Green entrepreneurial orientation and environmental performance of SMEs in Johannesburg municipality in the Gauteng province: the role of green competitive advantage and green innovation.

An entrepreneurial approach is being highlighted by an increasing number of recent studies. The relationship between green entrepreneurial orientation (GEO) and environmental performance (EP) has been studied in the past, and it includes a number of apparatuses. The research inconsistent findings are likely caused by the absence of the mediating and moderating effects of green competitive advantage (GCA) and green innovation (GI). This study investigates how GEO influences EP Johannesburg municipality in the Gauteng province: the role of GCA and GI. The data was collected form 424 respondents across the Johannesburg municipality. The data was analysed using SmartPLS 4.0. The empirical findings of this study show that there is a significant positive relationship between GEO and the EP of SMEs. The study further shows that the relationship between GEO and EP is partially mediated by GCA and the relationship is also moderated by GI at an average weight. This paper fills a gap in the literature by exploring external business variables mediating and moderating the relationship between GEO and EP and contributes to the discussion on the contradictory results regarding the relationship between GEO and EP. The study suggests some recommendations on how the managers of SMEs can improve GEO. These include the provision of training and development workshops on environmental strategy for management and employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]