Employee Engagement Practices in Southern Railways (Madurai) - A Strategic Approach

AbstractEnvironmental concerns and involvement in environmental matters became more noticeable during the 2000's. Academicians and researchers have been investigating and determining factors and criteria that characterize the ecologically conscious consumers. Today, business entities and organizations are not only responsible for maintaining effective wastes' disposal to reduce pollution, they rather became further involved in developing, manufacturing and marketing new products that are based on the utilization of eco-friendly alternatives, starting from the composition and blueprint of the package, reaching the product itself. There are significant challenges associated with examining the topic (ECCCB); our primary objective is to address these challenges. As a context for our study, we have chosen the survey method to collect data using a self-administered questionnaire, a sample of 250 students from four major Lebanese universities.The sample is from a diverse socioeconomic group of young people and represents a relatively unexplored, yet extremely important, consumer market segment. A key finding showed that social influence was a predictor of Lebanon students' green purchasing behavior and consumption followed by environmental concern, environmental protection and perceived environmental responsibility.Keywords: Consumer behaviour, environmental concern, Lebanon.IntroductionEnvironmental concerns have been growing and intensifying year after another, passing through numerous stages until today. Rising in the earlyl960's, environmental worries evolve in terms of pollution and natural resources and energy preservation until it reached its optimum with environmental matters becoming a need and a must for individuals to sustain their society's development and for businesses to maintain their competitive advantages in the market place. The individual's awareness of and involvement in environmental matters became gradually more noticeable during the 2000's. This progression and development of environmental responsibility have increased the public pressure on businesses' manufacturing, marketing and overall performance.Today, business entities and organizations are not only responsible for maintaining effective wastes' disposal to reduce pollution, they rather became further involved in developing, manufacturing and marketing new innovative products that are based on the utilization of eco-friendly alternatives, starting from the composition and blueprint of the package, reaching the product itself. To meet up with the increasing environmental awareness and the changes in the consumers' demands, companies have become highly concerned with modifying their products and services in relation with the rising environmental movements.Academicians and researchers have investigated and determined several factors and criteria that characterize the ecologically conscious consumers. The academic examination and exploration of environmental concerns and "green" matters have been reflected in the development of research on the public's environmental sensitivity, or if it can be said otherwise, environmental elasticity. Roberts13 argued that during the later 1990's, as a result of the public "green" pressure, companies were obliged to become more environmentally responsible to survive in the market.Lebanon, a Middle-eastern, developing country, similarly to most countries worldwide and intensively in the region, is facing remarkable threats and challenges in maintaining sustainable development in the society and economy. Environmental responsibility became a must for overcoming related problems and consequences to maintain sustainability for future generations and significant quality life as the failure in rising above those concerns would yield socio-economic disasters38.The objective of this paper is to examine environmental awareness of eco-friendly products among Lebanese consumers and to explore the ecologically consumer conscious consumption behavior among Lebanese people. …