Eco-innovation: a knowledge management approach

Abstract

Objective: Innovative behavior of organizations has become a fundamental requirement for the current knowledge economy context. Factors such as scientific and technological progress, globalization, networks, and sustainability are integrated into the forefront of external elements that must be managed strategically and operationally. At this forefront is the circular economy, a representative of sustainable innovation that requires organizational models in which knowledge flows as an asset to generate eco-innovations. Knowledge management requires modeling exercises named knowledge management models. Knowledge management models do not intrinsically focus on knowledge (i.e., increasing knowledge among people in the organization). Instead, they affect the challenges and strategic goals, which, in this case, have an innovative profile from the “eco” approach and provide solutions to the circular economy paradigm. Methods: This article offers a clarifying approach to the role of appropriate knowledge management in developing eco-innovations that generate a specific scheme, called an “ecoinnovation pyramid.” This scheme, in turn, serves as a reference to promote eco-innovative behavior in organizations by proposing value within the parameters of the circular economy.