ECO-INNOVATION AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: IS LEADERSHIP THE GAME CHANGER?

Environmental concerns have become more prominent than ever. There is a strong need for organizations to immediately shift from the current business as usual attitude. Organizations, as the driving vehicles of economic growth, are expected to lead this new era. Eco-innovations were identified as one of the pillars of change towards sustainable development. The application of eco -innovation will be a crucial factor in achieving sustainable development. Eco-innovation has the ability to help organizations tackle rising environmental issues. Despite the increased popularity of eco-innovation, there is a lack of literature that considers the management's role in the eco-innovation and firm performance relationship. How firms might develop and embed eco-innovations has received little attention. As research concerning eco-innovation converges, there is a need to develop eco-innovation and firm performance models that can be related to organizational factors. Models that deal with strategic, structural and management factors are needed. Most of the current developed models are highly generalized and only few have been adapted to specific markets, segments or industries. Furthermore, models should examine the interaction of internal and external variables in the context of eco-innovation and firm performance. Hence, this paper aims to highlight the gaps in current eco-innovation and firm performance literature. Furthermore, this paper discusses future directions regarding eco-innovation and firm performance model development. (C) 2018 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK