Page 115 - Hojnik, Jana. 2017. In Persuit of Eco-innovation. Drivers and Consequences of Eco-innovation at Firm Level. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 115
Hypotheses Development 115
Hypothesis 2: There is a positive and significant relationship
between customer demand and companies’ implementation of
eco-innovation.
Managerial environmental concern and eco-innovation
Managers are entrusted with the responsibility to behave socially and en-
vironmentally responsibly, demonstrating their corporate social respon-
sibility and environmental awareness. They also have an important task
concerning the adoption of eco-innovations and concern for all stake-
holders – the environment, employees, final consumers and society. Ac-
cording to the research of Qi et al. (2010), managerial concerns are one of
the two most important drivers of the adoption of green practices. In ad-
dition, Ar (2012) found managerial environmental concern to be a mod-
erator of the relationship between green product innovation, firm per-
formance and competitive capability. Companies are more motivated
to adopt an environmental innovation strategy if their managers place
a high value on and express concern about the environment and its pro-
tection (Ferguson and Langford 2006 in Tseng et al. 2013). Moreover,
top management commitment positively and significantly affects envi-
ronmental collaboration with suppliers as well as firms’ adoption of green
purchasing (Yen and Yen 2012), while entrepreneurial activities towards
the environment in the form of firm innovativeness are improved when
the managerial environmental attitudes are embedded within a mar-
ket-oriented firm (Dibrell et al. 2011). Managers who express a high lev-
el of environmental concern are also keener to dedicate more time and
resources to environmental initiatives (Naffziger et al. 2003). Likewise,
managerial concerns with regard to the environment are positively relat-
ed to the scope and speed of the firm’s response to environmental issues
(Tseng et al. 2013), and are thus the strongest driver of environmental in-
novation strategy (Eiadat et al. 2008). In summary, managerial environ-
mental concern is one of the two most important drivers of eco-innova-
tion adoption (Qi et al. 2010) and is the strongest driver of environmental
innovation strategy (Eiadat et al. 2008). In addition, managerial environ-
mental concern exerts a positive effect on the increase of environmental
process innovations (Triguero et al. 2013) and works as a stimulus of cor-
porate environmental responsiveness (Papagiannakis and Lioukas 2012),
environmental new product development (Pujari et al. 2003) and envi-
ronmental collaboration with suppliers, reflected in the company’s green
purchasing (Yen and Yen 2012). In line with the aforementioned research
works, we posit that:
Hypothesis 2: There is a positive and significant relationship
between customer demand and companies’ implementation of
eco-innovation.
Managerial environmental concern and eco-innovation
Managers are entrusted with the responsibility to behave socially and en-
vironmentally responsibly, demonstrating their corporate social respon-
sibility and environmental awareness. They also have an important task
concerning the adoption of eco-innovations and concern for all stake-
holders – the environment, employees, final consumers and society. Ac-
cording to the research of Qi et al. (2010), managerial concerns are one of
the two most important drivers of the adoption of green practices. In ad-
dition, Ar (2012) found managerial environmental concern to be a mod-
erator of the relationship between green product innovation, firm per-
formance and competitive capability. Companies are more motivated
to adopt an environmental innovation strategy if their managers place
a high value on and express concern about the environment and its pro-
tection (Ferguson and Langford 2006 in Tseng et al. 2013). Moreover,
top management commitment positively and significantly affects envi-
ronmental collaboration with suppliers as well as firms’ adoption of green
purchasing (Yen and Yen 2012), while entrepreneurial activities towards
the environment in the form of firm innovativeness are improved when
the managerial environmental attitudes are embedded within a mar-
ket-oriented firm (Dibrell et al. 2011). Managers who express a high lev-
el of environmental concern are also keener to dedicate more time and
resources to environmental initiatives (Naffziger et al. 2003). Likewise,
managerial concerns with regard to the environment are positively relat-
ed to the scope and speed of the firm’s response to environmental issues
(Tseng et al. 2013), and are thus the strongest driver of environmental in-
novation strategy (Eiadat et al. 2008). In summary, managerial environ-
mental concern is one of the two most important drivers of eco-innova-
tion adoption (Qi et al. 2010) and is the strongest driver of environmental
innovation strategy (Eiadat et al. 2008). In addition, managerial environ-
mental concern exerts a positive effect on the increase of environmental
process innovations (Triguero et al. 2013) and works as a stimulus of cor-
porate environmental responsiveness (Papagiannakis and Lioukas 2012),
environmental new product development (Pujari et al. 2003) and envi-
ronmental collaboration with suppliers, reflected in the company’s green
purchasing (Yen and Yen 2012). In line with the aforementioned research
works, we posit that:
