IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i9p5002-d546269.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Leadership in Frontier Asia Region: Managerial Discretion and Environmental Innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Qaisar Iqbal

    (Center for China-India-Pakistan Studies, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong 643000, China
    School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, George Town 11800, Malaysia)

  • Noor Hazlina Ahmad

    (School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, George Town 11800, Malaysia)

  • Yongmei Li

    (Center for China-India-Pakistan Studies, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong 643000, China)

Abstract

Climate change brings severe impact to frontier Asia in the shape of its significant negative effect on workability and livability. Drawing on the upper echelon theory (UET), this study aims to investigate the mechanism and conditional factors of a sustainable leadership–environmental performance relationship. Employing cluster sampling, this study has collected data from small and medium enterprises in frontier Asian countries—Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. In this study, the authors have collected 245 valid responses with a response rate of 41%. The authors have employed Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis to test the proposed hypothesis. The present empirical findings confirm the significant effect of sustainable leadership on environmental innovation and the significant effect of environmental innovation on environmental performance. The current study confirms that sustainable leaders indirectly influence environmental performance through environmental innovation. Nevertheless, its effect on environmental innovations does not amplify in the presence of managerial discretion. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first in its nature that has explored the integrated role of sustainable leadership, environmental innovation, managerial discretion, and environmental performance. Limitations and implications have been listed at the end of the study.

Suggested Citation

  • Qaisar Iqbal & Noor Hazlina Ahmad & Yongmei Li, 2021. "Sustainable Leadership in Frontier Asia Region: Managerial Discretion and Environmental Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:5002-:d:546269
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/5002/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/5002/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Symeou, Pavlos C. & Zyglidopoulos, Stelios & Gardberg, Naomi A., 2019. "Corporate environmental performance: Revisiting the role of organizational slack," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 169-182.
    3. Frondel, Manuel & Ritter, Nolan & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Vance, Colin, 2010. "Economic impacts from the promotion of renewable energy technologies: The German experience," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 4048-4056, August.
    4. repec:bla:jomstd:v:37:y:2000:i::p:321-348 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Arundel, A & Kemp, Rene, 2009. "Measuring eco-innovation," Working Papers 10062, University of Tasmania, Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, revised 30 Aug 2010.
    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. Zhongju Liao & Manting Zhang, 2020. "The influence of responsible leadership on environmental innovation and environmental performance: The moderating role of managerial discretion," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2016-2027, September.
    8. Singh, Sanjay Kumar & Giudice, Manlio Del & Chierici, Roberto & Graziano, Domenico, 2020. "Green innovation and environmental performance: The role of green transformational leadership and green human resource management," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    9. Chengli Shu & Kevin Z. Zhou & Yazhen Xiao & Shanxing Gao, 2016. "How Green Management Influences Product Innovation in China: The Role of Institutional Benefits," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(3), pages 471-485, February.
    10. Eiadat, Yousef & Kelly, Aidan & Roche, Frank & Eyadat, Hussein, 2008. "Green and competitive? An empirical test of the mediating role of environmental innovation strategy," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 131-145, March.
    11. Hadani, Michael & Dahan, Nicolas M. & Doh, Jonathan P., 2015. "The CEO as chief political officer: Managerial discretion and corporate political activity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2330-2337.
    12. Junwei Zheng & Guangdong Wu & Hongtao Xie, 2017. "Impacts of Leadership on Project-Based Organizational Innovation Performance: The Mediator of Knowledge Sharing and Moderator of Social Capital," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-22, October.
    13. Lopes de Sousa Jabbour, Ana Beatriz & Ndubisi, Nelson Oly & Roman Pais Seles, Bruno Michel, 2020. "Sustainable development in Asian manufacturing SMEs: Progress and directions," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    14. Wu, Jih-Hwa & Wu, Chih-Wen & Lee, Chin-Tarn & Lee, Hsiao-Jung, 2015. "Green purchase intentions: An exploratory study of the Taiwanese electric motorcycle market," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 829-833.
    15. Chungwon Woo & Yanghon Chung & Dongphil Chun & Seunghun Han & Dukhee Lee, 2014. "Impact of Green Innovation on Labor Productivity and its Determinants: an Analysis of the Korean Manufacturing Industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(8), pages 567-576, December.
    16. Subhabrata Bobby Banerjee, 2001. "Managerial perceptions of corporate environmentalism: interpretations from industry and strategic implications for organizations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 489-513, June.
    17. Kanerva, Minna & Arundel, Anthony & Kemp, Rene, 2009. "Environmental innovation: Using qualitative models to identify indicators for policy," MERIT Working Papers 2009-047, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    18. 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.
    19. Christopher S. Tuggle & David G. Sirmon & Christopher R. Reutzel & Leonard Bierman, 2010. "Commanding board of director attention: investigating how organizational performance and CEO duality affect board members' attention to monitoring," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(9), pages 946-968, September.
    20. Brian R. Golden & Edward J. Zajac, 2001. "When will boards influence strategy? inclination × power = strategic change," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(12), pages 1087-1111, December.
    21. Samuel Adomako & Nguyen Phong Nguyen, 2020. "Human resource slack, sustainable innovation, and environmental performance of small and medium‐sized enterprises in sub‐Saharan Africa," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 2984-2994, December.
    22. El-Kassar, Abdul-Nasser & Singh, Sanjay Kumar, 2019. "Green innovation and organizational performance: The influence of big data and the moderating role of management commitment and HR practices," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 483-498.
    23. Yu-Shan Chen & Ching-Hsun Chang & Yu-Hsien Lin, 2014. "The Determinants of Green Radical and Incremental Innovation Performance: Green Shared Vision, Green Absorptive Capacity, and Green Organizational Ambidexterity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-20, November.
    24. Steven A. Frankforter & Shawn L. Berman & Thomas M. Jones, 2000. "Boards of Directors and Shark Repellents:Assessing the Value of an Agency Theory Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 321-348, May.
    25. Qaisar Iqbal & Noor Hazlina Ahmad & Hasliza Abdul Halim, 2020. "How Does Sustainable Leadership Influence Sustainable Performance? Empirical Evidence From Selected ASEAN Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, November.
    26. Min Xue & Francis Boadu & Yu Xie, 2019. "The Penetration of Green Innovation on Firm Performance: Effects of Absorptive Capacity and Managerial Environmental Concern," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-24, April.
    27. Marco Guerci & Annachiara Longoni & Davide Luzzini, 2016. "Translating stakeholder pressures into environmental performance – the mediating role of green HRM practices," Post-Print hal-01251759, HAL.
    28. Sooksan Kantabutra & Prattana Punnakitikashem, 2020. "Exploring the Process Toward Corporate Sustainability at a Thai SME," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-19, November.
    29. Angela Triguero & Lourdes Moreno‐Mondéjar & María A. Davia, 2016. "Leaders and Laggards in Environmental Innovation: An Empirical Analysis of SMEs in Europe," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 28-39, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Huirui Zhang & Sanbao Zhang, 2022. "How Does the Sustainable Investment Climate Affect Firm Geographic Diversification in China? Managerial Discretion as a Mediator," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-16, February.
    2. Jane Boeske, 2023. "Leadership towards Sustainability: A Review of Sustainable, Sustainability, and Environmental Leadership," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-18, August.
    3. Mukhamad Najib & Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman & Abror Abror & Riani Rachmawati & Megawati Simanjuntak & Prita Prasetya & Dwi Suhartanto & Farah Fahma, 2021. "Leaders’ Support of Sustainable Innovation and Business Sustainability in Developing Countries: Evidence from Small and Medium Food Processing Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-19, November.
    4. Wei Xuecheng & Noor Hazlina Ahmad & Qaisar Iqbal & Bai Saina, 2022. "Responsible Leadership and Sustainable Development in East Asia Economic Group: Application of Social Exchange Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-16, May.
    5. Meng Li & Zengrui Tian & Qian Liu & Yuzhong Lu, 2022. "Literature Review and Research Prospect on the Drivers and Effects of Green Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-23, August.
    6. Xingwei Li & Jiachi Dai & Jinrong He & Jingru Li & Yicheng Huang & Xiang Liu & Qiong Shen, 2022. "Mechanism of Enterprise Green Innovation Behavior Considering Coevolution Theory," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-19, August.
    7. Wei Xuecheng & Qaisar Iqbal, 2022. "Ethical Leadership, Bricolage, and Eco-Innovation in the Chinese Manufacturing Industry: A Multi-Theory Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-15, June.
    8. Anna Kwiotkowska & Radosław Wolniak & Bożena Gajdzik & Magdalena Gębczyńska, 2022. "Configurational Paths of Leadership Competency Shortages and 4.0 Leadership Effectiveness: An fs/QCA Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-21, February.
    9. Chih-Hsing Liu & Quoc Phong La & Yen-Ling Ng & Rullyana Puspitaningrum Mamengko, 2023. "Discovering the Sustainable Innovation Service Process of Organizational Environment, Information Sharing and Satisfaction: The Moderating Roles of Pressure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-26, July.
    10. Aymen Sajjad & Gabriel Eweje & Muhammad Mustafa Raziq, 2024. "Sustainability leadership: An integrative review and conceptual synthesis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 2849-2867, May.
    11. Said Yousef Dwikat & Darwina Arshad & Mohd Noor Mohd Shariff, 2022. "The Influence of Systematic Strategic Planning and Strategic Business Innovation on the Sustainable Performance of Manufacturing SMEs: The Case of Palestine," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-26, October.
    12. Qaisar Iqbal & Noor Hazlina Ahmad & Zeyun Li & Yongmei Li, 2022. "To walk in beauty: Sustainable leadership, frugal innovation and environmental performance," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 738-750, April.
    13. Murtaza Haider & Randall Shannon & George P. Moschis & Erkko Autio, 2023. "How Has the COVID-19 Crisis Transformed Entrepreneurs into Sustainable Leaders?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-20, March.

    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. Ayça Kubra Hizarci‐Payne & İlayda İpek & Gülüzar Kurt Gümüş, 2021. "How environmental innovation influences firm performance: A meta‐analytic review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1174-1190, February.
    2. Wei Xuecheng & Qaisar Iqbal, 2022. "Ethical Leadership, Bricolage, and Eco-Innovation in the Chinese Manufacturing Industry: A Multi-Theory Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-15, June.
    3. Yang, Yang & Jiang, Yan, 2023. "Does suppliers’ slack influence the relationship between buyers’ environmental orientation and green innovation?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    4. Mercedes Úbeda‐García & Bartolome Marco‐Lajara & Patrocinio C. Zaragoza‐Sáez & Encarnación Manresa‐Marhuenda & Esther Poveda‐Pareja, 2022. "Green ambidexterity and environmental performance: The role of green human resources," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 32-45, January.
    5. Qaisar Iqbal & Noor Hazlina Ahmad & Zeyun Li & Yongmei Li, 2022. "To walk in beauty: Sustainable leadership, frugal innovation and environmental performance," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 738-750, April.
    6. Tang Meirun & Lahcene Makhloufi & Mohamad Ghozali Hassan, 2020. "Environmental Outcomes of Green Entrepreneurship Harmonization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-26, December.
    7. Anna Kwiotkowska & Radosław Wolniak & Bożena Gajdzik & Magdalena Gębczyńska, 2022. "Configurational Paths of Leadership Competency Shortages and 4.0 Leadership Effectiveness: An fs/QCA Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-21, February.
    8. Xinwei Li & Wenjuan Zeng & Mao Xu, 2022. "The Moderating Role of IT Capability on Green Innovation and Ambidexterity: Towards a Corporate Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-20, December.
    9. Lu Qiu & Die Hu & Yu Wang, 2020. "How do firms achieve sustainability through green innovation under external pressures of environmental regulation and market turbulence?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2695-2714, September.
    10. Zhou, Min & Govindan, Kannan & Xie, Xiongbiao & Yan, Liang, 2021. "How to drive green innovation in China's mining enterprises? Under the perspective of environmental legitimacy and green absorptive capacity," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Kittisak Jermsittiparsert & Sudawan Somjai & Sriparinya Toopgajank, 2020. "Factors Affecting Firm s Energy Efficiency and Environmental Performance: The Role of Environmental Management Accounting, Green Innovation and Environmental Proactivity," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(3), pages 325-331.
    12. Huang, Yi-Chun & Chen, Chih Ta, 2022. "Exploring institutional pressures, firm green slack, green product innovation and green new product success: Evidence from Taiwan's high-tech industries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    13. Dan Huang & Jie Cheng & Xiaofeng Quan & Yanling Wu, 2024. "Managerial attention to environmental protection and corporate green innovation," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 1047-1081, October.
    14. Xinyue Hao & Fanglin Chen & Zhongfei Chen, 2022. "Does green innovation increase enterprise value?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 1232-1247, March.
    15. Barıs Aksu & Gulsen Akman, 2024. "How Eco-innovation Determinants and Eco-innovation Strategy Influences Sustainability Performance of SMEs? Mediating Role of Eco-innovation Strategy," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(2), pages 9368-9392, June.
    16. Farooq, Umar & Wen, Jun & Tabash, Mosab I. & Fadoul, Modawi, 2024. "Environmental regulations and capital investment: Does green innovation allow to grow?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PA), pages 878-893.
    17. Rixiao Cui & Juanru Wang & Cong Zhou, 2023. "Exploring the linkages of green transformational leadership, organizational green learning, and radical green innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 185-199, January.
    18. Lu Zheng & Konstantinos Iatridis, 2022. "Friends or foes? A systematic literature review and meta‐analysis of the relationship between eco‐innovation and firm performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1838-1855, May.
    19. Chenli Yin & Maria Paz Salmador & Dan Li & M. Begoña Lloria, 2022. "Green entrepreneurship and SME performance: the moderating effect of firm age," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 255-275, March.
    20. Iztok Palčič & Jasna Prester, 2020. "Impact of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies on Green Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-14, April.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:5002-:d:546269. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.