Green innovative behavior: impact of intrapreneurship and leadership
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1108/INMR-04-2024-0096Palabras clave:
Green innovative behaviour, Intrapreneurship, Innovative performance, Moral reflectiveness, Ambidextrous leadershipResumen
PurposeGrounded in the componential theory of creativity (CTC) and extended through the lens of the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study examines how employee intrapreneurship drives green innovative behavior (GIB) and innovative performance (IP). Specifically, it evaluates the moderating roles of individual moral reflectiveness (MR) and contextual ambidextrous leadership within Pakistan's hotel industry, a context where sustainability initiatives are still nascent and employee-driven green innovation remains largely unexplored.
Design/methodology/approachData were collected via a survey of 300 employees across 3-, 4-, and 5-star hotels in Lahore. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was conducted using Smart PLS 3.0 to analyze the data.
FindingsIntrapreneurship positively influences both GIB and IP, with GIB serving as a key mediator. Crucially, moral reflectiveness counterintuitively weakens, rather than strengthens, the positive link between intrapreneurship and GIB, uncovering a novel boundary condition. Ambidextrous leadership exhibits no significant moderating effect.
Practical implicationsThe findings offer hotel managers a clear route to unlocking employees' green innovative potential. By identifying individual factors (intrapreneurship, moral reflectiveness) and contextual factors (ambidextrous leadership) that jointly shape GIB and innovative performance, the study provides actionable levers for designing sustainability-oriented HR and leadership strategies.
Originality/valueThis study advances green organizational behavior by combining CTC and TPB to map MR as attitude, intrapreneurship as intention, and ambidextrous leadership as perceived behavioral control. By revealing the paradoxical dampening role of moral reflectiveness, it challenges conventional assumptions that moral traits universally foster eco-innovation.
Descargas
Referencias
Abbas, S. M., & Tufail, M. S. (2024). Greening the workplace: Understanding the link between organizational culture and pro-environmental behavior in Pakistan’s tourism and hospitality sector. Contemporary Issues in Social Sciences and Management Practices, 3(1), 135–152. doi: https://doi.org/10.61503/cissmp.v3i1.120.
Aboramadan, M. (2020). The effect of green HRM on employee green behaviors in higher education: The mediating mechanism of green work engagement. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 30(1), 7–23. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-05-2020-2190.
Aguinis, H., & Glavas, A. (2019). On corporate social responsibility, sensemaking, and the search for meaningfulness through work. Journal of Management, 45(3), 1057–1086. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206317691575.
Ahmad, M., Muslija, A., & Satrovic, E. (2021). Does economic prosperity lead to environmental sustainability in developing economies? Environmental Kuznets curve theory. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(18), 22588–22601. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12276-9. PubMed
Ahmad, N., Mahmood, A., Han, H., Ariza-Montes, A., Vega-Muñoz, A., Iqbal Khan, G., & Ullah, Z. (2021). Sustainability as a ‘new normal’ for modern businesses: Are SMEs of Pakistan ready to adopt it? Sustainability, 13(4), 1944. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041944.
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behvaior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t.
Ajzen, I. (2020). The theory of planned behavior: Frequently asked questions. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 2(4), 314–324. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.195.
Ali, S. S., Kaur, R., & Khan, S. (2022). Evaluating sustainability initiatives in warehouse for measuring sustainability performance: An emerging economy perspective. Annals of Operations Research, 324(1), 461–500. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-021-04454-w.
ALmasri, O., & Ahmad, A. (2020). Intrapreneurial behaviors and innovative performance: The moderating role of employees’ characteristics in commercial banks. Accounting, 6(6), 1007–1020. doi: https://doi.org/10.5267/j.ac.2020.7.018.
Alpkan, L., Bulut, C., Gunday, G., Ulusoy, G., & Kilic, K. (2010). Organizational support for intrapreneurship and its interaction with human capital to enhance innovative performance. Management Decision, 48(5), 732–755. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741011043902.
Amabile, T. M. (1988). A model of creativity and innovation in organizations. Research in Organizational Behavior, 10(1), 123–167.
Ansari, N. Y., Anjum, T., Farrukh, M., & Heidler, P. (2021). Do good, have good: A mechanism of fostering customer pro-environmental behaviors. Sustainability, 13(7), 3781. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073781.
Aquino, K., & Reed, A. II (2002). The self-importance of moral identity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(6), 1423–1440. doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1423. PubMed
Arshad, M., Abid, G., Ahmad, J., Anjum, L., & Khan, M. M. (2021). Impact of employee job attitudes on ecological green behavior in hospitality sector. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 7(1), 31. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc7010031.
Baradarani, S., & Kilic, H. (2018). Service innovation in the hotel industry: Culture, behavior, performance. The Service Industries Journal, 38(13-14), 897–924. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2017.1420172.
Begeç, S., & Arun, K. (2021). The bottleneck of intrapreneurship: Are social positions and held expectations constraints in organizations’ entrepreneur process? A conceptual view. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 13(1), 131–151. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/jeee-08-2019-0120.
Bissing-Olson, M. J., Iyer, A., Fielding, K. S., & Zacher, H. (2013). Relationships between daily affect and pro-environmental behavior at work: The moderating role of pro-environmental attitude. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(2), 156–175. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1788.
Cai, W., Yang, C., Bossink, B. A., & Fu, J. (2020). Linking leaders’ voluntary workplace green behavior and team green innovation: The mediation role of team green efficacy. Sustainability, 12(8), 3404. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083404.
Chaudhary, R. (2020). Green human resource management and employee green behavior: An empirical analysis. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(2), 630–641. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1827.
Chung, K. C. (2020). Green marketing orientation: Achieving sustainable development in green hotel management. Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, 29(6), 722–738. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2020.1693471.
Copp, D. (2001). Morality, normativity, and society. USA: Oxford University Press.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches ( (4th ed.) ). Sage.
Ding, Z., Jiang, X., Liu, Z., Long, R., Xu, Z., & Cao, Q. (2018). Factors affecting low-carbon consumption behavior of urban residents: A comprehensive review. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 132, 3–15.
Duradoni, M., & Di Fabio, A. (2019). Intrapreneurial self-capital and sustainable innovative behavior within organizations. Sustainability, 11(2), 322. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11020322.
Farid, M. B., & El-Sawalhy, H. (2016). Green human resource management in hotels: Awareness and implementation. Journal of Association of Arab Universities for Tourism and Hospitality, 13(2), 125–134. doi: https://doi.org/10.21608/jaauth.2016.49747.
Fauziah, D. N. (2017). Green practices in hotel industry: Factors influencing the implementation. Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts, 9(2), 305–316.
Gliem, J. A., & Gliem, R. R. (2003). Calculating, interpreting, and reporting Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for Likert-type scales. In Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult. Continuing, and Community Education.
Guo, Z., Yan, J., Wang, X., & Zhen, J. (2020). Ambidextrous leadership and employee work outcomes: A paradox theory perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1661. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01661. PubMed
Hair, J. F. Jr (2021). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using R: A workbook. New York: Springer International Publishing.
Heinze, K. L., & Weber, K. (2016). Toward organizational pluralism: Institutional intrapreneurship in integrative medicine. Organization Science, 27(1), 157–172. doi: https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2015.1028.
Horng, J. S., Tsai, C. Y., Yang, T. C., Liu, C. H., & Hu, D. C. (2016). Exploring the relationship between proactive personality, work environment and employee creativity among tourism and hospitality employees. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 54, 25–34. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2016.01.004.
Hughes, D. J., Lee, A., Tian, A. W., Newman, A., & Legood, A. (2018). Leadership, creativity, and innovation: A critical review and practical recommendations. The Leadership Quarterly, 29(5), 549–569. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.03.001.
Hussain, I., Mu, S., Mohiuddin, M., Danish, R., & Sair, S. (2020). Effects of sustainable brand equity and marketing innovation on market performance in hospitality industry: Mediating effects of sustainable competitive advantage. Sustainability, 12(7), 2939. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072939.
Ibarra-Cisneros, M. A., Vela-Reyna, J. B., & Hernández-Perlines, F. (2024). Green transformational leadership as a foundation for implementing green strategic orientations and the development of green innovation and green performance. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 12(4), 43–58. doi: https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2024.120403.
Imam, A., & Kim, D. Y. (2022). Ethical leadership and improved work behaviors: A moderated mediation model using prosocial silence and organizational commitment as mediators and employee engagement as moderator. Current Psychology, 42(13), 10519–10532. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02631-5.
Islam, M. F., Al Masud, A., Emon, Md., Shuvro, R. A., Jony, M. T. I., & Akter, T. (2025). Integrating green HRM for productivity and sustainability: Green innovation, engagement and pro-environmental behavior as key mediators. Future Business Journal, 11(1), 24. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-025-00433-w.
Khan, K., Gogia, E. H., Shao, Z., Rehman, M. Z., & Ullah, A. (2025). The impact of green HRM practices on green innovative work behaviour: Empirical evidence from the hospitality sector of China and Pakistan. BMC Psychology, 13(1), 96. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02417-5. PubMed
Khatab, U., Raza, S. A., Saleem, M., Sabir, S., & Mahmood, F. (2024). Green HRM and green innovations: A mediated moderation analysis. International Journal of Contemporary Business Literature, 4(1), 38–47. Available from: Link to the website
Kim, A., Kim, Y., Han, K., Jackson, S. E., & Ployhart, R. E. (2017). Multilevel influences on voluntary workplace green behavior: Individual differences, leader behavior, and coworker advocacy. Journal of Management, 43(5), 1335–1358. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206314547386.
Kohlberg, L. (1981). The philosophy of moral development: Moral stages and the idea of justice. New York: Harper and Row.
Kollmann, T., Stöckmann, C., Meves, Y., & Kensbock, J. M. (2017). When members of entrepreneurial teams differ: Linking diversity in individual-level entrepreneurial orientation to team performance. Small Business Economics, 48(4), 843–859. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-016-9818-6.
Lee, Y., & Kim, J. (2021). Cultivating employee creativity through strategic internal communication: The role of leadership, symmetry, and feedback seeking behaviors. Public Relations Review, 47(1), 101998. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2020.101998.
Liu, L., & Zhao, L. (2019). The influence of ethical leadership and green organizational identity on employees’ green innovation behavior: The moderating effect of strategic flexibility. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 237(5), 052012. doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/237/5/052012.
Lu, H., Xu, S., Zhang, C., Pi, H., Chen, S., & Wu, C. (2025). Green ambidextrous leadership configurations and employee green innovation: A cognitive-affective processing system perspective on psychological mechanisms. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 1489. doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05747-2.
Luu, T. T. (2017). Ambidextrous leadership, entrepreneurial orientation, and operational performance. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 38(2), 229–253. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj-09-2015-0191.
Martínez-Martínez, A., Navarro, J. G., García-Pérez, A., & Moreno-Ponce, A. (2019). Environmental knowledge strategy: Driving success of the hospitality industry. Management Research Review, 42(6), 662–680. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/mrr-02-2018-0091.
Meng, Y., & Zhao, C. (2018). Academic supervisor leadership and its influencing mechanism on postgraduate creativity in China. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 29, 32–44. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2018.05.006.
Meraj, R., Nasir, S., Shafqat, A., & Indrees, S. (2023). Green human resource management (GHRM) and environmental performance in Pakistani hotel industry: The role of green perceived organizational support (POS), pro-environmental behavior and green innovative work behavior (GIWB). Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 11(2), 917–932. doi: https://doi.org/10.52131/pjhss.2023.1102.0403.
Neessen, P. C., Caniëls, M. C., Vos, B., & De Jong, J. P. (2019). The intrapreneurial employee: Toward an integrated model of intrapreneurship and research agenda. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 15(2), 545–571. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-018-0552-1.
Olokundun, A. M. (2017). Intrapreneurship and innovation performance: A conceptual model. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 17(2).
Özsungur, F. (2019). Ethical leadership, intrapreneurship, service innovation performance and work engagement in chambers of commerce and industry. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 29(8), 1059–1081. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2019.1664359.
Pinchot, G. (1985). Intrapreneuring: Why you don't have to leave the corporation to become an entrepreneur. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership Historical Research Reference in Entrepreneurship.
Pirani, S. I., & Arafat, H. A. (2016). Reduction of food waste generation in the hospitality industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 132, 129–145. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.07.146.
Piwowar-Sulej, K., Iqbal, Q., Dagar, V., & Singh, S. (2025). Employees’ eco-friendly innovative behaviors: Examining the role of individual and situational factors. European Management Journal, 43(4), 676–685. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2024.04.005.
Razavi, S. H., & Ab Aziz, K. (2017). The dynamics between entrepreneurial orientation, transformational leadership, and intrapreneurial intention in Iranian R&D sector. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research, 23(5), 769–792.
Reynolds, S. J. (2008). Moral attentiveness: Who pays attention to the moral aspects of life? Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(5), 1027–1041. doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.93.5.1027. PubMed
Rezapouraghdam, H. A., Alipour, H., & Darvishmotevali, M. (2018). Employee workplace spirituality and pro-environmental behavior in the hotel industry. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 26(5), 740–758. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2017.1409229.
Rosing, K., Frese, M., & Bausch, A. (2011). Explaining the heterogeneity of the leadership-innovation relationship: Ambidextrous leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(5), 956–974. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.07.014.
Sajjad, A., Jillani, A., & Raziq, M. (2018). Sustainability in the Pakistani hotel industry: An empirical study. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 18(4), 714–727. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/cg-12-2017-0292.
Sarstedt, M. H., Hair, J. F. Jr, Nitzl, C., Ringle, C. M., & Howard, M. C. (2020). Beyond a tandem analysis of SEM and PROCESS: Use of PLS-SEM for mediation analyses. International Journal of Market Research, 62(3), 288–299. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1470785320915686.
Sarwar, U., Baig, W., Rahi, S., & Sattar, S. (2025). Fostering green behavior in the workplace: The role of ethical climate, motivation states, and environmental knowledge. Sustainability, 17(9), 4083. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su17094083.
Shao, Y., Nijstad, B. A., & Täuber, S. (2019). Creativity under workload pressure and integrative complexity: The double-edged sword of paradoxical leadership. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 155, 7–19. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.01.008.
Shin, S. J. (2003). Transformational leadership, conservation, and creativity: Evidence from Korea. Academy of Management Journal, 46(6), 703–714.
Su, T., & Wang, X. (2024). The impact of leadership on employees’ innovation behavior: Evidence from China’s energy listed companies. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1515. doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03915-4.
Taklo, S. K., & Tooranloo, H. S. (2020). Green innovation: A systematic literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 279, 122474.
Umrani, W. A., Channa, N. A., Yousaf, A., Ahmed, U., Pahi, M. H., & Ramayah, T. (2020). Greening the workforce to achieve environmental performance in hotel industry: A serial mediation model. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 44, 50–60. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2020.05.007.
Widya-Hastuti, A., Talib, N. B., Wong, K. Y., & Mardani, A. (2016). The role of intrapreneurship for sustainable innovation through process innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises: A conceptual framework. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 6(3), 83–91.
Yang, M., & Li, Z. (2023). The influence of green human resource management on employees’ green innovation behavior: The role of green organizational commitment and knowledge sharing. Heliyon, 9(11), e22161. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22161. PubMed
Yin, C. Y., Du, F., & Chen, Y. (2020). Types of green practices, hotel price image and consumers’ attitudes in China: The mediating role of consumer skepticism. Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, 29(3), 329–357. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2019.1640162.
Yousaf, H., Naseer, M., & Aslam, M. Z. (2025). Green human resource management practices to promote environmental performance in the hotel industry: The moderating role of environmental knowledge and green transformational leadership. Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences, 19(2), 249–278. doi: https://doi.org/10.64534/Comm.2025.011.
Yuriev, A., Dahmen, M., Paille, P., Boiral, O., & Guillaumie, L. (2020). Pro-e lens environmental behaviors through the lens of the theory of planned behvaior : A scoping review. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 155, 104660. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104660.
Zacher, H., Robinson, A. J., & Rosing, K. (2016). Ambidextrous leadership and employees’ self-reported innovative performance: The role of exploration and exploitation behaviors. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 50(1), 24–46. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.110.
Zacher, H., & Rosing, K. (2015). Ambidextrous leadership and team innovation. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 36(1), 54–68. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj-11-2012-0141.
Zhang, X., & Bartol, K. M. (2010). Linking empowering leadership and employee creativity: The influence of psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, and creative process engagement. Academy of Management Journal, 53(1), 107–128. doi: https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.48037118.
Descargas
Publicado
Número
Sección
Licencia
Derechos de autor 2026 Shabana Naveed, Rimsha Shafiq, Aqeel Ahmad

Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución 4.0.
• O(s) autor(es) autoriza(m) a publicação do artigo na revista;
• O(s) autor(es) garante(m) que a contribuição é original e inédita e que não está em processo de avaliação em outra(s) revista(s);
• A revista não se responsabiliza pelas opiniões, ideias e conceitos emitidos nos textos, por serem de inteira responsabilidade de seu(s) autor(es);
• É reservado aos editores o direito de proceder ajustes textuais e de adequação do artigos às normas da publicação.