Eco-Innovation Maturity Model: A Framework to Support the Evolution of Eco-Innovation Integration in Companies

Amanda Xavier,Lucas Souza,Leandro Luiz,Tatiana Reyes,Améziane Aoussat

doi:10.3390/su12093773

Abstract

The urgency for sustainable changes in product performance and around the processes of the different organizational areas highlights the potential of eco-innovation as a management strategy. However, this holistic approach to eco-innovation is still a challenge for businesses. In this sense, this research was structured on two central premises, which justify the central problem of the study. The first is that companies face organizational barriers to the implementation of eco-innovation in a holistic manner. The second is that companies face operational barriers to the implementation and global integration of eco-innovation, such as lack of models, methods, and support tools. This operational barrier mainly includes the lack of maturity approaches and prescriptive methods of eco-innovation evaluation. In order to overcome these barriers, this research proposes an Eco-innovation Maturity Model (Eco-Mi), a framework to support eco-innovation integration and evolution of organizational maturity. Based on a review of the literature, it was possible to develop a first version of the Eco-innovation Maturity Model, consisting of the eco-innovation maturity levels and a guide to eco-innovation practices. The model has been improved through expert evaluation with the use of the Delphi Method, which contributed to increase its validity and reliability. The results confirm the research hypothesis and, therefore, the validity of the Eco-Mi model as support for the integration and evolution of eco-innovation in organizations and as a reference for the field of knowledge.

Highlights

The urgency for progressive sustainable changes in product performance and around processes in different organizational areas highlights the potential of eco-innovation as a management strategy
The first is that companies face organizational barriers to the implementation of eco-innovation with respect to strategy, structure, resources, culture, and immediate vision issues
The second is that companies face operational barriers to the implementation and global integration of eco-innovation, such as lack of models, methods, and support tools

Summary

Introduction

The urgency for progressive sustainable changes in product performance and around processes in different organizational areas highlights the potential of eco-innovation as a management strategy. Eco-innovation provides extensive contributions to the achievement of long-term sustainability in order to integrate the environmental dimension through the whole process, at the eco-design stage It includes a change of the functionalities required in new products and a change of its business model [7]. It is assumed that organizations that implement strategic decisions integrated to the environmental aspect minimize their risk, gain competitive advantages, as well as face cost reduction and increase profits at the medium and long terms [7,22,55–58] This means that when the economic, environmental, and social aspects of innovation are dealt and inserted in the company’s strategy, its innovative potential is maximized, because the proactive behavior systematically changes the organization in its goals, values, and culture, and increases the innovative, economic, and sustainable results [8]. Manufacturers must be proactive towards environmental issues and link their operations beyond the economic rewards, to consider environmental and social impacts in their processes [59]

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