Conceptualising eco-innovation practices in contractor firms – the dynamic capability approaches

Abstract

The world has witnessed extreme environmental deterioration over the past few decades due to rapid development in urban areas and unsustainable way of past construction. Recently, eco-innovation (EI) has increasingly been accepted as the solution to major environmental problems. EI involves new or modified processes, techniques, products, systems, and services that can satisfy human needs and provide quality of life whilst significantly decreases environmental impacts. In addition, EI revolutionary path to improve contractor firms’ competitiveness and sustaining business endeavour. Thus, the aim of this paper is to develop EI framework practices in contractor firms. Unfortunately, to be eco-innovative, the contractor firms need to strengthen their green knowledge, technology and resources as well as to develop their capabilities and strategies faster than their rivals. They also need to absorb and capitalise any external opportunities for their own advantages. Therefore, this study adopts dynamic capability theory to investigate a firm’s ability to integrate, build and reconfigure its competences and resources to accomplish the environmental goal in its business strategy. The outcome of this paper could provide clear directions of EI practices by means of dynamic capability theory in demonstrating how contractor firms can adapt to changing current industry conditions to remain competitive.