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Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế
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al., 2009; Zeng et al., 2009). International trade provides an opportunity for firms located in
developing countries to learn about new environmental management practices from their foreign
peers (Perkins and Neumayer, 2009; Sarkis et al., 2010). On the other hand, the effect of FDI on
firms’ green product practices is heterogeneous. Although the effect of FDI on the adoption of
vertical green product diversification is significant, the effect of FDI on horizontal green product
diversification is not significant. As a proactive green innovation strategy, ISO 14001 plays an
important role in integrating the global environmental management of SMEs (Sáez-Martínez and
al, 2016). The presence of environmental spillovers from foreign firms as reported in previous
studies will lead to the fact that foreign-owned firms are more likely to implement environmental
management systems (EMS) (Albornoz et al., 2009; Perkins and Neumayer, 2009). Contrary to
ISO 14001, different countries have developed their own green product certification programs,
such as the German Blue Angel, the US Green Seal, the Nordic Council White Swan, the Canadian
Environmental Choice, the European Eco-Label and the Japan Eco Mark (Albino et al., 2009). If a
firm supplies its products to different countries, it has to certify their products according to different
codes at different countries. The localization of certification of green products has set barriers for
diffusion of green innovation practices. To avoid this, implementing international standards to
encourage mutual recognition of eco-labeling is necessary.
Environmental Regulations and Green product diversification.
We assume that the relevant drivers influencing the strategic decision are not simply the degree
of stakeholders’ environmental pressure but the degree to which environmental stakeholder pressure
is perceived by managers in charge of strategic decision making (Buysse and Verbeke, 2003;
Murillo-Lunaet al., 2008; González-Benito and González-Benito, 2010). Although environmental
regulations were the most important factor in environmental defensive behavior of firms, the
proactive environmental innovation strategy is mainly determined by the market pressure, mainly
from customers and investors. Stringent regulations drive the environmental defensive behavior of
firms, which will discourage the implementation of proactive green product practices, such as ISO
14001 certification.
Community Stakeholders and Green product diversification
Communities are playing increasingly important roles in environmental protection (Liu, 2009)
and green product development in developed country. However, the key factors determining
firms’green product diversification practices have not been identified in Vietnam. The community
stakeholders may worry about the effects of these environmental industrial activities, although
some of these causing environmental damages are far from the affected area (González-Benito and
González-Benito, 2010); i.e. the pressures from community stakeholders may be cross-regional.
The development status of community organizations may be another explanation for the effect of
community stakeholders , for example, Vetnam’s environmentally oriented NGOs (ENGOs) are
still at the infancy stage and their development is constrained by legal and political limitations and
so the development of ENGOs mainly confines their operations to environmental management. As
a result, both of the regulations pressure and the community pressure cannot play a dominant role
in encouraging implementation of the proactive green product diversification strategy.
6. CONCLUDING REMARKS
In this study, we have explored the different drivers for Vietnamese firms in pursuing horizontal
and vertical green green product diversification based on the stakeholders’ perspective. Findings
reveal that foreign customers play a significant role in both firms’ horizontal and vertical green
product diversification. However, the effect of foreign ownership is heterogeneous, which only
