Does going intellectually green matter? Accentuating the role of eco-innovation speed and quality in a competitive post-Covid 19 emerging market

Abstract

Purpose The post-pandemic emerging market is competitive and green, which has contributed to the growing pressure on firms to adopt into their business models green strategies with competitive outcomes. Therefore, this paper aims to draw from the natural resource-based view (NRBV) theory to examine how green intellectual capital (IC) can influence green competitive advantage of manufacturing firms in Ghana, by elucidating the mediating role of eco-innovation speed and quality in the relationship. Design/methodology/approach Cross-sectional survey data were obtained from 212 manufacturing firms in Ghana, using purposive sampling techniques. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to determine the factor structure of the measurement models. Structural equation modelling technique was used to analyse the hypothesized relationships. Findings The study found that green IC has a positively significant effect on green competitive advantage of manufacturing firms. However, while eco-innovation speed positively mediates the relationship, eco-innovation quality plays a negative mediating role in the effect of green IC on green competitive advantage of manufacturing firms in Ghana. Practical implications The framework of this study provides to managers of manufacturing firms, a superior green strategy that is unique, valuable and non-substitutable with the capable to provide green competitive edge to firms in a turbulent sustainability-driven market. Originality/value Through the lens of the NRBV theory, this study provided a firstly knowledge on the crucial role of eco-innovation speed and quality in driving firms’ green competitive advantage within a post-covid emerging market.

Assessing the Metric of Innovation Speed Across Varied Industries and Time Periods: A Thorough Review

“…It is true that New Idea Generation Speed is a very important measure of an organisation's or company innovation speed. This indicator demonstrates the speed at which new and innovative concepts emerge inside an organization (Adusei et al, 2023). This can result in a more agile and adaptive innovation channel (Dong et al, 2019;Milošević et al, 2021).…”

“…Attempts at the reduction of new product development time and speed may involve process optimization, streamlined decision-making, cross functional collaboration as well as agile development methodologies usage. new product development time and speed is a important measure of an organization's innovation rate Companies that is good at producing new products quickly respond to today's fast business world (Milošević et al, 2021;Adusei et al, 2023;Wang et al, 2023).…”

“…New Product Launch speed is also an important measure that reflects the ability of the organization to innovate and respond quickly to new product launch speed, market needs. Firms that lead the pack at this juncture stand a better chance of getting ahead in an increasingly competitive and dynamic corporate world (Adusei et al, 2023).…”

The grass is greener on the other side

“…This spotlight on sustainability has remained even as COVID has begun to die down. Adusei et al (2023) sought to identify how to leverage this increased environmental awareness into a competitive advantage that the business can enjoy.…”