How ICT capability affects the environmental performance of manufacturing firms? – Evidence from the World Bank Enterprise Survey in China
Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management
ISSN: 1741-038X
Article publication date: 20 October 2021
Issue publication date: 23 February 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this paper is to empirically test and verify the influence of information and communication technology (ICT) capability on environmental performance (EP) of manufacturing, as well as the moderating effect of heterogenous factors and the mediating effect of ambidextrous innovation in the context of the Chinese manufacturing firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The data come from the World Bank Enterprise Survey of China conducted from December 2011 to February 2013. The logistic regression is applied with Stata 15, and the robustness test by three methods is employed to verify the reliability of the results in this paper.
Findings
The research results suggest that the positive relationship between ICT capability and EP is moderated by two heterogenous factors, including main market and industry attributes. Meanwhile, the positive relationship between ICT capability and EP is mediated by ambidextrous innovation.
Originality/value
This work highlights ICT capability as an important, yet underexplored antecedent in improving the EP of manufacturing firms. This research further uncovers the moderating role of main market and industry attributes, as well as the mediating mechanism by introducing ambidextrous innovation in the relationship between ICT capability and EP.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Declaration of competing interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Funding: This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 71672172), Major Program of National Fund of Philosophy and Social Science of China (Grant No. 20&ZD059) and Basic Research Funds for the Central Universities (Zhejiang University Project No. S20210169).
Citation
Jin, J., Chen, Z. and Li, S. (2022), "How ICT capability affects the environmental performance of manufacturing firms? – Evidence from the World Bank Enterprise Survey in China", Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 334-354. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMTM-04-2021-0149
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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