Effects of green proactiveness orientation on the performance of agro-processing enterprises: evidence from China

Environmental issues have become a global challenge, and agricultural enterprises, particularly those engaged in food processing, play an indispensable part in human survival and economic development. However, research on the strategic orientation and capacities that agro-processing enterprises should adopt to achieve a win-win situation of economy and environment from green entrepreneurial activities remains limited. Drawing on the natural resource-based view (NRBV) and dynamic capability theory, this study examines how green proactiveness orientation (GPO) affects financial performance (FP) and environmental performance (EP), and the mediating role of green creativity (GC) and entrepreneurial opportunity recognition (EOR). A questionnaire survey and a valid sample of 265 respondents from agro-processing enterprises in China were used to test the hypotheses via hierarchical regression and bootstrap analysis. The results show that GPO has positive influences on both environmental and financial performance of agro-processing enterprises. In addition, GC and EOR play a synchronous and chain mediating role between GPO and financial and environmental performance. Therefore, enterprises and governments should focus on stimulating the strategy of GPO in agro-processing enterprises, enhancing their ability to generate new green ideas and identify profitable ecological entrepreneurial opportunities, thereby enhancing both financial and environmental performance simultaneously. Using the aforesaid findings, theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and future research directions are also offered.