Bridging Green Intellectual Capital and Green Organizational Culture toward Green Performance: A Green Innovation Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70716/ecoma.v4i2.483Keywords:
green intellectual capital, green organizational culture, green innovation, green performanceAbstract
This study investigates the effects of green intellectual capital and green organizational culture on green performance, with green innovation as the mediator variable. Based on the natural resource-based view and knowledge-based theory, a quantitative explanatory methodology is used. Data were collected from the owners and managers of 250 environmentally oriented SMEs employing purposive sampling, which operate their businesses in an environmentally friendly manner. Valid and reliable measurement scales were applied, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the direct and indirect effects. The findings reveal that green intellectual capital and green organizational culture positively and directly affect green innovation. In addition, a green organizational culture directly affects green performance. However, green intellectual capital has no direct effect on green performance. Instead, green intellectual capital affects green performance via green innovation. Moreover, green innovation mediates between green intellectual capital and green performance, and between green organizational culture and green performance. This study demonstrates that knowledge about environmentalism and organizational culture should be translated into innovative practice to achieve sustainable outcomes. The study implies that environmentally oriented SMEs should have strong green competence, a high level of environmental knowledge, and an organizational culture that supports innovation. From a practical perspective, it is recommended that owners/managers participate in environmental management training programs, implement green operations, and join the innovation cooperation network. Government policy could be directed to provide green training, green incentives, and technical support. This study expands the literature on the effects of green intellectual capital and green organizational culture on the green performance of environmentally oriented SMEs.
Downloads
References
Abrudan, D. B., Rafi, N., Daianu, D. C., & Kalyar, M. N. (2022). Linking green intellectual capital with green innovation: Examining the roles of green dynamic capabilities and motivation to achieve legitimacy. Agricultural Economics (Czech Republic), 68(7), 250–258. https://doi.org/10.17221/97/2022-AGRICECON
Achmad, F., & Wiratmadja, I. I. (2025). Organizational performance and competitive advantage in SMEs: The role of green innovation and knowledge management. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 11(2), 100532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2025.100532
Ahmad, F., Hossain, M. B., Mustafa, K., Ejaz, F., Khawaja, K. F., & Dunay, A. (2023). Green HRM practices and knowledge sharing improve environmental performance by raising employee commitment to the environment. Sustainability, 15(6), 5040. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065040
Awwad Al-Shammari, A. S., Alshammrei, S., Nawaz, N., & Tayyab, M. (2022). Green human resource management and sustainable performance with the mediating role of green innovation: A perspective of new technological era. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.901235
Badghish, S., & Soomro, Y. A. (2024). Artificial intelligence adoption by SMEs to achieve sustainable business performance: Application of technology-organization-environment framework. Sustainability, 16(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16051864
Bhatti, M. A., Alyahya, M., Juhari, A. S., & Alshiha, A. A. (2022). Green HRM practices and employee satisfaction in the hotel industry of Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Operations and Quantitative Management, 28(1), 100–120. https://doi.org/10.46970/2022.28.1.6
Buhaya, M. I., & Metwally, A. B. M. (2024). Green intellectual capital and green supply chain performance: Do external pressures matter? Cogent Business & Management, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2349276
Chandra, K., Arafah, W., & Basri, Y. Z. (2021). Analysis of the effect of green organizational culture on organizational performance and competitive advantages of green through green innovation in manufacturing industries. Journal of Hunan University (Natural Sciences), 48(6), 112–121. https://doi.org/10.55463/issn.1674-2974.53.1.1
Chao, H. W., & Juo, W. J. (2021). An environmental policy of green intellectual capital: Green innovation strategy for performance sustainability. Business Strategy and the Environment, 30(7), 3241–3254. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2800
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.).
Elzek, Y. S., Soliman, M., Al Riyami, H., & Scott, N. (2024). Talent management and sustainable performance in travel agents: Do green intellectual capital and green servant leadership matter? Current Issues in Tourism, 27(19), 3115–3130. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2023.2252560
Enbaia, E., Alzubi, A., Iyiola, K., & Aljuhmani, H. Y. (2024). The interplay between environmental ethics and sustainable performance: Does organizational green culture and green innovation really matter? Sustainability, 16(23). https://doi.org/10.3390/su162310230
García-Machado, J. J., & Martínez-Ávila, M. (2019). Environmental performance and green culture: The mediating effect of green innovation, an application to the automotive industry. Sustainability, 11(18). https://doi.org/10.3390/su11184874
Gharib, M., Alam, M. S., Hawaldar, I. T., Murshed, M., Khan, U., Alvarado, R., & Rehman, I. U. (2023). Roles of green intellectual capital facets on environmental sustainability in Oman. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 36(3). https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2022.2149591
Gürlek, M., & Tuna, M. (2018). Reinforcing competitive advantage through green organizational culture and green innovation. The Service Industries Journal, 38(7–8), 467–491. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2017.1402889
Hadjri, M. I., Perizade, B., Zunaidah, & Farla, W. (2019). Green human resource management, green organizational culture, and environmental performance: An empirical study. Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, 100, 138–143. https://doi.org/10.2991/icoi-19.2019.25
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203
Hossain, M. I., Heng, T. B., Lee, C. L., Ong, T. S., & Islam, M. T. (2022). Green human resource management, top management commitment, green culture, and green performance of Malaysian palm oil companies. International Journal of Technology, 13(5), 1106–1114. https://doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v13i5.5818
Imran, M., Arshad, I., & Ismail, F. (2021). Green organizational culture and organizational performance: The mediating role of green innovation and environmental performance. Jurnal Pendidikan IPA Indonesia, 10(4), 515–530. https://doi.org/10.15294/jpii.v10i4.32386
Jirakraisiri, J., Badir, Y. F., & Frank, B. (2021). Translating green strategic intent into green process innovation performance: The role of green intellectual capital. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 22(7), 43–67. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-08-2020-0277
Khan, N. U., Anwar, M., Li, S., & Khattak, M. S. (2021). Intellectual capital, financial resources, and green supply chain management as predictors of financial and environmental performance. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(16), 19755–19767. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12243-4
Lajara, M. B., Sáez, Z. P., Martínez-Falcó, J., & Ruiz-Fernández, L. (2022). The effect of green intellectual capital on green performance in the Spanish wine industry: A structural equation modeling approach. Complexity, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/6024077
Legese, M. A., Zhou, S., Tiruneh, W. A., & Ying, H. (2026). How green HRM enhances sustainable organizational performance: A capability-building explanation through green innovation and organizational culture. Sustainability, 18(2), 764. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18020764
Li, W., Bhutto, M. Y., Waris, I., & Hu, T. (2023). The nexus between environmental corporate social responsibility, green intellectual capital and green innovation towards business sustainability: An empirical analysis of Chinese automobile manufacturing firms. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(3), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20031851
Liu, D., Yu, X., Huang, M., Yang, S., Isa, S. M., & Hu, M. (2022). The effects of green intellectual capital on green innovation: A green supply chain integration perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.830716
Martínez-Falcó, J., Sánchez-García, E., Millan-Tudela, L. A., & Marco-Lajara, B. (2023). The role of green agriculture and green supply chain management in the green intellectual capital-sustainable performance relationship: A structural equation modeling analysis applied to the Spanish wine industry. Agriculture, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13020425
Muisyo, P. K., & Qin, S. (2021). Enhancing the firm’s green performance through green HRM: The moderating role of green innovation culture. Journal of Cleaner Production, 289, 125720. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125720
Nawangsari, L. C., Siswanti, I., Arijanto, A., & Wahyu, M. (2025). From knowledge to action: Exploring green intellectual capital’s role in sustainable organizational performance for millennials. International Review of Management and Marketing, 15(1), 82–90. https://doi.org/10.32479/irmm.17546
Qu, X., Khan, A., Yahya, S., Zafar, A. U., & Shahzad, M. (2022). Green core competencies to prompt green absorptive capacity and bolster green innovation: The moderating role of organization’s green culture. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 65(3), 536–561. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2021.1891029
Ramadana, M., Masnita, Y., Yusran, H. L., & Jurnali, T. (2025). Green intellectual capital and innovation: Keys to sustainable environmental performance in manufacturing. International Journal of Scientific Research and Management, 13(4), 8788–8799. https://doi.org/10.18535/ijsrm/v13i04.em12
Roespinoedji, R., Saudi, M. H. M., Hardika, A. L., & Rashid, A. Z. A. (2019). The effect of green organizational culture and green innovation in influencing competitive advantage and environmental performance. International Journal of Supply Chain Management, 8(1), 278–286. http://ir.unikl.edu.my/jspui/handle/123456789/23372
Roxas, B., & Chadee, D. (2016). Knowledge management view of environmental sustainability in manufacturing SMEs in the Philippines. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 14(4), 514–524. https://doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2015.30
Sandra, D., Yasri, Y., & Syahrizal. (2025). The influence of green organizational culture as a moderator on the determinants of triple bottom line performance in Indonesian hospitals. International Journal of Innovative Research and Scientific Studies, 8(1), 728–740. https://doi.org/10.53894/ijirss.v8i1.4418
Sembiring, L. D., Setyawati, A., Indajang, K., Astuti, W. S., & Sudirman, A. (2023). Analysis of increasing the competitiveness of MSME business through entrepreneurial competence, entrepreneurial orientation, and customer relationship management. FIRM Journal of Management Studies, 8(2), 250–261. https://doi.org/10.33021/firm.v8i2.4575
Sharma, S., Prakash, G., Kumar, A., Mussada, E. K., Antony, J., & Luthra, S. (2021). Analysing the relationship of adaption of green culture, innovation, green performance for achieving sustainability: Mediating role of employee commitment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 303, 127039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127039
Singh, S. K., Giudice, M. D., Chierici, R., & Graziano, D. (2020). Green innovation and environmental performance: The role of green transformational leadership and green human resource management. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 150, 119762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2019.119762
Song, W., & Yu, H. (2018). Green innovation strategy and green innovation: The roles of green creativity and green organizational identity. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(2), 135–150. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1445
Sudirman, A., Kusuma, Rr. C. S., Halim, F., & Sembiring, L. D. (2024). Analysis of the mediation effect of green competitive advantage: Reviewing the influence of green innovation on SMEs’ business performance. International Journal of Business, Law, and Education, 5(2), 2617–2627.
Sumayyah, S., Damayanti, R. W., & Zahara, I. (2025). Green innovation, green accounting, and performance: The moderating role of green intellectual capital. Journal of Accounting and Investment, 26(1), 270–297. https://doi.org/10.18196/jai.v26i1.24362
Tang, M., Walsh, G., Lerner, D., Fitza, M. A., & Li, Q. (2018). Green innovation, managerial concern and firm performance: An empirical study. Business Strategy and the Environment, 27(1), 39–51. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1981
Tjahjadi, B., Agastya, I. B. G. A., Soewarno, N., & Adyantari, A. (2023). Green human capital readiness and business performance: Do green market orientation and green supply chain management matter? Benchmarking: An International Journal, 30(10), 3884–3905. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-10-2021-0622
Turner, D. P. (2020). Sampling methods in research design. Headache, 60(1), 8–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/head.13707
Vadithe, R. N., Rajput, R. C., & Kesari, B. (2025). Impact of green HRM implementation on organizational sustainability in IT sector: A mediation analysis. Sustainable Futures, 9, 100507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2025.100507
Widiyati, D., & Murwaningsari, E. (2021). Achieving green competitive advantage through organizational green culture, business analytics and collaborative competence: The mediating effect of eco-innovation. International Journal of Social and Management Studies (IJOSMAS), 2(4), 98–113. https://doi.org/10.5555/ijosmas.v2i4.57
Zhang, J., & Maelah, R. (2026). How green intellectual capital shapes competitive advantage through AI-driven green innovation: An empirical study in the manufacturing industry. Future Technology, 5(2), 241–254. https://doi.org/10.55670/fpll.futech.5.2.23
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ernest Grace, Pungky Eka Ratnasari, Elly Romy, Acai Sudirman

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.








