Exploring Stakeholder Salience for the Adoption of Principles and Tools of Cleaner Production in Brazilian Companies

Objective - The key objective of this paper is to show the primary environmental influences exerted by the government, economic agents and society on companies for the implementation of the principles and tools of cleaner production (CP), and the attributes (power, legitimacy and urgency) used by stakeholders to coerce companies into adopting these principles. Design/methodology/approach - The research method employed was the application of an exploratory survey in 102 Brazilian companies and the multi-varied evaluation of data by means of multiple correspondent analysis. Findings - The study shows that some principles of CP are little used by companies in Brazil. Concerning the influences on the adoption of CP, the government, economic agents and society are singled out as the important influencers. The government influence is manifest through the adoption of environmental regulating measures (power) in conjunction with sincere actions in environmental education (influence). The economic agents possess the power, legitimacy and urgency to influence the adoption of CP. Society's influences are less relevant, in that Brazilian society has much less awareness of sustainable production and consumption as compared to other countries. Practical implications - This study shows that it is vital that Brazilian society learns more about sustainable production, because a society with no environmental conscience is a society with little means to demand the implementation of CP. Originality/value - The results of the study represent an important theoretical contribution in that, at present, there is little literature on the relationship between stakeholders and Cleaner Production. This is the first study in Brazil to address the subject.