Green innovation strategy, sustainable business model innovation and sustainable competitive advantage with mediating role of green intellectual capital in emerging markets: evidence from Ethiopian eco-hotels

Abstract This investigation finds the mediation of green intellectual capital association among green innovation strategy, sustainable business model innovation as well as competitive advantage in Ethiopian eco-hotels. This investigation addressed the gap in the literature regarding green intellectual capital's mediating role among green innovation, sustainable business models and sustainable competitive advantage. Quantitative research method with stratified sampling procedure was applied to collect data from 384 respondents. Both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were applied to confirm association among variables. Structural equation model was used to examine association among variables and mediation using SPSS V.26 and AMOS V.26 software. The outcome of the present investigation revealed that green innovation strategy greatly increases green intellectual capital by 0.45, standard deviation which in turn has a notable impact on sustainable competitiveness with 0.65 standard deviations. Likewise, sustainable business model innovation influences green intellectual capital 0.49 standard deviation, which in turn has a notable impact on sustainable competitive edge. The present investigation highlighted that green intellectual capital mediates the association among green innovation strategy and sustainable competitive advantage as well as sustainable business model innovation and sustainable competitive advantage. Intellectual capital was found to be partial mediator in the associations. The necessity of investing in eco-friendly intellectual capital to enhance sustainable competitive edge is shown by the present investigation. Given the investigation's emphasis on the association among sustainability policies as well as green HRD, businesses ought to give workforce development top priority. The findings of this investigation contribute to the theoretical comprehending practices of sustainable business and offers practical implications for businesses seeking to enhance their sustainability initiative while maintaining sustainable competitive advantage.