Green Certification Pressures and Sustainability Performance: From Environmental Symbolic Drivers to Process Innovation

Despite the expected positive performance, findings have often been mixed with debate on green certification adoptions under various pressures. A better understanding of these pressures and associated organizational environmental and process management systems can help firms deploy resources appropriately and effectively. Many of these pressures have been referred to as symbolic adoption rather than actual implementation. Using diffusion of innovation and signaling theories, this study argues that process innovation can take an important role in facilitating sustainable performance improvement in both actual and symbolic environmental adoptions. The empirical study from 680 manufacturers in ten different countries showed that pressures on green certification triggered process innovation and eventually enhance firms’ positioning and sustainable measures. However, pursuing green certification did not automatically guarantee all sustainable measures, especially in terms of business performance. This study found that process innovation can mediate this relationship to enhance business and environmental performances. Manufacturers may first see unfavorable benefits from direct implementation of green certification; however, accumulative efforts with process innovation could be paid off. Besides, the environmental symbolic drivers also facilitated the process of innovation and environmental improvement but not business measures. These results enhance the development of organizational processes to accommodate resources for sustainable green supply chain strategies.