Historically, management theory has ignored the constraints imposed by the biophysical (natural) environment. Building upon resource-based theory, this article attempts to fill this void by proposing a natural-resource-based view of the firm—a theory of competitive advantage based upon the firm's relationship to the natural environment. It is composed of three interconnected strategies: pollution prevention, product stewardship, and sustainable development. Propositions are advanced for each of these strategies regarding key resource requirements and their contributions to sustained competitive advantage.

A natural resource-based view of the firm

Lost in Transition? Drivers and Barriers in the Eco-innovation Road to the Circular Economy

Towards a green world: How do green technology innovations affect total-factor carbon productivity

In response to greater environmental awareness among stakeholders, companies have become increasingly interested in practices such as eco-innovation. Despite the expanding literature on eco-innovation, scholars have so far paid little attention to the study of eco-innovation and its impact on business sustainability, particularly considering the mediating effect of service innovation capability. To fill this research gap, this study extends the concepts of green business by investigating an original conceptual framework, which proposes that the capacity for service innovation has a mediating effect on the relationship between sustainable organizational performance and environmental innovation. This conceptual framework is subjected to empirical testing, implemented through a survey involving 95 Malaysian firms which use green technology. Data is collected through both postal and online questionnaires and analyzed through structural equation modeling using partial least squares. Respondents for this paper were identified using the directories of MyHijau (2013) and the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation, 2014. The results suggest that: (1) eco-innovations unlock better sustainable performance; (2) service innovation capability has a partially significant positive mediating effect; (3) service innovation capability ultimately benefits companies by allowing them to differentiate through an emphasis on value creation; (4) service capability can also act as a business strategy to create barriers to new entry by competitors. Thus, eco-innovation and service innovation capability tend to represent significant intangible resources and enable an organization to achieve long-term objectives, competitive advantage and business sustainability. To date, this is the first study relating eco-innovation, service innovation capability and sustainability performance in the Malaysian corporate context and using a specific sample of companies that make use of green technologies. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.

Pursuing green growth in technology firms through the connections between environmental innovation and sustainable business performance: Does service capability matter?

El artículo tiene como objetivo evaluar el nivel de desarrollo de la capacidad de absorción realizada (RACAP) en las Pyme colombianas. Se parte de una muestra de 363 Pyme colombianas (Dane,2012), se usa una revisión de literatura con apoyo del análisis de contenido y un modelo de regresión lineal, que permiten mostrar la existencia de una correlación lineal positiva entre la adquisición y asimilación del conocimiento externo en las organizaciones objeto de estudio,. Palabras clave: Capacidades de absorción, capacidades de absorción potencial, medición de las capacidades de absorción ABSTRACT:

Measurement of potential absorption capacity in Colombia's innovative companies [Medición de la capacidad de absorción potencial en las empresas innovadoras de Colombia]

Towards green growth: How does green innovation affect employment?

This paper reports research on relationship between firm's knowledge sourcing strategy and green innovation. The data are taken from Spanish Technological Innovation Panel survey during 2007–2011. The study contributed to the literature by focusing on the moderating role of firm size on the relationship between knowledge sources and green innovations. Results from over 5,000 firms indicate a shift in the focus from internal knowledge to external knowledge when developing green innovations as firms grow in size. Despite benefits from broad knowledge search on green innovations, the relationship has an inverted U shape. The diminishing returns of knowledge breadth on green innovations are present for smaller firms and disappearing as firms get larger. Government policies promoting more coordination and knowledge complementarity between private and public sector will help to influence more knowledge transfer, ensuring a more sustainable and green economy.

Rasi Kunapatarawong

Papers

Towards green growth: How does green innovation affect employment?

Green innovation and knowledge: The role of size