Page 288 - Hojnik, Jana. 2017. In Persuit of Eco-innovation. Drivers and Consequences of Eco-innovation at Firm Level. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 288
In Pursuit of Eco-innovation
adapted to the Slovenian environment based on prior research works.
Some items were retained while others were eliminated due to the con-
tent validation performed by a qualitative study involving interviewing
environmental managers from companies that implement eco-innova-
tions. The quality of scales has been verified by exploratory and confirm-
atory analyses for each construct. The eco-innovation construct has been
demonstrated to have good validity (convergent, discriminant and nomo-
logical).
The third key contribution of this study is the development and em-
pirical testing of an integrative model of eco-innovation, which includes
eco-innovation with its main dimensions (eco-innovation as a second-or-
der latent factor, including product, process and organizational eco-in-
novation), its drivers and its consequences. The empirical testing of the
288 model clarified the nature of the relationships between eco-innovation,
its drivers (the command-and-control instrument, the economic incen-
tive instrument, managerial environmental concern, expected benefits,
customer demand and competitive pressure) and its consequences (eco-
nomic and competitive benefits, internationalization, company growth
and profitability) based on a sample of Slovenian companies. The main
contribution of testing this model is that it reveals the key role of com-
petitive pressure as a driver of the eco-innovation construct, while the
other drivers’ significantly positive influences are minor in comparison.
This leads us to the conclusion that operating in highly competitive en-
vironments steers companies towards the adoption and development of
environmentally friendly products (to satisfy customers’ demands), im-
plementation of environmentally friendly production processes and or-
ganizational eco-innovation, in order to gain a competitive advantage
over their competitors. Related to the consequences of the eco-innova-
tion construct, based on the findings of the undertaken study, we can
conclude that eco-innovation exerts significantly positive influences on
companies’ economic and competitive benefits and contributes to higher
degrees of internationalization and higher company profitability, where-
as it is significantly negatively associated with company growth. This last
finding should be interpreted with caution, however, because the values
of standardized coefficients are very low; thus, this should be revised and
measured/tested again after a few years’ lag (the research could be repeat-
ed next year to explore whether differences in company growth and prof-
itability occur).
One of the greatest contributions of this study is that it tests four
different models, together with the previously mentioned construct-lev-
adapted to the Slovenian environment based on prior research works.
Some items were retained while others were eliminated due to the con-
tent validation performed by a qualitative study involving interviewing
environmental managers from companies that implement eco-innova-
tions. The quality of scales has been verified by exploratory and confirm-
atory analyses for each construct. The eco-innovation construct has been
demonstrated to have good validity (convergent, discriminant and nomo-
logical).
The third key contribution of this study is the development and em-
pirical testing of an integrative model of eco-innovation, which includes
eco-innovation with its main dimensions (eco-innovation as a second-or-
der latent factor, including product, process and organizational eco-in-
novation), its drivers and its consequences. The empirical testing of the
288 model clarified the nature of the relationships between eco-innovation,
its drivers (the command-and-control instrument, the economic incen-
tive instrument, managerial environmental concern, expected benefits,
customer demand and competitive pressure) and its consequences (eco-
nomic and competitive benefits, internationalization, company growth
and profitability) based on a sample of Slovenian companies. The main
contribution of testing this model is that it reveals the key role of com-
petitive pressure as a driver of the eco-innovation construct, while the
other drivers’ significantly positive influences are minor in comparison.
This leads us to the conclusion that operating in highly competitive en-
vironments steers companies towards the adoption and development of
environmentally friendly products (to satisfy customers’ demands), im-
plementation of environmentally friendly production processes and or-
ganizational eco-innovation, in order to gain a competitive advantage
over their competitors. Related to the consequences of the eco-innova-
tion construct, based on the findings of the undertaken study, we can
conclude that eco-innovation exerts significantly positive influences on
companies’ economic and competitive benefits and contributes to higher
degrees of internationalization and higher company profitability, where-
as it is significantly negatively associated with company growth. This last
finding should be interpreted with caution, however, because the values
of standardized coefficients are very low; thus, this should be revised and
measured/tested again after a few years’ lag (the research could be repeat-
ed next year to explore whether differences in company growth and prof-
itability occur).
One of the greatest contributions of this study is that it tests four
different models, together with the previously mentioned construct-lev-
