Green culture and green social responsibility as antecedents of green innovation: A conceptual framework for environmentally sensitive industrial organisations

Abstract

Green innovation has become an important organisational mechanism for reducing environmental harm, improving resource efficiency, and supporting sustainable industrial development. However, much of the existing literature has examined green innovation either as a technological outcome or as a direct predictor of environmental and organisational performance, while relatively little attention has been paid to the internal organisational antecedents that drive green innovation in environmentally sensitive industrial sectors. This paper develops a conceptual framework that positions green culture and green social responsibility as two major antecedents of green innovation. Drawing on the Natural Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities Theory, the paper argues that green culture provides the internal values, beliefs, and behavioural norms that support environmentally oriented innovation, whereas green social responsibility strengthens organisational commitment to ecological and societal expectations. Together, these two antecedents can create a favourable organisational context for developing green products, processes, and managerial practices. The paper contributes to the environmental management literature by integrating cultural and responsibility-based drivers of green innovation into a single conceptual model. It also provides practical implications for managers in industrial organisations, particularly those operating in environmentally sensitive sectors such as oil refining, petrochemicals, manufacturing, and energy-intensive industries. The paper concludes by proposing testable hypotheses for future empirical research.