Abstract
It is a consensus that firms genuinely concerned with environmental sustainability must innovate in their business to achieve above-average sustainable performance, therefore adopting an eco-innovation strategic orientation. On the other hand, nowadays, innovative business models are leveraged by intrinsically more sustainable concepts such as industry 4.0 technologies and circular economy. It means that firms with a more general innovation strategic orientation, even if not explicitly seeking to improve their environmental performance, may achieve it due to their innovative efforts to obtain a competitive advantage. We tested our hypotheses with structural equation modeling through a survey administered in 844 firms from five countries. The results indicated that both eco-innovation and general innovation strategic orientations have similar effects on achieving a better sustainable performance, which simultaneously encompasses environmental and operational performance, directly and mediated by the eco-innovation implementation. This paper contributes by supporting the affirmative that the concepts and technology that support most new business models nowadays are intrinsically more sustainable. It also helps managers improve their firms' strategic planning and execution process by giving elements to verify that both strategic orientations are effective for firms to achieve good sustainable performance.
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