IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i6p3286-d768882.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Mediating Role of Firm Strategy in the Relationship between Green Entrepreneurship, Green Innovation, and Competitive Advantage: The Case of Medium and Large-Sized Firms in Greece

Author

Listed:
  • Michalis Skordoulis

    (Department of Tourism Management, University of West Attica, GR12243 Egaleo, Greece)

  • Grigorios Kyriakopoulos

    (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, GR15780 Zografou, Greece)

  • Stamatiοs Ntanos

    (Department of Business Administration, University of West Attica, GR12243 Egaleo, Greece)

  • Spyros Galatsidas

    (Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, GR68200 Orestiada, Greece)

  • Garyfallos Arabatzis

    (Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, GR68200 Orestiada, Greece)

  • Miltiadis Chalikias

    (Department of Accounting and Finance, University of West Attica, GR12243 Egaleo, Greece)

  • Petros Kalantonis

    (Department of Tourism Management, University of West Attica, GR12243 Egaleo, Greece)

Abstract

The present research examines both the relationship between green innovation and green entrepreneurship and the mediating role of firm strategies in the relationship between green entrepreneurship, green innovation, and competitive advantage. A total of 225 managers responsible for the environmental strategy of medium and large-sized firms operating in Greece were used as a sample for the study. To measure the research variables, a structured questionnaire was used. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inductive statistics, including principal components analysis, correlation analysis, a multivariate generalized linear model, and a structural equations model. The empirical results indicate a positive influence of green entrepreneurship in green product innovation and green process innovation. Furthermore, the mediating role of firm strategies in the relationship between green entrepreneurship, green innovation, and competitive advantage is confirmed.

Suggested Citation

  • Michalis Skordoulis & Grigorios Kyriakopoulos & Stamatiοs Ntanos & Spyros Galatsidas & Garyfallos Arabatzis & Miltiadis Chalikias & Petros Kalantonis, 2022. "The Mediating Role of Firm Strategy in the Relationship between Green Entrepreneurship, Green Innovation, and Competitive Advantage: The Case of Medium and Large-Sized Firms in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-18, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:6:p:3286-:d:768882
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/6/3286/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/6/3286/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stamatios Ntanos & Grigorios Kyriakopoulos & Miltiadis Chalikias & Garyfallos Arabatzis & Michalis Skordoulis, 2018. "Public Perceptions and Willingness to Pay for Renewable Energy: A Case Study from Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-16, March.
    2. Arzubiaga, Unai & Kotlar, Josip & De Massis, Alfredo & Maseda, Amaia & Iturralde, Txomin, 2018. "Entrepreneurial orientation and innovation in family SMEs: Unveiling the (actual) impact of the Board of Directors," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 455-469.
    3. Rehman, Shafique Ur & Kraus, Sascha & Shah, Syed Asim & Khanin, Dmitry & Mahto, Raj V., 2021. "Analyzing the relationship between green innovation and environmental performance in large manufacturing firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    4. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Jan Lepoutre & Aimé Heene, 2006. "Investigating the Impact of Firm Size on Small Business Social Responsibility: A Critical Review," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 257-273, September.
    6. Hua-Hung (Robin) Weng & Ja-Shen Chen & Pei-Ching Chen, 2015. "Effects of Green Innovation on Environmental and Corporate Performance: A Stakeholder Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-30, April.
    7. Sascha Rexhäuser & Christian Rammer, 2014. "Environmental Innovations and Firm Profitability: Unmasking the Porter Hypothesis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 57(1), pages 145-167, January.
    8. 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.
    9. Vasilis C. Kapsalis & Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos & Konstantinos G. Aravossis, 2019. "Investigation of Ecosystem Services and Circular Economy Interactions under an Inter-organizational Framework," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-29, May.
    10. 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.
    11. Marcus Wagner & Stefan Schaltegger, 2004. "The Effect of Corporate Environmental Strategy Choice and Environmental Performance on Competitiveness and Economic Performance," Post-Print hal-00279008, HAL.
    12. Miltiadis Zamparas & Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos & Marios Drosos & Vasilis C. Kapsalis & Ioannis K. Kalavrouziotis, 2020. "Novel Composite Materials for Lake Restoration: A New Approach Impacting on Ecology and Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-17, April.
    13. Yu, Wantao & Ramanathan, Ramakrishnan & Nath, Prithwiraj, 2017. "Environmental pressures and performance: An analysis of the roles of environmental innovation strategy and marketing capability," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 160-169.
    14. Martie-Louise Verreynne & Denny Meyer, 2010. "Small business strategy and the industry life cycle," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(4), pages 399-416, November.
    15. Stamatios Ntanos & Grigorios Kyriakopoulos & Michalis Skordoulis & Miltiadis Chalikias & Garyfallos Arabatzis, 2019. "An Application of the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale in a Greek Context," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    16. Leonidas C. Leonidou & Paul Christodoulides & Lida P. Kyrgidou & Daydanda Palihawadana, 2017. "Internal Drivers and Performance Consequences of Small Firm Green Business Strategy: The Moderating Role of External Forces," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 585-606, February.
    17. Manuel Frondel & Jens Horbach & Klaus Rennings, 2007. "End‐of‐pipe or cleaner production? An empirical comparison of environmental innovation decisions across OECD countries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(8), pages 571-584, December.
    18. Stamatios Ntanos & Grigorios Kyriakopoulos & Miltiadis Chalikias & Garyfallos Arabatzis & Michalis Skordoulis & Spyros Galatsidas & Dimitrios Drosos, 2018. "A Social Assessment of the Usage of Renewable Energy Sources and Its Contribution to Life Quality: The Case of an Attica Urban Area in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-15, May.
    19. Ying Guo & LiFang Wang & Yanyu Chen, 2020. "Green Entrepreneurial Orientation and Green Innovation: The Mediating Effect of Supply Chain Learning," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440198, January.
    20. Li, Linwei & Jiang, Feifei & Pei, Yunlong & Jiang, Nengqian, 2017. "Entrepreneurial orientation and strategic alliance success: The contingency role of relational factors," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 46-56.
    21. Wagner, Marcus & Schaltegger, Stefan, 2004. "The Effect of Corporate Environmental Strategy Choice and Environmental Performance on Competitiveness and Economic Performance:: An Empirical Study of EU Manufacturing," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 557-572, October.
    22. Stefan Schaltegger & Marcus Wagner, 2011. "Sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainability innovation: categories and interactions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(4), pages 222-237, May.
    23. 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.
    24. Kraus, Sascha & Rehman, Shafique Ur & García, F. Javier Sendra, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility and environmental performance: The mediating role of environmental strategy and green innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    25. Muller, Keith E. & Peterson, Bercedis L., 1984. "Practical methods for computing power in testing the multivariate general linear hypothesis," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 143-158, August.
    26. Xie, Xuemei & Huo, Jiage & Zou, Hailiang, 2019. "Green process innovation, green product innovation, and corporate financial performance: A content analysis method," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 697-706.
    27. Andreas E. Fousteris & Eleni A. Didaskalou & Markos-Marios H. Tsogas & Dimitrios A. Georgakellos, 2018. "The Environmental Strategy of Businesses as an Option under Recession in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, November.
    28. Frambach, R.T. & Prabhu, J.C. & Verhallen, T.M.M., 2003. "The influence of business strategy on new product activity : The role of market orientation," Other publications TiSEM 64c2e300-9f26-4178-ba34-2, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    29. Albert Danso & Samuel Adomako & Joseph Amankwah‐Amoah & Samuel Owusu‐Agyei & Renata Konadu, 2019. "Environmental sustainability orientation, competitive strategy and financial performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 885-895, July.
    30. Dirk Boehe & Luciano Barin Cruz, 2010. "Corporate Social Responsibility, Product Differentiation Strategy and Export Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(2), pages 325-346, February.
    31. Leonidas C. Leonidou & Paul Christodoulides & Lida P. Kyrgidou & Dayananda Palihawadana, 2017. "Erratum to: Internal Drivers and Performance Consequences of Small Firm Green Business Strategy: The Moderating Role of External Forces," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 607-607, February.
    32. Stamatios Ntanos & Sofia Asonitou & Grigorios Kyriakopoulos & Michalis Skordoulis & Miltiadis Chalikias & Garyfallos Arabatzis, 2020. "Environmental Sensitivity of Business School Students and Their Attitudes Towards Social and Environmental Accounting," Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, in: Androniki Kavoura & Efstathios Kefallonitis & Prokopios Theodoridis (ed.), Strategic Innovative Marketing and Tourism, pages 195-203, Springer.
    33. Pejman Ebrahimi & Seyed Mozaffar Mirbargkar, 2017. "Green entrepreneurship and green innovation for SME development in market turbulence," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 7(2), pages 203-228, August.
    34. Goutam Konapala & Ashok K. Mishra & Yoshihide Wada & Michael E. Mann, 2020. "Climate change will affect global water availability through compounding changes in seasonal precipitation and evaporation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    35. Mahyar Kamali Saraji & Dalia Streimikiene & Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos, 2021. "Fermatean Fuzzy CRITIC-COPRAS Method for Evaluating the Challenges to Industry 4.0 Adoption for a Sustainable Digital Transformation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-20, August.
    36. Danny Miller, 2011. "Miller (1983) Revisited: A Reflection on EO Research and Some Suggestions for the Future," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(5), pages 873-894, September.
    37. Yuan Ma & Guisheng Hou & Baogui Xin, 2017. "Green Process Innovation and Innovation Benefit: The Mediating Effect of Firm Image," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-15, September.
    38. Ching-Hsun Chang, 2011. "The Influence of Corporate Environmental Ethics on Competitive Advantage: The Mediation Role of Green Innovation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 361-370, December.
    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. Abdullah F. Alnaim & Nadia Abdelhamid Abdelmegeed Abdelwahed & Bahadur Ali Soomro, 2022. "Environmental Challenges and Green Innovation Strategy: A Vigorous Development of Greener Dynamics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, August.
    2. Jin, Minghui & Chen, Yang, 2024. "Has green innovation been improved by intelligent manufacturing?—Evidence from listed Chinese manufacturing enterprises," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    3. Qi Hu & Fang Wu & Yingna Qu & Ke Guo & Xinyi Du, 2022. "Green Innovation’s Promoting Impact on the Fusion of Industry and Talent: The Case of Pharmaceutical Industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-20, June.
    4. Hasan Yildizhan & Cihan Yıldırım & Shiva Gorjian & Arman Ameen, 2023. "How May New Energy Investments Change the Sustainability of the Turkish Industrial Sector?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-15, January.
    5. Andreas Errikos Delegkos & Michalis Skordoulis & Petros Kalantonis & Aggelia Xanthopoulou, 2022. "Integrated Reporting and Value Relevance in the Energy Sector: The Case of European Listed Firms," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-13, November.
    6. Chen, Ji & Wu, Liudan & Hao, Lili & Yu, Xiao & Streimikiene, Dalia, 2024. "Does the import of green products encourage green technology innovation? Empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    7. Cai Li & Majid Murad & Sheikh Farhan Ashraf, 2023. "The Influence of Women’s Green Entrepreneurial Intention on Green Entrepreneurial Behavior through University and Social Support," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-17, June.
    8. Ali Junaid Khan & Waseem Ul Hameed & Jawad Iqbal & Ashfaq Ahmad Shah & Muhammad Atiq Ur Rehman Tariq & Saira Ahmed, 2022. "Adoption of Sustainability Innovations and Environmental Opinion Leadership: A Way to Foster Environmental Sustainability through Diffusion of Innovation Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-20, November.
    9. Chen, Su & Shen, Wenbin & Qiu, Zhiqiang & Liu, Rongzhi & Mardani, Abbas, 2023. "Who are the green entrepreneurs in China? The relationship between entrepreneurs’ characteristics, green entrepreneurship orientation, and corporate financial performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    10. Jie Qin & Kaili Yang & Xuhui Ding, 2023. "Can the Reform of the Transfer Tax System Affect Corporate Green Innovation—Evidence from China’s “BT to VAT” Reform," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-14, February.
    11. Iulia Siedschlag & Stefano Meneto & Manuel Tong Koecklin, 2022. "Enabling Green Innovations for the Circular Economy: What Factors Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-24, September.

    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. Shaker M. Al-Kahtani & Nabil Ahmed Mareai Senan & Ibtisam Dhuwayhi Alanazi, 2024. "Environmental Responsibility, Strategy, and Competitive Advantage: Mediating Effect of Environmental Innovation," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 14(3), pages 316-331, May.
    2. 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.
    3. Jiawen Chen & Linlin Liu, 2018. "Profiting from Green Innovation: The Moderating Effect of Competitive Strategy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-23, December.
    4. Zhongju Liao, 2018. "Corporate culture, environmental innovation and financial performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1368-1375, December.
    5. 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.
    6. Chaiyawit Muangmee & Zdzisława Dacko-Pikiewicz & Nusanee Meekaewkunchorn & Nuttapon Kassakorn & Bilal Khalid, 2021. "Green Entrepreneurial Orientation and Green Innovation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-15, April.
    7. 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.
    8. Arnaldo Coelho & Jorge Ferreira & Catarina Proença, 2024. "The impact of green entrepreneurial orientation on sustainability performance through the effects of green product and process innovation: The moderating role of ambidexterity," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 3184-3202, May.
    9. Nikolaos S. Trevlopoulos & Thomas A. Tsalis & Konstantinos I. Evangelinos & Konstantinos P. Tsagarakis & Konstantinos I. Vatalis & Ioannis E. Nikolaou, 2021. "The influence of environmental regulations on business innovation, intellectual capital, environmental and economic performance," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 163-178, March.
    10. 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.
    11. 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).
    12. Yousaf, Umair Bin & Ullah, Irfan & Jiang, Junchen & Wang, Man, 2022. "The role of board capital in driving green innovation: Evidence from China," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    13. Wang, Quan-Jing & Wang, Hai-Jie & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2022. "Environmental performance, green finance and green innovation: What's the long-run relationships among variables?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    14. Hao Zhang & Jie He & Xiaomeng Shi & Qiong Hong & Jie Bao & Shuqi Xue, 2020. "Technology Characteristics, Stakeholder Pressure, Social Influence, and Green Innovation: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Express Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-19, April.
    15. 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.
    16. Marco-Lajara, B. & Úbeda-García, M. & Zaragoza-Sáez, P. & Manresa-Marhuenda, E., 2023. "The impact of international experience on firm economic performance. The double mediating effect of green knowledge acquisition & eco-innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    17. Abdullah F. Alnaim & Nadia Abdelhamid Abdelmegeed Abdelwahed & Bahadur Ali Soomro, 2022. "Environmental Challenges and Green Innovation Strategy: A Vigorous Development of Greener Dynamics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, August.
    18. 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.
    19. Andreas E. Fousteris & Eleni A. Didaskalou & Markos-Marios H. Tsogas & Dimitrios A. Georgakellos, 2018. "The Environmental Strategy of Businesses as an Option under Recession in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, November.
    20. Chao Hung Wang, 2020. "An environmental perspective extends market orientation: Green innovation sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3123-3134, December.

    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:14:y:2022:i:6:p:3286-:d:768882. 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.