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Successful eco‐innovators: Exploring the association between open inbound knowledge strategies and the performance of eco‐innovative firms

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  • Lourdes Moreno‐Mondéjar
  • Ángela Triguero
  • Francisco José Sáez‐Martínez

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the association between open inbound knowledge strategies and the performance of eco‐innovative firms in the food and beverage industry. We propose a mixed framework based on the eco‐innovation literature and the open innovation approach. We consider the characteristics in a traditional sector based upon a resource‐based perspective. Three types of firms are distinguished in terms of their sales growth in the Spanish food industry from the least to the most successful eco‐innovators. Using multinomial logistic regression models, it is shown that the diversity of collaborators (breadth of external sources of knowledge) and joint adoption of product and process eco‐innovations are positively associated with the probability of achieving high sales growth. Moreover, we find an inverted U‐shaped relationship between the breadth of the external search and firm performance, but only for the group of the most successful firms. Moreover, operational flexibility, knowledge‐based capabilities and company size are also positively related to the group of successful eco‐innovators.

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  • Lourdes Moreno‐Mondéjar & Ángela Triguero & Francisco José Sáez‐Martínez, 2020. "Successful eco‐innovators: Exploring the association between open inbound knowledge strategies and the performance of eco‐innovative firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 939-953, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:29:y:2020:i:3:p:939-953
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2408
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    2. Lorena D'Agostino, 2021. "A project-level approach to green open innovation," Proceedings of Business and Management Conferences 12713393, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.

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