consequently, these findings indicate that ETL has the ability to predict EOCB and employees’ motivation to engage in it.

Hypothesis 1 (H1).

Environmental transformational leadership is positively related to environmental organizational citizenship behavior.

2.3. ETL and Organizational SP

Leadership can be defined as a person’s capability to impact others to do desired things or not to do the undesirable things in accordance with their willingness to fulfill the predetermined objectives [48,49]. By utilizing this capability, we are able to motivate, engage, and load passionate employees with work that they will not only be willing to cooperate with but will also be committed to reaching the specific goals in an organized and systematic way [50]. The leadership aspect is a special requirement to guide and direct the organization toward SP [51]. According to Anning-Dorson [52], a leader must have a vision and motivate his employees to display their success in a responsible and consistent manner. Thus, organizational SP requires a leader committed to taking these actions [53,54]. The leader must permanently raise the employees’ sensibilities and encourage them to enhance their performance to achieve the organizational objectives [53,55,56]. Waldman and Siegel [57] assert that TLs’ intellectual stimulation efficiency is appropriate for sustainable organizational strategy. Finally, Jiang et al. [53] assert that the sustainable performance of employees, and organizations as well, requires ETL.

Taking into account that ETL is a manifestation of TL where the content of the leadership behaviors is all focused on encouraging pro-environmental initiatives [36] and the inclusion of environmental performance as a primary dimension of SP, it can be argued that ETL is the appropriate leadership style that is able to meet organizational SP needs and predict the organizational SP. Thus, the following hypothesis is formulated:

Hypothesis 2 (H2).

Environmental transformational leadership is positively related to organizational sustainability performance.

2.4. EOCB and Organizational SP

An organization’s environmentally friendly climate may have a significant impact on employees’ commitment to the EOCB. It is through the EOCB that employees are able to cooperate with their organization so that they can perform and execute activities that go beyond the scope of their job duties and prioritize the environment [58]. The collective EOCB represents the employees’ cooperation efforts in the green initiatives that are required as part of the organizational sustainability strategy, rather than the sum of the individual contributions to green initiatives [59]. Several researchers have shown a significant relationship between EOCB and environmental performance [60,61]. Moreover, researchers who explored the aspects that would motivate workers to demonstrate EOCB conclude that organizations’ sustainable achievement cannot solely rely on the organization’s sustainability policies [62] but also on the employees’ environmentally friendly behaviors such as EOCB [63]. The EOCB has proven to be an effective tool for achieving organizational sustainability performance [37,64], although it is not formally recognized by the organization’s formal reward system, because once employees feel these behaviors are valued and appreciated by their organization, they are more involved and engaged in EOCB [62].

In light of the fact that EOCB is focused on reducing individual and organizational resource consumption, thus favoring natural resources, it would be relatively easier for EOCB to decrease operational, managerial, marketing, and distribution costs as well. Therefore, it would increase organizational efficiency, and improve financial and environmental performance. Moreover, EOCB also seeks to improve the overall welfare of the community. Therefore, it can be argued that EOCB would positively enhance organizational SP in its different dimensions: environmental performance, financial performance, and social performance, where the following hypothesis is formulated:

Hypothesis 3 (H3).

Environmental organizational citizenship Behavioris positively related to organizational sustainability performance.

2.5. The Mediating Role of EOCB

Recently, researchers have found that in their studies, OCB could be treated as a mediator variable. However, some differences exist. First, the dependent variables used in this research are different, such as employees’ performance [53,65,66], organizational performance [67], and individual innovation and creativity [65]. Second, the independent variables used are also different. For example, Maharani et al. [66] and Jiang et al. [53] both studied the impact of TL, and Khokhar and Zia-ur-Rehman [65] examined the impact of ethical leadership on employee SP. Third, the research context is different for this research. For example, Maharani et al. [66] studied the mediated role of OCB in the banking sector, and Jiang et al. [53] in the construction sector.

The raised question here is how ETL would enhance organizational SP through EOCB. Taking into account the previous discussed studies on the mediated role of OCB between TL and SP [53,66], the positive association between ETL and PEB [45,46,47], EOCB as a specific type of PEB to ensure improvement in the organizational SP [38,39], the empirical evidence of EOCB, and its assertiveness that it contributes to organizational environmental performance [68]. Accordingly, it can be argued that EOCBs play a very important role in organizational greening, environmental performance, as well as motivating employees to adhere to organizational standards of performance (SP). In light of this discussion, the following hypothesis is formulated:

Hypothesis 4 (H4).

Environmental Organizational Citizenship Behavior paly mediate role in the relationship between Environmental Transformational Leadership and organizational Sustainability Performance.

2.6. The Moderating Role of WP

There are various definitions of WP. These definitions significantly affected the existing empirical research on WP and were affected by them. Baum and Locke’s [69] definition of WP was appropriately applied to entrepreneurs. The Vallerand et al. [70] definition can take on more and is less adaptive than the Cardon et al. [71] definition of entrepreneurial passion. Perhaps the most appropriate definition of WP was by Chen et al. [72], who define WP as a means to strongly align with a line of work that an employee feels motivated to engage in and derives positive effects from doing. Accordingly, Chen et al. [72] suggest that there are three critical elements that are essential to WP: a positive attitude towards engagement in the work, believing that the job is an essential part of the employee’s identity, and being motivated to engage in the work. This view of these psychological states depicts a holistic picture of the WP experience, a sense that each WP element only makes sense in light of the whole experience. Passionate employees demonstrate a higher willingness to conduct extra-role efforts and initiatives in their workplace [73]. Several previous studies have shown that there is a positive relationship between WP and employees’ OCB in the workplace [74,75]. In addition, employees who have a higher WP develop trusting relationships with their subordinates, managers, and coworkers, which increases their satisfaction with the relationship and motivates them to behave in desired social ways [75,76,77,78,79]. Furthermore, high WP makes employees flexibly engage in work and life activities and pretend to be open to achieving and enhancing positive experiences [80,81]. Due to this, WP creates a drive and energy within the individual to do extra-role activities. In the same way, it is necessary for work-passionate employees to devote more time to their work roles and to show active participation in the behaviors that contribute to a positive experience at work [82,83]. According to SLT, employees who pay more attention to the actions and behaviors of their role models or leaders are more likely to retain and replicate those actions and behaviors when they are on their own [24]. Markus [84] suggests that individuals are more likely to pay attention to and get the most benefit from information and behaviors that correspond to their own orientations and values. In addition, previous studies on WP also assert that employees with high WP demonstrate more excellent responsiveness and better assimilation [76].

With this discussion, the researcher argues that employees with higher WP can demonstrate, engage, and promote the desired but unrewarded behaviors that help to enhance the organization’s environmental performance, voluntarily engage in environmental activities, and exhibit voluntary behaviors aimed at helping co-workers to better merge environmental interests in the workplace, which collectively make up the heart of EOCB. Accordingly, the following hypothesis has been developed:

Hypothesis 5 (H5).

Work passion moderates the relationship between environmental transformational leadership and environmental organizational citizenship behavior, such that the relationship is stronger when work passion is high.

2.7. The Moderated Mediation Model

Taking into account the aforementioned arguments, the researcher proposes a comprehensive research model in which EOCB mediates the impact of ETL on organizational SP, and WP moderates the relationship between ETL and EOCB. According to Markus [84], Brown et al. [24], Jiang et al. [53], and Anser et al. [76], the researcher further proposes a moderated mediation hypothesis that WP moderates the indirect effect of ETL on organizational SP via EOCB and that this indirect effect is stronger when WP is higher.

Specifically, employees with high levels of WP are more likely to care and be loyal to their organization and thus volunteer to implement positive and unrewarded behaviors and attitudes when they clearly understand their ETL vision, where environmental protection and sustainability performance are essential objectives. Consequently, when the employees do these desired behaviors, the organizational SP will improve. Conversely, employees with low levels of WP are less likely to be loyal to their organization and may not volunteer to execute the vision of their leader to protect the environment and improve SP for their organization. In this case, their EOCB would be negatively affected and the organizational SP may somehow face challenges in achieving it. Accordingly, the researcher proposes the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 6 (H6).

The indirect relationship between environmental transformational leadership and organizational sustainability performance via environmental organizational citizenship behavior is moderated by work passion such that the relationship is stronger when employees have high work passion rather than low.

3. Research Model

This study aims to examine the direct impact of ETL on organizational SP, the indirect impact through the EOCB, the moderating role of WP in the relationship between ETL and EOCB, and the moderated role of WP in the indirect impact of ETL on organizational SP through the EOCB. A literature study has been done by collecting data and information in scientific journals related to the study. This section proposes a conceptual model to explain the aims of this study as illustrated in the following figure (Figure 1).

4. Research Methodology

4.1. Sample and Data Collection

The target population is the petrochemical companies in Saudi Arabia. The sample contains the current employees in five petrochemical companies (Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company (Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia), National Petrochemical Company (Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia), National Industrialization Company (Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia), Sahara International Petrochemical Company (Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia), and Advanced Petrochemical Company (Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia)). According to the media center at the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources (MIMR), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia occupies a global prominent position in the field of petrochemical industries alongside the United States of America through many companies that produce approximately 120 million metric tons annually of petrochemical products ranging from basic, transformational, and advanced products, which constitute 12.3% of the global production volume [85]. The unit of analysis in response to the questionnaire is the currently employed employees at the different managerial levels of these companies. The sampling frame is the official records of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, which has full details of the data required for the sampling process. A random sampling technique was used in the design of this study due to the fact that it gives each respondent the same chance of being selected. A total of 256 data points were collected initially, but 16 responses were excluded due to missing variables (response rate of 94%). A total of 240 useable respondents who are well experienced and work in different departments of petrochemical companies. Among them, 81.7% were male, while 18.3% were female. The mean age was 2.4917, the standard deviation (SD) was 1.10, the mean education level was 3.15, and the SD was 0.53, where 92.9% of respondents had a bachelor’s degree or above, and the mean of work experience was 3.06 and the SD was 1.13.

Table 1. Sample Characteristics.

	Frequency (N = 240)	Percentage
Gender
Male	196	81.7%
Female	44	18.3%
Age
20–29	47	19.6%
30–39	81	33.8%
40–49	74	30.8%
50–59	23	9.6%
60 and above	15	6.3%
Educational Level
Diploma	17	71%
Bachelor’s	169	70.4%
Master’s	54	22.5%
Work Experience
Less than 1	7	2.9%
1–9	87	36.3%
10–19	68	28.3%
20–29	40	16.7%
30 and more	38	15.8%

shows the demographic data.

4.2. Variables Measurement and Questionnaire Design

This study collects data using a questionnaire survey technique by structuring questions for data collection and then analyzing them using IBM SPSS 21 software (Armonk, NY, USA) sourced by King Abdulaziz University in order to determine, evaluate, and analyze the descriptive and inferential relationships between all variables under study. A 5-point Likert scale was used for the questionnaire to provide the participant with both a level of intensity and an emotion to express without embarrassment. Moreover, separate sections have sociodemographic data and the questionnaire items for each dimension of all variables. Participation was voluntary, and participants’ responses were confidential. The questionnaire was originally developed in English, and then translated by the researcher into Arabic in order to make it understandable for those who do not speak English.

ETL measure: The researcher used the twelve-item scale developed by Robertson [46], which consists of four dimensions; EII, EIM, EIS, and EIC. Sample items include “My leader shows a commitment to improving our organization’s environmental performance”, and “My leader motivates me to work in an environmentally friendly manner”. The respondents completed this measure using a five-point Likert scale extending from 1 to 5, with 1 representing “strongly disagree” and 5 representing “strongly agree.”. The Cronbach’s alpha was used to evaluate the reliability of this scale = 0.96.

WP measure: The researcher measured the WP using the ten-item scale developed by Chen [72]. The sample items include “how much time do you spend thinking about your work because you enjoy it, not because you have to?”, and “to what extent is the work fulfilling to you?”. These items extend from 1 to 5, with 1 representing “Not at all” or “Never” and 5 representing “Extremely” or “All of the Time”. The Cronbach’s alpha was used to evaluate the reliability for this scale = 0.94.

EOCB measure: The researcher used the ten-item scale developed by Boiral and Paillé [40], including three dimensions; EI, ECE, and EH. The sample items include “In my work, I weigh the consequences of my actions before doing something that could affect environment.”, and “I spontaneously give my time to help my colleagues take the environment into account in everything they do at work”. The respondents completed this measure using a five-point Likert scale extending from 1 representing “strongly disagree” to 5 representing “strongly agree.”. The Cronbach’s alpha for this scale = 0.94.

Organizational SP measure: Lee and Ha-Brookshire [86] provided eight items for SP, which are divided into three dimensions; FP, EP, and SP. The sample items include “I am aware that my company has an initiative to reduce the negative environmental impact of its products.”, and “I am aware that my company has a policy to strive to be a good corporate citizen”. The respondents completed this measure using a five-point Likert scale extending from 1 to 5, with 1 representing “strongly disagree” and 5 representing “strongly agree.”. The Cronbach’s alpha for this scale = 0.92.

Attitude Toward the Color Blue (ATCB) measure: The researcher resorted to using the seven-item scale developed and recommended by Miller and Simmering [87] as an important statistical technique to identify the Common Method Variance (CMV) through inserting it as a marker variable into the questionnaire. A sample item in this scale is “I like the color blue”, and “The color blue is wonderful”. The respondents completed this measure using a five-point Likert scale extending from 1 to 5, with 1 representing “strongly disagree” and 5 representing “strongly agree.”. The Cronbach’s alpha for this scale = 0.91.

Control variables: The researcher included employees’ age, gender, education, and work experience as control variables. The age was coded as follows “1 = 20–29, 2 = 30–39, 3 = 40–49, 4 = 50–59, 5 = 60” and above. The gender was coded as a binary variable “1 = male, 2 = female”. The educational level was coded “1 = High School, 2 = Diploma, 3 = Bachelor, 4 = Master, 5 = Doctorate”. Finally, the work experience was coded “1 = less than 1 year, 2 = 1–9 years, 3 = 10–19 years, 4 = 20–29 years, 5 = 30”, and more (Table 1).

4.3. Data Analysis Procedure

IBM SPSS 21 software (Armonk, NY, USA) sourced by King Abdulaziz University was used for all analyses procedures. As a preliminary step, the researcher measures the means, standard deviations, correlations, and reliabilities of all variables. In addition, the researcher performed a partial correlation technique using ATCB as a marker variable to assess the CMV bias. Then, the hierarchical regression analysis, Hayes’s PROCESS macro method for mediation and moderation, simple slope test, and bootstrapping approach were employed in order to test the research hypotheses [88].

5. Result

5.1. Descriptive Statistics

Table 2 illustrates the means, standard deviations, correlations (under reliability), reliabilities, and CMV correlation above the reliability. In line with research expectations, there is positive correlation between ETL and EOCB (r = 0. 90, p < 0.01) and with organizational SP (r = 0. 40, p < 0.01). EOCB are also positively correlated with organizational SP (r = 0. 41, p < 0.01).

5.2. Common Method Bias Assessment

Because the data for model variables came from personnel respondents in a one-time survey, the common style variance bias should be effectively evaluated. In order to control for potential CMV, the researcher applies both procedural and statistical methods [89]. Regarding the procedural methods, the researcher ensured that the participants’ confidentiality and anonymity of the data were provided and added one attention check question. The researcher also reordered a few items in the questionnaire to reduce the potential bias impact [90]. This reduces the likelihood of employees responding artificially or deceptively [89].

Statistically, the researcher uses ATCB [87] as a marker variable in Lindell and Whitney’s [91] partial correlation techniques to account for the potential CMV. As seen in Table 2, there is no CMV bias since the correlations between ATCB and other substantive variables are the lowest, not significant, and there is no change in correlation between the substantive variables either in value or significant before and after controlling by ATCB. All of these indications assert that the data does not have CMV bias [92].

Table 2. Means, standard deviations, correlations, reliabilities and CMV correlations, (N = 240).

Variables	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	-
1. Gender	1.18	0.38	-	−0.43 **	−0.14 *	−0.52 **	0.06	0.03	0.05	0.05	-
2. Age	2.49	1.10	−0.43 **	-	0.77 **	0.90 **	−0.02	0.05	0.03	−0.04	-
3. Education	3.15	0.52	−0.14 **	0.77 **	-	0.76 **	0.01	0.09	0.04	−0.02	-
4. Experience	3.06	1.13	−0.51 **	0.90 **	0.76 **	-	−0.01	0.04	0.03	−0.05	-
5. ETL	3.52	1.03	0.06	−0.01	0.01	−0.01	(0.96)	0.74 **	0.91 **	0.40 **	-
6. WP	4.18	0.8	0.03	0.05	0.09	0.04	0.74 **	(0.94)	0.54 **	0.38 **	-
7. EOCB	3.79	1.0	0.05	0.03	0.04	0.02	0.90 **	0.54 **	(0.94)	0.41 **	-
8. SP	3.47	1.03	0.05	−0.04	−0.02	−0.05	0.40 **	0.39 **	0.41 **	(0.92)	-
9. ATCB	3.8	1.12	−0.05	−0.05	−0.03	−0.02	−0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01	(0.91)

Note: M = Mean; SD = Standard Deviation; ETL = Environmental Transformational Leadership; WP = Work Passion; EOCB = Environmental Organizational Citizenship Behavior; SP = Sustainability Performance; ATCB = Attitude Toward Color Blue. Boldfaced diagonal elements are reliabilities (Cronbach’s alpha). Correlations above the reliabilities are when ATCB is controlling. ** p < 0.01. * p < 0.05.

Table 2. Means, standard deviations, correlations, reliabilities and CMV correlations, (N = 240).

Variables	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	-
1. Gender	1.18	0.38	-	−0.43 **	−0.14 *	−0.52 **	0.06	0.03	0.05	0.05	-
2. Age	2.49	1.10	−0.43 **	-	0.77 **	0.90 **	−0.02	0.05	0.03	−0.04	-
3. Education	3.15	0.52	−0.14 **	0.77 **	-	0.76 **	0.01	0.09	0.04	−0.02	-
4. Experience	3.06	1.13	−0.51 **	0.90 **	0.76 **	-	−0.01	0.04	0.03	−0.05	-
5. ETL	3.52	1.03	0.06	−0.01	0.01	−0.01	(0.96)	0.74 **	0.91 **	0.40 **	-
6. WP	4.18	0.8	0.03	0.05	0.09	0.04	0.74 **	(0.94)	0.54 **	0.38 **	-
7. EOCB	3.79	1.0	0.05	0.03	0.04	0.02	0.90 **	0.54 **	(0.94)	0.41 **	-
8. SP	3.47	1.03	0.05	−0.04	−0.02	−0.05	0.40 **	0.39 **	0.41 **	(0.92)	-
9. ATCB	3.8	1.12	−0.05	−0.05	−0.03	−0.02	−0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01	(0.91)

Note: M = Mean; SD = Standard Deviation; ETL = Environmental Transformational Leadership; WP = Work Passion; EOCB = Environmental Organizational Citizenship Behavior; SP = Sustainability Performance; ATCB = Attitude Toward Color Blue. Boldfaced diagonal elements are reliabilities (Cronbach’s alpha). Correlations above the reliabilities are when ATCB is controlling. ** p < 0.01. * p < 0.05.

5.3. Hypotheses Testing

The researcher tested hypotheses using hierarchical regression analysis. The results are shown in

Table 3. Summary of the Hierarchical Regression Results (N = 240).

	EOCB			SP
	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4	Model 5	Model 6	Model 7
Control Variables
Gender	0.20	0.03	0.09	0.06	−0.02	−0.03	−0.03
Age	0.04	0.04	0.05	−0.01	−0.01	−0.03	−0.02
Education Level	−0.01	0.01	−0.08	0.07	0.07	0.07	0.07
Work Experience	0.02	−0.01	0.02	−0.05	−0.07	−0.06	−0.06
Independent Variable
ETL		0.87 **	0.71 **		0.39 **		0.12
Mediate Variable
EOCB						0.42 **	0.31 **
Moderate Variable
WP			0.52 **
Interaction
ETL × WP			0.20 **
R2	0.01	0.83	0.90	0.01	0.16	0.17	0.17
ΔR2	-	0.82	0.07	-	0.15	0.16	0.01
F	0.335	223.99 **	295.78 **	0.22	8.65 **	9.50 **	8.02 **
Df	235	234	232	235	234	234	233

ETL = Environmental Transformational Leadership; WP = Work Passion; EOCB = Environmental Organizational Citizenship Behavior; SP = Sustainability Performance; ** p < 0.01.

.

H1 predicted a positive relationship between ETL and EOCB. As indicated in Model 2 of Table 3, after controlling age, gender, education, and work experience, The effect of ETL on EOCB was significant and positive (β = 0. 87, p < 0.01). Therefore, H1 was supported.

Moreover, H2 predicted a positive relationship between ETL and organizational SP. As indicated in Model 5 of Table 3, after controlling age, gender, education, and work experience, ETL had a significant and positive effect on organizational SP (β = 0.39, p < 0.01). Therefore, H2 was supported.

Similarly, H3 predicted a positive relationship between EOCB and organizational SP. Model 6 of Table 3 indicated that after controlling age, gender, education, and work experience, the EOCB had a significant and positive effect on organizational SP (β = 0.42, p < 0.01). Therefore, H3 was supported.

H4 posited that EOCB mediates the relationship between ETL and organizational SP. The researcher ran a mediation analysis using the PROCESS procedure described and documented in Hayes [88] to test this hypothesis. Table 3 shows that ETL had significant positive effects on EOCB (β = 0.87, p < 0.01, Model 2) and organizational SP (β = 0.39, p < 0.01, Model 5); EOCB had significant positive effects on organizational SP (β = 0.42, p < 0.01, Model 6). Further, when regressing organizational SP on ETL, EOCB, and control variables (Model 7), it is found that the effect of ETL on organizational SP was not significant (β = 0.12, p > 0.05), and the EOCB was significantly related to organizational SP (β = 0.31, p < 0.01), indicating that EOCB fully mediated the impact of ETL on organizational SP [93]. In addition, as illustrated in

Table 4. Bootstrap Analysis Result for the indirect effect of ETL on organizational SP via EOCB.

	Effect	Boot SE	Boot Lower CI	Boot Upper CI
Direct effect	0.12	0.03	−0.16	0.40
Indirect effect	0.27	0.11	0.03	0.48

Note: CI = 95% confidence interval (two-tailed). Bootstrap sample size = 5000; N = 240.

, bootstrapping procedures were used in order to construct a confidence interval (CI) when estimating the mediating effect. The results revealed that the indirect effect of ETL on organizational SP via EOCB was significant (indirect effect = 0.27, 95% CI = [0.03, 0.48]). However, the direct effect of ETL on organizational SP was not significant (direct effect = 0.12, 95% CI = [−0.16, 0.40]). As a result, EOCB fully mediated the relationship between ETL and organizational SP. Therefore, H4 was supported.

H5 predicted that WP moderates the relationship between ETL and EOCB. As shown in Model 3 of Table 3, the interactive effect of ETL and WP on EOCB was significant (β = 0.20, p < 0.01). Additionally, bootstrapping procedures were utilized to construct a confidence interval (CI) in estimating the moderating effect of WP. The results revealed that the effect of ETL on EOCB was significant when WP was low (effect = 0.54, 95% CI = [0.47, 0.60]), and when WP was high (effect = 0.69, 95% CI = [ 0.62, 0.76]). As a result, WP moderated the relationship between ETL and EOCB. Therefore, H5 was supported (

Table 5. Bootstrap Analysis Result for the Conditional Effect of ETL on EOCB.

WP	Boot Effect	Boot SE	Boot Lower CI	Boot Upper CI
1 SD below the mean	0.54	0.03	0.47	0.60
Mean	0.61	0.04	0.55	0.67
1 SD above the mean	0.69	0.05	0.62	0.76

Note: CI = 95% confidence interval (two-tailed). Bootstrap sample size = 5000; N = 240.

).

Figure 2 shows a relationship between the ETL and EOCB for different values of WP with no interaction effect (a leadership supplement). For each subgroup, the ETL has the same positive impact on the EOCB, yet the intercept increases as the values of the WP increase. However, since the statistical procedures do not show that the impact of the ETL differs significantly under increasing values of the WP, the WP could be classified as a leadership supplement, which means that strong WP does not affect ETL impacts but results in higher EOCB levels [94].

H6 predicted that WP moderates the indirect effect of ETL on organizational SP via EOCB, such that the indirect effect is stronger when employees have high WP rather than low. The researcher applied Hayes’ moderated PROCESS macro to examine the moderate role of WP on the indirect effects of ETL on organizational SP through EOCB. As illustrated in

Table 6. Bootstrap analysis for the Conditional Indirect Effect of ETL on organizational SP.

WP	Boot Indirect Effect	Boot SE	Boot Lower CI	Boot Upper CI
1 SD below the mean	0.17	0.08	0.015	0.32
Mean	0.19	0.08	0.016	0.35
1 SD above the mean	0.21	0.09	0.018	0.39

Note: CI = 95% confidence interval (two-tailed). Bootstrap sample size = 5000; N = 240.

, based on 5000 resamples, the results illustrated that the indirect effect of ETL on organizational SP via EOCB was significant when WP was low (indirect effect = 0.17, 95% CI = [0.015, 0.32]), and the indirect effect was also significant when WP was high (indirect effect = 0.21, 95% CI = [0.018, 0.39]). Taken together, WP moderated the indirect effect of ETL on organizational SP through EOCB. Moreover, as illustrated in

Table 7. Index for moderated mediation model.

	Index	Boot SE	Boot Lower CI	Boot Upper CI
WP	0.03	0.02	0.0004	0.07

Note: CI = 95% confidence interval (two-tailed). Bootstrap sample size = 5000; N = 240.

, the index for moderated mediation asserts that the research model is fit and therefore H6 was supported.

6. Discussion

Based on the multi-theoretical approach, using Social Learning Theory (SLT) and Stakeholder Theory (ST), this study aimed to examine the relationship between ETL and organizational SP mediated by EOCB. Moreover, we aimed to examine the moderating role of WP in the relationship between ETL and EOCB.

Several results from this study are noteworthy. First, the finding indicates that ETL significantly predicts EOCB and organizational SP. This finding is not surprising because it is in line with the core logic of the SLT. That is, the employees look to their leader as a role model and follow their behavior and actions to develop a proper mindset toward environmental and sustainable behavior. The leader participates in various activities, demonstrating acceptable behaviors that impact their followers to behave in a good way and focuses on the environmental standards that help organizations establish and implement environmental visions and participate in sustainable activities. By doing so, the ETL can impact the organizational SP through beliefs, procedures, directions, and attitudes. Moreover, the ETL role affects the employees’ EOCB by building trust and demonstrating their attitude and impacts employees to engage in pro-environmental activities.

In addition, it has been found that EOCB fully mediates the relationship between ETL and organizational SP. This assumes that organizational SP is present due to EOCB, which, in turn, is present due to ETL. Moreover, this study suggested that WP be used as a leadership supplement because, as previously discussed, the ETL has the same positive impact on the EOCB, yet the intercept increases as the values of the WP increase, which means that strong WP does not affect ETL impacts but results in higher EOCB levels.

6.1. Theoretical Implications

This study offers three theoretical contributions. First, it contributes to the ETL literature [36] by identifying the organizational SP as a new outcome. Moreover, it contributes to the literature on organizational SP [53,54,55,56]. It also contributes to the Social Learning, and Stakeholder theories by discussing the indirect effect of ETL on the organizational SP, and how this effect benefits from the role of EOCB.

The second contribution of this study is to advance our understanding of the underlying mechanisms between ETL and organizational SP by demonstrating that EOCB plays a mediating role between these two variables. Previous research has examined the relationship between various types of leadership, such as TL [53,55,57], responsible leadership [13], sustainable leadership [10], and vision-based leadership [14] and organizational SP. Surprisingly, very little attention has been dedicated to examining intervening mechanisms underlying the relationship between ETL and organizational SP. Drawing on Social Learning Theory, it can be introduced into ETL as a predictor to achieve the desired organizational SP. Moreover, drawing on the same theory, it can be introduced into EOCB, playing a key mediating role in the relationship between ETL and organizational SP. The results of this study asserted that ETL could effectively and positively enhance organizational SP by acting as an environmental role model, motivating employees to work in an environmentally friendly manner, encouraging them to think about environmental issues in different ways, and leading the environmental initiatives. Because their leader’s behavior influenced them, the employees would play a critical role in this impact by weighing the consequences of their actions before doing something that could negatively affect the environment, participating in environmental events organized by their organizations, and undertaking environmental actions that contribute positively to the image of their organization. As a result, the organizational SP will improve in environmental, social, and financial dimensions. This is another benefit of using Social Learning Theory as a framework for explaining ETL’s impact is that it sheds light on the organizational mechanism that connects ETL to organizational SP.

Third, considering that little attention has been provided to the ETL impact on EOCB and organizational SP, little is known about this impact when WP is taken into consideration at the same time. Thus, this study has shed light on when ETL can affect EOCB and organizational SP. By confirming the moderating role of WP, this study provides insights into the boundary conditions under which ETL impacts EOCB and then organizational SP. This study points out that WP could serve as a leadership supplement where the ETL has the same positive impact on the EOCB, yet the intercept increases as the values of the WP increase, which means that strong WP does not affect ETL impacts but results in higher EOCB levels [37].

6.2. Practical Implications

There are several practical implications that could be extracted from the results of this study. First, the results showed that ETL could enhance organizational SP. Hence, for organizations that are looking to make their performance sustainable or organizations that are looking to maintain or develop their sustainability, it is recommended to nominate and hire ETL at the leading position, where ETL can show how he values the natural environment, act as an environmental role model, and create impacts on many departments and business units in order to achieve the desired sustainable objectives. The organizations are also suggested to concentrate in their regular financial reports provided to all stakeholders on how their environmental actions and initiatives reflect on their performance in all organizational SP dimensions. Furthermore, it is important for organizations to instruct their leaders to recognize the significance of environmental protection as well as teach staff the right ways to sort and recycle materials in order to preserve the environment. In this way, leaders will be able to learn how to act as environmental role models, and as a result, their environmental idealized influence on their employees will improve as a result. Further, leaders should be educated about motivating their employees in an environmentally friendly manner by displaying an enthusiasm for the future of the organization’s social responsibility program, encouraging employees to think about improvements to their organization’s social responsibility program by showing openness to new ideas, and encouraging employees to share their knowledge regarding environmental protection and social responsibility with others.

Second, it has been found that EOCB was also a predictor of organizational SP. Therefore, leaders are recommended to encourage employees to voluntarily carry out environmental actions and initiatives in their daily work activities, participate in environmental events organized in their organizations, and adopt more environmentally conscious behavior. The employees themselves are also recommended to adopt voluntary environmental behaviors that are not recognized by the formal reward system and help coworkers to better merge environmental interests in the workplace in a way that accumulatively helps to enhance the organizational SP and contributes to improving the organization’s reputation.

Third, this study revealed that WP would supplement the positive impact of ETL on EOCB, which means that strong WP does not affect ETL impacts but results in higher EOCB levels. Hence, organizations should pay close attention and take appropriate actions to make the WP among employees high by making employees feel continuously motivated to engage in and derive positive effects from doing and believing that the job is an essential part of their identity. The literature widely discussed the WP’s organizational predictors, which could positively contribute to high WP. Among these predictors, the organization’s support is critical. According to Vallerand [95], organizations that value their employees’ contributions and strive to provide them with a healthy, flexible, and safe work environment will provide their employees with the ideal conditions in which they can develop their WP. Specifically, organizations should make the work highly valued, meaningful, and freely accepted as necessary by the employees. This effort will be reflected and internalized in the employees’ identity and lead to the experience of harmonious WP [70,96,97].

6.3. Limitations and Future Research Recommendation

This study, as well as any other study, has a set of limitations of its own. It is important to note that the first limitation is the generalizability of the results to other contexts. In this study, the sample consists of the full-time employees of five petrochemical companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where the sample is limited to one sector and one social context, thus limiting generalizations. As a result, future research should include sampling from various sectors and/or conducting the study in different cultural contexts.

The second limitation is related to the research design because the primary data was collected at a single moment in time, ignoring the hypothesized associations’ chronological precedence [98], whereas the re-examining of the correlations using a time-wave or a longitudinal design could minimize this restriction [99]. Therefore, future research is recommended to reduce this limitation through a time-wave or longitudinal research design.

Third, as respondents in this study, employees provide ratings for both ETL and the organizational SP. This kind of rating creates collinearity, yet it is still a good idea since employees are the most influenced by ETL’s behaviors [33], and they know their attitudes and behaviors toward organizational SP. Therefore, they are able to rate their leaders more precisely than leaders rating themselves to avoid bias. However, there is little known if ETL is related to organizational SP using multisource data. Future research is encouraged to examine this relationship by using data from different sources, such as other stakeholders, to solve this limitation. This will aid in understanding the relationship comprehensively.

Fourth, the present study explored the mediating role of EOCB in the relationship between ETL and organizational SP. However, a high correlation has appeared between ETL and EOCB. As ETL and EOCB are almost focusing on the same concern “environment” and on the same behaviors such as showing a commitment to improving the organization’s environmental performance and spending time developing the skills to contribute to the organization’s environmental performance, therefore, the high correlation is expected and accepted, especially that the VIF is within the acceptable value (VIF = 1 < 10) and does not create a multicollinearity issue [100]. Therefore, future research should take caution regarding the variables that might be redundant and create a multicollinearity issue. Other reasonable mediating variables include trust in leaders or leader-member exchange.

Fifth, when examining the relationship between ETL and EOCB, the researcher examined the moderating role of WP, which is considered a leadership supplement. Further research may consider another moderator, such as organizational culture or support.

7. Conclusions

The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between ETL and organizational SP mediated by EOCB and moderated by WP. This study illustrates that ETL positively impacts the organizational SP through greater employees’ EOCB. By examining these relationships, the focus of research shifts from the sole impact of ETL on organizational SP to uncovering the impact of ETL on EOCB also. Furthermore, this study finds increased levels of employees’ WP can supplement the positive spillover impact of ETL on EOCB.

This study, from its results, offers three contributions. First, this study contributes to the ETL and EOCB literature by identifying the organizational SP. Second, this study advances the understanding of the underlying mechanisms between ETL and organizational SP by demonstrating the mediating role of EOCB. This study points out that WP could serve as a leadership supplement for the impact of ETL on EOCB and then organizational SP. Third, drawing on Social Learning Theory and Stakeholder Theory, it can be introduced that EOCB has a fully mediating role in the relationship between ETL and organizational SP.