Harvesting Green Futures: Charting the TOE ‐Based Roadmap to Innovation and Sustainability in Manufacturing SMEs

ABSTRACT Firms globally are confronted with the critical challenge of achieving equilibrium between productive consumption and ecological conservation. Sustainable development emerges as a strategic response to this issue, emphasizing the importance of low emissions, energy conservation, and material recycling. Several firms adopt green technological innovation to improve environmental performance and attain sustainable development goals (SDGs), but numerous ones meet with failure. This study, based on the technology, organization, and environment (TOE) model, examines the technological aspects, organizational aspects, and environmental aspects of firms conducive to green technological innovation leading to improved environmental performance. The research contributes to SDGs including SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), SDG 12 (responsible production and consumption), and SDG 13 (climate action). Data were collected using a time‐lagged design from 387 manufacturing SMEs in China. The findings indicate that the technological aspects, organizational aspects, and environmental aspects make a significant impact on the successful adoption of green technological innovation, which acts as a catalyst for environmental performance. The conclusions drawn from this study enrich current theoretical frameworks and significantly contribute to the advancement of sustainable practices both in developed and developing nations.