The Impact of Triple Bottom Line on Sustainable Product Innovation

Developing the pathways that lead to sustainable innovation in SMEs represents an important aspect of the business world and society. The aim of this chapter is to verify the relations and pathways that lead to sustainable product innovation performance while considering all three pillars of the triple bottom line approach. This study proposed a mixed methods approach to identify the antecedents of sustainable product innovation performance. The model was used to measure the effects of the three pillars of the triple bottom line: economic, social, and environmental developments. The model was also designed to account for the firm's type (public limited companies vs. general partnerships). The authors determined whether a firm's type moderates the effects of the three pillars. They identified alternative configurations of conditions and determined those that are likely to lead to sustainable product innovation performance. The findings show that social and environmental developments are two important antecedents for product innovation performance, and they contribute to different pathways.