Effect of green leadership on sustainable performance of large manufacturing firms using leader innovation behaviour as a mediating role: Evidence from large manufacturing firm in Ethiopia

The study investigated the effect of green leadership on the sustainable performances of large manufacturing firms using leader innovation behavior as a mediating role. Survey data were collected using five-point Likert scale questionnaires and simple random sampling technique to determine a sample size of 286 large manufacturing firms from 1000 large manufacturing in the selected areas. A total of 572 sample were drawn (two respondents from each manufacturing firm) selected from Addis Ababa City, Sheger City, and East Shoa large manufacturing firms. However, only 501(87.58 %) from 572 distributed questionnaires were returned and used for the data analysis. A partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was deployed to predict the outcome with the help of SmartPLS4.1.0.9. The findings revealed that green leadership practices have a positive and significant effect on the economic, social, and environment of large manufacturing firms separately analyzed. Mediation analysis reveals that green leadership practices indirectly enhance sustainable performance through leader innovation behavior (LIB) on sustainable firm performance. There are no similar studies conducted using leader innovation behavior as a mediating role towards green leadership and sustainable performance using three outcomes (environment, economic, and social) with a separate analysis. Moreover, there are no other similar studies made analysis through leader innovation behavior on sustainable performance outcomes evidenced by large manufacturing firms from the point of green leadership. Therefore, the study outcome will help policymakers utilize study findings as a reference to design frameworks that promote green leadership practices toward the sustainable performance of large manufacturing in creating a green digital economy for the sustainable future of Ethiopia.