ECO-INNOVATION
Change is a phenomenon accompanying man in every aspect of his activity. Due to the constant development of all elements of human socio-economic life, change is the only constant element of our times 1 *. Changes are of particular importance in the process of running a business, because the continuous development of science,
as well as the constantly progressing globalization force entrepreneurs to constantly adapt to the changes that have occurred. However, this process does not provide the company with development, and even less a competitive advantage, which are the basis for the existence of the organization in a free market economy. Enterprise to ensure its development
and a competitive advantage must be created by reality, and one of the elements thanks to which this goal can be achieved is the implementation of innovation in every aspect
business activity.
Among the many innovations that enterprises can implement as part of their business activities, ecological innovations, the importance of which is constantly growing, deserve special attention. Environmental protection is becoming one of the main problems of the modern world, hence it is so important that all changes and novelties introduced to the market are ecological.
The ecological trend and new concepts of running a business, such as sustainable development or corporate social responsibility. Implication of ecological innovations significantly influences the image of enterprises and the products they offer, which is why eco-innovations more and more often become an important element of the enterprise development strategy 2 *.
According to OECD terminology, eco-innovation is new
be a significantly improved product, service, process,
management method, organizational structure, which
it lead to a reduction in environmental pollution in comparison
with 3 * alternatives.
Eco-innovation is therefore a marriage of innovation
with ecology is an innovation, the implementation of which reduces the degradation of the natural environment, or its complete elimination.
In the case of an enterprise, an advantage
Of course, the implementation of eco-innovation has financial aspects, primarily related to it
with reduction of production or logistics costs,
increasing market share by building an image of an environmentally friendly enterprise and reducing related costs
with environmental fees.
Enterprises can implement four basic types of eco-innovation, which are 4 *:
| process eco-innovations |
| eco-product innovations |
| marketing eco-innovations |
| organizational eco-innovation |
The most desirable eco-innovations are product and process eco-innovations, because their implementation brings the greatest benefits to both the company and the natural environment.
* 1. M. Brojak - Trzaskowska, Determinants of innovative development of enterprises on the example of selected types of services, Scientific Publishers of the University of Szczecin, Szczecin 2012, p. 7.
* 2. B. Lapreche, D. Uzunidis, Eco-Innovation, Knowledge Capital and Evolution of the Firm, The IUP Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. X Well. 3, 2012, p. 30.
* 3. Eco-Innovation In Industry Enabling Green Growth, OECD, 2009, p. 40.
* 4. Ibid, p. 41.