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Promoting the Sustainable Development of Organizations: Technological Capability, Environmental Uncertainty, and Enterprise Exploratory Innovation

Author

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  • Jie Zhang

    (School of Business, Nanjing University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Yalin Qi

    (School of Business, Nanjing University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Huanyu Xu

    (School of Government, Nanjing University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Miao Chang

    (School of Business, Nanjing University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Lei Yang

    (School of Business, Nanjing University, Nanjing 211100, China)

Abstract

Exploratory innovation plays a crucial role in the high-quality and sustainable development of organizations, but how enterprises engage in exploratory innovation within volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) contexts remains unclear. Drawing on strategy choice theory and continuous innovation theory, this study explores the positive effects of technological capability on exploratory innovation via entrepreneurial orientation while considering environmental uncertainty as a moderating variable to elucidate the internal logic of continuous innovation within organizations. We conducted a large-scale survey of 313 Chinese firms and found the following: (1) technological capability has a significant positive impact on exploratory innovation; (2) entrepreneurial orientation plays a partial mediating role between technological capability and exploratory innovation; and (3) environmental uncertainty exerts a differential moderating influence within this mediating framework: technological uncertainty enhances the positive effect of technological capability on entrepreneurial orientation, whereas demand uncertainty intensifies the supportive effect of entrepreneurial orientation on exploratory innovation. This study reveals the internal mechanism by which technological capabilities drive exploratory innovation through entrepreneurial orientation under environmental uncertainty, providing theoretical support for enterprises to deepen their technological capability and pursue exploratory innovation and sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Jie Zhang & Yalin Qi & Huanyu Xu & Miao Chang & Lei Yang, 2025. "Promoting the Sustainable Development of Organizations: Technological Capability, Environmental Uncertainty, and Enterprise Exploratory Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-25, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:14:p:6251-:d:1697076
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