IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i4p1407-d1586995.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Mediating Role of Green Innovation and Environmental Performance in the Effect of Green Transformational Leadership on Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Author

Listed:
  • Bulent Demir

    (Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, Istanbul Kent University, 34406 Istanbul, Türkiye)

  • Mehmet Alper Akdemir

    (Turkish Ministry of National Defense, 06100 Ankara, Türkiye)

  • Arzu Ugurlu Kara

    (Ataturk Strategic Research and Postgraduate Education Institute, National Defense University, 34334 Istanbul, Türkiye)

  • Murat Sagbas

    (Ataturk Strategic Research and Postgraduate Education Institute, National Defense University, 34334 Istanbul, Türkiye)

  • Yasar Sahin

    (Besikduzu Vocational School, Trabzon University, 61800 Trabzon, Türkiye)

  • Ethem Topcuoglu

    (Academy of Civil Aviation, Giresun University, 28200 Giresun, Türkiye)

Abstract

Owing to global warming and changing environmental factors, the world has been experiencing negative and major changes. Society is showing a strong reaction to these environmental problems through marches, protests, and political initiatives, which also demonstrate the need for a new understanding of leadership. In this respect, green transformational leadership emerges as a potential solution. The current study aims to determine the mediating role of green innovation and environmental performance in the effect of green transformational leadership on sustainable competitive advantage. With this aim, a model was formed by utilizing the Natural Resource-Based View (NRBV) theory. To test the model, data were collected through a survey answered by 412 people working in SMEs in Istanbul and analyzed via the Smart-PLS program. The results indicate that green innovation had a moderate mediating role, and environmental performance had a low mediating role in the effect of green transformational leadership on sustainable competitive advantage. In light of these results, the sustainable competitive advantage predicted by the NRBV theory was found to have been achieved.

Suggested Citation

  • Bulent Demir & Mehmet Alper Akdemir & Arzu Ugurlu Kara & Murat Sagbas & Yasar Sahin & Ethem Topcuoglu, 2025. "The Mediating Role of Green Innovation and Environmental Performance in the Effect of Green Transformational Leadership on Sustainable Competitive Advantage," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-22, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:4:p:1407-:d:1586995
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/4/1407/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/4/1407/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marco Opazo-Basáez & Juan Carlos Monroy-Osorio & Josip Marić, 2024. "Evaluating the Effect of Green Technological Innovations on Organizational and Environmental Performance: A Treble Innovation Approach," Post-Print hal-04432410, HAL.
    2. Ibrahim A. Elshaer & Alaa M. S. Azazz & Yahdih Semlali & Mahmoud A. Mansour & Mohammed N. Elziny & Sameh Fayyad, 2024. "The Nexus between Green Transformational Leadership, Employee Behavior, and Organizational Support in the Hospitality Industry," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-22, May.
    3. Opazo-Basáez, Marco & Monroy-Osorio, Juan Carlos & Marić, Josip, 2024. "Evaluating the effect of green technological innovations on organizational and environmental performance: A treble innovation approach," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    4. Saira Begum & Muhammad Ashfaq & Enjun Xia & Usama Awan, 2022. "Does green transformational leadership lead to green innovation? The role of green thinking and creative process engagement," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 580-597, January.
    5. Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih & Ahmed Hasanein & Hassane Gharbi & Ahmed E. Abu Elnasr, 2022. "Going Green Together: Effects of Green Transformational Leadership on Employee Green Behaviour and Environmental Performance in the Saudi Food Industry," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-17, July.
    6. Zhao, Xiaoyu & Fan, Lidong & Xu, Yuan, 2025. "An investigation of determinants of green consumption behavior: An extended theory of planned behavior," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 4(1).
    7. Murtaza Hussain & Shaohua Yang & Umer Sahil Maqsood & R. M. Ammar Zahid, 2024. "Tapping into the green potential: The power of artificial intelligence adoption in corporate green innovation drive," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4375-4396, July.
    8. Serdar Çop & Victor Oluwafemi Olorunsola & Uju Violet Alola, 2021. "Achieving environmental sustainability through green transformational leadership policy: Can green team resilience help?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 671-682, January.
    9. Rixiao Cui & Juanru Wang & Cong Zhou, 2023. "Exploring the linkages of green transformational leadership, organizational green learning, and radical green innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 185-199, January.
    10. Hien Vo Van & Tu Thanh Hoai & Nha Nguyen Minh & Nguyen Phong Nguyen, 2023. "Green Transformational Leadership and Green Mindfulness as Contributors to Green Innovation and Environmental Performance: Evidence From Manufacturing Firms in Vietnam," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, August.
    11. Farzana Riva & Solon Magrizos & Mohammad Rabiul Basher Rubel, 2021. "Investigating the link between managers' green knowledge and leadership style, and their firms' environmental performance: The mediation role of green creativity," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3228-3240, November.
    12. Mohamed Ahmed Suliman & Ahmed Hassan Abdou & Moatazbellah Farid Ibrahim & Dayal Ali Waheer Al-Khaldy & Ashraf Mohamed Anas & Wael Mohamed Mahmoud Alrefae & Wagih Salama, 2023. "Impact of Green Transformational Leadership on Employees’ Environmental Performance in the Hotel Industry Context: Does Green Work Engagement Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, February.
    13. Kaveh Asiaei & Ruzita Jusoh & Omid Barani & Arash Asiaei, 2022. "How does green intellectual capital boost performance? The mediating role of environmental performance measurement systems," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1587-1606, May.
    14. Nguyen Minh Ha & Pham Anh Nguyen & Nguyen Vinh Luan & Nguyen Minh Tam, 2024. "Impact of green innovation on environmental performance and financial performance," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(7), pages 17083-17104, July.
    15. Wengang Zhang & Baiqing Sun & Feng Xu, 2020. "Promoting Green Product Development Performance via Leader Green Transformationality and Employee Green Self-Efficacy: The Moderating Role of Environmental Regulation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-17, September.
    16. Shiufai Wong, 2025. "Developing electric vehicles in China and the United States: Revisiting debates on industrial strategy," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 43(1), January.
    17. Nguyen Trong Luan & Doan Nguyen Duy Hau & Nguyen Thi Anh Thu, 2022. "The Influence of Green Product Development Performance to Enhance Enterprise Effectiveness and Innovation," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-21, May.
    18. Yu-Shan Chen & Ching-Hsun Chang, 2013. "The Determinants of Green Product Development Performance: Green Dynamic Capabilities, Green Transformational Leadership, and Green Creativity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 107-119, August.
    19. Muhammad Farrukh Moin & Muhamad Khalil Omar & Feng Wei & Muhammad Imran Rasheed & Zahid Hameed, 2021. "Green HRM and psychological safety: how transformational leadership drives follower’s job satisfaction," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(16), pages 2269-2277, August.
    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. Candan Özgün-Ayar & Murat Selim Selvi, 2025. "A Scale Development Study on Green Marketing Mix Practice Culture in Small and Medium Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-40, July.
    2. Ali Bux & Yongyue Zhu & Sharmila Devi, 2025. "Enhancing Organizational Agility Through Knowledge Sharing and Open Innovation: The Role of Transformational Leadership in Digital Transformation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-20, July.
    3. Murat Selim Selvi & Şermin Önem, 2025. "Impact of Variables in the UTAUT 2 Model on the Intention to Use a Fully Electric Car," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-24, April.

    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. Hongsi Zhang & Haixia Huang, 2024. "Low-Carbon Transformational Leadership: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Its Impact on Innovation Outcomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-34, December.
    2. Liu, Yeshen & Wang, Beibei & Song, Zhe, 2025. "Promoting or inhibiting: The impact of artificial intelligence application on corporate environmental performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    3. Rixiao Cui & Juanru Wang & Cong Zhou, 2023. "Exploring the linkages of green transformational leadership, organizational green learning, and radical green innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 185-199, January.
    4. Mulyaningsih Mulyaningsih & Ade Setiadi & Iwan Setiawa & Susniwati Susniwati & Erna Erna & Teddy Hikmat Fauzi, 2024. "Energy Efficiency Measures in Public Sector: An Empirical Analysis of the Determinants of Adoption of Low-cost Energy Efficiency," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 14(2), pages 624-631, March.
    5. Cai Li & Agyemang Kwasi Sampene & Adnan Khan & John Wiredu, 2025. "Environmental orientations to Innovation Ecosystem: the role of green transition, perceived environmental uncertainty and green transformational leadership," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 48-71, March.
    6. Shetu Ranjan Biswas & Md. Aftab Uddin & Swadip Bhattacharjee & Mouri Dey & Tarek Rana, 2022. "Ecocentric leadership and voluntary environmental behavior for promoting sustainability strategy: The role of psychological green climate," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1705-1718, May.
    7. Javeed, Sohail Ahmad & Akram, Umair, 2024. "The factors behind block-chain technology that boost the circular economy: An organizational perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    8. Abbas, Jawad, 2024. "Does the nexus of corporate social responsibility and green dynamic capabilities drive firms toward green technological innovation? The moderating role of green transformational leadership," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    9. Cui, Rixiao & Xia, Enjun & Guo, Xiaoli, 2025. "Antecedent configurations toward radical green innovation: Based on resource orchestration theory," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    10. Zhen Zhang, 2024. "Exploring the green edge: the role of market orientation and knowledge management in achieving competitive advantage through creativity," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, December.
    11. Khaddage-Soboh, Nada & Yunis, Manal & Imran, Muhammad & Zeb, Faheem, 2024. "Sustainable practices in Malaysian manufacturing: The influence of CSR, transformational leadership, and green organizational culture on environmental performance," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 753-768.
    12. Larry Su, 2025. "Environmental regulation and corporate green innovation: evidence from the implementation of the total energy consumption target in China," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 95(4), pages 499-526, May.
    13. Weizheng Sun & Meixin Kou & Xiaoyue Zhang & Yin Cui & Shuning Chen, 2024. "How Does a Major Corporate Customer’s ESG Performance Drive the Supplier’s Green Innovation?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-31, September.
    14. Suming Wu & Jiahao Cheng & Xiuhao Ding, 2025. "Impact of the Top Management Teams’ Environmental Attention on Dual Green Innovation in Chinese Enterprises: The Context of Government Environmental Regulation and Absorptive Capacity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-33, September.
    15. Chuhan Chen & Syarmila Hany Haron, 2024. "Green Motivation for Responsible Innovation: Empirical Evidence from the Chinese Construction Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-20, December.
    16. Xuan Hung Nguyen & Khanh Linh Nguyen & Thi Van Ha Nguyen & Thi Thanh Huyen Nguyen & Van Loi Ta, 2023. "The Impact of Green Organizational Capabilities on Competitive Advantage of Construction Enterprises in Vietnam: The Mediating Role of Green Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-16, August.
    17. Wei Wang & Yanan She & Yue Peng & Yunqiang Liu, 2025. "Unleashing green technology innovation in agribusiness: traditional environmental regulations, carbon trading, or synergies?," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.
    18. Farida Saleem & Sofia Mateou & Muhammad Imran Malik, 2024. "How Green Transformational Leaders Trigger Environmental Performance? Unleashing the Missing Links Through Green Self-Efficacy, Green Empowerment, and Green Training of Employees," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-21, November.
    19. Jorge Alberto Esponda Perez & Faisal Ejaz & Sarmad Ejaz, 2023. "Green Transformational Leadership, GHRM, and Proenvironmental Behavior: An Effectual Drive to Environmental Performances of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-17, March.
    20. Shumei Han & Di Zhang & Hongfeng Zhang & Shuaijun Lin, 2025. "Artificial Intelligence Technology, Organizational Learning Capability, and Corporate Innovation Performance: Evidence from Chinese Specialized, Refined, Unique, and Innovative Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-26, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:17:y:2025:i:4:p:1407-:d:1586995. 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.