Page 133 - Hojnik, Jana. 2017. In Persuit of Eco-innovation. Drivers and Consequences of Eco-innovation at Firm Level. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 133
Methodology
Table 18: Items for latent variable of Competitive benefits
Measurement variable Source 133
Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Reduction in material costs Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Reduction in process/production costs Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Reduction in costs of regulatory compliance Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Increased process/production efficiency Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Increased productivity Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Increased knowledge about effective ways of managing operations Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Improved process innovations Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Improved product quality Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Improved product innovations
Better relationships with stakeholders, such as local communities, regulators, Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
and environmental groups
Improved employee morale Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Overall improved company reputation or goodwill Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Three items adopted from Ruzzier et al. (2014a; 2014b) measured in-
ternationalization as a latent factor. Thus, following Ruzzier et al. (2014a;
2014b), we used a combination of three different measures: number of
foreign markets, number of operation modes and percentage of sales
abroad in 2013. The items number of foreign markets and number of op-
eration modes both measure the qualitative scope of internationalization,
while the performance dimension of internationalization was measured
by the extent of sales on foreign markets in 2013, ranging from 0 to 100%.
The dependent variable of number of operation modes was construct-
ed by summing up all operation modes (including direct export, export
through intermediary, franchising, product or service licensing, contract,
joint venture direct investment, sole venture direct investment).
Sampling and data collection
Data were collected using web research (email with attached link to the
survey). The questionnaire and letter of intent were emailed to Slovenian
companies in November 2014. The questionnaire was addressed to a top
executive or environmental manager of the selected companies (in the
larger companies, we addressed environmental managers or consultants
that deal with environmental issues of the company or take care of ISO
14001 or EMAS in that company, while in the smaller companies gen-
Table 18: Items for latent variable of Competitive benefits
Measurement variable Source 133
Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Reduction in material costs Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Reduction in process/production costs Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Reduction in costs of regulatory compliance Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Increased process/production efficiency Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Increased productivity Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Increased knowledge about effective ways of managing operations Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Improved process innovations Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Improved product quality Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Improved product innovations
Better relationships with stakeholders, such as local communities, regulators, Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
and environmental groups
Improved employee morale Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Overall improved company reputation or goodwill Sharma and Vredenburg (1998)
Three items adopted from Ruzzier et al. (2014a; 2014b) measured in-
ternationalization as a latent factor. Thus, following Ruzzier et al. (2014a;
2014b), we used a combination of three different measures: number of
foreign markets, number of operation modes and percentage of sales
abroad in 2013. The items number of foreign markets and number of op-
eration modes both measure the qualitative scope of internationalization,
while the performance dimension of internationalization was measured
by the extent of sales on foreign markets in 2013, ranging from 0 to 100%.
The dependent variable of number of operation modes was construct-
ed by summing up all operation modes (including direct export, export
through intermediary, franchising, product or service licensing, contract,
joint venture direct investment, sole venture direct investment).
Sampling and data collection
Data were collected using web research (email with attached link to the
survey). The questionnaire and letter of intent were emailed to Slovenian
companies in November 2014. The questionnaire was addressed to a top
executive or environmental manager of the selected companies (in the
larger companies, we addressed environmental managers or consultants
that deal with environmental issues of the company or take care of ISO
14001 or EMAS in that company, while in the smaller companies gen-
