Title: Towards a sustainable agenda: enhancing green entrepreneurship image among manufacturing SMEs

Authors: Ng Hong Guan; Noor Hazlina Ahmad; Syed Abidur Rahman; Hasliza Abdul Halim

Addresses: Rocket Marketing, Bayan Lepas, 11900 Penang, Malaysia ' School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Penang, Malaysia ' College of Economics and Political Science, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman ' School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Penang, Malaysia

Abstract: Adoption of green practices within an organisation can take many different forms, through developing green practices and processes as its core competences and subsequently promoting a green corporate image. This study aims to examine the predictors of green entrepreneurship image and the mediating effect of green innovation on green organisational identity, green core competences and green entrepreneurship image of Malaysian manufacturing SMEs. This empirical study was conducted using a structured instrument, analysed by the Partial Least Square (PLS) technique. The results show that green organisational identity and green core competences significantly enhance the firms' green entrepreneurship image and that green process innovation performance underpins green entrepreneurship image. This study also offers practitioners a guide on what kind of green practice they need to adopt, which can bring advantages to them. It highlights the importance of engaging in green innovation as a differentiation strategy to promote a sustainable agenda within SME sectors.

Keywords: green core competence; green organisational identity; green innovation; green entrepreneurship image; SME; manufacturing; Malaysia; green business; sustainable agenda; sustainable development.

DOI: 10.1504/WREMSD.2020.110457

World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 2020 Vol.16 No.5, pp.466 - 491

Received: 27 Sep 2019
Accepted: 13 Jan 2020
Published online: 20 Oct 2020 *

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