Green Leadership Capabilities and Environmental Innovation: A Conceptual Perspective

ABSTRACT: The environmental issues that are mounting up and the growing international attention on sustainable development has placed the issue of good leadership in a pivotal role in leading the process of environmental innovation. The issue of green leadership as a strategy that facilitates sustainability has been recognized, but conceptual background of green leadership is limited due to its multidimensional nature and its impacts on the environmental innovation of an organization, especially in the emerging economies. In this study, there is conceptual analysis where the association between green leadership competencies and green innovation is looked at so that a composite framework can be formed to provide guidance on the theory and practice. Using conceptual research methodology, the study reviews secondary data in a systematic way, such as peer-reviewed journals, books, historical and other publications related to the topic, to synthesize knowledge on strategic green orientation, green knowledge and competence, sustainability change leadership, the digital enabled sustainability leadership and collaborative sustainability leadership. It is found that multidimensional green leadership skills have a combination of promoting eco-product and eco-process innovations, which in turn improve competitiveness and sustainability performance by the organization. On the basis of these results, this study suggests that companies should enact holistic green leadership behavior, include digital technology in sustainable programmers, and encourage knowledge-mediation and teamwork. The conceptual model empirically tested in future studies should include the investigation of the possible moderating and mediating variables. Finally, the paper makes a contribution to theory as it helps to frame an integrated green leadership-innovation model and practice by providing actionable advice to sustainably-oriented leadership.

KEYWORDS: Green Leadership, Environmental Innovation, Sustainability, Organizational Performance, Conceptual Framework.