IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v27y2018i6p677-693.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Customer and Supplier Collaboration in Green Product Innovation: External and Internal Capabilities

Author

Listed:
  • Lisa Melander

Abstract

Firms collaborate in green product innovation to develop products with less environmental impact. These products typically use less energy, have lower emissions and incorporate more environmentally friendly materials. In an industrial setting, firms often collaborate along the supply chain with customers and suppliers. This paper focuses on external and internal capabilities that firms need when collaborating in green product innovation. The paper builds on data from five large industrial firms in ten case studies, in which these firms collaborate with customers and suppliers to innovate green products to an industrial market. External and internal capabilities are investigated. The study points to the importance of finding a suitable partner. Partners need to have environmental expertise and contribute knowledge or technology that is new to the firm. Firms need to combine relational capabilities, such as trust, with contractual agreements in collaborative innovations. The findings point to the importance of knowledge management with the partner as well as internally in the firm. The study shows that no partner collaboration operates in isolation but is situated in a network context. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa Melander, 2018. "Customer and Supplier Collaboration in Green Product Innovation: External and Internal Capabilities," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 677-693, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:27:y:2018:i:6:p:677-693
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2024
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.2024?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eric von Hippel, 1986. "Lead Users: A Source of Novel Product Concepts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(7), pages 791-805, July.
    2. Massimiliano Mazzanti & Roberto Zoboli, 2005. "The Drivers of Environmental Innovation in Local Manufacturing Systems," Economia politica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 399-438.
    3. Chris Foster & Ken Green, 2000. "Greening the innovation process," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(5), pages 287-303, September.
    4. Triguero, Angela & Moreno-Mondéjar, Lourdes & Davia, María A., 2014. "The influence of energy prices on adoption of clean technologies and recycling: Evidence from European SMEs," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 246-257.
    5. G. M.P. Swann, 2009. "The Economics of Innovation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13211.
    6. Lisa Melander, 2017. "Achieving Sustainable Development by Collaborating in Green Product Innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1095-1109, December.
    7. Giulio Cainelli & Massimiliano Mazzanti & Sandro Montresor, 2012. "Environmental Innovations, Local Networks and Internationalization," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(8), pages 697-734, November.
    8. Rosa Maria Dangelico & Devashish Pujari & Pierpaolo Pontrandolfo, 2017. "Green Product Innovation in Manufacturing Firms: A Sustainability‐Oriented Dynamic Capability Perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 490-506, May.
    9. Roberto Chavez & Wantao Yu & Mengying Feng & Frank Wiengarten, 2016. "The Effect of Customer‐Centric Green Supply Chain Management on Operational Performance and Customer Satisfaction," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 205-220, March.
    10. Marcus Wagner & Patrick Llerena, 2011. "Eco-Innovation Through Integration, Regulation and Cooperation: Comparative Insights from Case Studies in Three Manufacturing Sectors," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(8), pages 747-764, November.
    11. Nicolette Lakemond & Lars Bengtsson & Keld Laursen & Fredrik Tell, 2016. "Editor's Choice Match and manage: the use of knowledge matching and project management to integrate knowledge in collaborative inbound open innovation," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 25(2), pages 333-352.
    12. Elias Carayannis & Stavros Sindakis & Christian Walter, 2015. "Business Model Innovation as Lever of Organizational Sustainability," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 85-104, February.
    13. De Marchi, Valentina, 2012. "Environmental innovation and R&D cooperation: Empirical evidence from Spanish manufacturing firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 614-623.
    14. Kjell Mårtensson & Karin Westerberg, 2016. "Corporate Environmental Strategies Towards Sustainable Development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 1-9, January.
    15. Kay H. Hofmann & Gregory Theyel & Craig H. Wood, 2012. "Identifying Firm Capabilities as Drivers of Environmental Management and Sustainability Practices – Evidence from Small and Medium‐Sized Manufacturers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(8), pages 530-545, December.
    16. Francesco Rizzi & Irene Bartolozzi & Alessandra Borghini & Marco Frey, 2013. "Environmental Management of End‐of‐Life Products: Nine Factors of Sustainability in Collaborative Networks," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(8), pages 561-572, December.
    17. Jennifer Goodman & Angelina Korsunova & Minna Halme, 2017. "Our Collaborative Future: Activities and Roles of Stakeholders in Sustainability‐Oriented Innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(6), pages 731-753, September.
    18. Yu-Shan Chen, 2008. "The Driver of Green Innovation and Green Image – Green Core Competence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(3), pages 531-543, September.
    19. Rosa Maria Dangelico, 2016. "Green Product Innovation: Where we are and Where we are Going," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(8), pages 560-576, December.
    20. Uwafiokun Idemudia, 2017. "Environmental Business–NGO Partnerships in Nigeria: Issues and Prospects," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 265-276, February.
    21. Giorgos Papagiannakis & Irini Voudouris & Spyros Lioukas, 2014. "The Road to Sustainability: Exploring the Process of Corporate Environmental Strategy Over Time," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(4), pages 254-271, May.
    22. Lea Stadtler & Haiying Lin, 2017. "Moving to the Next Strategy Stage: Examining Firms' Awareness, Motivation and Capability Drivers in Environmental Alliances," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(6), pages 709-730, September.
    23. Michael Lenox & John Ehrenfeld, 1997. "Organizing for effective environmental design," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(4), pages 187-196, September.
    24. Christine M. Beckman & Pamela R. Haunschild & Damon J. Phillips, 2004. "Friends or Strangers? Firm-Specific Uncertainty, Market Uncertainty, and Network Partner Selection," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(3), pages 259-275, June.
    25. Massimiliano Mazzanti & Roberto Zoboli, 2009. "Embedding environmental innovation in local production systems: SME strategies, networking and industrial relations: evidence on innovation drivers in industrial districts," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 169-195.
    26. Justin Doran & Geraldine Ryan, 2016. "The Importance of the Diverse Drivers and Types of Environmental Innovation for Firm Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 102-119, February.
    27. Chiou, Tzu-Yun & Chan, Hing Kai & Lettice, Fiona & Chung, Sai Ho, 2011. "The influence of greening the suppliers and green innovation on environmental performance and competitive advantage in Taiwan," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(6), pages 822-836.
    28. Werner Bönte & Christian Dienes, 2013. "Environmental Innovations and Strategies for the Development of New Production Technologies: Empirical Evidence from Europe," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(8), pages 501-516, December.
    29. Sebastian Theißen & Stefan Spinler & Arnd Huchzermeier, 2014. "Reducing the Carbon Footprint within Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Supply Chains through Collaboration: The Manufacturers' Perspective," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 50(4), pages 44-61, October.
    30. Ki‐Hoon Lee & Ji‐Whan Kim, 2011. "Integrating Suppliers into Green Product Innovation Development: an Empirical Case Study in the Semiconductor Industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(8), pages 527-538, December.
    31. Maria Chiarvesio & Valentina De Marchi & Eleonora Di Maria, 2015. "Environmental Innovations and Internationalization: Theory and Practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 790-801, December.
    32. Horbach, Jens, 2008. "Determinants of environmental innovation--New evidence from German panel data sources," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 163-173, February.
    33. Marilyn T. Lucas, 2010. "Understanding environmental management practices: integrating views from strategic management and ecological economics," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(8), pages 543-556, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lisa Melander, 2017. "Achieving Sustainable Development by Collaborating in Green Product Innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1095-1109, December.
    2. Enrique Acebo & José‐Ángel Miguel‐Dávila & Mariano Nieto, 2021. "External stakeholder engagement: Complementary and substitutive effects on firms' eco‐innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2671-2687, July.
    3. Peter S. Hofman & Constantin Blome & Martin C. Schleper & Nachiappan Subramanian, 2020. "Supply chain collaboration and eco‐innovations: An institutional perspective from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2734-2754, September.
    4. Tariq, Adeel & Badir, Yuosre F. & Tariq, Waqas & Bhutta, Umair Saeed, 2017. "Drivers and consequences of green product and process innovation: A systematic review, conceptual framework, and future outlook," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 8-23.
    5. Lu Qiu & Xiaowen Jie & Yanan Wang & Minjuan Zhao, 2020. "Green product innovation, green dynamic capability, and competitive advantage: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 146-165, January.
    6. Mingfeng Tang & Grace Walsh & Daniel Lerner & Markus A. Fitza & Qiaohua Li, 2018. "Green Innovation, Managerial Concern and Firm Performance: An Empirical Study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 39-51, January.
    7. Luigi Aldieri & Maxim Kotsemir & Concetto Paolo Vinci, 2020. "The role of environmental innovation through the technological proximity in the implementation of the sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 493-502, February.
    8. Peiró-Signes, Ángel & Segarra-Oña, Marival & Trull-Domínguez, Óscar & Sánchez-Planelles, Joaquín, 2022. "Exposing the ideal combination of endogenous–exogenous drivers for companies’ ecoinnovative orientation: Results from machine-learning methods," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Larissa Marchiori Pacheco & Marlon Fernandes Rodrigues Alves & Lara Bartocci Liboni, 2018. "Green absorptive capacity: A mediation‐moderation model of knowledge for innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1502-1513, December.
    10. Francesco Calza & Adele Parmentola & Ilaria Tutore, 2021. "For green or not for green? The effect of cooperation goals and type on environmental performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 267-281, January.
    11. Kuen‐Hung Tsai & Yi‐Chuan Liao, 2017. "Innovation Capacity and the Implementation of Eco‐innovation: Toward a Contingency Perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(7), pages 1000-1013, November.
    12. Christoph P. Kiefer & Pablo Del Río González & Javier Carrillo‐Hermosilla, 2019. "Drivers and barriers of eco‐innovation types for sustainable transitions: A quantitative perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 155-172, January.
    13. Feng Zhang & Lei Zhu, 2019. "Enhancing corporate sustainable development: Stakeholder pressures, organizational learning, and green innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 1012-1026, September.
    14. Elisenda Jové‐Llopis & Agustí Segarra‐Blasco, 2018. "Eco‐innovation strategies: A panel data analysis of Spanish manufacturing firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1209-1220, December.
    15. Pelin Demirel & Effie Kesidou, 2019. "Sustainability‐oriented capabilities for eco‐innovation: Meeting the regulatory, technology, and market demands," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 847-857, July.
    16. Morteza Akbari & Hamid Padash & Zahra Shahabaldini Parizi & Haniye Rezaei & Elmira Shahriari & Ala Khosravani, 2022. "A bibliometric review of green innovation research: identifying knowledge domain and network," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 3993-4023, December.
    17. Elisenda Jové‐Llopis & Agustí Segarra‐Blasco, 2020. "Why does eco‐innovation differ in service firms? Some insights from Spain," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 918-938, March.
    18. Ghisetti,Claudia & Marzucchi,Alberto & Montresor,Sandro, 2013. "Does external knowledge affect environmental innovations? An empirical investigation of eleven European countries," INGENIO (CSIC-UPV) Working Paper Series 201301, INGENIO (CSIC-UPV), revised 23 May 2013.
    19. Yi‐Chuan Liao & Kuen‐Hung Tsai, 2019. "Innovation intensity, creativity enhancement, and eco‐innovation strategy: The roles of customer demand and environmental regulation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 316-326, February.
    20. Ghisetti, Claudia & Marzucchi, Alberto & Montresor, Sandro, 2015. "The open eco-innovation mode. An empirical investigation of eleven European countries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 1080-1093.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:27:y:2018:i:6:p:677-693. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.