How Can Agricultural Corporate Build Sustainable Competitive Advantage through Green Intellectual Capital? A New Environmental Management Approach to Green Agriculture

Chulin Pan,Mingliang Wang,Yufeng Jiang,Ming Xu,Shuang Xu,Yixin Dong

doi:10.3390/ijerph18157900

Abstract

Based on natural resource-based theory, this study constructed a relational model between green intellectual capital, green innovation, and an agricultural corporate sustainable competitive advantage. The samples included a total of 341 agricultural companies in China, and multiple regression methods are used for the analysis. The results showed that green product innovation and green process innovation had a mediation effect between green human capital, green structural capital, green relational capital, and the sustainable competitive advantage of agricultural corporate. Beyond the simple moderation effect, a new integrated moderated-mediation effect model was established. It was shown that environmental leadership, green organizational identification, and green dynamic capability had different moderated-mediation effects under different conditions. The study is expected to close the previous research gaps and insufficiency in agricultural corporate environmental management and green agricultural. The empirical results and conclusions bring enlightenment and meaningful theoretical guidance to managers, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers in the green and sustainable development of agricultural corporates. The new environmental management path can help agricultural corporates conduct green innovation effectively, adapt to the green agricultural products market, and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Ultimately, this will help to accelerate the development of green agriculture.

Highlights

Global warming, desertification, haze, and other environmental problems have become the focus of all industries in the process of global economic development [1]
We interviewed teachers majoring in economic management from the above universities, contacted MBA students working in agricultural enterprises or members of training courses for corporate executives, and obtained a list of local agricultural enterprises
The main purpose of this study is to explore how can agricultural enterprises become greener by using green intellectual capital to carry out green innovation and establish sustainable competitive advantages and realize “win-win” situations between economic development and environmental protection

Summary

Introduction

Desertification, haze, and other environmental problems have become the focus of all industries in the process of global economic development [1]. Against the background of excessive resource consumption, serious environmental pollution, and increasing demand for green agricultural products, it is inevitable and necessary for agricultural development to take a green and sustainable development path. It is urgent to ease the tension between agricultural economic development and environmental bearing capacity. “Our Common Future” published by the World Council for Environment and Development (WCED) in 1987 puts forward the concept of “sustainable development”, pointing out that the earth’s existing resources and energy are far from meeting the needs of human development, and environmental protection has a positive and far-reaching impact on sustainable development [2].

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion