Unraveling the Mystery of Sustainable-Oriented Innovation: The Role of Big Data Knowledge Management, Resource Orchestration Capacity, and Competitive Strategy

In this study, we propose big data knowledge management as an important enabler of sustainable-oriented innovation and investigate how and when it enhances sustainable-oriented innovation. We examined this by considering resource orchestration capacity as a mediator and competitive strategy as an important contingency variable. Based on the resource orchestration theory, using 308 survey data collected from innovative firms in China, through Mplus and SPSS software, the results indicate that resource orchestration capacity mediates the effect of big data knowledge management on sustainable-oriented innovation. The contingency analyses also revealed that the positive impact of resource orchestration capacity on sustainable-oriented innovation is stronger at high levels of differentiation strategy. However, the relationship between resource orchestration capacity and sustainable-oriented innovation is weaker when the low-cost strategy is high. The implications of the findings are discussed.