Purpose: The aims of this study were three-fold: to determine the impact of green transformational leadership on creative process engagement, green product innovation and green process innovation; to examine the association of creative process engagement with green product and process innovation and to identify the mediating influence of creative process engagement in the association between green transformational leadership and green process and product innovation.Design/methodology/approach: Data was collected through a survey questionnaire from 291 middle- and lower-level managers and employees through simple random sampling in four high-tech manufacturing industries situated in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen in China. We examined the data through structural equation modeling using partial least squares to test the study hypotheses.Findings: The findings unveiled that green transformational leadership and creative process engagement positively influence green product innovation and green process innovation. Similarly, green transformational leadership is positively linked with creative process engagement. The findings further revealed that creative process engagement mediates the impact of green transformational leadership on green process and product innovation. Hence, our findings provide strong support for the role of green transformational leadership and creative process engagement in improving green process and product innovation.Research limitations/implications: Our sample is limited to China and collected from high-tech manufacturing industries.Practical implications: Drawing on the componential theory of creativity, the authors suggest that organizational leaders, specifically those who practice green transformational leadership, should increase creative process engagement among subordinates, as it is a crucial intangible resource for green process and product innovation.Social implications: We suggest that a combination of green transformational leadership and creative process engagement improves green process and product innovation as well as the environmental performance of a business by eliminating all forms of hazardous material and waste.Originality/value: This work is one of the earliest empirical studies to evaluate the influence of green transformational leadership on fostering green product and process innovation and the mediating impact of creative process engagement on the linkage among green transformational leadership, green product and process innovation within the manufacturing context.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its effect on small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) innovation capability and financial performance from the perspective of a developing country. It also aims to explore the role of innovation capability as a mediating factor in the linkage between CSR and SMEs’ financial performance.Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was distributed among managers/owners of the sampled companies. Using a data set of 402 Eritrean firms and partial least squares structural equation modeling, direct and mediating effects were tested.Findings: The result reveals that CSR has a positive and significant effect on the financial performance and innovation capability of SEMs. Besides, innovation capability has a positive and significant effect on the business performance of SMEs. The result also supports a partial mediation effect of innovation capability on the association between CSR and firm performance.Practical implications: The findings from this research could enhance the awareness of the entrepreneurs, researchers and policymakers on CSR-SMEs’ relationship and help understand the importance of CSR as a crucial driver mechanism for companies to become more innovative and competitive.Originality/value: By empirically examining the relationship between CSR, innovation capability and performance in SMEs, this study contributes to the ongoing scholarly discussion on the linkage between CSR and financial performance. Also, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study investigated the mediating role of innovation capability on the link between CSR activities and firms’ financial performance in SMEs from a developing country perspective, making substantial contributions to research in terms of theory, practice and policy.