Abstract :

Sustainability is a strategic priority for businesses. This study examines how green vertical leadership influences green project performance, with green proactive and reactive innovation as mediators. Green vertical leadership, marked by centralized decision-making and strategic oversight, enhances compliance-driven sustainability and structured innovation. Results show that green vertical leadership fosters both proactive and reactive innovation, improving environmental efficiency and project outcomes. Green proactive innovation drives long-term sustainability, while green reactive innovation ensures regulatory adherence. Both innovation types link leadership to green project success. This study extends stewardship and organizational learning theories, highlighting leadership’s role in sustainability-driven innovation. It offers insights for business leaders and policymakers, emphasizing the need to balance strategic control with innovation for effective sustainability management.

---

Keywords :

environmental compliance, green project performance, Green vertical leadership, proactive innovation, reactive innovation, stewardship theory., sustainability.

---

References :

1. Adewale, T. (2024). The Influence of Leadership Styles on Green Innovation in Manufacturing Firms.
2. Ahmed, F., Faraz, N. A., Xiong, Z., & Ma, Y. (2024). The multilevel interplay of responsible leadership with leader identification and autonomous motivation to cultivate voluntary green behavior. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 41(4), 1861-1889.
3. Akhtar, S., Li, C., Sohu, J. M., Rasool, Y., Hassan, M. I. U., & Bilal, M. (2024). Unlocking green innovation and environmental performance: the mediated moderation of green absorptive capacity and green innovation climate. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 31(3), 4547-4562.
4. Altaf, S., Faraz, R. M., & Ahmed, S. (2016). Impact of green brand awareness and brand credibility on consumer green purchasing decision with mediating role of brand image and moderating role of Social Media Marketing.
5. Ateeq, A., & Ibrahim, S. B. (2024). Advancing sustainability in industry: strategies for integrating eco-friendly practices into corporate operations. Kurdish Stud, 12(2), 5564-5570.
6. Baah, C., Agyabeng-Mensah, Y., Afum, E., & Mncwango, M. S. (2021). Do green legitimacy and regulatory stakeholder demands stimulate corporate social and environmental responsibilities, environmental and financial performance? Evidence from an emerging economy. Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, 32(4), 787-803.
7. Boeske, J. (2023). Leadership towards sustainability: a review of sustainable, sustainability, and environmental leadership. Sustainability, 15(16), 12626.
8. Butt, R. S., Altaf, S., Chohan, I. M., & Ashraf, S. F. (2019). Analyzing the role of quality of work life and happiness at work on employees’ job satisfaction with the moderation of job stress, empirical research of Jiangsu University. International journal of scientific and technology research, 8(10), 1905-1915.
9. Caiado, R. G. G., Scavarda, L. F., Vidal, G., de Mattos Nascimento, D. L., & Garza-Reyes, J. A. (2023). A taxonomy of critical factors towards sustainable operations and supply chain management 4.0 in developing countries. Operations Management Research, 1-24.
10. Chan, R. Y., Lai, J. W., & Kim, N. (2022). Strategic motives and performance implications of proactive versus reactive environmental strategies in corporate sustainable development. Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(5), 2127-2142.
11. Chen, Y.-S., Chang, T.-W., Lin, C.-Y., Lai, P.-Y., & Wang, K.-H. (2016). The influence of proactive green innovation and reactive green innovation on green product development performance: The mediation role of green creativity. Sustainability, 8(10), 966.
12. Doh, J. P., & Quigley, N. R. (2014). Responsible leadership and stakeholder management: Influence pathways and organizational outcomes. Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(3), 255-274.
13. Efunniyi, C. P., Abhulimen, A. O., Obiki-Osafiele, A. N., Osundare, O. S., Agu, E. E., & Adeniran, I. A. (2024). Strengthening corporate governance and financial compliance: Enhancing accountability and transparency. Finance & Accounting Research Journal, 6(8), 1597-1616.
14. Fok, L., Morgan, Y.-C., Zee, S., & Mock, V. E. (2023). The impact of organizational culture and total quality management on the relationship between green practices and sustainability performance. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 40(6), 1564-1586.
15. Fricker, R. D. (2008). Sampling methods for web and e-mail surveys. The SAGE handbook of online research methods. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
16. Gabriel, A. S., Arena Jr, D. F., Calderwood, C., Campbell, J. T., Chawla, N., Corwin, E. S., Ezerins, M. E., Jones, K. P., Klotz, A. C., & Larson, J. D. (2022). Building thriving workforces from the top down: A call and research agenda for organizations to proactively support employee well-being. Research in personnel and human resources management, 205-272.
17. Gutterman, A. S. (2024). Strategic Planning for Sustainability: A Guide for Sustainable Entrepreneurs. Available at SSRN.
18. He, J., & van de Vijver, F. (2012). Bias and equivalence in cross-cultural research. Online readings in psychology and culture, 2(2), 8.
19. He, S., Zhao, W., Li, J., Liu, J., & Wei, Y. (2023). How environmental leadership shapes green innovation performance: A resource-based view. Heliyon, 9(7).
20. Holtom, B., Baruch, Y., Aguinis, H., & A Ballinger, G. (2022). Survey response rates: Trends and a validity assessment framework. Human relations, 75(8), 1560-1584.
21. Jayaraman, K., Jayashree, S., & Dorasamy, M. (2023). The effects of green innovations in organizations: influence of stakeholders. Sustainability, 15(2), 1133.
22. Jayashree, P., El Barachi, M., & Hamza, F. (2022). Practice of sustainability leadership: A multi-stakeholder inclusive framework. Sustainability, 14(10), 6346.
23. Jiang, Q., Li, Z., Qu, S., Cui, Y., Zhang, H., & Xu, Z. (2022). High-resolution map of China’s sustainability. Resources, conservation and recycling, 178, 106092.
24. Le, T. T., Tran, P. Q., Lam, N. P., Tra, M. N. L., & Uyen, P. H. P. (2024). Corporate social responsibility, green innovation, environment strategy and corporate sustainable development. Operations Management Research, 17(1), 114-134.
25. Lear, L. W. (2012). The relationship between strategic leadership and strategic alignment in high-performing companies in South Africa. University of South Africa.
26. Lv, W.-D., Tian, D., Wei, Y., & Xi, R.-X. (2018). Innovation resilience: A new approach for managing uncertainties concerned with sustainable innovation. Sustainability, 10(10), 3641.
27. Naveed, H. M., Ali, S., Hongxing, Y., Altaf, S., & Sohu, J. M. (2020). The Impact of corporate governance on profitability of conventional banks operating in Pakistan. Quantitative Economics and Management Studies, 1(4), 260-267.
28. Odeyemi, O., Usman, F. O., Mhlongo, N. Z., Elufioye, O. A., & Ike, C. U. (2024). Sustainable entrepreneurship: A review of green business practices and environmental impact. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 21(2), 346-358.
29. Podsakoff, P. M., Podsakoff, N. P., Williams, L. J., Huang, C., & Yang, J. (2024). Common method bias: It’s bad, it’s complex, it’s widespread, and it’s not easy to fix. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 11(1), 17-61.
30. Ramanathan, R., He, Q., Black, A., Ghobadian, A., & Gallear, D. (2017). Environmental regulations, innovation and firm performance: A revisit of the Porter hypothesis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 155, 79-92.
31. Reed, M. S. (2008). Stakeholder participation for environmental management: a literature review. Biological conservation, 141(10), 2417-2431.
32. Shahab, Y., Ntim, C. G., Chen, Y., Ullah, F., Li, H. X., & Ye, Z. (2020). Chief executive officer attributes, sustainable performance, environmental performance, and environmental reporting: New insights from upper echelons perspective. Business Strategy and the Environment, 29(1), 1-16.
33. Shrivastava, P. (2018). Environmental technologies and competitive advantage. In Business Ethics and Strategy, Volumes I and II (pp. 317-334). Routledge.
34. Singh, S. K., Del Giudice, M., Chiappetta Jabbour, C. J., Latan, H., & Sohal, A. S. (2022). Stakeholder pressure, green innovation, and performance in small and medium‐sized enterprises: The role of green dynamic capabilities. Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(1), 500-514.
35. Teeter, P., & Sandberg, J. (2017). Constraining or enabling green capability development? How policy uncertainty affects organizational responses to flexible environmental regulations. British Journal of Management, 28(4), 649-665.
36. Voegtlin, C., Scherer, A. G., Stahl, G. K., & Hawn, O. (2022). Grand societal challenges and responsible innovation. Journal of Management Studies, 59(1), 1-28.
37. Yuan, B., & Cao, X. (2022). Do corporate social responsibility practices contribute to green innovation? The mediating role of green dynamic capability. Technology in Society, 68, 101868.
38. Zhong, J., Shao, X., Xiao, H., Yang, R., & An, X. (2025). The research on the green leadership: A systematic review and theoretical framework. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 27(1), 377-408.