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Journal of Business Ethics (2006) 67:331339 Springer 2006 DOI 10.1007/s10551-006-9025-5
The Inuence of Green Innovation Performance on Corporate Advantage in Taiwan
Yu-Shan Chen
Shyh-Bao Lai Chao-Tung Wen
ABSTRACT. The purpose of this study was to explore whether the performance of the green innovation brought positive effect to the competitive advantage. This study found that the performances of the green product innovation and green process innovation were positively correlated to the corporate competitive advantage. Therefore, the result meant that the investment in the green product innovation and green process innovation was helpful to the businesses. This study argued that the businesses should cognize the correct value and positioning of the green innovation.
KEY WORDS: green innovation, green product innovation, green process innovation, competitive advantage, corporate environmental management, sustainable development
Introduction
From the restriction on Chlorouorocarbon (CFC) of the Montreal Convention in 1987, the restriction on the emission of CO2 of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, the Sustainable Development Announcements of Johannesburg World Summit in 2002, to the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in EEE (RoHS) and Waste Electronics and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) that European Union will adopt in 2008, the rise of concepts and regulations of environmental protection will bring signicant impacts to industries in the world. Compared to the multinational enterprises, most of Taiwanese companies are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that have few resources to maneuver. As the international regulations and conventions of environmental protection are stricter, huge impacts will inuence businesses in Taiwan. Therefore, it is an urgent task to work out policies to respond to the trend of the environmental protection (Petts et al., 1998). This research explored the inuence of the performance of green innovation on the competitive advantage and provided concrete suggestions to the businesses in Taiwan.
The issue of the impacts of environmental protection on the corporate competitive advantage was not paid much attention by the academic community until recently. Under the trend of the strict international regulations and conventions of environmental protection and the rise of consumer environmentalism, this changed the patterns of competition in the industries around the world. Therefore, corporate environmental management will play an important role nowa-
Dr. Chen is the assistant professor in the Department of Business Administration in National Yunlin...