Eco-Innovation Influencers: Unveiling the Role of Lean Management Principles Adoption

João Leitão, Sónia de Brito and Serena Cubico
Additional contact information
Sónia de Brito: Research Center in Business Sciences (NECE), University of Beira Interior, Rua Marquês d´Ávila e Bolama, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal
Serena Cubico: Department of Business Administration, University of Verona, I-37129 Verona, Italy

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-27

Abstract: This study analyzes the determinant factors of eco-innovation, considering business units with different levels of technological intensity (high technology versus low technology). It aims, in the first instance, to complement the approach on the determinants of eco-innovation in the existent literature by incorporating the novelty related to the analysis of the effects arising from the adoption of the lean management principles. Specifically, it aims to analyze the effects of the previously referred to determinant factors both on the economic performance and on the innovative performance of Portuguese industrial and service companies with different levels of technological intensity (high-tech versus low-tech). The conceptual model presented is of an innovative nature, since it includes four groups of determinant factors present in the literature, namely technology, market, public policies, and cooperation relationships, and adds a fifth group of determinant factors still to be explored empirically concerning the adoption of lean management principles. In the empirical approach, five research hypotheses arising from the literature review are tested, using secondary data collected from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS)—CIS 2010 for a total sample of 334 companies, made up of 95 high-tech companies and 239 low-tech companies. The conceptual model is tested using a logistic regression method, which indicated a suitable accuracy and reliability for the purposes of empirical tests. The empirical evidence confirms that most of the groups of determinants previously identified in the literature have a significant influence on eco-innovation. In addition, the empirical evidence obtained here indicates a positive and significant effect of lean management principles on eco-innovation.

Keywords: eco-innovation; community innovation survey; sustainable business models; lean management principles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/8/2225/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/8/2225/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:8:p:2225-:d:222428

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().