Does quality management system help organizations in achieving environmental innovation and sustainability goals? A structural analysis

Abstract

The swift decline in the quantity and quality of natural resources and the public’s increased awareness about it is putting steep pressure on manufacturing and services firms to follow eco-friendly practices. The United Nations has made it imperative for organizations to ensure sustainability in their operations. This study investigates whether the quality management system within an organization helps them achieve environmental innovation and sustainable development goals? It also examines does environmental innovation facilitates firms in achieving sustainable development goals? Six quality management practices are taken from the American ‘Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award’; environmental innovation includes product and process innovation, and corporate sustainability includes environmental, social, and economic dimensions. The authors followed the non-probability convenience sampling technique to collect data from the junior, middle, and senior managers from medium and large-size services and manufacturing firms from July 2019 to October 2019. The structural analysis indicated that quality management facilitates firms to achieve their environmental innovation and sustainability goals; environmental innovation significantly enables organizations to achieve sustainability goals. Dimensional analysis indicated that quality management significantly impacts all studied dimensions. However, environmental innovation is found to have an insignificant impact on social sustainability. The findings of this study provide valuable insights to the managers of the manufacturing and services firms concerning eco-innovation and sustainability goals and conclude by offering recommendations for future studies.