Hailiang Zou, Zedong Liang, Guoyou Qi and Hanyang Ma
This study aims to examine the corporate donations in response to the intensive outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China in 2020 and proposes that the local spread of COVID-19…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the corporate donations in response to the intensive outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China in 2020 and proposes that the local spread of COVID-19 is negatively associated with corporate donations due to the non-trivial costs, but meanwhile, strong institutional pressures based on institutional theory are put on firms to donate, which thus creates a dilemma for firms. This study further argues that the dilemma is heterogeneous across different institutional fields.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of Chinese listed companies during the intensive outbreak of this pandemic, a two-stage Heckman selection model is conducted to address the potential sample selection bias.
Findings
This study reveals a negative relationship between the local spread of COVID-19 and corporate donations, confirms the driving effect of various types of institutional pressure and finds that the intensity of the COVID-19 pandemic strengthens the effect of coercive pressure and mimetic pressure on philanthropic giving but weakens the effect of normative pressure.
Originality/value
This study extends the knowledge on firms’ philanthropic response to natural crises, as the COVID-19 pandemic has not only led to a public health crisis but also to a global economic crisis, and how the effects of institutional pressures are affected by a situational crisis. This work enriches the literature on corporate philanthropy and crisis management and has some implications for both policymakers and business practitioners.
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Hailiang Zou, Guoyou Qi and Xuemei Xie
Open innovation enables firms to incorporate external expertise and resources into their innovations. However, it is far from easy to obtain sufficient support from external…
Abstract
Purpose
Open innovation enables firms to incorporate external expertise and resources into their innovations. However, it is far from easy to obtain sufficient support from external contributors due to potential concerns about the risks of opportunism and appropriation. This paper aims to investigate whether firms’ engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributes to their open innovation, considering the contingency factors of technological capability, environmental dynamism and state ownership based on capability and motivation perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of Chinese listed firms covering the period from 2009 to 2018, instrumental variable and propensity score matching approaches were used to address the endogenous problems.
Findings
This paper obtains empirical results showing that firms engaged in higher levels of CSR produce more joint outputs (co-owned patents) and that this effect is strengthened by technological capability and environmental dynamism. Among state-owned enterprises, CSR engagement is less impactful with regard to open innovation. It is further shown that open innovation is a primary channel through which CSR engagement enhances innovative efficiency.
Originality/value
This study enriches the knowledge of the antecedents of open innovation and contributes to the debate regarding the relationship between CSR and innovation by establishing a relationship between CSR and open innovation, whereas most prior studies focus on how the input and output of innovation are affected by CSR initiatives.
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Guoyou Qi, Hailiang Zou, Xie X.M. and Saixing Zeng
Threats from the informal sector have become an important concern among formal firms. As a response to these threats, formal firms can adopt product innovation (PI) and marketing…
Abstract
Purpose
Threats from the informal sector have become an important concern among formal firms. As a response to these threats, formal firms can adopt product innovation (PI) and marketing innovation (MI) strategies to differentiate themselves. The purpose of this paper is to examine how firm-level technical capability and external institutional quality affect firms’ reactions to the threats from informal firms by adopting innovative activities.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on attention-based view (ABV), an empirical study is conducted by using firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey in 2013.
Findings
The findings indicate that when faced with competition from informal firms, formal firms will intensify their innovation activities in both MI and PI, and their technical capability mitigates the competitive threats from informal sectors and thus weakens the impact of informal competitors on the level of product and marketing innovations. Moreover, it is found that the improvement of institutional quality reduces formal firms’ urgency to introduce new products when facing informal competitors. However, this improvement strengthens the impact of informal rivalry on formal firms’ innovation in marketing methods.
Originality/value
Previous studies that investigate the influence of informal threats are focused on technological innovation (e.g., PI and process innovation) strategies, but little knowledge is provided on non-technological innovative strategies, such as marketing strategies (e.g., MI and organizational innovation). This study contributes to the innovation literature by delving into the circumstances under which PI and/or MI is adopted to counter informal rivals. The findings enrich ABV by investigating how inter-firm resource similarity and marketing commonality strengthen top managers' attention to competition from informal firms.
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Guoyou Qi, Saixing Zeng, Haitao Yin and Han Lin
This research aims to empirically investigate the influence of stakeholders on the corporate decision of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001 certifications and how that influence…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to empirically investigate the influence of stakeholders on the corporate decision of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001 certifications and how that influence differs across different certification types.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper utilizes a survey of 1,268 industrial enterprises in China, using logistic regressions to analyze corporate decision towards management standards use.
Findings
The results show that stakeholder influence varies across different management standard certifications. Foreign customers and neighboring community are significant drivers for ISO 9001 certification. Foreign investors, being publicly listed, and neighboring community each demonstrate a significant impact on ISO 14001 certification. Only being publicly listed shows significant explanatory power for certifying with OHSAS 18001.
Research limitations/implications
This study does not touch upon performance issues. The relationship between stakeholder pressure, certifications, and performance would be interesting to explore.
Practical implications
Information disclosure may be an effective tool to motivate firms to be more responsible for environment and society. Furthermore, measures should be taken to raise stakeholder awareness of corporate occupational health and safety (OH&S).
Originality/value
Although sustainability management demands attention to the three pillars of sustainability, empirical research tends to focus on only one aspect of it when studying standardized management practices use. This study investigates all three pillars using a unified framework. Furthermore, existing studies have focused predominantly on developed countries. The paper conducts research in China, one of the major developing economies. Lastly, the paper utilizes firm-level data on corporate sustainability management, which is hard to obtain in China.
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Najaf Iqbal, Ju Feng Xu, Zeeshan Fareed, Guangcai Wan and Lina Ma
This study attempts to document the impact of financial leverage on corporate innovation in the Chinese nonfinancial public firms listed on Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges.
Abstract
Purpose
This study attempts to document the impact of financial leverage on corporate innovation in the Chinese nonfinancial public firms listed on Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges.
Design/methodology/approach
The firm-level data are collected from CSMAR database for ten years, ranging from 2007 to 2016. The authors have employed the panel fixed effects model and further system GMM approach for analysis. The sample is segregated on the basis of state (SOE) and nonstate ownership (NSOE) to check for the diverse effects. In total, three different proxies of financial leverage are used to unearth the varying impact of short-time and long-term leverage separately. Further, corporate innovation is divided into input innovation (R&D/Sales and R&D/Assets) and output innovation (patents and inventions).
Findings
The results suggest that financial leverage is detrimental to the input innovation while conducive for the output innovation when measured by the number of patents. Contrarily, leverage has a negative influence over the output innovation when measured by the number of inventions. This implies that leverage is more damaging for the highest form of innovativeness (inventions) in China. Input innovation is more sensitive to the changes in long-term leverage versus short-term leverage. Further, the authors find that innovation in SOEs is more sensitive to the changes in the leverage as compared to the NSOEs. The results are free from the threat of endogeneity and identification problems, as reported by the system GMM model.
Research limitations/implications
The authors did not segregate the sample on the basis of industry/sector.
Practical implications
The firms pursuing a strategy of radical innovation should try to keep their debt levels lower in order to achieve a higher innovation performance. Although, a rise in the leverage may mean an increased access to finance for a firm but such an access comes at a cost in the form of damage to the corporate innovation. However, increased debt financing may not be so bad for the firms that want to achieve a moderate and not the highest level of innovation. Such firms can produce recurring and synergic effects with debt financing and moderate innovation, once they achieve a level of innovation performance that satisfies their financiers.
Originality/value
To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is probably the first study to check the impact of firm-level financial leverage on both input and output innovation in the Chinese public-listed nonfinancial firms' panel data perspective till now.
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This study examines the effect of supply chain (SC) learning (i.e. supplier and customer learnings) on green innovation (i.e. green product and process innovations) and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the effect of supply chain (SC) learning (i.e. supplier and customer learnings) on green innovation (i.e. green product and process innovations) and investigates the moderating role of green transformational leadership in the SC learning-green innovation linkage in the construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Data are gathered from construction firms in Vietnam by a questionnaire survey. Hypotheses of the study framework are tested by hierarchical regression analysis.
Findings
Both supplier and customer learnings have positive effects on green innovation (both green process and product innovations). Furthermore, green transformational leadership moderates the linkage between supplier learning and green innovation but does not moderate the linkage between customer learning and green innovation.
Practical implications
Construction firms need to constantly develop capabilities of SC learning for promoting their green innovation.
Originality/value
The present study is one of the first attempts in construction that investigates the importance of SC learning to achieving green innovation as well as the role of green transformational leadership for strengthening the effect of green learning on green innovation.
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Mohammad A.A. Zaid, Ayman Issa, Fitim Deari, Ploypailin Kijkasiwat and Vijay Kumar
This study aims to respond to the latest research calls to precisely revisit the nexus between corporate green innovation (CGI) and financial decisions through deeply…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to respond to the latest research calls to precisely revisit the nexus between corporate green innovation (CGI) and financial decisions through deeply investigating the mediating effect of corporate environmental performance measured by the effectiveness of emission reduction.
Design/methodology/approach
This study analyzes nonfinancial-listed firms on the Australian Securities Exchange from 2002 to 2019 using multiple regression analysis on a panel data set. Initially, different static panel data approaches were used. To account for the potential endogeneity issue and generate robust outcomes, the authors apply the one-step system generalized method of moment, two-stage least squares and lagged model approaches.
Findings
The results provide a clear indication that the practices of green innovation can favorably contribute to the level of environmental performance, which in turn affect the firm’s ability in opening the new financial doors and shape solid capital structure. In this context, the effective environmental performance fully mediates the nexus between CGI and capital structure of a firm. More importantly, the outcomes are robust and coherent across different estimation techniques.
Originality/value
The originality of this study lies in its utilization of mediation analysis to explore the relationship between CGI and a firm's financial structure. This approach distinguishes it from previous research by offering a thorough and nuanced understanding of how green innovation practices influence the financing decisions of a firm.
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Yi-Chun Huang and Chih-Hsuan Huang
Prior research on green innovation has shown that institutional pressure stimulates enterprises to adopt green innovation. However, an institutional perspective does not explain…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior research on green innovation has shown that institutional pressure stimulates enterprises to adopt green innovation. However, an institutional perspective does not explain why firms that face the same amount of institutional pressure execute different environmental practices and innovations. To address this research gap, the authors linked institutional theory with upper echelons theory and organization performance to build a comprehensive research model.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 800 questionnaires were issued. The final usable questionnaires were 195, yielding a response rate of 24.38%. AMOS 23.0 was used to analyze the data and examine the relationships between the constructs in our model.
Findings
Institutional pressures affected both green innovation adoption (GIA) and the top management team's (TMT's) response. TMT's response influenced GIA. GIA was an important factor affecting firm performance. Furthermore, TMT's response mediated the relationship between institutional pressure and GIA. Institutional pressures indirectly affected green innovation performance but did not influence economic performance through GIA. Finally, TMT's response indirectly impacted firm performance through GIA.
Originality/value
The authors draw on institutional theory, upper echelons theory, and a performance-oriented perspective to explore the antecedents and consequences of GIA. This study has interesting implications for leaders and managers looking to implement green innovation and leverage it for firm performance to out compete with market rivals as well as to make the changes in collaboration with many other companies including market rivals to gain success in green innovation.
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Growing public concern about the natural environment is rapidly transforming the competitive landscape and forcing firms to adopt green innovation strategies. Many manufacturing…
Abstract
Purpose
Growing public concern about the natural environment is rapidly transforming the competitive landscape and forcing firms to adopt green innovation strategies. Many manufacturing firms have recognized the concept of green innovation, though there has been relatively little research on considerations of its driver and effect. The purpose of this paper is to empirically develop and test a theoretical model that analyzes how organizational green culture (OGC) influences green performance and competitive advantage. Specifically, this model explains how green innovation mediates these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper collected data from 327 manufacturing firms of different industry sectors in Taiwan. Structural equation modeling with AMOS 11 software was applied to analyze the data. Data on specific environmental innovation issues at the firm level are not usually available from published sources, so this paper uses a questionnaire. The questionnaire is developed based on the literature.
Findings
The findings of this paper suggest that OGC significantly predicted green performance and competitive advantage, respectively. Moreover, the results show that both green innovation completely mediates between OGC and green performance, and that it has a partially mediating effect on the relationship between organization green culture and competitive advantage under environmental pressure.
Research limitations/implications
This study has some limitations that point to the future lines of research. Perhaps, the biggest limitation of the study is that the data are from a single country, which may hamper generalization. This study is also limited in that it is based on cross-sectional data. A final limitation is the origin of organizational culture vs employee attitude culture.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing literature on organizational culture and innovation by considering green environmental concerns, which have not been empirically explored. This study also offers a unique theoretical argument describing the relationships by considering the mediating effect of green innovation strategy.
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Ayman Bahjat Abdallah and Wafaa Shihadeh Al-Ghwayeen
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of green supply chain management on environmental performance (EP), operational performance (OP), and business performance in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of green supply chain management on environmental performance (EP), operational performance (OP), and business performance in the context of a developing country, Jordan. In addition, the mediating effects of environmental and OP on the relationship between green supply chain management and business performance are investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on survey data collected from 215 manufacturing firms from different industries in Jordan. Validity and reliability analyses were carried out using SPSS and Amos. Direct and indirect effects were tested using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results revealed that green supply chain management positively and significantly affects both EP and OP. The results also demonstrated that the total effect of green supply chain management on business performance is positive and significant. The direct effect of green supply chain management on business performance proved to be negative, but insignificant. Thus, the total positive effect of green supply chain management on business performance is indirect and fully goes through EP and OP.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to examine the direct and indirect effects of green supply chain management on business performance, especially in a developing country and the Middle East in particular. Furthermore, this study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by investigating the mediating effects of EP and OP on the green supply chain management and business performance relationship.