Green innovative behavior: impact of intrapreneurship and leadership

Purpose Grounded in the componential theory of creativity (CTC) and extended through the lens of the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study examines how employee intrapreneurship drives green innovative behavior (GIB) and innovative performance (IP). Specifically, it evaluates the moderating roles of individual moral reflectiveness (MR) and contextual ambidextrous leadership within Pakistan's hotel industry, a context where sustainability initiatives are still nascent and employee-driven green innovation remains largely unexplored. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected via a survey of 300 employees across 3-, 4-, and 5-star hotels in Lahore. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was conducted using Smart PLS 3.0 to analyze the data. Findings Intrapreneurship positively influences both GIB and IP, with GIB serving as a key mediator. Crucially, moral reflectiveness counterintuitively weakens, rather than strengthens, the positive link between intrapreneurship and GIB, uncovering a novel boundary condition. Ambidextrous leadership exhibits no significant moderating effect. Practical implications The findings offer hotel managers a clear route to unlocking employees' green innovative potential. By identifying individual factors (intrapreneurship, moral reflectiveness) and contextual factors (ambidextrous leadership) that jointly shape GIB and innovative performance, the study provides actionable levers for designing sustainability-oriented HR and leadership strategies. Originality/value This study advances green organizational behavior by combining CTC and TPB to map MR as attitude, intrapreneurship as intention, and ambidextrous leadership as perceived behavioral control. By revealing the paradoxical dampening role of moral reflectiveness, it challenges conventional assumptions that moral traits universally foster eco-innovation.