Green intellectual capital and social innovation: the nexus

Abstract

Purpose

The term “social innovation” refers to interorganizational activity ostensibly designed to address environmental issues. Green intellectual capital (IC) has been considered to be a vitally important mechanism for companies to move towards green production. By adopting the Intellectual capital-based view (ICV) as the underpinning theory, this study aims to investigate the green intellectual capital and social innovation tie-up.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative research approach was adopted in this study. The mail survey was used to collect data from managers of 509 manufacturing units operating in J&K, India. The study model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

Based on the SEM results, the key factors that significantly influence social innovation were green human capital and green structural capital. The results also posited that green relational capital was not significantly related to social innovation.

Originality/value

As revealed by the existing literature, no similar work has been done yet. Therefore, this study's originality lies in its exploration of green intellectual capital (IC) and social innovation interplay in an environmentally sensitive sector, manufacturing. Besides, this study offers insights to academics and practitioners in the manufacturing sector, especially in emerging economies.

Citation

Sheikh, A.M. (2022), "Green intellectual capital and social innovation: the nexus", Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 23 No. 6, pp. 1199-1220. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-11-2020-0361