Effects of environmental awareness training and environmental commitment on firm's green innovation performance: Empirical insights from medical equipment suppliers

PLoS One. 2024 Mar 5;19(3):e0297960. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297960. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

In recent years, the intensification of global industrialization coupled with the enterprise's production and operating activities have caused pollution, increasing the current environmental pressure. Relevant government departments in China have instituted several stringent measures (environmental protection sensitization and awareness activities, training sessions, and exchange activities targeted towards enterprise managers) to address these rising environmental problems. Though these measures have gained traction over the years, there is a dearth of research on their effectiveness on the green innovation performance of enterprises. To bridge the gap, this research explores the effect of environmental awareness training, knowledge exchange activities, and commitment on green innovation performance with survey data from 285 medical equipment manufacturing companies in China. It further expands the theoretical application of environmental awareness training, commitment, and innovation performance from the lens of the Knowledge-Based View. The findings depict a positive relationship between environmental awareness training and innovation performance. It also finds a mediating influence of environmental commitment in the relationship between environmental awareness training and green innovation performance. Furthermore, environmental knowledge exchange activities positively moderate the relationship between environmental awareness training and environmental commitment. These findings offer valuable insights for the green development of medical equipment manufacturing enterprises and the government to formulate environmental protection policies.

MeSH terms

  • Academies and Institutes*
  • China
  • Commerce*
  • Environmental Policy
  • Environmental Pollution

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing [Grant Number CSTB2022NSCQ-MSX0502]; and the City-School Cooperation Project of Dazhou Science and Technology Bureau [Grant Number DZKJJ2020S05]. The entire process and conclusions of this study were not influenced by the fund sponsor. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.