Green Innovations As a Differentiation Strategy to Drive Sustainable Competitive Advantage

T.W.D.S.P. Somarathna ,Faculty of Graduate Studies, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka (Shakya.somarathna@gmail.com)

Abstract :-

Greening an organization is an emerging concept, that leads an organization to become the leader of related markets and to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Nowadays customers tend to buy more innovative green products and are more concerned about firms with innovative green processes rather than the cheap products or services as they focus on their health as well as the environmental protectionism.  The aim of this study was to discover whether the green innovations of a firm link with differentiation strategy in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Qualitative analysis was used with purposive sampling method and data was collected through interview method. Collected data was analyzed using thematic approach and case Study approach. The study revealed that green product innovation and green process innovation of a firm can be considered as differentiation strategy in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. The results also present several implications for managers and provide some suggestions for future researchers.

Keywords—Green Product Innovation, Green Process Innovations, Differentiation Strategy, Sustainable Competitive Advantage.