IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i12p3263-d239394.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Measurement of the Human Capital Applied to the Business Eco-Innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Raquel Ortega-Lapiedra

    (Department of Management, University of Zaragoza, 1250009 Zaragoza, Spain)

  • Miguel Marco-Fondevila

    (Department of Accounting and Finance—CIRCE Institute, University of Zaragoza, 1250009 Zaragoza, Spain)

  • Sabina Scarpellini

    (Department of Accounting and Finance—CIRCE Institute, University of Zaragoza, 1250009 Zaragoza, Spain)

  • Fernando Llena-Macarulla

    (Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Zaragoza, 1250009 Zaragoza, Spain)

Abstract

Despite the growing number of studies on eco-innovation, the specific human capital applied to the eco-innovative processes by firms has not been thoroughly analyzed to date. Due to this gap, this study carries out an empirical research about the definition and measurement of the human capital applied to business eco-innovation in terms of knowledge. For this purpose, we define a human capital specific index (HCSI) to analyze the influence of firms’ human capital in their eco-innovative activities. The results have been obtained through the analysis of a sample of eco-innovative Spanish firms and they show some relevant implications for practitioners regarding the decision-making process in promoting eco-innovation and for the management control of eco-innovative processes. One of the study contributions for academics is to increase the knowledge about the measurement and the impact of the specific human capital applied to eco-innovation by firms in the theoretical framework of the resource-based view theory (RBV).

Suggested Citation

  • Raquel Ortega-Lapiedra & Miguel Marco-Fondevila & Sabina Scarpellini & Fernando Llena-Macarulla, 2019. "Measurement of the Human Capital Applied to the Business Eco-Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-16, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:12:p:3263-:d:239394
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3263/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3263/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martina Blum‐Kusterer & S. Salman Hussain, 2001. "Innovation and corporate sustainability: An investigation into the process of change in the pharmaceuticals industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(5), pages 300-316, September.
    2. Sharma, Pramodita & Sharma, Sanjay, 2011. "Drivers of Proactive Environmental Strategy in Family Firms," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(2), pages 309-334, April.
    3. Kevin Groves & Michael LaRocca, 2011. "An Empirical Study of Leader Ethical Values, Transformational and Transactional Leadership, and Follower Attitudes Toward Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 103(4), pages 511-528, November.
    4. Horbach, Jens & Rammer, Christian & Rennings, Klaus, 2012. "Determinants of eco-innovations by type of environmental impact — The role of regulatory push/pull, technology push and market pull," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 112-122.
    5. Triguero, Angela & Moreno-Mondéjar, Lourdes & Davia, María A., 2014. "The influence of energy prices on adoption of clean technologies and recycling: Evidence from European SMEs," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 246-257.
    6. Lall, Sanjaya, 1992. "Technological capabilities and industrialization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 165-186, February.
    7. Nicola Pless & Thomas Maak, 2011. "Responsible Leadership: Pathways to the Future," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 3-13, January.
    8. Hall, Bronwyn H., 1992. "Investment and Research and Development at the Firm Level: Does the Source of Financing Matter?," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt5j59j6x3, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    9. repec:ehu:cuader:20121218 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Sydler, Renato & Haefliger, Stefan & Pruksa, Robert, 2014. "Measuring intellectual capital with financial figures: Can we predict firm profitability?," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 244-259.
    11. Juil Lee & Sangsoon Kim & Jiman Lee & Sungok Moon, 2019. "Enhancing Employee Creativity for A Sustainable Competitive Advantage through Perceived Human Resource Management Practices and Trust in Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-16, April.
    12. Ardito, Lorenzo & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio, 2017. "Breadth of external knowledge sourcing and product innovation: The moderating role of strategic human resource practices," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 261-272.
    13. Nicola Pless, 2007. "Understanding Responsible Leadership: Role Identity and Motivational Drivers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(4), pages 437-456, September.
    14. Kim Cameron, 2011. "Responsible Leadership as Virtuous Leadership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 25-35, January.
    15. Nile W. Hatch & Jeffrey H. Dyer, 2004. "Human capital and learning as a source of sustainable competitive advantage," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(12), pages 1155-1178, December.
    16. Mireille Laroche & Marcel Mérette & G. C. Ruggeri, 1999. "On the Concept and Dimension of Human Capital in a Knowledge-Based," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 25(1), pages 87-100, March.
    17. Jian Xu & Binghan Wang, 2018. "Intellectual Capital, Financial Performance and Companies’ Sustainable Growth: Evidence from the Korean Manufacturing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-15, December.
    18. Yasemin Y. Kor & Huseyin Leblebici, 2005. "How do interdependencies among human‐capital deployment, development, and diversification strategies affect firms' financial performance?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(10), pages 967-985, October.
    19. Tomaž Cater & Barbara Cater, 2009. "(In)tangible resources as antecedents of a company’s competitive advantage and performance," Journal of East European Management Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 14(2), pages 186-209.
    20. Antonioli, Davide & Mancinelli, Susanna & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2013. "Is environmental innovation embedded within high-performance organisational changes? The role of human resource management and complementarity in green business strategies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 975-988.
    21. Dorel Mihai Paraschiv & Estera Laura Nemoianu & Claudia Adriana Langă & Tünde Szabó, 2012. "Eco-innovation, Responsible Leadership and Organizational Change for Corporate Sustainability," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 14(32), pages 404-419, June.
    22. Javier González‐Benito & Óscar González‐Benito, 2006. "A review of determinant factors of environmental proactivity," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(2), pages 87-102, March.
    23. Giulio Cainelli & Massimiliano Mazzanti & Roberto Zoboli, 2011. "Enviromental Innovations, Complementarity and Local/Global Cooperation," Working Papers 201104, University of Ferrara, Department of Economics.
    24. Chen, Chung-Jen & Huang, Jing-Wen, 2009. "Strategic human resource practices and innovation performance -- The mediating role of knowledge management capacity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 104-114, January.
    25. Pilar Portillo-Tarragona & Sabina Scarpellini & Jose M. Moneva & Jesus Valero-Gil & Alfonso Aranda-Usón, 2018. "Classification and Measurement of the Firms’ Resources and Capabilities Applied to Eco-Innovation Projects from a Resource-Based View Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-23, September.
    26. Bruce C. Skaggs & Mark Youndt, 2004. "Strategic positioning, human capital, and performance in service organizations: a customer interaction approach," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 85-99, January.
    27. Doran, Justin & Ryan, Geraldine, 2012. "Regulation and Firm Perception, Eco-Innovation and Firm Performance," MPRA Paper 44578, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    28. Anne Wyatt & Hermann Frick, 2010. "Accounting for Investments in Human Capital: A Review," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 20(3), pages 199-220, September.
    29. Horbach, Jens, 2008. "Determinants of environmental innovation--New evidence from German panel data sources," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 163-173, February.
    30. Tomaž Cater & Barbara Cater, 2009. "(In)tangible resources as antecedents of a company’s competitive advantage and performance," Journal of East European Management Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 14(2), pages 186-209.
    31. Angela Triguero & Lourdes Moreno‐Mondéjar & María A. Davia, 2016. "Leaders and Laggards in Environmental Innovation: An Empirical Analysis of SMEs in Europe," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 28-39, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anca-Ioana Munteanu & Nicolae Bibu & Marian Nastase & Nicoleta Cristache & Cosmin Matis, 2020. "Analysis of Practices to Increase the Workforce Agility and to Develop a Sustainable and Competitive Business," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-14, April.
    2. Maurizio Cisi & Francesca Alice Centrone, 2021. "The Human Capital for Value Creation and Social Impact: The Interpretation of the IR’s HC Definition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Konara, Palitha & Lopez, Carmen & Shirodkar, Vikrant, 2021. "Environmental innovation in foreign subsidiaries: The role of home-ecological institutions, subsidiary establishment mode and post-establishment experience," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(6).
    4. Sabina Scarpellini & Jesus Valero‐Gil & José M. Moneva & Michele Andreaus, 2020. "Environmental management capabilities for a “circular eco‐innovation”," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1850-1864, July.
    5. Zhongju Liao & Yan Liu, 2021. "What drives environmental innovation? A meta‐analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1852-1864, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pilar Portillo-Tarragona & Sabina Scarpellini & Jose M. Moneva & Jesus Valero-Gil & Alfonso Aranda-Usón, 2018. "Classification and Measurement of the Firms’ Resources and Capabilities Applied to Eco-Innovation Projects from a Resource-Based View Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-23, September.
    2. Jana Hojnik, 2017. "In Pursuit of Eco-innovation," UPP Monograph Series, University of Primorska Press, number 978-961-7023-53-4.
    3. Sebastian Ion Ceptureanu & Eduard Gabriel Ceptureanu & Doina Popescu & Olguta Anca Orzan, 2020. "Eco-innovation Capability and Sustainability Driven Innovation Practices in Romanian SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Alfonso Aranda-Usón & Pilar Portillo-Tarragona & Luz María Marín-Vinuesa & Sabina Scarpellini, 2019. "Financial Resources for the Circular Economy: A Perspective from Businesses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-23, February.
    5. Pinget, Amandine, 2016. "Spécificités des déterminants des innovations environnementales : une approche appliquée aux PME [Specificities of determinants for environmental innovation : an approach applied to SMEs]," MPRA Paper 80108, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Seçil Bal Taştan & Seyed Mehdi Mousavi Davoudi, 2019. "The relationship between socially responsible leadership and organisational ethical climate: in search for the role of leader's relational transparency," International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 13(3), pages 275-299.
    7. JS Keshminder & Pablo del Río, 2019. "The missing links? The indirect impacts of drivers on eco‐innovation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(5), pages 1100-1118, September.
    8. Caroline Danièle Mothe & Thuc Uyen Nguyen-Thi, 2017. "Persistent openness and environmental innovation: An empirical analysis of French manufacturing firms," Post-Print hal-01609129, HAL.
    9. João Leitão & Sónia de Brito & Serena Cubico, 2019. "Eco-Innovation Influencers: Unveiling the Role of Lean Management Principles Adoption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-27, April.
    10. Gotsch, Matthias & Kelnhofer, Anton & Jäger, Angela, 2019. "Environmental product innovations and the digital transformation of production: Analysing the influence that digitalising production has on generating environmental product innovations," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S07/2019, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    11. Justin Doran & Geraldine Ryan, 2014. "Eco-Innovation – does additional engagement lead to additional rewards?," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(11), pages 1110-1130, November.
    12. Sanni, Maruf, 2018. "Drivers of eco-innovation in the manufacturing sector of Nigeria," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 303-314.
    13. Tariq, Adeel & Badir, Yuosre F. & Tariq, Waqas & Bhutta, Umair Saeed, 2017. "Drivers and consequences of green product and process innovation: A systematic review, conceptual framework, and future outlook," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 8-23.
    14. Eduardo Duque‐Grisales & Javier Aguilera‐Caracuel & Jaime Guerrero‐Villegas & Encarnación García‐Sánchez, 2020. "Does green innovation affect the financial performance of Multilatinas? The moderating role of ISO 14001 and R&D investment," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3286-3302, December.
    15. Ghisetti, Claudia & Pontoni, Federico, 2015. "Investigating policy and R&D effects on environmental innovation: A meta-analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 57-66.
    16. MOTHE Caroline & NGUYEN Thi Thuc Uyen, 2016. "Openness and environmental innovation: Does time-horizon matter?," LISER Working Paper Series 2016-13, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    17. Amandine Pinget & Rachel Bocquet & Caroline Mothe, 2015. "Barriers to Environmental Innovation in SMEs: Empirical Evidence from French Firms," Post-Print hal-01300837, HAL.
    18. Durán-Romero, Gemma & López, Ana M. & Beliaeva, Tatiana & Ferasso, Marcos & Garonne, Christophe & Jones, Paul, 2020. "Bridging the gap between circular economy and climate change mitigation policies through eco-innovations and Quintuple Helix Model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    19. Ren, Shenggang & Hu, Yucai & Zheng, Jingjing & Wang, Yangjie, 2020. "Emissions trading and firm innovation: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    20. Justin Doran & Geraldine Ryan, 2016. "The Importance of the Diverse Drivers and Types of Environmental Innovation for Firm Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 102-119, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:12:p:3263-:d:239394. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.