Abstract:
THE CALL FOR AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY MEDIUM OF TRANSFORMING
RAW MATERIALS TO TANGIBLE GOODS HAS GAINED INCREASING RECOGNITION
OWING TO THE MANNER IN WHICH MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES PROCESS
THEIR RAW MATERIALS, THEREBY ADVERSELY IMPACTING ON THE
ENVIRONMENT. HOWEVER, ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE, WHETHER
INTERNALLY OR EXTERNALLY, IS IMPERATIVE FOR ACHIEVING OPTIMAL
PERFORMANCE. THEREFORE, THIS STUDY ASSESSED THE RELATIONSHIP THAT
MAY EXIST BETWEEN ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY (ACAP), GREEN INNOVATION (GIN)
AND PERFORMANCE IN THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE FIRMS IN LAGOS STATE. THIS
IS WITH A VIEW TO PROVIDING MORE INFORMATION ON THE LEVEL OF
ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY AND GREEN INNOVATION IN THE FIRMS. A
QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED AMONG STAFF OF THE FOOD AND
BEVERAGE FIRMS. THE STUDY ADMINISTERED 368 QUESTIONNAIRES OUT OF
WHICH 282 WERE RETRIEVED FOR FURTHER ANALYSIS. BOTH DESCRIPTIVE
(MEAN FREQUENCY AND STANDARD DEVIATION) AND INFERENTIAL ANALYTIC
TOOLS/ PARTIAL LEAST SQUARE – STRUCTURAL EQUATION METHODS (SEM)
USING SMART PLS 3.2.7 STATISTICAL SOFTWARE WERE EMPLOYED. THE LEVEL
OF ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY AND GREEN INNOVATION OF THESE FIRMS WAS
ANALYSED USING MEAN RESPONSE RANKING. THE RESULT SHOWED
EXPLOITATION RANKING HIGHEST WITH 6.525, WHILE GREEN MANAGERIAL
INNOVATION RANKED HIGHEST WITH 6.388 FOR THE LEVEL OF ABSORPTIVE
CAPACITY AND GREEN INNOVATION RESPECTIVELY. ALSO, THE STUDY REVEALED THAT ORGANISATIONAL FACTOR WAS RANKED THE HIGHEST
DETERMINANT FACTOR INFLUENCING GREEN INNOVATION WITH A VALUE OF
6.271. THIS RESEARCH FURTHER SHOWS THAT REALISED ACAP HAS MORE
INFLUENCE COMPARED WITH POTENTIAL ACAP, WHILE GREEN MANAGERIAL
INNOVATION IS MORE RELEVANT IN THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE FIRMS IN LAGOS.
HOWEVER, THE HYPOTHESIS WAS TESTED WITH PLS-SEM, AND THE RESULTS
REVEALED THAT THERE IS A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACAP, GIN, AND
FIRM’S PERFORMANCE.
FURTHERMORE, THE STUDY REVEALED THAT GIN PARTIALLY MEDIATES THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACAP AND PERFORMANCE; THEREFORE, THERE IS
COMPLEMENTARY MEDIATION SINCE THE INDIRECT EFFECT, AND THE DIRECT
EFFECT ARE BOTH SIGNIFICANT AND POINT IN THE SAME DIRECTION. THESE
FINDINGS ARE GOOD REFERENCES FOR PRACTITIONERS AS THEY IDENTIFY
DEFINITE ACTIONS THAT CAN ENHANCE ACAP AND GREEN INNOVATION,
THEREBY CONTRIBUTING TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF INNOVATIVENESS AND
PERFORMANCE.
THIS RESEARCH COMPLEMENTS EARLIER STUDIES WHICH CALLED FOR THE
EXPLORATION OF THE ROLE OF ACAP AND GREEN INNOVATION ON THE
PERFORMANCE OF FIRMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. WHILE AVAILING NEW
AVENUES FOR FURTHER MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH.
