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Despite the growing pressure to become more sustainable and the availability of managerial practices, organisations still struggle with being innovative without neglecting sustainability concerns. This paper approaches this issue from two perspectives: First, the organisations’ cultural DNA is assumed to explain differences in the sustainability-related innovation performance of firms. Drawing on the competing values framework, this research examines whether certain cultural types predispose some organisations to perform better. Second, the skepticism among managers about the economic benefits of sustainability-related innovation holds organisations back to consider sustainability concern in their innovation activities. Thus, the relationship between sustainability-related innovation performance and economic innovation performance is investigated to clarify whether they represent conflicting goals. Using multiple-respondent data of a cross-sectional firm sample and a comprehensive measure of sustainability-related innovation performance, the empirical data show that clan cultures have a negative influence on sustainability-related innovation performance, whereas hierarchy and adhocracy cultures exert positive effects. Furthermore, sustainability-related innovation performance has a moderately positive effect on economic innovation performance.

Organisational innovativeness is known to be affected by employee incentives and motivation, but the evidence is inconclusive regarding the organisational contexts and contingencies where this phenomenon takes place. To examine this issue, we adopt the Competing Value Framework of four types of organisational cultures, and hypothesise differences in the incentives–motivation–innovativeness relationships. Using an empirical study of 425 Finnish firms in technology industries, we found in general that intangible and tangible incentives facilitate both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, but only intrinsic motivation leads to improved organisational innovativeness. Testing our model for subsamples that included clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy cultures, we found that results vary considerably between those. First, incentives have different implications to motivation under different organizational cultures. Further, intrinsic motivation leads to innovativeness under adhocracy, clan, and market culture, but not under hierarchy culture, and extrinsic motivation does not lead to innovativeness under any culture.

Organisational innovativeness is known to be affected by employee incentives and motivation, but the evidence is inconclusive regarding the organisational contexts and contingencies where this phenomenon takes place. To examine this issue, we adopt the Competing Value Framework of four types of organisational cultures, and hypothesise differences in the incentives–motivation–innovativeness relationships. Using an empirical study of 425 Finnish firms in technology industries, we found in general that intangible and tangible incentives facilitate both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, but only intrinsic motivation leads to improved organisational innovativeness. Testing our model for subsamples that included clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy cultures, we found that results vary considerably between those. First, incentives have different implications to motivation under different organizational cultures. Further, intrinsic motivation leads to innovativeness under adhocracy, clan, and market culture, but not under hierarchy culture, and extrinsic motivation does not lead to innovativeness under any culture.

Despite the growing pressure to become more sustainable and the availability of managerial practices, organisations still struggle with being innovative without neglecting sustainability concerns. This paper approaches this issue from two perspectives: First, the organisations’ cultural DNA is assumed to explain differences in the sustainability-related innovation performance of firms. Drawing on the competing values framework, this research examines whether certain cultural types predispose some organisations to perform better. Second, the skepticism among managers about the economic benefits of sustainability-related innovation holds organisations back to consider sustainability concern in their innovation activities. Thus, the relationship between sustainability-related innovation performance and economic innovation performance is investigated to clarify whether they represent confiicting goals. Using multiple-respondent data of a cross-sectional firm sample and a comprehensive measure of sustainability-related innovation performance, the empirical data show that clan cultures have a negative infiuence on sustainability-related innovation performance, whereas hierarchy and adhocracy cultures exert positive effects. Furthermore, sustainability-related innovation performance has a moderately positive effect on economic innovation performance.