Abstract

The primary objective of this research is to examine the effects of green knowledge management (GKM) on green technological innovation (GTI) and sustainable performance in construction firms. The study also investigates the role of artificial intelligence (AI) as a moderator of the relationship between GKM and green human capital (GHC). A survey questionnaire was used to obtain data from 309 construction firms in Pakistan, and the AMOS-24 and SPSS PROCESS macro software packages were used to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that GKM had significant positive impacts on GTI and long-term performance. Aspects of GIC (e.g., green structural capital, green relational capital, and green human capital) were found to be significant mediators of GKM and GTI interactions and correlations between GKM and sustainable performance. Furthermore, the study showed that AI significantly influenced the relationship between GKM and GHC. The study’s findings have important theoretical and practical implications for organizations and governments. The study theoretically contributes to the knowledge-based view of the firm by providing empirical evidence of the role of various GIC characteristics as mediators in the interactions between GKM, GTI, and sustainable performance. In practice, the findings suggest that firms can improve GTI and sustainable performance by investing in GKM and GIC.

Introduction

Nineteenth-century industrialism successfully lifted millions of people from poverty. However, this economic success caused environmental and resource degradation (Dahlquist, 2021). This raises the following question: Is damage to the environment necessary for economic stability? Despite the abundance of natural resources, their vulnerability to climate change jeopardizes emerging economies’ economic progress. For decades, governments have been eager to set rules and standards to ensure the environmentally friendly production of goods and services (Khan, 2022; Mehmood et al., 2022; Sana, 2020). The United Nations (UN) established its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to safeguard and enhance social and environmental conditions (Ham et al., 2021). In response, firms have started to recognize the importance of environmental preservation, and have been inspired to modernize their operations and management frameworks. Previous studies have shown the importance of business capabilities to the development of innovations that uncover new uses for existing goods, expertise, and resources (Hui & Khan, 2022; Khan & Khan, 2021). As innovation frequently necessitates the acquisition and application of new knowledge (Berraies & Zine El Abidine, 2019), knowledge assets are an essential resource for firms.

The capacity of an organization to gain and keep knowledge determines its failure or success (Argote et al., 2000). Firms use knowledge to boost customer satisfaction and gain a competitive edge (Dabbous & Tarhini, 2019). Knowledge management (KM) has grown in popularity in the corporate world over the last few years (Caputo et al., 2019; Kianto, 2011). It is regarded as an essential element in strategizing, developing new goods and services, and managing operations (Donate & de Pablo, 2015). An efficient KM system can boost a firm’s effectiveness (Brachos et al., 2007). Moreover, given ecological challenges, vibrant firms have broadened the scope of KM and begun to integrate environmental issues into business knowledge (Sahoo et al., 2022).

Discussion

By applying a KBV framework, this study tested the relationships between GKM, GTI, and sustainable performance through GIC. This study also tested the moderating effects of AI on the relationships between GKM and the three GIC components. To the best of our knowledge, this study is among the first to test these relationships in the construction industry, which is famous for its destructive impacts on the environment (Kinnunen et al., 2022). The findings add to the literature on KM, innovation, sustainability, and AI by using an experimental approach to produce insights with theoretical and practical implications and to identify new areas for future research. The findings are described below.

This investigation of GKM’s effects on GTI and sustainable performance yielded noteworthy findings. The empirical evidence is consistent with studies that found organizational resources to be positively associated with green innovation (Su et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2022). Sahoo et al. (2022) found a similar connection between GKM and green innovation and green performance. This important conclusion suggests that Pakistani construction firms can improve their GTI and sustainable performance by applying GKM. The findings demonstrate that GKM has a positive influence on GIC. The results corroborate previous research showing a similar positive association (Martín-Rubio, 2021; Sahoo et al., 2022), and are consistent with the idea that firms can improve their GIC if they have resources and GKM competencies.