Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Sustain.

Sec. Sustainable Organizations

Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frsus.2025.1531747

From Fragmented to Unified: Redefining Eco-innovation for Interdisciplinary Climate Solutions

Provisionally accepted
Boutayna  EL OUARDIBoutayna EL OUARDI*Souad  BOUNGABSouad BOUNGAB
  • École Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion de Tanger, Tangier, Morocco

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Abstract Background and significance: The concept of eco-innovation has become more significant as businesses are under increasing pressure to lessen environmental issues while preserving their competitive performance. The field has ongoing definitional fragmentation that hinders both theoretical development and practical implication, despite substantial research spanning almost three decades. Current definitions reveal operational ambiguity that offers little direction for organizational action, theoretical fragmentation across fields, and terminological misunderstanding with related concepts. Objectives: This study aims to: (1) perform a thorough, systematic review of definitions of eco-innovation from 1996-2024; (2) use linguistic analysis to examine theoretical foundations and definitional patterns; (3) identify significant gaps in current conceptualizations; and (4) suggest a unified, theoretically based definition that combines established innovation theories with useful implementation guidance. Methodology: In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, we used thorough search terms to conduct a systematic search across six databases: Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, JSTOR, EBSCO, and Google Scholar. By using stringent methods and inter-rater reliability evaluation (Cohen's Kappa>0.89), 85 identified papers satisfied the inclusion criteria. Data extraction used standardized forms that covered topics as implementation issues, theoretical frameworks, publication details, and precise definitions. The analysis integrated action verb categorization, theme analysis, temporal evolution mapping, and theoretical framework classification. Key results: Four theoretical foundations are identified: innovation systems (16%), stakeholder theory (24%), institutional theory (28%), and resource-based view (32%). Action verb analysis identifies "develop" as most frequent (67%) with very high implementation clarity, while outcome analysis shows environmental objectives dominate (89%) with strong business focus (67%) but limited social integration (34%). Three definitional types with different theoretical emphasis and practical constraints were identified: output-focused (42%), process-focused (31%), and system-focused (27%). Implications: According to the unified redefinition, eco-innovation is an organizational capability that comprises four action orientations (adopt, integrate, improve, and develop) and three different forms of innovation (management systems, outputs, and markets). Eco-oriented culture and capabilities facilitate these innovations. This approach offers useful implementation guidance along with theoretical integration that addresses disciplinary fragmentation. The new "eco-oriented capabilities" concept serves as a theoretical link between theories. It facilitates capability development planning and practical strategic focus.

Keywords: eco-innovation definition, Systematic review, sustainability innovation, eco-oriented capabilities, Climate solutions

Received: 22 Nov 2024; Accepted: 01 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 EL OUARDI and BOUNGAB. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Boutayna EL OUARDI, boutayna.elouardi@etu.uae.ac.ma

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.