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A Framework to Move Forward on the Path to Eco-innovation in the Construction Industry: Implications to Improve Firms' Sustainable Orientation

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Abstract

This paper examines key aspects in the innovative behavior of the construction firms that determine their environmental orientation while innovating. Structural equation modeling was used and data of 222 firms retrieved from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) for 2010 to analyse the drivers of environmental orientation of the construction firms during the innovation process. The results show that the environmental orientation is positively affected by the product and process orientation of construction firms during the innovation process. Furthermore, the positive relation between the importance of market information sources and environmental orientation, mediated by process and product orientation, is discussed. Finally, a model that explains these relations is proposed and validated. Results have important managerial implications for those companies worried about their eco-innovative focus as the types of actions and relations within firms most suitable for improving their eco-innovative orientation are highlighted.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Spanish Economy and Competitiveness Ministry for its support through the research project (EC02011-27369) and also the Universitat Politècnica de València (SP20140647).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Management Department, 7D Building, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain

    María-del-Val Segarra-Oña & Angel Peiró-Signes

  2. Social Sciences Department, Business School, 7J Building, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain

    Roberto Cervelló-Royo

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  1. María-del-Val Segarra-Oña
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  2. Angel Peiró-Signes
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Correspondence to María-del-Val Segarra-Oña.

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Segarra-Oña, MdV., Peiró-Signes, A. & Cervelló-Royo, R. A Framework to Move Forward on the Path to Eco-innovation in the Construction Industry: Implications to Improve Firms' Sustainable Orientation. Sci Eng Ethics 21, 1469–1484 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-014-9620-2

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