Antecedents of Green Innovation among SMEs in Ghana: The Moderating Role of Organizational Green Core Competence

The drive toward sustainable production and consumption has gained momentum among academics, policymakers, and industry practitioners. A critical factor in this sustainability match is the recycling entrepreneur/firm. This study explores both internal and external factors that impact the green innovation performance of small and medium enterprises using a resource-based view as a theoretical lens. The study examines the relationship between stakeholder sustainability pressure, sustainability identity, green creativity, green core competence, and green innovation performance. Specifically, we examine the causal effects of stakeholder sustainability pressure and sustainability identity on green creativity and then the effect of green creativity on green product and process innovation performance. Furthermore, the moderation role of green core competence is assessed in the link between green creativity and green innovation performance. Data were collected from respondents in the landscape in Ghana. The result of the empirical analyses indicates that sustainability pressures have a significant impact on SMEs organizations'green creativity. Conversely, sustainability identity does not influence the green creativity of SMEs organizations. In furtherance, green creativity is found to influence green processes and product innovation of SMEs firms in the sustainability ecosystem. In addition, green core competence has a significant influence on the green process and product innovation performance of firms. However, the moderating effect of green core competence is weak and quite insignificant.