한국 서비스 기업의 환경 혁신이 매출액에 미치는 영향: 외부 지식 탐색의 조절효과

초록

This study analyzed the impact of environmental innovation on the financial perfor- mance of Korean service firms and examined the moderating effect of external knowledge search. While previous research has primarily focused on the manufacturing industry, the service sector differs in that environmental innovation can directly affect performance as perceived by customers and stakeholders. Based on environmental knowledge management, we hypothesized that environmental innovation would contribute to sales growth and, grounded in absorption capacity theory, we posited that this effect would be moderated by the level of external knowledge search. Using data from the Korean Innovation Survey in a Heckman two-stage model, we found that environmental innovation significantly increased sales revenue. Furthermore, while no moderating effect of external knowledge search was observed, the squared value of external knowledge search had a U-shaped mod erating effect. These findings extend environmental knowledge management research into the service sector, empiri- cally demonstrate the role of external knowledge search at the implementation stage, and highlight the strategic importance of knowledge search and capability building for firms and policymakers.

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