Corporate Sustainability and Environmental Innovations: Practical Implications From a Cross-Country Analysis Over 15 Years

Abstract

Sustainability and environmental related innovation activities are important for the present and for the future. These innovations occur throughout the world and in different contexts. Manufacturing related organization may approach these activities from different perspectives. The question we raise is whether country-related differences, in this case, between Germany and the United Kingdom exist and how they changed over time. Using survey information, we find that sustainability and environmental innovation activities have increased greatly. What has become more popular has shifted over the years. We find some differences in the countries and the types of initiatives. We also find small and large firms may focus on different initiatives. These results are of interest to managers and policy makers; we point to some possible practical takeaways from our study.