R&D contribution to sustainable product attributes development: The complementarity of human capital

Abstract

The current article aims to study the role of organizational research and development (R&D) function in sustainable product attributes (SPA) development, using the knowledge-based view (KBV) theoretical lens. Specifically, this study investigates the extent of R&D contribution in aggregate and disaggregated SPA development. Furthermore, this article analyzes the extent to which human capital complements R&D's contribution to aggregate and disaggregated SPA development. The analysis of 433 manufacturing firms' panel datasets (from 2002 to 2017) provides evidence of a positive influence of R&D on aggregate and disaggregated SPA development. The moderation analysis results confirm that human capital complements R&D's contribution to SPA development. By studying R&D under the KBV, this study provides coherence to the R&D-sustainable product development relation and contributes to R&D-sustainable product literature. This article further contributes to the R&D-sustainable product relationship by analyzing the complementarity of human capital in R&D to develop aggregate and disaggregated SPA. This study clarifies to managers that regardless of resource constraints, a firm can develop SPA by capitalizing R&D knowledge relatedness to corporate social responsibility, and human capital complements R&D's contribution to SPA development.