Evaluating the relationship between knowledge management and green innovation: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Purpose Managing knowledge is relevant for the innovativeness of an organization. The innovation of the organization currently aligns with the environment and applies green innovation concepts. Knowledge management (KM) is a key to fostering green innovation and to saving the environment from unnecessary pollution. In line with this, this study aims to evaluate the relationship between KM and green innovation in the literature from 2000 to 2023 synthesize and suggest future directions. Design/methodology/approach This study used the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis technique to identify eligible articles. The papers were identified from the Web of Science core collection and ScienceDirect databases. The results were presented using tables, graphs and the co-occurrence of citations was analyzed using VOSviewer software. Findings From the review, the authors were assured that there is a strong relationship between KM practices and green innovation in different organizations. Some papers were supported by different theories. From the total of 48 papers, 16 have not mentioned the theories applied in their studies. The geographical distribution of the papers is asymmetrical. Asian and European scholars published more papers. The papers distribution across publishers also varies. For instance, Elsevier and Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. published 29 papers and the remaining papers were published in BMC, Springer, Frontiers Media Sa, IEEE-Inst Electrical Electronics Engineers Inc., MDPI, Routledge Journals and Taylor & Francis Ltd. Major themes were identified and future research directions were forwarded. Research limitations/implications The limitation of this review is the authors generated the papers from two databases (WoS and ScienceDirect). This paper does not consider other databases (Scopus, dimensions, etc.) papers. This can be considered as a limitation of this review. Originality/value The review is original by integrating PARISMA and bibliometric analysis method (VOS Viewer). The paper tried to explore the role of KM on green innovation.