The role of non-technological synergies in environmental benefits: Evidence from Portuguese companies

July 28, 2026

As modern enterprises struggle to balance financial growth with ecological depletion, this study examines how non-technological synergies, defined as complementarities between marketing and organizational innovations, are associated with firms’ environmental benefits. Previous research has largely examined Marketing and Organizational Innovation independently, providing limited evidence of their potential complementarities in generating environmental benefits. Logistic regression models with interaction effects were estimated using data from 3980 innovative Portuguese firms drawn from the 2022 Community Innovation Survey. Empirical results show that broad, aggregate non-technological synergies did not produce significant outcomes. Instead, complementarities emerge only for specific dimensions of organizational innovation. The combination of marketing and administrative innovation increases the probability of achieving environmental benefits. Overall, the study contributes to the eco-innovation literature by showing that treating Organizational Innovation as a single construct may conceal important complementarities with Marketing Innovation, which become visible only when its different dimensions are analysed separately. Furthermore, sector context acts as a boundary condition for these non-technological synergies. These complementarities are considerably weaker in capital-intensive manufacturing firms but are associated with stronger environmental benefits among service firms. The findings have practical implications for policymakers designing targeted public incentives, and for managers highlighting the importance of aligning non-technological innovation strategies with sector-specific conditions.

Authors in the community:

• 

  T

  Tomás Alexandre da Rosa Ramalho

  ist193352

Supervisors of this institution:

• 

  M

  Miguel Torres Preto

  ist45281

• 

  C

  Celso Augusto de Matos

  ist429782

other-engineering-and-technologies - Other engineering and technologies

eng - English

Instituto Superior Técnico