Page 299 - Hojnik, Jana. 2017. In Persuit of Eco-innovation. Drivers and Consequences of Eco-innovation at Firm Level. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 299
Conclusion 299
panies should invest more in process and organizational eco-innovations,
which increase their profitability and lead to several benefits, or at least
successfully pay off, according to our findings. Implementation of prod-
uct, process and organizational eco-innovation also leads to several com-
petitive and economic benefits for companies and therefore delivers val-
ue not only to the environment but also to the companies that implement
them.
Another important aspect to tackle from the perspective of entre-
preneurs is that, based on our study’s findings, eco-innovations seem to
increase the degree of internationalization. Companies that implement
either product, process or organizational eco-innovation are also more in-
ternationalized (operating on more foreign markets, using many opera-
tion modes when entering foreign markets, and having a higher share of
sales abroad). Implementation of eco-innovation therefore contributes to
success on the foreign markets (in terms of scale and scope). In sum, im-
plementation of eco-innovations can provide a new business opportunity,
offering entrance to or better performance on foreign markets.
Limitations
Our study has some limitations, which will be described in this section.
Due to the complexity of the phenomenon and our effort to adopt an
integrative approach (i.e., to test the drivers and outcomes of different
eco-innovation types as well as the construct-level model of eco-innova-
tion), high observations per parameter were required to test such a com-
plex model.
With regard to the data collection, our study is based on a sample of
Slovenian companies; therefore, the study and its findings are somewhat
limited to the Slovenian environment. However, since the conceptual ba-
sis was developed in research on other contexts and then adapted to the
Slovenian environment, we infer that the findings may be generalizable
to some degree to other European countries that are similar to Slovenia.
Moreover, we collected data only from companies employing at least five
employees in order to avoid dormant micro companies.
Further, this study has encompassed companies from different indus-
tries that have implemented eco-innovation, whether or not they have ac-
quired environmental certificates. Nevertheless, having been conduct-
ed on a middling large sample, our study already shows the prevailing
effects of certain eco-innovation determinants on different eco-innova-
tion types, as well as the effects of different eco-innovation types on the
outcomes at firm level. A great contribution of this study is that it has
panies should invest more in process and organizational eco-innovations,
which increase their profitability and lead to several benefits, or at least
successfully pay off, according to our findings. Implementation of prod-
uct, process and organizational eco-innovation also leads to several com-
petitive and economic benefits for companies and therefore delivers val-
ue not only to the environment but also to the companies that implement
them.
Another important aspect to tackle from the perspective of entre-
preneurs is that, based on our study’s findings, eco-innovations seem to
increase the degree of internationalization. Companies that implement
either product, process or organizational eco-innovation are also more in-
ternationalized (operating on more foreign markets, using many opera-
tion modes when entering foreign markets, and having a higher share of
sales abroad). Implementation of eco-innovation therefore contributes to
success on the foreign markets (in terms of scale and scope). In sum, im-
plementation of eco-innovations can provide a new business opportunity,
offering entrance to or better performance on foreign markets.
Limitations
Our study has some limitations, which will be described in this section.
Due to the complexity of the phenomenon and our effort to adopt an
integrative approach (i.e., to test the drivers and outcomes of different
eco-innovation types as well as the construct-level model of eco-innova-
tion), high observations per parameter were required to test such a com-
plex model.
With regard to the data collection, our study is based on a sample of
Slovenian companies; therefore, the study and its findings are somewhat
limited to the Slovenian environment. However, since the conceptual ba-
sis was developed in research on other contexts and then adapted to the
Slovenian environment, we infer that the findings may be generalizable
to some degree to other European countries that are similar to Slovenia.
Moreover, we collected data only from companies employing at least five
employees in order to avoid dormant micro companies.
Further, this study has encompassed companies from different indus-
tries that have implemented eco-innovation, whether or not they have ac-
quired environmental certificates. Nevertheless, having been conduct-
ed on a middling large sample, our study already shows the prevailing
effects of certain eco-innovation determinants on different eco-innova-
tion types, as well as the effects of different eco-innovation types on the
outcomes at firm level. A great contribution of this study is that it has
