Linking Green Innovation and Business Sustainability: The Mediating Role of Strategic Thinking

Abstract

Our planet’s growth, progress, and prosperity can be facilitated through innovation, knowledge, and thinking, and such facilitators may also assist in reversing the damage our planet has been experiencing throughout the years. The article determines the relationship between managerial innovation, process innovation, product innovation, and business sustainability among large manufacturing firms in Malaysia with mediating effect of strategic thinking. After extant literature, a research model was developed to examine the formulated study hypotheses, tested on data obtained from 208 large Malaysian manufacturing firms using partial least square-structural equation modeling. The findings showed that the two dimensions of green innovation significantly affected the business sustainability of large manufacturing firms but not green process innovation. Also, green managerial innovation significantly affected strategic thinking but not green process innovation and green product innovation. Strategic thinking also significantly affected business sustainability and fully mediated the green process innovation dimension GPCI but had no mediating effect on green managerial innovation and green product innovation. These results are expected to enlighten researchers and managers of large manufacturing firms concerning the topic under discussion. In addition, this article will assist academicians to understand the influence of managerial innovation, process innovation, product innovation, and business sustainability among large manufacturing firms in Malaysia.