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Hospitality is the main industry in the service sector in Spain, contributing to more than 10% of the gross domestic product and approximately 12% of all employees. Firms in this industry are beginning to adopt eco-innovations to reduce their environmental impact and optimize the use of natural resources. However, most companies do not have the necessary resources to tackle ecoinnovation on their own and need to cooperate with different agents. The purpose of this paper is to examine how open innovation activities can be a source of green innovation in the hospitality industry in Spain. This study contributes to the literature on both open innovation and eco-innovation by focusing on the relationship between a firm's green orientation and its interactions with stakeholders. We develop a model to assess how a firm's relationships with its clients, suppliers, competitors, and research institutions influence its environmental orientation. We propose that the depth and breadth of relationships with stakeholders positively influence the development of eco-innovations. We test our model with a sample of 189 firms from the Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) database. The empirical analysis reveals that the benefits derived from these relationships follow an inverted U-shaped curve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing social and political awareness of the importance of sustainable innovations. Strategic partnerships between policy makers, businesses, researchers and citizens are keys to developing, implementing and applying eco-innovation, essential for the transition to a competitive green economy. Within this innovation ecosystem, universities can play a central role in creating viable alternative models that are driven by environmental sustainability. Based on evidence from the first survey on Eco-innovation in Europe- 'The Eurobarometer 315 Survey on Attitudes of European Entrepreneurs towards Eco-Innovation', the present paper examines the impact of university collaboration on eco-innovating small firms. It also considers how technology push, demand side factors and the regulatory framework, drive eco-innovation in European SMEs. This paper has several implications for managers, as well as for policy makers. For managers, it should be stressed that collaboration with universities is essential to drive all types of eco-innovations. Our findings also suggest that national government should foster cooperation with universities following EU example (eg. European Innovation Partnership in EcoAP), as national policies based on subsidies and fiscal incentives appear to be ineffective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a growing literature on the importance of environmental activities for firms' strategies, there are still few studies aimed at analysing whether an environmental orientation has any impact on innovation performance. Firms within the chemical industry have a great concern for this subject, due to the larger impact that their decisions could have on the environment. This study focuses on the chemical industry and contributes important findings regarding the relationship between a firm's environmental orientation and its innovation performance. Through a logistic regression model our paper demonstrates the existence of this relationship and its relative importance in comparison with other strategic orientations of the firms (market and costs). The main contribution of this paper is that chemical industry firms with an environmental orientation improve their innovation performance, specifically regarding logistic systems and manufacturing processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco-innovation is defined as any form of innovation aiming at significant and demonstrable progress towards the goal o sustainable development, through reducing impacts on the environment or achieving a more efficient and responsible use o natural resources, including energy. The chemical industry is usually considered one of the most polluting industries. Ensuring safe production, transport and handling of its products, with care for the environment and in full accordance with regulations, i of key importance for the image and reputation of today's chemical industry. Most chemical companies have been developing and introducing eco-innovations in an attempt to change this negative image. Using a sample of 544 companies in the Spanish chemical industry, we study the factors that have driven these companies to move towards this type of innovation activities. Ou empirical research shows that intra-group sources of innovations, together with clients and industry associations are the main driving forces of eco-innovation in the chemical industry. Furthermore our model establishes that innovations in products services, manufacturing methods and logistical systems are positively related to the achievement of environmental objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]