Impact of perceived organizational support on green innovative behavior in small and medium-sized enterprises

The research focuses on the role of perceived organizational support in workers’ green innovative behavior in Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and explains the roles of green self-efficacy and green transformational leadership in this behavior. The article contributes to the green innovation literature by focusing on SMEs, an area under-researched despite their growing significance for sustainable development. Data were collected from 394 employees working in Chinese SMEs using a structured survey, with participants selected using purposive sampling. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed relationships, and importance-performance analysis was conducted to provide additional managerial information. The results reveal that perceived organizational support directly facilitates green innovative behavior and enhances the self-efficacy of employees to be green. Green self-efficacy, in turn, significantly promotes green innovative behavior and partially mediates the influence of perceived organizational support. Besides, green transformational leadership supports the beneficial impact of green self-efficacy on green innovative behavior. These findings demonstrate that green innovation in the workplace is fostered when supportive organizations, confident employees, and environmentally oriented leaders collaborate to advance it. The research expands knowledge of employee-based green innovation among SMEs and provides managerial advice on enhancing sustainable innovation through supportive practices and leadership development.