Title: Green innovation barriers in small and medium-sized enterprises: ISM-ANP approach

Authors: Nassibeh Janatyan; Zohre Ahmadi

Addresses: Faculty of Management and Innovation, Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani University, Isfahan, Iran, Isfahan, Iran ' Faculty of Management and Innovation, Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani University, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract: The purpose of this research is to investigate barriers to the implementation of green innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises and provide solutions to remove these barriers. In this study, to identify barriers to green innovation in SMEs, the opinions of senior managers of 28 Iranian SMEs were collected and the relationship between barriers was identified and ranked via an ANP-ISM approach. Finally, the solutions to remove important barriers of implementing green innovation were discussed. Six main groups of barriers of green innovation in Iranian SMEs were identified in three levels. The supporting green innovation, lack of sufficient knowledge and information about green innovation, and barriers to customers and the market are determined as driver variables in third level. Barriers to foreign participation, barriers to lack of government support in second level and barriers of management organisation and human resource in first level determined also as dependent variables. Finally, using the ANP method, barriers to foreign participation were identified as the most significant obstacle to green innovation in SMEs in Iran. This study identified and prioritised the barriers to green innovation in Iranian SMEs and compared these barriers with those in two Middle Eastern countries.

Keywords: green innovation; barriers; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; analytic network process; ANP; interpretive structural modelling; ISM; foreign participation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2026.152517

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2026 Vol.39 No.3, pp.375 - 398

Received: 27 Oct 2021
Accepted: 26 Jun 2022
Published online: 25 Mar 2026 *

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