An External Approach to Green Product Innovation

In this chapter, we pay attention to how a firm’s environmental leadership materializes through its engagement in green innovation. Green product innovation can be defined as a firm’s product activities that are related to environmental innovation, such as energy saving, pollution prevention, waste recycling, avoidance of toxicity, and other green product designs (Christmann, 2000). It implies an attention to designing products that minimize or eliminate a business’s negative impact on the environment, not only during the product’s use but also after it is thrown away. This strategy allows firms not only to minimize production waste and increase productivity (Christmann, 2000) but also to improve their transparency and gain legitimacy from external agents (e.g., consumers, governments, nongovernmental organizations) (Bansal, 2005; Christmann, 2004). Firms introducing green innovations guide positive change toward an environmentally respectful vision of business.