Eco‐Renewal Urgency: Enabling Eco‐Innovation and Driving Sustainable Transformation Within Organizations

ABSTRACT Building on dynamic capabilities theory, this paper develops a conceptual model explaining how organizations pursue eco‐innovation. Drawing on in‐depth interviews with sustainability and innovation managers across diverse industries, the study provides rich empirical insights into the drivers of eco‐innovation. Using the Gioia methodology, we inductively develop a data‐driven model that captures how firms activate and sustain eco‐innovation processes. Our key theoretical contribution lies in extending dynamic capabilities theory by conceptualizing eco‐renewal urgency as a foundational organizational condition that both precedes and propels the sensing, seizing, and transforming phases. Eco‐renewal urgency motivates firms to actively scan their environments and prioritize ecological opportunities, while simultaneously sustaining momentum in organizational transformation, ensuring that such opportunities are effectively acted upon and embedded over time. By highlighting the leading role of eco‐renewal urgency, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of how organizations can accelerate eco‐innovation and advance more durable forms of sustainable transformation. The findings also offer practical insights for managers seeking to cultivate and sustain urgency as a key enabler of eco‐innovation.