The impact of participative decision-making on eco-innovation capability: the mediating role of motivational eco-innovation factors

Given the environmental impact caused by the agricultural and agri-food sectors, eco-innovation is exceptionally important in the context of food production. In this respect, this study analyses the combined effect of motivational factors, participative decision-making practices, and eco-innovation capabilities and examines the peculiarities of these effects on Tunisian agricultural and agri-food sectors. Our results reveal several findings: (1) motivational factors are positively related to participative decision-making, and eco-innovation capabilities; (2) economic and ethical motivations constitute the most critical factors for offering innovative behaviour that would enhance participative decision-making and further boost the capacity of both entrepreneurs and employees to generate eco-innovation practices; and (3) motivational factors exert a mediating role on both participative decision-making and eco-innovation capabilities. Our findings further report that enterprises could not ignore the vitality of environmental issues and motivational eco-innovation factors in order to attain sustained economic and environmental performance. Our study highlights the critical role played by participative decision-making in the process of shaping a motivational and innovative work environment, while the enterprise’s goals were not only the economic performance but also to attach great importance to achieving the environmental targets. Our study, therefore, supports that the combined impacts of these relevant constructs might overcome environmental, economic, and institutional barriers and generate further a better society that is sustainable in the long term.