“From identity to innovation: a multi-theoretical framework of green organizational identity, ambidextrous green innovation, and digital-enabled environmental collaboration”

Overview

This conceptual framework integrates Green Organizational Identity (GOI), Ambidextrous Green Innovation (AGI), and Digital-Enabled Environmental Collaboration (EC) to explain joint internal and external mechanisms driving green innovation. The model positions GOI as a dynamic capability transforming environmental values into both incremental process and radical product innovation. Environmental collaboration is theorized as a digital-enabled moderator whose effectiveness exhibits nonlinear patterns dependent on collaborative tie strength and stakeholder diversity. The integration draws upon Resource-Based View, Resource Dependence Theory, and Social Network Theory to bridge organizational identity, relational dynamics, and digital transformation within sustainability-driven innovation contexts.

Methods and approach

The research employs a multi-theoretical integration strategy combining Resource-Based View, Resource Dependence Theory, and Social Network Theory within a systems perspective framework. GOI is reconceptualized as a dynamic capability enabling ambidextrous innovation mechanisms. Environmental collaboration is modeled as a moderating mechanism whose effectiveness depends on two contingency factors: tie strength within collaborative relationships and diversity of stakeholder involvement. Digitalization is positioned as a contextual amplifier reducing coordination costs and expanding collaborative reach. The framework incorporates dynamic feedback loops and co-evolutionary patterns between GOI, AGI, EC, and green innovation outcomes, enabling analysis of self-reinforcement mechanisms within sustainability-driven innovation systems.

Key Findings

The integrated framework establishes that green organizational identity functions as an internal dynamic capability translating environmental values into both incremental and radical green innovation through ambidextrous mechanisms. Environmental collaboration operates as a moderating force with nonlinear effects, suggesting an inverted-U relationship contingent on collaborative tie strength and stakeholder composition. Digital enablement amplifies collaborative effectiveness by reducing transaction costs and enabling broader network participation. The systems perspective reveals co-evolutionary dynamics where GOI, AGI, and EC interact through reinforcing feedback loops, creating self-reinforcing innovation cycles within organizations pursuing sustainability-driven competitive advantage.

Implications

The framework provides theoretical foundations for understanding how organizations simultaneously activate internal identity mechanisms and external collaboration structures to advance green innovation. Organizations operating within resource-constrained environments and undergoing digital transition may strategically balance strong-trust dyadic relationships with broader diverse partnerships to optimize environmental collaboration effectiveness. The nonlinear relationship between collaboration characteristics and innovation outcomes suggests diminishing returns beyond optimal tie strength and diversity levels, requiring portfolio-based partnership strategies rather than maximization of collaborative breadth.