The Moderating Role of IT Capability on Green Innovation and Ambidexterity: Towards a Corporate Sustainable Development

Xinwei Li, Wenjuan Zeng and Mao Xu ()
Additional contact information
Xinwei Li: Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Aberconway Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK
Wenjuan Zeng: Essex Business School, University of Essex, The Gateway Building, Southend Campus, Elmer Approach, Southend-on-Sea SS1 1LW, UK
Mao Xu: Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Aberconway Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-20

Abstract: Green innovation (GI) is widely regarded as a strategy for pursuing sustainable corporate development. Drawing from the organisational information processing theory, this study investigates the moderation effect of information technology (IT) capability in shaping the impacts of ambidexterity and two types of GI practices, green product innovation (GPDI) and green process innovation (GPCI). Using a selective sampling of 368 firms in China, this study validates a 30-item measurement scale and approves the proposed theoretical model. The data obtained were then analysed using the structural equation modelling (SEM) executed by the AMOS 23 application. The results confirm the vital role of two sides of ambidexterity, namely, exploitation and exploration, in improving GI and the positive effects of GI on sustainable corporate development (i.e., environment, social, and financial sustainability). More importantly, IT capability only positively moderates the relationship between GI and one side of ambidexterity, i.e., exploitation. This study contributes to the strategies to better prepare companies in developing markets to achieve GPDI and GPCI as core competencies. Findings also provide evidence for practitioners to invest in GI to facilitate better corporate sustainability.

Keywords: sustainability; green innovation; information technology; ambidexterity; information processing theory; IT capability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/16767/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/16767/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:24:p:16767-:d:1003216

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().