Green Innovative Work Behavior and Smes’ Business Sustainability: A Conceptual Framework

Given the aggravation of global environmental problems and the promotion of sustainable development strategies, corporate green innovation has become an important way to enhance corporate competitiveness and promote social responsibility. Through a systematic analysis of 131 high-quality scholarly publications in the field, this study found that although green innovation behaviors have been widely applied in many large enterprises, insufficient research has been conducted on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical framework exploring how green innovative work behaviors influence the business sustainability of SMEs, particularly through two moderating variables (resource orchestration and organizational historical path dependence), to reveal their roles in the relationship between green innovation and business sustainability. This paper aims to provide directions for future empirical research and contribute to the theoretical discussion on the relationship between green innovation and sustainability in SMEs. In addition, this study offers new perspectives for policymakers and business managers developing strategies to promote green innovation, helping them consider how resource orchestration and historical path dependence affect the innovation process.