Page 291 - Hojnik, Jana. 2017. In Persuit of Eco-innovation. Drivers and Consequences of Eco-innovation at Firm Level. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 291
Conclusion 291
ed to eco-innovation investments requires a few years’ lag (depending on
the amount of resources invested). Therefore, for the majority of compa-
nies, at least for the first few years after implementation, eco-innovations
were seen as a burden for the company. As previously mentioned, we test-
ed the outcomes of eco-innovation in two ways: by asking respondents
to evaluate the economic and competitive benefits and by using second-
ary data (such as ROA, ROE, ROS, company growth in terms of number
of employees and growth in sales over two business years). Our findings
indicate that companies perceive eco-innovations as beneficial, in terms
of economic and competitive benefits (self-reported measures); however,
in terms of the objective indicators of company performance, we found
a negative association between all eco-innovation types and company
growth, as well as between product eco-innovation and company prof-
itability. While these values were statistically significant, they were low
(in the case of product eco-innovation’s effect on company profitability,
the standardized coefficient was close to zero and thus requires further
research). The finding that relations between eco-innovations and com-
pany performance are low, may be explained by the fact that eco-innova-
tions generally pay off after several years’ lag; that is, the profitability indi-
cator ratios are initially negative if the investments made were substantial
and have not yet shown returns. Therefore, more research on this topic is
needed in order for the association between eco-innovations and compa-
ny performance (when using the profitability indicator ratios) to be fully
understood. However, by including self-reported measures, the results in-
dicate that eco-innovations deliver competitive and economic benefits to
the company that implements them. Therefore, our findings reveal that
the relationships between eco-innovations (all four models) and compa-
ny growth are significant and negative, whereas the relationship between
eco-innovations and company profitability was found to be positive and
significant, with the exception of product eco-innovation (which had a
significant and negative association with company profitability). How-
ever, eco-innovations lead to the gain of economic and competitive ben-
efits. This approach (using both types of measures to test the effects of
eco-innovations on company performance) proved to be rewarding, as
the distinct effects of company performance would otherwise not be rec-
ognized or could lead to flawed conclusions. In this way, the results show
that eco-innovations do deliver benefits to the company that implements
them. We can thus conclude that eco-innovations are worthwhile (in
terms of economic and competitive benefits) for companies that imple-
ed to eco-innovation investments requires a few years’ lag (depending on
the amount of resources invested). Therefore, for the majority of compa-
nies, at least for the first few years after implementation, eco-innovations
were seen as a burden for the company. As previously mentioned, we test-
ed the outcomes of eco-innovation in two ways: by asking respondents
to evaluate the economic and competitive benefits and by using second-
ary data (such as ROA, ROE, ROS, company growth in terms of number
of employees and growth in sales over two business years). Our findings
indicate that companies perceive eco-innovations as beneficial, in terms
of economic and competitive benefits (self-reported measures); however,
in terms of the objective indicators of company performance, we found
a negative association between all eco-innovation types and company
growth, as well as between product eco-innovation and company prof-
itability. While these values were statistically significant, they were low
(in the case of product eco-innovation’s effect on company profitability,
the standardized coefficient was close to zero and thus requires further
research). The finding that relations between eco-innovations and com-
pany performance are low, may be explained by the fact that eco-innova-
tions generally pay off after several years’ lag; that is, the profitability indi-
cator ratios are initially negative if the investments made were substantial
and have not yet shown returns. Therefore, more research on this topic is
needed in order for the association between eco-innovations and compa-
ny performance (when using the profitability indicator ratios) to be fully
understood. However, by including self-reported measures, the results in-
dicate that eco-innovations deliver competitive and economic benefits to
the company that implements them. Therefore, our findings reveal that
the relationships between eco-innovations (all four models) and compa-
ny growth are significant and negative, whereas the relationship between
eco-innovations and company profitability was found to be positive and
significant, with the exception of product eco-innovation (which had a
significant and negative association with company profitability). How-
ever, eco-innovations lead to the gain of economic and competitive ben-
efits. This approach (using both types of measures to test the effects of
eco-innovations on company performance) proved to be rewarding, as
the distinct effects of company performance would otherwise not be rec-
ognized or could lead to flawed conclusions. In this way, the results show
that eco-innovations do deliver benefits to the company that implements
them. We can thus conclude that eco-innovations are worthwhile (in
terms of economic and competitive benefits) for companies that imple-
