Elements of the Internal Environment Innovation Culture that contribute to the adoption of eco-innovation strategies for competitiveness: analysis of industrial companies in the construction sector

Abstract

This article analyzes the elements of the innovation culture of the internal environment that can contribute to the adoption of eco-innovation strategies in the construction industry as a factor of organizational competitiveness. It is a descriptive and exploratory research, with a qualitative approach, developed in five companies, adopting the techniques of content analysis and triangulation. For the analysis of the data, the categories were defined: elements of the innovation culture of the internal environment "beliefs and values", "structure", "stimulus to innovation", "open communication"; and resulting elements "eco-innovation strategies" and "organizational competitiveness". The results point out that the cultural elements present sources that guide environmental and innovative strategies and behaviors for eco-innovation purposes, especially the "stimulus to innovation” and “structure" elements, which led to the appearance of eco-innovations. It was verified that the managers of the companies understand that the strategies of eco-innovation contribute to the organizational competitiveness, since they guarantee the predilection of the clients.