Abstract
While Japanese enterprises have a potential to provide environmental innovation against the environmental crisis, particularly the aggravating global warming, few systematic investigations have been made on the relationship of environmental innovation to corporate growth. The present paper reviews existing studies on this relationship and discusses the possible compatibility of corporate environmental activities with growth. The paper also tries to describe general characteristics of innovations that contribute to both environmental protection and business growth and profitability, with an emphasis on innovative business models rather than technological novelties. Specifically, some cases of servicizing, defined as a change in the business model from selling products to providing product functions and maintenance, in Japanese enterprises along with some similar business models. Finally, the paper proposes a category of "function innovation" as an extension of servicizing.
