Article: An empirical study on the link between corporate social responsibility and innovation in environmentally sensitive industries Journal: European Journal of International Management (EJIM) 2018 Vol.12 No.4 pp.402 - 422 Abstract: Managers' perceptions on the evolution of a company's environment can have important implications for strategic decisions on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and innovation, especially in industries which are sensitive to social and environmental issues. This paper follows knowledge-based and stakeholder management perspectives to state that in such industries high levels of environmental dynamism will motivate firms to engage in CSR activities to support proactive innovation strategies for faster development of new technologies. We use a sample of 86 Spanish and Portuguese firms from the renewable energy sector to test a structural equations model of relationships between environmental dynamism, innovation strategy and CSR through a partial least squares (PLS) statistical approach. The results of the study suggest that highly dynamic environments encourage firms to be more innovation proactive, and that this proactivity relates to a high CSR commitment, with process innovation capabilities being preferred as a technological source for firms in this sector. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: An empirical study on the link between corporate social responsibility and innovation in environmentally sensitive industries

Authors: M. Isabel González-Ramos; Mario J. Donate; Fátima Guadamillas

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain ' Department of Business Administration, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain ' Department of Business Administration, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain

Abstract: Managers' perceptions on the evolution of a company's environment can have important implications for strategic decisions on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and innovation, especially in industries which are sensitive to social and environmental issues. This paper follows knowledge-based and stakeholder management perspectives to state that in such industries high levels of environmental dynamism will motivate firms to engage in CSR activities to support proactive innovation strategies for faster development of new technologies. We use a sample of 86 Spanish and Portuguese firms from the renewable energy sector to test a structural equations model of relationships between environmental dynamism, innovation strategy and CSR through a partial least squares (PLS) statistical approach. The results of the study suggest that highly dynamic environments encourage firms to be more innovation proactive, and that this proactivity relates to a high CSR commitment, with process innovation capabilities being preferred as a technological source for firms in this sector.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility; environmental dynamism; innovation capabilities; innovative posture; proactive innovation strategy; renewable energy sector; partial least squares; Spain; Portugal.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2018.092842

European Journal of International Management, 2018 Vol.12 No.4, pp.402 - 422

Received: 28 Dec 2015
Accepted: 15 Sep 2016
Published online: 01 Jul 2018 *

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Title: An empirical study on the link between corporate social responsibility and innovation in environmentally sensitive industries

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