The paper aims to analyze the environmental aspects of innovation activity undertaken by companies and, in particular, to assess sustainable business leaders’ propensity to generate eco-innovation. The research described in the paper was descriptive and, to some extent, diagnostic. It was based on a non-random sample and was conducted—using the Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) method—in 2019 among 54 of the most eco-innovative Polish companies. The results of the research indicate that they are more likely to generate radical rather than incremental changes. Moreover, the most eco-innovative companies are those developing technologies for biodiversity protection. The results further indicate that companies with more than 50 employees have a higher propensity to develop incremental and radical eco-innovation than smaller firms with relatively fewer resources. Finally, this study shows that adopting an open innovation strategy strengthens the propensity to generate eco-innovation, especially radical ones. Moreover, developing such changes is dominated by the adoption of strategic and operational forward supply chain collaboration, involving the absorption of knowledge and information streaming directly from the market. The results can provide a frame for developing new business models incorporating collaboration in eco-innovation activities, especially in the situation of a post-pandemic recovery of the economy.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the three dimensions of leadership competencies, which refer to the competency school by Dulewicz and Higgs (2003) and impact on project success as well as the moderating influence of project type. Design/methodology/approach: The mixed method was used and supported by survey questionnaire and semi-structured interview questionnaire. In total, 102 project managers as well as 11 senior project managers and people supervising project managers assigned to the projects participated in the study. Correlation analysis and regression analysis were performed to understand the relationship between leadership and project success. Findings: The results provided empirical support for the influence of project manager’s leadership competencies, as well as their emotional and managerial skills on project success. What is more, the analysis of the results also pointed out that, depending on the type of the project, its success is influenced by other competencies. Research limitations/implications: The research results are restricted by several limitations, i.e., the research model does not include the influence of other variables on the project success as well as operationalization methods of leadership and project success are not exhaustive. These limitations create possibilities for further analyses in this area. Practical implications: The paper presented guidelines for the project management community concerning the proposals in terms of present management system modifications being about basing them on competencies and their development, as well as self-improvement of project managers. Originality/value: The paper refers to the relationship between the leadership of the project manager and the success of the project in different types of projects and highlights how these relationships are formed in transitional economies.

The socio-economic transformations taking place nowadays bring about the necessity to transform the currently dominating linear paradigm of economic growth. The basis for such a transformation is, first of all, the implementation of sustainable systems of production and consumption, so that they evolve into companies implementing the assumptions of a closed-circle economy. Although the concept of such an economy has been widely accepted by both researchers and practitioners, there is still a lack of thorough recognition of the determinants of its application at the organizational level. Attempting to fill this research gap, this paper addresses the conceptual link between companies’ eco-innovation activities and the CE paradigm. It attempts to assess the importance of eco-innovation, both technological and nontechnological in nature, as determinants of the implementation of the concept of a closed-loop economy. The prospects for the implementation of a closed-loop economy are described, then the concepts and types of eco-innovation are organized, and finally the role of eco-innovation as a catalyst for the implementation of the CE concept is explained. The article also indicates the most important management practices, understood as strategic actions necessary in the process of generating and implementing innovations leading to the realization of the idea of reverse material flows. As a consequence of the discussion, the proposition suggested herein is to develop the existing circular business models by taking into account the eco-innovative activities of enterprises. The article is also an attempt to start a discussion on the category of open eco-innovations and to popularize the practice of open access to eco-innovations.

The study analyses the broad sets of factors that influence the innovation adoption process in the environmental, organizational, top managers,’ innovation and user acceptance context. The innovation adoption process is presented as a sequence of stages, progressing from initiation through adoption decision to implementation of an innovation and it is considered at the organizational level. The Delphi survey conducted among 264 experts of a diverse professional and academic experience allowed examining the perceived significance of each factor for the various stages of the innovation adoption process. The results of the analysis show that the considered factors do not affect the innovation adoption process with the same strength but exert varying levels of influence on the subsequent stages. The study discusses the implications of these findings and suggests ideas for future research.