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How Can Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturing Enterprises Improve Green Innovation Performance through Innovation Ecosystems?

Author

Listed:
  • Qian Li

    (School of Economics and Management, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China)

  • Qingyun Gao

    (School of Economics and Management, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China)

  • Yan Zhang

    (School of Economics and Management, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China)

  • Chennan Gou

    (School of Economics and Management, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China)

Abstract

Under the fierce business competition and sustainable development pressure, the pattern of enterprise innovation has gradually changed from independent innovation to cooperative innovation. As a collection of multi-type innovation actors, the innovation ecosystem provides opportunities and platforms for cooperative innovation among government–industry–university–research institutions. While the present studies on innovation ecosystems are mostly from the perspective of the system level, few studies pay attention to the innovation mechanism of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMMEs) in the innovation ecosystem. Therefore, this study takes SMMEs embedded in innovation ecosystems as research objects and explores the factors affecting green innovation. We constructed a theoretical model to explain the effect of innovation eco-embeddedness on green innovation performance based on ecosystem theory and network embeddedness theory; we then collected 363 samples of SMMEs in China through surveys and further tested the data empirically. The results show that the innovation eco-embeddedness (IEE) of SMMEs has a positive effect on their green innovation performance (GIP), and their green value co-creation practices (GVCCPs) partially mediate the relationship between IEE and GIP. Moreover, ecological norms (ENs) in the innovation ecosystem not only positively moderate the impact of IEE on GVCCPs but also positively moderate the mediating role of GVCCPs. This study enriches the relevant research on innovation ecosystems from the perspective of non-core enterprises and provides a theoretical basis and practical reference for SMMEs to implement green innovation practices and realize growth through innovation ecosystems.

Suggested Citation

  • Qian Li & Qingyun Gao & Yan Zhang & Chennan Gou, 2024. "How Can Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturing Enterprises Improve Green Innovation Performance through Innovation Ecosystems?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-23, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:6:p:2519-:d:1359520
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Renpu Liu & Mengchen Xie & Yu Li, 2025. "How Does Digital Transformation Drive Green Innovation? The Key Roles of Green Dynamic Capabilities and Environmental Munificence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-28, October.
    2. Thiago Felippe Ribeiro & Roberto Nogueira & Paula Chimenti, 2024. "Integrating Business Ecosystems and Social Networks: A Case Study on Sustainable Transitions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-33, December.
    3. Chunyan Li & Mohsin Shafait, 2025. "Assessing the impact of network embeddedness on SMEs innovation performance through resource bricolage: a mediated-moderated model," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 72-88, March.

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