Digital Intelligence and Sustainable SME Performance: The Mediating Role of Green Innovation in Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17509/image.2026.242Keywords:
Digital Intelligence, Green Innovation, Sustainable SME Performance, Sustainability, SMEsAbstract
This study examines how digital intelligence contributes to sustainable performance among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and whether green innovation translates digital capability into sustainability outcomes. The topic is important because SMEs increasingly adopt digital technologies while facing pressure to improve resource efficiency, environmental responsibility, and long-term competitiveness. Despite increasing digitalization, it remains unclear how digital intelligence improves sustainable SME performance and whether green innovation mediates this relationship, particularly in emerging economies. This study integrates dynamic capability theory and the natural resource-based view to explain the digital intelligence–green innovation–sustainable performance mechanism in West Java SMEs, which remains insufficiently examined. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted using data from 200 SMEs in West Java, Indonesia, and the proposed relationships were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Digital intelligence positively influences green innovation and sustainable SME performance, while green innovation improves sustainable performance and partially mediates the relationship. Digital capability generates stronger sustainability outcomes when SMEs convert digital knowledge into environmentally oriented innovation. Managers should therefore align digital investment with green product, process, and managerial improvements.
Downloads
References
Ahi, P., & Searcy, C. (2015). An analysis of metrics used to measure performance in green and sustainable supply chains. Journal of Cleaner Production, 86, 360–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.08.005
Bharadwaj, A., El Sawy, O. A., Pavlou, P. A., & Venkatraman, N. (2013). Digital Business Strategy: Toward a Next Generation of Insights. MIS Quarterly, 37(2), 471–482. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2013/37:2.3
Cenamor, J., Parida, V., & Wincent, J. (2019). How entrepreneurial SMEs compete through digital platforms: The roles of digital platform capability, network capability and ambidexterity. Journal of Business Research, 100, 196–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.03.035
Chen, Y.-S. (2008). The Driver of Green Innovation and Green Image – Green Core Competence. Journal of Business Ethics, 81(3), 531–543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9522-1
Chen, Y.-S., Lai, S.-B., & Wen, C.-T. (2006). The Influence of Green Innovation Performance on Corporate Advantage in Taiwan. Journal of Business Ethics, 67(4), 331–339. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9025-5
Dangelico, R. M., & Pujari, D. (2010). Mainstreaming Green Product Innovation: Why and How Companies Integrate Environmental Sustainability. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(3), 471–486. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0434-0
Gupta, M., & George, J. F. (2016). Toward the development of a big data analytics capability. Information & Management, 53(8), 1049–1064. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2016.07.004
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203
Hart, S. L. (1995). A Natural-Resource-Based View of the Firm. The Academy of Management Review, 20(4), 986. https://doi.org/10.2307/258963
Hart, S. L., & Dowell, G. (2011). Invited Editorial: A Natural-Resource-Based View of the Firm. Journal of Management, 37(5), 1464–1479. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206310390219
Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 115–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8
Hizarci‐Payne, A. K., İpek, İ., & Kurt Gümüş, G. (2021). How environmental innovation influences firm performance: A meta‐analytic review. Business Strategy and the Environment, 30(2), 1174–1190. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2678
Nambisan, S. (2017). Digital Entrepreneurship: Toward a Digital Technology Perspective of Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 41(6), 1029–1055. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12254
Porter, M. E., & Linde, C. van der. (1995). Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(4), 97–118. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.9.4.97
Rennings, K. (2000). Redefining innovation — eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics. Ecological Economics, 32(2), 319–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(99)00112-3
Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., & Hair, J. F. (2021). Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. In Handbook of Market Research (pp. 1–47). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05542-8_15-2
Teece, D. J. (2018). Business models and dynamic capabilities. Long Range Planning, 51(1), 40–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2017.06.007
Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18(7), 509–533. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199708)18:7<509::AID-SMJ882>3.0.CO;2-Z
Verhoef, P. C., Broekhuizen, T., Bart, Y., Bhattacharya, A., Qi Dong, J., Fabian, N., & Haenlein, M. (2021). Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 122, 889–901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.09.022
Vial, G. (2019). Understanding digital transformation: A review and a research agenda. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 28(2), 118–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsis.2019.01.003
Wamba, S. F., Gunasekaran, A., Akter, S., Ren, S. J., Dubey, R., & Childe, S. J. (2017). Big data analytics and firm performance: Effects of dynamic capabilities. Journal of Business Research, 70, 356–365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.08.009
Warner, K. S. R., & Wäger, M. (2019). Building dynamic capabilities for digital transformation: An ongoing process of strategic renewal. Long Range Planning, 52(3), 326–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2018.12.001
Xie, X., Huo, J., & Zou, H. (2019). Green process innovation, green product innovation, and corporate financial performance: A content analysis method. Journal of Business Research, 101, 697–706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.01.010
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Okky Rizkia Yustian, Chyntia Ika Ratnapuri, Desi Indrawati (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
