Green intellectual capital and ambidextrous green innovation: The impact on environmental performance

This study relies on a unique synthesis of ambidexterity theory and the natural resource orchestration approach to investigate how green intellectual capital elements, namely green human, structural, and relational capital, along with ambidextrous green innovation, trigger a synergy in favor of environmental performance. In particular, this paper primarily aims to test the mediating role of ambidextrous green innovation in the relationship between green intellectual capital and environmental performance. Based on a survey of 105 Iranian public listed companies, the results indicate that green intellectual capital elements are not directly associated with environmental performance. Instead, they influence environmental performance only through the channel of ambidextrous green innovation as a mediating variable. This is the first study to simultaneously embed the resource orchestration theory in the green intellectual capital and ambidexterity literature. The findings of the current study offer new insights into the issue of how organizations gain maximum benefit from the orchestration of their various green assets and capabilities, including green intellectual capital and ambidextrous green innovation.     

The impact of green supplier integration on firm performance: The mediating role of social capital accumulation

Although green supplier integration has received widespread attention, how it impacts various types of firm performance remains unclear. Based on social capital theory, this study explores the influence of green supplier integration on three dimensions of social capital accumulation, which further affect economic and environmental performances. To verify the hypotheses, we collect two-wave survey data from 206 Chinese manufacturers. Results show that green supplier integration significantly affects social capital accumulation. Relational and structural capital accumulations have positive effects on both economic and environmental performances, while cognitive capital accumulation only has a positive impact on environmental performance. Additionally, relational and structural capital accumulations partially mediate the effects of green supplier integration on economic and environmental performances, whereas cognitive capital accumulation only partially mediates the impact of green supplier integration on environmental performance. This research deepens the understanding of how green supplier integration influences firm performance via social capital accumulation, and provides a theoretical basis for firms attempting to enhance their performance.     

Green Product Innovation in Manufacturing Firms: A Sustainability‐Oriented Dynamic Capability Perspective

Despite environmental sustainability being identified as one of the key drivers of innovation, extant literature lacks a theoretically sound and empirically testable framework that can provide specific insights into green product innovation from a capability perspective. This study develops a theoretical framework from a sustainability‐oriented dynamic capability (SODC) perspective. We conceive SODCs as consisting of three underlying processes (external resource integration, internal resource integration, and resource building and reconfiguration) that influence the change/renewal of sustainability‐oriented ordinary capabilities (SOOCs) (green innovation capability and eco‐design capability). This study answers two key questions: which SODCs are needed to develop green innovation and eco‐design capabilities? Which of these capabilities lead to better market performance of green products? We test a structural model linking SODCs to market performance in 189 Italian manufacturing firms. First, we find that the nature of the SODC–performance link (direct or indirect) depends on the SODC type. Specifically, resource building and reconfiguration is the only SODC with a direct effect on market performance. Second, all three types of SODC affect the eco‐design capability, which mediates the link between SODCs and market performance. Third, we find that external resource integration is the only SODC affecting the green innovation capability, which mediates the link between external resource integration and market performance. Resource building and reconfiguration is the SODC with the overall (direct and indirect) highest impact on market performance. This study, among the first to consider capabilities for green product innovation under a dynamic capability perspective, provides implications for scholars, managers and policy makers. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Achieving environmental sustainability through green transformational leadership policy: Can green team resilience help?

The race to gain competitive advantage through the formulation of a sustainable business strategy is key for the survival in the global business sphere. Even more importantly is the quest to deploy an effective green strategy to combat the numerous negative impact industrialization has on the environment. Researches pointed out the role of leaders and stakeholder's engagement in bringing about reform. This research focuses on how to build a robust psychological capital within an organization through the leader's transformative ability in combating environmental issues. This is necessary because research related to green transformational leadership and the effect on green team resilience has not been considered in literature. Drawing from the combination of three theories; broaden-and-build theory, job demand–resource theory, and conservation of resource theory, this study contributes to the extant literature by testing the effect of green transformational leadership via the mediating role of green work engagement to green team resilience. Using Amos 20 version to analyze 351 questionnaires that were collected from employees in four and five star hotels in Turkey, the result reviews that green transformational leadership has a positive effect on green work engagement and green team resilience, and green work engagement fully mediates the relationship between the variables. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Green management,firm innovations,and environmental turbulence

The multifaceted nature of firm innovation has prevented researchers from fully explaining the relationship between firm innovation and green management. This study, building on the Schumpeterian theory of innovation, explores this relationship by examining three major types of firm innovation—strategic innovation, managerial innovation, and product innovation—and their respective relationships with green management, considering several dimensions of environmental turbulence as distinctive boundary conditions. We propose that both strategic innovation and managerial innovation facilitate green management, which in turn mediates these effects on new product performance. The results of a survey of 303 Chinese firms provide strong support for this mediating logic. Moreover, we find that market turbulence weakens the effect of strategic innovation on green management whereas technological turbulence strengthens such effect but the effect of managerial innovation on green management is not influenced by environmental turbulence. Our research contributes to the innovation as well as green management and sustainability literatures by offering a framework in which to analyze firm innovation and green management and by showing how firms pursue sustainability and prosperity under specific environmental conditions.     

Enhancing green product and process innovation: Towards an integrative framework of knowledge acquisition and environmental investment

Despite the increasing interest in green innovation literature, little is known on how and under what conditions firms' knowledge transfer activities affect green innovation. There is lack of research that on how particular organizational capabilities are seen more useful and how it influences on green innovation performance. To address this research gap, we examine a mediation model in which we explore whether a firm's knowledge acquisition capability and investment in environmental management mediate the impact of buyer-driven knowledge transfer activities on green product innovation and green process innovation. On the basis of an analysis of a sample of 239 manufacturing firms, we find that buyer-driven knowledge activities have a greater positive impact on green product innovation than green process innovation. Investment in environmental management fully mediates the relationship between buyer-driven knowledge transfer activities and green process innovation, and knowledge acquisition capability partially mediates the relationship between buyer-driven knowledge transfer activities and green product innovation. The current study provides evidence that internal competencies and the role of buyers in knowledge transfer are critical for explaining the green product innovation and green process innovation. Our results suggest that buyer involvement pushes firms to develop resource acquisition capability to enhance green product innovation. Our results also highlight the importance of investment in environmental management for overcoming the environmental challenges in the manufacturing firms.     

Utilize structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the influence of corporate environmental ethics: the mediation effect of green human capital

This study utilizes structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the positive effects of corporate environmental ethics on green relationship learning and green innovation performance in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry. In addition, this study explores the concept of green human capital and discusses its mediation effect on the positive relationships between corporate environmental ethics and the two consequents: green relationship learning and green innovation performance. The empirical results show that corporate environmental ethics positively affects green relationship learning and green innovation performance. Furthermore, this study verifies green human capital mediates the positive relationships between corporate environmental ethics and the two consequents: green relationship learning and green innovation performance. Finally, this study divides the Taiwanese manufacturing companies into several different groups, and provides some suggestions to them.     

Business strategy and sustainable development: Evidence from China

This study examines whether and how business strategies affect firms' sustainable development from the view of green innovation. We show that firms following prospector strategy engage in less sustainable development behaviors than those following defender strategies. The negative relation between business strategy and green innovation continues to hold when addressing robustness with alternatives of business strategy and green innovation and addressing potential endogeneity with instrumental variable. We further find that political connection strengthens whereas environmental regulation weakens the negative relation between business strategy and green innovation. Finally, we explore the economic consequences of green innovation caused by strategic differences. Regrettably, the win–win situation of environment and development does not come true.     

Green Innovation,Managerial Concern and Firm Performance: An Empirical Study

Extant literature, while often suggesting a positive link between green innovation and firm performance, is inconclusive. Moreover, the possibly moderating role of management has not been sufficiently considered. Using a unique dataset sampling 188 manufacturing firms in China, we examine how managerial concern (for green issues) moderates the relationship between green innovation and firm performance. We find that green process innovation and green product innovation both significantly (positively) predict firm performance, when not considering managerial concern for the environment. Once managerial concern is included, we observe that it compounds the positive effect of green process innovation on firm performance – but not product innovation, which no longer explains significant unique variance in firm performance. The findings hold various implications for future research and business policy. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Intellectual Capital–Enhancing HR,Absorptive Capacity,and Innovation

This study investigates the role of intellectual capital (i.e., human, social, and organization capital)–enhancing human resource (HR) practices in the development of a firm's absorptive capacity, as well as the mediating role of absorptive capacity in its relationship to the firm's innovation performance. Results show that while human capital–enhancing HR (acquisition and developmental HR) is positively related to absorptive capacity, social capital–enhancing HR affects absorptive capacity through egalitarian HR practices. Organization capital–enhancing HR practices contribute to absorptive capacity through effective information systems. Finally, our findings confirm that the various intellectual capital–enhancing HR practices affect innovation performance through their impact on the firm's absorptive capacity. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Environmental Requirements,Knowledge Sharing and Green Innovation: Empirical Evidence from the Electronics Industry in China

Building on the Porter hypothesis, which posits that regulatory stringency triggers innovation and thereby allows firms to achieve the dual purpose of environment protection and enhanced business performance, the present research develops an integrative model that explores the determinants of green innovation with a focus being placed on knowledge sharing. Data were collected from 203 green innovation project leaders from electronics manufacturers operating in China. The results indicate that knowledge sharing mediates the relationship between green requirements and new green product success as well as that between green requirements and green product and process innovations. Interestingly, the empirical analysis rejects the hypothesized positive influence of green requirements on green product and process innovations as well as that on new green product success, while confirming that there exists a direct and positive association between green requirements and knowledge sharing. The direct positive impact of knowledge sharing is the strongest on green process innovation. This study provides a theoretical basis for investigating the possible determinants in the causal links between green requirements and green innovation success and establishes that knowledge sharing and green process innovation may be the points where leverage can be applied to best secure innovation success. Implications of the findings on environmental policy and law design are also discussed to see how the regulatory role of the government can be better positioned to facilitate compliance and innovation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Exploring an innovative pivot: How green training can spur corporate sustainability performance

In general, studies on green innovation practices have primarily taken an innovation view to study the costs and benefits to firms. What has been less examined, however, is how green training spurs the intentions and advantages of green innovation. Thus, this paper explores how and when green training influences the likelihood of firms to achieve sustainability performance by using organizational learning theory. Using a dataset of 231 Chinese manufacturing firms, our work shows that green training is positively correlated to corporate sustainability performance via the indirect effect of green innovation behavior. We also find an increasingly positive indirect effect that is conditional on ambidextrous learning; specifically, this indirect effect is least positive for firms with lower ambidextrous learning capacity but stronger for those firms having higher ambidextrous learning capacity. We hold that the key to spurring corporate sustainability performance through green training lies mainly in advancing firms' green innovation behaviors and persistently enhancing their capacities for ambidextrous learning. Thus, this study offers not only new theoretical insights for understanding the effect of green training on corporate sustainability performance but also practical implications for improving corporate sustainability performance within a green economy context.     

Green Knowledge Sharing,Stakeholder Pressure,Absorptive Capacity,and Green Innovation: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms

A central issue faced by many Chinese manufacturing firms is how to absorb and utilize green knowledge shared among supply chain members for superior green innovation. Invoking the indirect research stream of organizational learning theory, we develop a moderated mediation model in which absorptive capacity mediates the interactive effects of green knowledge sharing and stakeholder pressure on green innovation. Our hypotheses were tested using a sample of 247 Chinese manufacturing firms. The results from multiple regression and bootstrapping tests reveal that absorptive capacity fully mediates the link between green knowledge sharing and green innovation, and the mediation effect is positively contingent upon stakeholder pressure. These findings provide managerial implications for Chinese manufacturing firms, recommending that these firms effectively develop their absorptive capacities and closely monitor stakeholder pressure to realize the green innovation benefits of green knowledge sharing.     

绿色供应链及其现状分析

在我国，供应链已经进入了迅速发展的时期，环境问题也越来越严重．绿色供应链的研究顺应趋势。基于此．文章阐述了绿色供应链的内涵，指出它是一种在整个供应链中综合考虑环境影响和资源效率的现代管理模式；并介绍了绿色供应链的主要内容．最后对国内绿色供应链管理的现状进行了研究分析。     

How do firms achieve sustainability through green innovation under external pressures of environmental regulation and market turbulence?

Analyses in the fields of environmental and innovation research have hindered our understanding of the real effects of external drivers of firms' green innovation and sustainability behaviors on financial performance. This study compares the ways in which two different external factors drive firms to be green innovative: environmental regulation and market turbulence. By dividing green innovation into green process innovation and green product innovation, we propose that environmental regulation increases financial performance mainly through green process innovation rather than through green product innovation, and market turbulence affects financial performance mainly through green product innovation rather than through green process innovation. The results of an empirical analysis based on a mediation model and panel data on 472 Chinese listed firms for 2006–2017 lend support to our hypotheses. Our study contributes to the green innovation management and sustainability literature by offering a holistic framework for examining how firms pursue green innovation and sustainability in response to two different forms of external pressure.     

The relationship of leader psychological capital and follower psychological capital,job engagement and job performance: a multilevel mediating perspective

Building on the body of positive organizational behavior research, this study examines the relationships between leader psychological capital, follower psychological capital, job engagement and job performance (task performance and contextual performance). Data were collected in three phases from multiple sources involving 60 leaders and 319 followers from a large telecom company in Taiwan. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed that leaders' psychological capital was positively related to their job engagement through the mediation of followers' psychological capital. Furthermore, the results indicated that job engagement mediates the relationship between followers' psychological capital and their job performance (task performance and contextual performance). We discuss the implications and limitations of these findings and directions for future research.     

How do employment relationships enhance firm innovation? The role of human and social capital

Aiming to explore the effect of human resource management on innovation, this study examined how employment relationships (ER), human capital and social capital work together in influencing innovation in a sample of Spanish firms. We defined an indirect effects model in which both human and social capital mediate between ERs and innovation. We also expected that social capital would enhance human capital. Tests on a sample of 160 innovative Spanish firms confirmed that ERs are not directly associated with innovation. Nevertheless, there is an indirect effect of the mutual investment employment model on innovation through human and social capital. Finally, we observed a positive effect of social capital on human capital.     

关系型社会资本如何影响企业创新绩效——基于知识转移的路径解析

企业的创新绩效受到企业在网络中的关系型社会资本的制约,这一研究正逐渐受到学者的关注,但相关研究中关系型社会资本对企业创新绩效影响的路径探索往往并不深入。基于此,从信任、沟通、冲突管理三个维度测度企业的关系型社会资本,考察了其对企业创新绩效的影响模式,以及知识转移在此作用中的中介效应。结果显示:关系型社会资本的三个维度均对创新绩效有显著的促进作用,其中有效沟通的作用效果更明显,同时知识转移在该关系中发挥了部分中介效应。研究建议指出,企业应注重构建经济型与政企型社会关系网络,加强关系型社会资本的构建与维护,尤其要注重通过促进企业间的沟通有效性来提升企业间的知识转移效果及创新绩效。     

Why doesn’t downsizing deliver? A multi-level model integrating downsizing,social capital,dynamic capabilities,and firm performance

Firms downsize to improve their bottom line results often in reactive response to negative external shocks, such as economic downturns, but even in proactive efforts to enhance organizational performance when they are financially ‘healthy’, such as restructuring. Research reveals, however, that not only does downsizing generally fail to improve a firm’s financial performance, but that it may even lead to reduced financial performance. To investigate this puzzling outcome, we build on previous research and integrate the concepts of downsizing, social capital, dynamic capabilities and performance in a multi-level model as well as discuss how social capital mediates the relationship between downsizing and dynamic capabilities. Thereafter, we develop (a) four propositions to elucidate how changes to the structural dimension of social capital due to downsizing, i.e. the removal of three key social network positions and changes to the firm’s network structure, negatively mediate the relationship between downsizing and a firm’s dynamic capabilities, and (b) two propositions incorporating internal (knowledge intensity) and external (institutional pressures) contextual variables in our model. We conclude by discussing how our research contributes to the downsizing and SHRM literature as well as the resource-based view and social capital literature before providing suggestions for future research and practitioners.     

Turning green subsidies into sustainability: How green process innovation improves firms' green image

Green process innovation has been seen as a key strategy for manufacturing firms to pursue sustainable development. Yet, how to help manufacturing firms eliminate bottlenecks when implementing green process innovation remains poorly understood. To address this issue, the current study, which is anchored in the government incentive perspective, examines the drivers, contingent conditions, and consequences of green process innovation by using the panel data of manufacturing‐listed firms in China from 2013 to 2017. The results present valuable findings: (a) green subsidies are positively related to two dimensions of green process innovation, namely, cleaner production technology and end‐of‐pipe technology; (b) both cleaner production technology and end‐of‐pipe technology are positively related to firms' green image; (c) a firm's cleaner production technology mediates the relationship between green subsidies and its green image; and (d) higher absorptive capacity strengthens the indirect effect of green subsidies on a firm's green image via cleaner production technology. Our results provide meaningful theoretical and practical implications by revealing the benefits of green subsidies through green process innovation by leveraging levels of absorptive capacity.