The Relationship between Green Organization Identity and Corporate Environmental Performance: The Mediating Role of Sustainability Exploration and Exploitation Innovation.

Xinpeng Xing,Lulu Tou,Jianhua Wang

doi:10.3390/ijerph16060921

Abstract

The link between green organizational identity (GOI) and corporate environmental performance (CEP) has been investigated, but existing studies have no consistent conclusion. A significant research gap remains regarding the mediating role of sustainability exploration innovation (SER), sustainability exploitation innovation (SEI), and the moderating role of government environmental regulation (GER). This study explored the relationship between GOI and CEP in a moderated meditation model which includes SER, SEI, and GER. Using structural equation modelling and bootstrap method based on data sets from of 380 Chinese companies, the results show that: (1) GOI promotes SER, thereby enhancing CEP; (2) GOI promotes SEI, thereby enhancing CEP; (3) GER can positively moderate the indirect effect of GOI on CEP via SER; (4) GER negatively moderate the indirect effect of GOI on CEP via SEI. These findings suggest that firms choose different innovative ways between SER and SEI to improve CEP which depends on different levels of GER in China.

Highlights

In recent years, how to simultaneously achieve high-quality economic development and eco-friendly ecological environment have received increasing amounts of attention
This study provided more empirical evidence for the results that indicate green organizational identity (GOI) is associated with green innovation, which was assessed by some previous studies [7,10,13], especially sustainability exploration innovation (SER) and sustainability exploitation innovation (SEI) proposed by Maletič et al [11]
Focusing on environmental management of enterprises in developing country, this study proposed a moderating meditation model to reveal the moderation effect of government environmental regulation (GER) on the indirect effect of GOI on corporate environmental performance (CEP) via SER and SEI

Summary

Introduction

How to simultaneously achieve high-quality economic development and eco-friendly ecological environment have received increasing amounts of attention. As the micro-subject of economic development and ecological environmental protection, the balance between enterprise development and ecological environmental protection greatly influences and determines the realization of economic development and ecological environmental protection [2]. Promoting the green development of economy and protecting the ecological environment from the micro level have become a difficult problem that the academic and practical circles need to be solved urgently. Among various elements of corporate environmental management, green organizational identity (GOI), government environmental regulation (GER), sustainability exploration innovation (SER), and sustainability exploitation innovation (SEI) arguably become a facet where the government has always been attempting to influence firm innovation behavior to improve the effectiveness and efficiently of corporate environmental management [3,4,5]. A large number of studies have shown that the government needs to formulate environmental regulations to regulate the environmental management

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Conclusion