The role of workplace innovation for open eco-innovation: Evidence from the community innovation survey

For developing and implementing innovations that improve a firm's environmental performance ('eco-innovation'), external knowledge and technologies, and hence the openness of a firm, are crucial. This paper analyses the factors that drive eco-innovation in firms, drawing special attention to the firm's ability to implement new ways of working within the organisation ('workplace innovation'). Based on novel data from the German part of the Community Innovation Survey, we find a positive link between workplace innovation and eco-innovation. However, the influence of open innovation on eco-innovation is less than the theoretical concept of open eco-innovation would suggest. The results show that sustainable strategic management should be committed to promoting innovation in the workplace to encourage innovative behaviour among employees and to strengthen the general ability to change processes within the organisation.