Research On The Driving Mechanism Of Digital Sustainability Orientation And Its Impact On The Triple Bottom Line Of Enterprises

Sustainable development is pivotal to the national economy and people’s livelihoods.The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC once again emphasized the significant importance of promoting green development and fostering a harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.Under the background of the new era,the contradiction between the environmental and social issues caused by rapid economic development and the people’s pursuit of a beautiful ecological environment is increasingly prominent.Enterprises,especially manufacturing companies as an extension of national strength,are key actors in pushing forward high-quality economic and social development and implementing the concept of sustainable development.In recent years,As manufacturing enterprises deepen their digital transformation strategies,various manufacturing businesses and their consortia are taking on corporate ESG(Environmental,Social,and Governance)responsibilities through digital technology empowerment.Thus,manufacturing enterprises face the challenge of utilizing digital technology to achieve sustainable development goals,as well as the challenge of adapting to consumer preferences,stakeholder concerns,and emerging competitive models in the digital transformation.This phenomenon of enterprise activity is termed "digital sustainability" and has quickly garnered academic attention.Digital sustainability shows great potential in promoting enterprises to achieve sustainable development goals.However,due to the late introduction of the concept of digital sustainability by Chinese enterprises,how to effectively promote and implement digital sustainable development in enterprises has become an urgent topic for current research.Digital sustainability is a new concept that has emerged in recent years at the intersection of enterprise sustainable development and digitalization research fields.It refers to the strategic action process whereby organizations achieve sustainable development goals through the effective deployment of digital resources and solutions,thereby accelerating the upgrade of digital technology.From a strategic orientation perspective,digital sustainability orientation aims to encourage organizations to treat the synergistic effects between digital transformation and sustainability as a core component of their overall business activities,where intertwining and synergy are significant features of this strategic orientation.A review of the literature reveals that although research on the relationship between digitalization and sustainability is gradually increasing,research on digital sustainability from a strategic orientation perspective is in the exploratory stage,with a lack of systematic and comprehensive study.This is mainly manifested in: firstly,a lack of attention to the practice of digital sustainability in Chinese enterprises.The concept of digital sustainability orientation is derived from foreign scholars based on initiatives of digital sustainable practices in developed economies,and the content structure of digital sustainability orientation is not yet clear.Conceptualizing and measuring enterprise digital sustainability orientation has become an urgent task in the field of digital sustainability research.Secondly,existing research lacks attention to the antecedent factors driving enterprise digital sustainability orientation,often focusing on examining the net benefits of various independent variables on digitalization or sustainable transformation,ignoring the synergistic configurational effects of various factors inside and outside the organization.Lastly,previous studies mainly focus on the impact of digital orientation or sustainability orientation on enterprise performance or sustainable competitive advantage,with less attention to the enterprise’s triple bottom line performance,especially the mechanism of improvement in triple bottom line performance in the context of digital sustainable development.The triple bottom line performance of enterprises,characterized by environmental,social,and economic dimensions,takes into account the synergistic development between the economy and the social environment.However,few studies have explored the path mechanism and boundary conditions between digital sustainability orientation and corporate triple performance.In view of this,the article centers on digital sustainability orientation,clarifying its concept,dimensions,and related research.It enriches the theoretical framework of this frontier research field from a continuous process perspective of "what" "how" and "in what way" specifically focusing on the theme of "structured definition of digital sustainability orientation,driving configurations,and its mechanism on enterprise triple bottom line performance." Three sub-studies are conducted to attempt to answer:(1)Employing grounded theory to capture the key characteristics of digital sustainability orientation and constructing its structural dimensions.(2)At the Material,logical,and human levels,which factors promote enterprises to choose and maintain a digital sustainability orientation? How do these factors exert their influence?(3)Can digital sustainability orientation have a positive impact on the triple bottom line performance of enterprises? How can digital sustainability orientation be transformed into triple bottom line performance of enterprises? And does the updating of organizational routines have a certain contingent effect?To delve into these questions,this article conducts three sub-studies on manufacturing enterprises,including "The Content Structure of Digital Sustainability Orientation"(Sub-study 1),"The Driving Mechanisms of Digital Sustainability Orientation"(Sub-study 2),and "The Impact of Digital Sustainability Orientation on Enterprise Triple Bottom Line Performance"(Sub-study 3).Sub-study 1 focuses on exploring the content structure of digital sustainability orientation and,based on this,develops a scale for it.After collecting 273 and 240 valid questionnaires,respectively,and conducting exploratory factor analysis,confirmatory factor analysis,and reliability and validity tests,the official scale of digital sustainability orientation is determined.Sub-study 2 builds a configurational theory framework based on institutional theory and WSR methodology.Through fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis(fs QCA)of 421 sample cases,it explores from the Material,logical,and human dimensions,considering digital infrastructure and digital platform ecosystems as material conditions,external institutional pressures as logical conditions,and organizational sustainability identity as human conditions.It then explores how different antecedent condition configurations affect high/non-high levels of digital sustainability orientation from a configurational perspective.Sub-study 3,based on strategic orientation theory,knowledge-based view,and dynamic capabilities theory,follows the research logic of "strategic orientation—behavior—performance," introducing knowledge coupling and capability reconfiguration as intermediary mechanisms in the "digital sustainability orientation—enterprise triple bottom line performance" pathway,with organizational routine updating serving as a moderating factor,and empirically tests it using 345 sample data.The research concludes that in Sub-study 1,digital sustainability orientation is a second-order construct with good convergent and discriminant validity,consisting of enablement,guidingness,and integrating dimensions.This not only presents the synergistic relationship between digitalization and sustainability but also highlights the behavioral characteristics of "integration" as a dual strategic orientation.In Sub-study 2,digital sustainability orientation is the complex outcome of the synergy of multiple factors.Digital infrastructure and digital platform ecosystems play a significant role in driving enterprises to implement a high level of digital sustainability orientation,with organizational sustainability identity being key to its development.Secondly,there are three equivalent configurational paths for driving enterprises toward a high level of digital sustainability orientation: digital infrastructure * digital platform ecosystem * coercive pressure * normative pressure,digital infrastructure * digital platform ecosystem * mimetic pressure * organizational sustainability identity,and digital infrastructure * digital platform ecosystem *coercive pressure * ～mimetic pressure * organizational sustainability identity.Conversely,there are three equivalent configurational paths for implementing a non-high level of digital sustainability orientation: ～digital infrastructure * ～digital platform ecosystem * ～organizational sustainability identity,～normative pressure *～mimetic pressure * ～organizational sustainability identity,and digital infrastructure *～digital platform ecosystem * ～mimetic pressure * ～organizational sustainability identity.Finally,there is an asymmetry between the configurational paths for high and non-high digital sustainability orientation,indicating that the three paths for non-high digital sustainability orientation are not simply the inverse of the three paths for high digital sustainability orientation.In Sub-study 3,digital sustainability orientation,as a dual strategic orientation that considers both the advantages of digital technology and the concept of sustainable development,has a significantly positive impact on the triple bottom line performance of enterprises(including environmental,social,and economic performance).Knowledge coupling and capability reconfiguration partially mediate the positive relationship between digital sustainability orientation and enterprise triple bottom line performance,with a "digital sustainability orientation—knowledge coupling—capability reconfiguration—enterprise triple bottom line performance" chain transmission pathway identified.Additionally,organizational routine updating plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between knowledge coupling and enterprise triple bottom line performance,and between capability reconfiguration and enterprise triple bottom line performance,further research finds that organizational routine updating positively moderates the mediating effects of knowledge coupling and capability reconfiguration between digital sustainability orientation and enterprise triple bottom line performance.This paper delves deeply into the conceptual structure,driving mechanisms,and the impact mechanism of digital sustainability orientation on the triple bottom line performance of enterprises,marking significant importance.Initially,it investigates the concept of digital sustainability orientation,outlines its main features,and develops a scale for it,establishing a measurement basis for future digital sustainability research.This enriches the theoretical research system for the synergistic development of digitalization and sustainability.Additionally,using institutional theory and WSR methodology,this research explores the antecedent conditions driving digital sustainability orientation and the interlocking effect among different antecedent conditions,analyzing the necessary,core,peripheral conditions,and configurational pathways to enrich the theoretical outcomes concerning digital sustainability.Lastly,it reveals the positive implications of digital sustainability orientation for organizations,constructing a theoretical model linking it and the triple bottom line performance of enterprises.This exploration and validation of the mediating effects of knowledge coupling and capability reconfiguration,along with the moderating effects of organizational routine renewal,unveil the "black box" of transformation from digital sustainability orientation to enterprise triple bottom line performance.This expands the digital transformation theory within sustainable development research,offering both theoretical and empirical backing for firms to engage in digital sustainability.In summary,this paper serves as a significant reference for driving the implementation of digital sustainability orientation in our country’s manufacturing enterprises,enhancing enterprise triple bottom line performance,and promoting high-quality enterprise development.