research effort, functional integration, and environmental action-based competitive advantage: an empirical study

this paper seeks to make an empirical analysis of the degree to which the research effort andfunctional integration into the design of environmental activity account for a company’s environmental actionbasedcompetitive advantage. to do so, we have used a sample of 110 factories. it has been proven that bothfactors (the research effort and functional integration into the design of environmental activity) have a positiveinfluence on the factories’ environmental action-based competitive advantage. these outcomes are the main inthis paper and they have major implications for companies’ research policy. it proves that there is a newadvantage to the managerial effort dedicated to this area: this effort has a positive influence on the relationbetween a company’s environmental management and its environmental action-based competitive advantage.