ABSTRACT
This study investigated the effect of ecopreneurship practices on innovative performances of selected agro-allied businesses in Nigeria. The researcher adopted survey design. Data were collected by structured questionnaire in Five Point Likert Scale format. The source of data was through primary source. The target population of the study comprised of 1584 owners/managers of all agro-allied businesses in North-central, Nigeria. Sample size of 320 was derived from the population with the application of Taro Yemane’s formula for finite population while Bowley’s proportional allocation method was adopted to determine the allocation of questionnaire to each organization. A Cronbach Alpha method was used to determine the reliability of questionnaire which gave a reliability coefficient result of .74. Five hypotheses were formulated and tested through Ordinary Least Square Regression and Z-test at .05 level of significance. The findings revealed that green agricultural products, environmental sustainability, Creativity and environmental innovation, Ecosystem control, ecopreneurial practices all have significant effect on the continued survival of agro-allied businesses in Nigeria. The study therefore concluded that despite the changes in legislation and regulations to protect the environment, Nigeria and various other countries are still facing many environmental problems, e.g., climate change, population growth, overflowing landfills, water scarcity, fuel shortages, and water and air pollution. If we are to solve these problems, the study concluded that ecopreneurship is a major part of the answer. The study recommended that the Nigeria government could do much to strengthen external forces, especially with respect to establishing national standards for the quality of environment and the implementation of these regulations. Further, ecopreneurs are useful agent in the phasing-out of products and processes that are known to contribute to global warming and ozone depletion.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title
page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Acknowledgments iv
Table
of Contents vii
List
of Tables x
List
of Figures xiii
Abstract xiv
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
to the Study 1
1.2 Statement
of the Problem 6
1.3 Objectives
of the Study 7
1.4 Research Questions 8
1.5 Research
Hypotheses 8
1.6 Significance
of the Study 9
1.7 Scope of the Study 10
1.8 Operational Definition
of Terms 11
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW
OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Conceptual
Framework 13
2.1.1 Ecopreneurship 13
2.1.1.1 Typologies of ecopreneurs 14
2.1.2 Business reasons for
ecopreneurship 17
2.1.3 Evolution and
growth of ecopreneurship 18
2.1.4 Harnessing innovative potential
of ecopreneurs 19
2.1.5 Assessing
ecopreneurship in the developing economy 25
2.1.6 Global trends: the context of ecopreneurship 28
2.1.7 Framework
for assessing key drivers of ecopreneurship 31
2.1.8 Ecopreneurship
and innovative performance: the nexus 33
2.1.9 Components of ecopreneurship for achieving performance 37
2.1.10 Green
products 42
2.1.10.1 Characteristics
of green products 43
2.1.10.2 Green
marketing and management 43
2.1.10.3 Need for
green management 44
2.1.11 Environmental
sustainability 46
2.1.12 Eco
activities and practices on the environment 46
2.1.13 Business
survival 48
2.1.14 Market share index 48
2.1.15 Corporate image/reputation building 49
2.1.16 Profitability of the firm 50
2.1.17 Innovation 51
2.1.17.1 Classification
of innovation 53
2.1.17.2 Sources
of innovation 60
2.1.18 Competitive
advantage 62
2.1.18.1 Time 65
2.1.18.2 Quality 65
2.1.18.3 Cost 66
2.1.18.4 Flexibility 66
2.1.19 Innovation
and competitive advantage factor 67
2.1.20 Business
growth 68
2.1.20.1 Growth
determinants 70
2.1.21 Business
Opportunities Dimensions 75
2.1.21.1 Business opportunities as a process 77
2.1.22 Opportunity evaluation by
small-medium enterprises 78
2.1.23 Market
opportunity analysis (MOA) 78
2.1.24 Achieving
productivity 81
2.1.25 Measuring inputs and outputs 82
2.2 Theoretical
Framework 84
2.3 Empirical
Review 88
2.4 Summary
of Review of Related Literature 93
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1
Research
Design 95
3.2
Area of the Study 95
3.3
Population for
the Study 96
3.4
Sample
and Sampling Techniques 96
3.4.1 Sample size
determination 96
3.4.2 Sampling
techniques 99
3.5
Instrument
for Data Collection 99
3.6 Validation
of the Instrument 100
3.7 Reliability
of the Instrument 100
3.8 Method
of Data Collection 101
3.8.1 Primary
data 101
3.8.2 Secondary
data 101
3.9 Data
Analysis Techniques 101
3.9.1 Model
specification 102
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Introduction 105
4.2 Respondents
Opinion to the Research Questions 105
4.3 Test of
Hypotheses
108
4.4 Summary of
findings 158
4.5 Discussion
of Findings
158
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary 163
5.2 Conclusion 164
5.3 Recommendations 165
5.4 Suggestions for Further
Research 166
5.5 Limitations of the Study 167
5.6 Contributions to Knowledge 167
REFERENCES 169
APPENDICES 180
LIST OF
TABLES
Page
1. Different
types of ecopreneurs 15
4.1.1 Questionnaire
distribution and responses 111
4.1.2 On age
distribution of the respondents 112
4.1.3 On sex distribution of the
respondents 112
4.1.4 On level of management of the
respondents 113
4.1.5 On marital status distribution
of the respondents 113
4.1.6 On religion
distribution of the respondents 114
4.1.7 On
distribution of the respondents on number of years 114
4.2.1 The
utilization of green product will have a positive impact
socially
on the successful operations of your agro-allied firm 115
4.2.2 The
utilization of green product will have a favorable
environmental
impact on the successful operations of your 116
4.2.3 Adopting sustainable packaging by
agro firms will be
environmentally
preferable to other products 117
4.2.4 Automatic discard packaging will
stimulate survival for agro-
based organization 118
4.2.5 Recycle goods which are the aftermath of green product will build
more profits for
agro-firm 119
4.2.6 Business practices such as
eliminating production waste impact
on business continuity
of your firm 120
4.2.7 Pollution control and energy
costs will affect positively on the
environmental
sustainability of firms 121
4.2.8 Environmentally friendly
practices by your firm will enhance your
corporate reputation and
business survival in the marketplace 122
4.2.9 Clean environment will improve
the overall well-being of Nigeria
agro allied business 125
4.2.10 Habitable environment would
improve the overall well-being of
Nigeria agro business 126
4.2.11 Being environmentally friendly
involves serious revolution that
enhanced
agro-organizations 127
4.2.12 Proper packaged goods build social
marketing support 128
4.2.13 The general enterprise approaches
will affect the growth of
your firm 129
4.2.14 Using eco-initiative operations
process will affect the growth of
your firm 130
4.2.15 Eco-innovation proactive measure
will build Nigerian agro-based
business 131
4.2.16 Climate change will stimulate
Nigerian agro-based business 132
4.2.17 The
success of your firm in the Nigerian environment will depend
on
the adaptability of its product program 136
4.2.18 Operations and service excellence
promote improved productivity
in the Nigeria’s
business environment 137
4.2.19 Nigeria’s
agro allied business firms can stimulate customer loyalty
and
patronage over rival firms by introducing innovative products 138
4.2.20 Agro-business firms can enjoy
sustainable advantage if they have
environmentally safe
offers. 139
4.2.21 Innovative offers can lead to the
mitigation of an environmental
problems in the Nigerian
competitive markets. 140
4.2.22 Ecopreneur with knowledge about
ecological creativity
conditions will gain
considerable advantage 141
4.2.23 By employing environmentally
superior, more efficient,
technology in
production, agro-firms enjoys increased
operational performance 142
4.2.24 New
invention of products that have social marketing concerns
will enhance your firms
increased productivity 143
4.2.25 By
controlling the ecosystems, ecoprenurs enjoy more
opportunities
in the agro-allied business in Nigeria 146
4.2.26 The control of ecosystem gives
ecopreneur ability to maximize
full operational activities 141
4.2.27 Business of agro allied ventures
are enhanced when theirs is more
control of the happening in the ecosystems. 148
4.2.28 There
are many business opportunities to exploit for ecopreneurs
than
when they are able to manage the ecological issues
surrounding
their operational activities 149
4.2.29 Enjoying stellar performance in
the Nigeria enterprising are best
actualized through
proper management of environmental and
ecological issues 150
4.2.30 Sustainable advantage in a highly
competitive agro-business
market place can be
achieved through eco-innovation practices 153
4.2.31 Competitive advantage in a highly
competitive agro-business
market place can be
achieved through eco-innovation practices 154
4.2.32 Invention of agricultural products
gives competitive edge to the
ecopreneurs 155
4.2.33 Introducing environmentally safe
and friendly offer gives
competitive edge to the
ecopreneurs 156
4.2.34 Eco-creativity improves the competitive
well-being of the
agro-allied
organizations 157
4.2.35 Eco-invention of new activities
will enhance the agro-firm
over other entrepreneurs
158
4.2.36 Partaking in green marketing
promotes edge for agro-allied
companies in Nigeria 159
4.2.37 The best tactics for building a
large market share than the rival is
through marriage of
practices and system of ecological business
concerns
160
4.2.38 Green management practices of
ecopreneurship are the only way
that agro-business firms
can stimulate advantage over the rival
firms in a turbulent
environment. 161
4.3.1a:
One-Sample Statistics 163
4.3.1b: One-Sample Z-Test 164
4.3.2a: Model Summary 165
4.3.2b: ANOVAb 166
4.3.2c: Coefficientsa 167
4.3.3a: One-Sample Statistics 168
4.3.3b: One-Sample Z-Test 169
4.3.4a: One-Sample Statistics 170
4.3.4b: One-Sample Z-Test 173
4.3.5a: Model Summary 175
4.3.5b: ANOVAb 177
4.3.5c: Coefficientsa 179
LIST OF
FIGURES
Page
1. Forces of change and key drivers of ecopreneurship 32
2. Framework for assessing the key drivers
of ecopreneurship 33
3. Framing
ecopreneurship 35
4. Innovation types 56
5. Technological knowledge 58
6 Relationship
between innovation and competitive advantage 68
7. Strategy
that moves away from current products and current markets 80
8. The market opportunity
analysis framework. reprinted from
woodruff and gardial 83
9. Technology
and social theory 92
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1.
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Environmental degradation is perhaps
the most prominent global issue of the 21st century. Academics, policymakers,
non-governmental agencies and governments are all concerned about the
increasing levels of land degradation, soil erosion,
deforestation, and industrial toxins (Volery, 2012). In addition, there are
very serious concerns about the negative consequences of ozone
depletion, climate change, nuclear radiation, and the destruction of
biodiversity (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2007;
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 2004, World Resources Institute,
2004). A recent joint report by the World Resources Institute, the World Bank,
and the United Nations show the diminishing capacity of five of earth’s most
critical ecosystems. In a market system, sustainable development requires
sustainable innovations and entrepreneurs are those who can achieve
environmental goals with superior innovations that are successful in the
marketplace. Market innovations that drive sustainable development do not occur
by accident; they have to be created by leaders who put them into the core of
their business activities. Actors and companies making environmental progress
in their core business may be called ‘ecopreneurs’. They generate new products,
services, techniques and organizational modes that substantially reduce
environmental impacts and increase the quality of life.
Joseph Schumpeter (1934) referred to
such entrepreneurial activities as ‘creative destruction’. Ecopreneurs destroy
existing conventional production methods, products, market structures and
consumption patterns and replace them with superior environmental products and
services. They create the market dynamics of environmental progress. Economics
and management theory neglected the phenomenon of entrepreneurship for a long
time. So did the environmental management literature. However, over the past
couple of years, more and more authors have started to deal with
entrepreneurship, following from the work of Schumpeter (1934) and Kirzner
(1973). The word ‘entrepreneur’ derives from French and can be taken to mean
‘taking the initiative to bridge’. An entrepreneur is a catalyst who brings
together money, people, ideas and resources. Whereas all entrepreneurs deal
with bridging activities between suppliers and customers to create and change
markets, ecopreneurs differ from conventional entrepreneurs in that they also
build bridges between environmental progress and market success.
Entrepreneurship can describe various phenomena (Lambing & Kuehl,2007) Many
authors concentrate on the process of a start-up company (Bennett, 1991; Ripsas,
1997). In this view entrepreneurs are actors opening a new company and
entrepreneurship is the process of creating and establishing a new company. Another
aspect of entrepreneurship is that of striving for growth (Kyrö, 2011; Timmons,2006).
Entrepreneurs are viewed as actors who enlarge companies and expand businesses.
Entrepreneurship has also been interpreted as a social movement or some other
kind of environmental grass-root movement (Pastakia, 2008). From this
perspective, entrepreneurs are actors who change existing consumption and
production patterns on the basis of individual initiatives. Entrepreneurs’
companies are sometimes distinguished from traditional companies by their
capability to innovate and to create competitive advantage (Risker,2008;
Schumpeter, 1934; Staber,2007; Wiklund,2009).
The term ‘ecopreneurship’ is a
combination of two words, ‘ecological’ (‘eco’) and ‘entrepreneurship’.
Ecopreneurship can thus be roughly defined as ‘entrepreneurship through an
environmental lens’. Ecopreneurship is characterized by some fundamental
aspects of entrepreneurial activities that are oriented less towards management
systems or technical procedures and focused more on the personal initiative and
skills of the entrepreneurial person or team to realize market success with
environmental innovations. After a first wave of literature, beginning in the
1990s, only recently have some authors started to deal in more detail with
environmentally oriented entrepreneurship (Anderson & Leal,2007; Bennett,2011;
Berle,2001; Blue,2010; Isaak,2008; Keogh & Polonsky,20088; Kyrö, 2011; Larson,
2010; Lober,2008; Pastakia,2008; Schaltegger & Petersen, 2011; Staber,2007;
Wiklund,2009). Ecopreneurs show personal
mastery (Senge,2006) and consider their professional life as a creative act.
Differences between personal goals and the perceived reality are taken as a
challenge and not as a problem (Senge, 2006). Ecopreneurs influence their
company substantially with their personal goals and preferences in a way that
these are reflected in the company’s goals. This is more often and to a larger
extent the case with start-up companies and small companies than with larger
enterprises. Whereas environmental managers can leave a company without the
firm losing substantial character, ecopreneurs constitute and shape the ‘face’
of their company. Because of the strong influence of the personality of the
company leader (or leaders) on company goals, ecopreneurship and the status of
an ecopreneur can also be important to the whole company. As a consequence,
ecopreneurship—defined in a narrow sense—deals with a start-up of a very
innovative company supplying environmental products and services (Ripsas,
1997).
However, ecopreneurs can also be seen
in established firms, as the process of creating substantial market success
with environmental products and services (e.g. in the process of building up
profit centers’, spin-offs and so on). Defined more widely, ecopreneurship can
thus be described as an innovative, market-oriented and personality-driven form
of value creation through environmental innovations and products exceeding the
start-up phase of a company (Pinchot, 1988), ecopreneurship is thus
distinguished from other forms of corporate environmental development by the
company’s vivid commitment to environmental progress and its strong desire for
business growth. Companies contribute most to the overall environmental
progress of an economy and society if their core business deals with
environmental solutions and environmentally superior products and if their
innovations substantially influence the mass market. This is the main thesis
for the empirical investigation, outlined in the penultimate section of this
study and the basis for the definition of what is called ecopreneurship.
Technology innovations – big data,
business analytics, business collaboration, cloud computing, mobile technology
and social media – can enable new computing methods for the lines of business
and IT in any industry as they strive to unlock full value from people,
process, information and technology investments. Innovation process is working
and cranking out the new products that need to grow the business. But the
reality is that over half of the companies out there are dissatisfied with
their innovation.
Often, the response is to install new
product development processes hoping to see big gains. But the result is usually
just bureaucracy, more overhead, and frustration leading to a process that
entrepreneurs are constantly searching for a way around. The goal of any
innovation process must be to generate more money in the future – more money
than the operations would generate without new products and services.
Traditionally, efforts to address
this problem have focused on how and why existing firms can become greener
(Cohen & Winn, 2007; Hart &Milstein, 2003; Porter & van der Linde, 2005;
Reinhart, 2010; York & Venkataraman, 2010). According to York and
Venkataraman (2010) these efforts have not led to solving our environmental
problems. Schaper (2012) suggested that it is now time to pay attention to the
role that entrepreneurs can play in solving environmental problems. Entrepreneurs can contribute to solving
environmental problems by creating new, more environmentally sustainable
products and services (Cohen & Winn, 2007; Dean & McMullen, 2007; York
& Venkataraman, 2010). According to Haal, Deneke and Lenox’s (2010) panacea
hypothesis, entrepreneurship may be the solution to many of our social and
environmental problems and could be the action needed to put us on the path to
a more sustainable future (Brown, 2006; Brugmann & Prahalad, 2007). Cohen
and Winn (2007) supported the need for entrepreneurial action to solve our
environmental problems and agreed that “the real gains will only be made by
harnessing the innovative potential of entrepreneurs who will develop the
innovative business solutions to deal with the environmental challenges.
For a company to have a positive
environmental influence it must make a real and substantial contribution to
environmental progress. A real improvement can be created only if the
production processes, products and services are environmentally superior. A
substantial contribution requires that the company exert significant market
influence by gaining a large market share or by influencing competitors and
other market actors (such as suppliers) to adopt superior environmental
solutions.
Ecopreneurs run companies that
fulfill both requirements. Ideally, ecopreneurship pulls the whole market
towards more environmental progress. Ecopreneurs strive for business success
through environmental solutions for the mass market. To measure how well a
company has done, the dimensions of ecopreneurship can be further subdivided.
The priority of environmental goal srange from low priority (environmental
protection is regarded as a trustee duty), to medium priority (environmental
issues are seen as supplemental to conventional business issues) and high
priority (environmental issues are regarded as an integral part of core
business activities). The market effect of the company and its businesses can
be small (i.e. the alternative scene), medium (i.e. the successful occupation
of an eco-niche) or large (i.e. through a strong influence on the mass market).
Much of the work that has been done
to date on ecopreneurship and environmental issues has largely taken the form
of anecdotal reports and case study analysis. Large sample studies are needed
to demonstrate how ecopreneurship may or may not enhance the innovative ability
and performance of organizations. The present study aims to bridge the gap by
examining the implications of ecopreneurship activities in sustaining
innovative performance in a sample of selected agro-allied businesses in
Nigeria.
1.2 STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
The business activities of
agro-allied businesses in Nigeria are not without some inhibiting problems
emanating from their various environmental factors such as land degradation,
soil erosion, deforestation, industrial toxins, ozone depletion, climate
change, nuclear radiation, and the destruction of biodiversity. Today, these
problems are posing serious challenges to their operational capabilities,
survival and performances. A cursory analysis of some of these problems
prompted the crucial need for embarking on this proposed study. The environment
factors in the agro-allied industry in Nigeria tend to be harsh on indigenous
firms and their operational activities nowadays. This has brought such
consequences as low productivity, increasing risks, low profitability, and
tensed competition, heavy investment on equipment, increased operational cost
and high rate of business failures with many other threats.
In Nigeria, many local agric-businesses
and small and medium scale enterprises have failed to fully imbibe the spirit
of ecopreneurship in order to shun out those products that will be
environmentally friendly and socially responsible. Only multinational
enterprises have put this issue into concern in their want satisfying
operations. Most agriculture related organizations complaint on lack of
realistic estimates on how to successfully implement eco-practices. Market systems particularly in the area of
agricultural related business have adversely affected the environment by
failing to deal with negative environmental externalities and undervaluing
natural resources, leading to their over-exploitation and depletion.
Governments have sought to deal with the problem through a mix of
command-and-control and market-based instruments, with limited success. One of
the most potent alternatives for dealing with such market failures is
ecopreneurship, which refers to a process by which entrepreneurs introduce
eco-friendly (or relatively eco-friendlier) products and process into the market
place. It is in the light of these problems that this work seeks
to examine ecopreneurship practices as a determinant of innovative performance
of agric-allied businesses in Nigeria.
1.3
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objective of this study was
to evaluate the effect of ecopreneurship practices on innovative performances
of selected agro-allied businesses in north central Nigeria. Specifically, the
study sought to:
i.
examine the effect of green
agricultural products on the continued survival of agro-allied businesses in Nigeria;
ii.
assess the effect of
environmental sustainability on agricultural business growth;
iii.
determine the effect of
creativity and environmental innovation on the productivity of agro-allied
businesses in Nigeria;
iv.
assess the effect of ecosystem control on the capacity utilization of
agro-allied businesses in Nigeria,
v.
investigate the influence
of ecopreneurial practices on the competitive advantage of agro-allied
businesses in Nigeria.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The
following research questions guided the study
i.
What effect would green
agricultural products have on the continued survival of agro-allied businesses
in Nigeria?
ii.
What influence will environmental
sustainability have on agricultural business growth?
iii.
What effect would
creativity and innovation have on the productivity of agro-allied businesses in
Nigeria?
iv.
What effect would
ecosystem control have on the capacity utilization of agro-allied businesses in
Nigeria?
v.
How will ecopreneurial
practices influence the competitive advantage of agro-allied businesses in
Nigeria?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
In line with the research questions,
the following hypotheses were formulated for the study:
HO1: Green
agricultural products would have no effect on the continued survival of
agro-allied businesses in Nigeria
HO2: Environmental
sustainability would not affect the agricultural business growth in Nigeria
HO3: Creativity
and innovation cannot have any effect on the productivity of agro-allied
businesses in Nigeria
HO4: Ecosystem
control would have no effect on the capacity utilization of agro-allied
businesses in Nigeria
HO5: Ecopreneurial
practices would have negative influence on the competitive advantage of
agro-allied businesses in Nigeria
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Generally, the
significant of this study is pivotal to contributing to all human endeavours,
in the following ways:
1.
To the academia: Academically it will be used to educate, inform and
persuade all the experts and entrepreneurial management professionals in areas
relating environmental issues and eco-practices.
2.
To the
researchers: Who are the
citadel of knowledge to proffer lasting solutions through research and development
that will serve as majors and make a long-lasting impact on people and the
countries in which they live positively and this research will also help other
researchers to carry out further research work.
3.
To government:
Since they are saddle with
regulatory role, this study will help them to redirect their attention to
formulating polices that will compel entrepreneurs to conclude ecopreneurial practices
into their core business activities
4.
To non-governmental organisation: This group of people are known for their advocative
activities, the knowledge gained from this study will guard them in their
campaign for a safer environment.
1.7 SCOPE
OF THE STUDY
The study focused on the effects of
ecopreneurship practices on innovative performances of selected indigenous
agro-allied business in Nigeria. The study involved all the indigenous registered
agro-allied companies in the North Central states of Nigeria.
The study focused it interest on how
ecopreneurship can be managed for innovative performances among selected
indigenous agro-allied businesses in North Central Nigeria. The North central part Nigeria comprises six states:
Kwara, Niger, Kogi, Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue, and the Federal Capital Territory
(Abuja). It is mainly the home of the different tribes in Nigeria, speaking
different dialects of language even within the same state. There is a high
degree of socio-cultural heterogeneity in the study area. The inhabitants of
this area who are mixtures of Hausa, Fulani, Idoma, Nupe, Tiv, Tapa, Yorubas,
Igala etc and the people are known for their hard work and economic prowess,
among other qualities. The people engage in different forms of economic
activities including agro-allied business enterprises. The weather conditions
of the region vary between the two distinct seasons in Nigeria: the rainy season (March - October) and the dry season
(November - February). The rainy season brings heavy rainfall while the dry
season brings the Harmattan dust. Cold
dry winds from the northern deserts blow into the southern regions around this
time.
This research employed survey method to
evaluate the effect of ecopreneurship on innovative performances of selected
agro-allied businesses in North Central Nigeria. A purposive sampling method was
used in drawing the sample size and this involved choosing the well-known
highly performing agro-allied firms in the
region. The sample sizes were selected from their respective
population group using convenience sampling technique for all of them and a
well-structured questionnaire was used for the data collection. The wordings of
the questionnaire were made simple enough to aid easy understanding for the
respondents
1.8. OPERATIONAL
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Certain terminologies are used in
this work and are operationally defined below within the context of how they
are used for a better reading and general comprehension.
i.
Environmentally
friendly, Eco-friendly: these
two terms are used interchangeably throughout the dissertation. They denominate
companies, processes, products etc., either with a lower environmental impact
than usual, or with a positive environmental impact.
ii.
Environmental
Progress: is
used in this dissertation, to denominate the change towards more
environmentally friendly practices.
iii.
Environmental
Performance: of
an organization, especially companies. Denominates the idea of “how much does a
company reduce its environmental impact”. Good environmental performance means
low environmental impact, or high environmental impact reduction.
iv.
Environmental
impact: although
both positive and negative environmental impact can occur, in this dissertation,
the term environmental impact or simply impact are used to denominate negative
environmental impact. Negative environmental impact means a degradation of the
natural environment.
v.
Ecopreneurship
Concepts: is
used in this dissertation to refer to the three concepts of eco-innovation,
eco-opportunity and eco-commitment. The three concepts are also called sub
concepts of ecoprenuership, constituting concepts of ecopreneurship and ecopreneurship
factors.
vi.
Ecopreneurial
Company: is
a company in which the three ecopreneurship concepts manifest.
vii.
Green
Company: refers
to any company that reduces the environmental impact of its business
operations.
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