Green innovation in technology and innovation management – an exploratory literature review

TLDR

Green innovation management is increasingly important in both practice and academia. This review surveys green innovation literature, clarifies the concept, identifies key scholars and institutions, and urges more comprehensive studies. The authors rank innovation‑management journals by their total green‑innovation publication counts. The review finds that green, eco, and environmental innovations are largely synonymous, sustainable innovation adds a social dimension, and the most active scholars are in Europe—especially the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany.

Abstract

The importance of green innovation management is growing both in practice and in academia. This paper provides a current overview of the existing body of literature in the field of green innovations, identifying the most active scholars, institutions and relevant publications. It also contributes to a clarification of the concept ‘green innovation’. The review explains that three different notions of green, eco/ecological and environmental innovation are used largely synonymously, while the notion of sustainable innovation broadens the concept and includes a social dimension. According to this review, the most active scholars are situated in E urope (especially the N etherlands, I taly and G ermany). A ranking is provided of innovation management journals by their total number of green innovation publications. The paper stimulates discussion about the adequacy of research in this subject area (managing green innovation) and the dearth of comprehensive literature reviews.