ABSTRACT
Establishing a business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) has paved the way for green initiatives to play a crucial role in addressing environmental challenges and leading the transition to the circular economy. Yet the apparent “win‒win” of CSR is also fraught with greenwashing and window-dressing, making stakeholder decision making more difficult and wasting social resources. Firms that engage in greenwashing may be motivated by self-interest rather than a commitment to the environment. However, business reality suggests that all seemingly altruistic motives have some self-serving elements. This renders the understanding of green initiatives more complex. This chapter uncovers the complexities surrounding green initiatives, discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly of green initiatives and their contributions to the circular economy, their role in firms’ window-dressing, and the key challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter will firstly review the positive contributions of green initiatives to the circular economy along with the rampant use of window-dressing. It then explores how these different elements of green initiatives interact with organizational processes and motives, and the consequences. This chapter closes with implications for firms, stakeholders, and policymakers.
