Bridging Corporate Social Responsibility and Green Innovation: A Structural Equation Study of Spain's Wine Industry

Introduction

Environmental experts, corporate heads, and scholars concur about the influence of corporate actions on our planet. Such activities can exacerbate global warming, elevate air pollutants, drain natural assets, and involve dangerous substances (Soceanu et al., 2021). Given this scenario, businesses ought to prioritize preserving the environment they function within.

The increasing demand for businesses to adopt ecological and societal policies has piqued the curiosity of various scholars, leading them to explore “eco-centric” topics like sustainable HR practices, environmentally-friendly supply chains, reverse logistics, and green innovations (Seman et al., 2019). This research direction recognizes that merely focusing on economic factors isn't sufficient for a competitive edge; addressing the environmental and societal repercussions of business operations is equally crucial. In this study, the emphasis is on Green Innovation Performance (GIP) as the outcome variable, aiming to assess organizational environmental outcomes based on the Green Innovations they introduce, with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as the primary influencing factor. Notably, Green Innovation is seen as a significant determinant of organizational success (Qiu et al., 2020), holding a central position in ensuring sustainable outcomes (Yusliza et al., 2020).

In the contemporary business model, CSR is viewed as a pivotal strategy that seamlessly blends economic, societal, and environmental aspects into strategic planning (Hernández et al., 2020). While past studies on CSR predominantly centered on its connection to economic outcomes (Javed et al., 2020), the rising significance of environmental factors has overshadowed the exploration of the CSR-GIP connection. This study endeavors to bridge this scholarly void by probing into the influence of CSR on GIP, positioning CSR as a driving force for GIP. Moreover, the academic realm has yet to delve into intermediary factors that might elucidate this relationship. In light of this, the current research evaluates Green Intellectual Capital (GIC) and Knowledge Management (KM) as potential intermediaries in the CSR-GIP dynamic, drawing insights from the Intellectual Capital Perspective (ICV) and the Knowledge-Centric Perspective (KBV).

This study is set within the backdrop of Spain's wine sector, recognizing its economic, societal, and ecological significance in the nation (Marco-Lajara et al., 2022a). The wine sector is grappling with escalating demands for heightened sustainability (Gilinsky et al., 2016), given the potential adverse impacts its operations can have on the environment, local communities, and the economy. Such concerns arise from the winemaking procedure, which involves various equipment, leading to emissions that contribute to fossil fuel exhaustion (Goncharuk, 2017). The industry's reliance on cleaning agents, which often contain environmentally detrimental and potentially dangerous chemicals, poses another challenge. When these substances are discarded or drained, they can exacerbate environmental harm (Benedetto, 2013). Additionally, the packaging and distribution stages, involving materials like corks, glass containers, cardboard, and paper, coupled with the resultant rise in CO2 emissions, further accentuate the environmental concerns (Bonn et al., 2020).