Barriers to Eco-innovation : A Qualitative Study on Large Manufacturing Companies

Abstract: Over the last decades the concept of eco-innovation has increased its relevance among academics, practitioners and policy makers. The majority of prior literature has concerned eco-innovations and their drivers. Research concerning the barriers to eco-innovation is however scarce, especially among large companies. The purpose with this thesis is therefore to extract further information regarding the field of the barriers to eco-innovation. The aim is to contribute with enhanced knowledge and expand the current literature, as focus is placed on large companies and their barriers. This has been done by implementing a qualitative approach. Twelve semi-structured interviews have been performed with respondents in nine large Swedish manufacturing companies. Secondary data has also been collected in order to triangulate the primary data. The findings show that the main barriers for the large companies to be eco-innovative are related to the awareness in the organization, the quality requirements for the products and production process as well as the regulations affecting the company.