The More, the Merrier: Why and How Employee-Driven Eco-Innovation Enhances Environmental and Competitive Advantage

Abstract

Abstract:Innovative solutions are often conjured as a key factor for companies to come closer to the goal of ecological sustainability. Furthermore, proactive eco-innovation activities can encompass competitive advantages. Companies are therefore well advised to tap any available source of innovation. However, although employees' innovative capacity has often been described, to date, their manifold potentials for eco-innovation processes have hardly been examined in detail. The overarching research questions guiding this conceptual paper are why and how employee participation in eco-innovation processes can entail environmental and competitive advantages for companies. The authors introduce the concept of employee-driven eco-innovation (EDEI), defined here as ordinary employees' voluntary engagement in innovation activities within an organizational context that, intentionally or not, lead to environmental improvements. This paper complements previous literature on employee-driven innovation (EDI) by applying it to the specific case of eco-innovation. In this context, employees' comprehensive environmental competences resulting from "tacit knowledge", "private consumer experience" and "green identity" are taken into account. In addition, we delineate critical intra-organizational factors for EDEI activities and illustrate green employees' specific requirements in this regard.

Organizational Learning and Green Innovation: Does Environmental Proactivity Matter?

“…The hypothesized relationships may be stronger or weaker depending on how well organizational strategies reflect stakeholders' environmental awareness and activeness [75,81,82]. An enterprise that pursues a pro-environment strategy is likely to motivate its employees to evaluate the ecological impacts of daily operations and find out ways to improve product designs and business processes [83]. Whether an organization initiates green innovation largely depends on how proactive it is toward sustainable development and environmental protection [44].…”

Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity as Complementary Drivers of Green Product and Process Innovation Performance

“…In this sense, companies that proactively embrace green innovation strategies might be able to encompass a sustainable competitive advantage [6].…”

Corporate strategies for greening the workplace: Findings from sustainability-oriented companies in Germany

“…Various conceptualizations of employee contributions towards corporate greening that may subsequently influence management practices can be distinguished. A first strand concentrates on the user knowledge of employees for improving products and services and develop eco-innovations (Buhl et al, 2016;Ramus, 2003). A second strand seeks to benefit from tacit employee knowledge in order to improve work processes and routines that can have an impact on the sustainability of the fabrication process, such as in detecting sources of pollution and toxic emissions (Wolf, 2013).…”