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The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm has been used to examine the role of resources and capabilities in product innovation and how product innovation is related to overall firm performance. Moreover, the natural RBV (NRBV) has addressed how resources affect the natural environment, whereas the relational RBV has highlighted the importance of relational resources, that is, resources shared with stakeholders outside the focal firm. In order to consider these extensions of the RBV in product innovation, this article applies a relational NRBV (RNRBV) on product innovation. Using data from 305 Swedish small manufacturing firms, structural equation modeling is used to examine the relationships between green product innovation (GPI), differentiation advantage and firm performance, and how these relationships are influenced by a relational resource in terms of green suppliers. The results demonstrate that GPI affects differentiation advantage and that this relationship is strengthened by having green suppliers. The article offers a RNRBV on product innovation and illustrates the importance of incorporating additional dependent variables other than aggregated performance measures when researching GPI. Moreover, the study shows that green suppliers can provide important products and complementary resources in order for the focal firm to fully realize its GPI capability.
Jim Andersén (Fri,) studied this question.