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Corporate Sustainable Innovation and Employee Behavior

Author

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  • Magali A. Delmas

    (Institute of the Environment and Sustainability)

  • Sanja Pekovic

    (University Paris-Dauphine)

Abstract

Corporate sustainable innovation is a major driver of institutional change, and its success can be largely attributed to employees. While some scholars have described the importance of intrinsic motivations and flexibility to facilitate innovation, others have argued that constraints and extrinsic motivations stimulate innovation. In the context of sustainable innovation, we explore which employee work practices are more conducive to firm-level innovation in corporate sustainability. Our results, based on a sample of 4640 French employees from 1764 firms, confirm the positive impact of intrinsic motivations (through employee social interactions), and the negative impact of job strain (through high imposed work pace), on corporate sustainable innovation. We also find that extrinsic rewards, through pay satisfaction, counteract the negative effect of job strain to promote sustainable innovation. This indicates that intrinsic and extrinsic rewards can work in tandem to facilitate sustainable innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Magali A. Delmas & Sanja Pekovic, 2018. "Corporate Sustainable Innovation and Employee Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1071-1088, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:150:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3163-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3163-1
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    21. Samuel Adomako, 2020. "Environmental collaboration, sustainable innovation, and small and medium‐sized enterprise growth in sub‐Saharan Africa: Evidence from Ghana," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(6), pages 1609-1619, November.
    22. Phan, Trang Hoai, 2022. "Working Conditions, Export Decisions, and Firm Constraints-Evidence from Vietnamese Small and Medium Enterprises," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 133903, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
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    25. Du, Shuili & Bstieler, Ludwig & Yalcinkaya, Goksel, 2022. "Sustainability-focused innovation in the business-to-business context: Antecedents and managerial implications," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 117-129.

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