Strategic mapping of eco-innovations and human factors: Business projects’ success revisited

Abstract

The ongoing discussion on the firm’s competitiveness requires to focus on environmental improvements. Thus, the development of eco-innovation projects has been recognized as an essential response of the firms to the pressure to diminish the impact on nature and society. The study aims to develop an approach to evaluate human-related factors affecting success of eco-innovation projects. The application of a multi-criteria decision-making and in particular the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method lets to disclose the main human-related factors. Meanwhile, an interval type 2 fuzzy DEMATEL revealed the cause and effect relations among the human-related factors. The results demonstrate that trust is the most important phenomenon among the human-related factors linked to the success of eco-innovation projects. On the other hand, the importance of leadership is relatively weak. Thus, the results suggest that eco-innovations increase the complexity of decisions and the traditional approaches to project management appear to be irrelevant. Moreover, the study revealed that communication and trust affect other human-related factors. These results are in particular relevant for managers responsible for eco-innovation projects. Moreover, the policymakers responsible for eco-innovation programs should focus on these aspects in developing training programs.