Sustainability-focused innovation in the business-to-business context: Antecedents and managerial implications
Abstract
Although researchers and managers have examined various business outcomes of sustainability, the literature offers little insight into how firms could cultivate a higher level of sustainability focus in their NPD endeavors. Drawing upon the literature on sustainability and new product innovation and using a competency-based and dynamic capabilities perspective as the theoretical lens, this study develops a model of key antecedents to sustainability-focused innovation. Data from a survey of managers in 228 business-to-business firms suggest that 1) a higher level of global focus is associated with greater sustainability-focused innovation, 2) open innovation exhibits a curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) relationship with sustainability-focused innovation such that the influence of open innovation is positive at a moderate level but diminishes when open innovation becomes excessive, 3) the relationship between open innovation and sustainability-focused innovation is contingent on a firm’s innovation strategy, and 4) sustainability-focused innovation is positively related to a firm’s NPD performance.
Department
Marketing
Publication Date
1-1-2022
Journal Title
Journal of Business Research
Publisher
Elsevier
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Du, S., Bstieler, L., and Yalcinkaya, G. (2022). Sustainability-focused innovation in the business-to-business context: Antecedents and managerial implications. Journal of Business Research, 138, January, 117-129.