An Empirical Study of Green Transformational Leadership, Creativity and Eco‐Innovation: Insights From Ecotourism in the Dominican Republic
研究了多米尼加共和国187家生态旅游企业，发现绿色变革型领导通过激发外在动机和绿色创造力，最终促进生态创新，并讨论了外在动机的潜在负面影响及混合管理对策。
ABSTRACT The increasing popularity of ecotourism in regions like Central America and the Caribbean, particularly in the Dominican Republic, necessitates a deeper understanding of how these businesses can integrate innovation with environmental sustainability. Thus, this study analyzes the organizational mechanisms that explain how ecotourism companies convert environmental leadership into eco‐innovation results. Specifically, this paper explores the relationships among green transformational leadership, green creativity, and eco‐innovation within ecotourism companies. Addressing gaps in current research, we employed a quantitative survey methodology, collecting data from 187 ecotourism companies in the Dominican Republic. Our findings, analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (SEM‐PLS), reveal that green transformational leadership positively influences extrinsic motivation, green creativity, and ultimately eco‐innovation. The study highlights the significance of aligning green creativity with business strategies to foster sustainable innovation. Additionally, we discuss the potential negative impacts of extrinsic motivation on employee development and propose hybrid management approaches to mitigate these effects. These insights offer valuable academic and practical implications, suggesting that effective leadership and creativity are crucial for the sustainable development of ecotourism businesses. These findings allow us to reinterpret eco‐innovation as a systemic organizational capacity, particularly relevant in territorially and ecologically sensitive contexts such as island environments.