Proactive boundary‐spanning search, organizational resilience, and radical green innovation

Abstract

Radical green innovation has emerged as an effective strategy for firms to achieve sustainable development in the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) environment. Although the importance of external knowledge acquisition has been recognized, the mechanism of how proactive boundary‐spanning search affects radical green innovation is still blurred. Drawing on the resource‐based view and dynamic capabilities theory, this research discusses the impact of two types of proactive boundary‐spanning search on radical green innovation and considers the mediating role of organizational resilience and the moderating role of big data analytics capability. Based on data collected from 294 manufacturing firms in China, the results show that both value‐chain‐based proactive search and industry–university‐based proactive search positively influence radical green innovation. Furthermore, organizational resilience fully mediates the relationship between value‐chain‐based proactive search and radical green innovation, and partially mediates the relationship between industry–university‐based proactive search and radical green innovation. Moreover, we demonstrate that big data analytics capability moderates the relationship between industry–university‐based proactive search and radical green innovation. This research clarifies not only the mechanism of proactive boundary‐spanning search driving radical green innovation by highlighting the mediating role of organizational resilience and the moderating role of big data analytics capability, but also provides theoretical and managerial implications for manufacturing firms and other stakeholders to carry out radical green innovation.

The Path from Green Innovation to Supply Chain Resilience: Do Structural and Dynamic Supply Chain Complexity Matter?

“…The dynamic capabilities theory serves as a valuable complement to the aforementioned concept by placing emphasis on the imperative for organizations to effectively adapt, integrate, and reconfigure in order to effectively respond to environmental changes. This theory underscores the significance of green logistics as a crucial factor in surmounting environmental challenges and enhancing overall resilience [29]. Contingency theory expands on the topic by suggesting that the effectiveness of green innovation and logistics in enhancing the resilience of the supply chain relies on the complex and ever-changing nature of the chain.…”

“…Our research investigates the impact of supply chain complexity on the effectiveness of green innovation strategies and logistics management practices. Utilizing the research of Kotb Kholaif et al [168] and Xue and Wang [29], we investigate the intricate impacts of institutional pressures and technological capabilities on initiatives related to managing green supply chains. This study supports the idea from the contingent theory that no one strategy works for everyone.…”

Does proactive boundary‐spanning search drive green innovation? Exploring the significance of green dynamic capabilities and analytics capabilities

“…Resultantly, how firms search and integrate boundaryspanning knowledge resources affects their green innovation success (Stefan & Bengtsson, 2017;Yang et al, 2021). Proactive boundaryspanning search (PBS), which refers to the search for new and unrecognized knowledge ahead of competitors (Xue & Wang, 2023), enables firms to collect and use relevant knowledge resources from the external environment to support green innovation development.…”

“…Scholars have yet to reach a consensus on how external knowledge search affects innovation (Zhu et al, 2018). Specifically, the relationship between PBS and green innovation is unclear (Xue & Wang, 2023), and has received scant research attention (Wang & Yang, 2023). PBS is a "double-edged sword" (Shi et al, 2019): while it facilitates access to external knowledeg resources supporting green innovation (Yang et al, 2021;Ye et al, 2022), it comes with cost, integration challenges and the potential for information overload which can derail green innovation (Shi et al, 2019;Wang & Yang, 2023).…”

“…An important question, therefore, is how and when does BPS result in green innovation? A few studies have contributed to resolving this question by examining how organizational resilience (Wang & Yang, 2023;Xue & Wang, 2023) and resource orchestration capabilities (Wang et al, 2019) mediate the relationship between PBS and green innovation. Despite these early advances, theoretical and empirical specification of the relationship between PBS and green innovation remains nascent (Wang & Yang, 2023).…”