Eco-innovation maturity model: A framework to support the evolution of eco-innovation integration in companies

Abstract

The urgency for sustainable changes in product performance and around the processes of the different organizational areas highlights the potential of eco-innovation as a management strategy. However, this holistic approach to eco-innovation is still a challenge for businesses. In this sense, this research was structured on two central premises, which justify the central problem of the study. The first is that companies face organizational barriers to the implementation of eco-innovation in a holistic manner. The second is that companies face operational barriers to the implementation and global integration of eco-innovation, such as lack of models, methods, and support tools. This operational barrier mainly includes the lack of maturity approaches and prescriptive methods of eco-innovation evaluation. In order to overcome these barriers, this research proposes an Eco-innovation Maturity Model (Eco-Mi), a framework to support eco-innovation integration and evolution of organizational maturity. Based on a review of the literature, it was possible to develop a first version of the Eco-innovation Maturity Model, consisting of the eco-innovation maturity levels and a guide to eco-innovation practices. The model has been improved through expert evaluation with the use of the Delphi Method, which contributed to increase its validity and reliability. The results confirm the research hypothesis and, therefore, the validity of the Eco-Mi model as support for the integration and evolution of eco-innovation in organizations and as a reference for the field of knowledge.