Interplay of emerging industrial technologies, ambidexterity, and sustainability: The case of the textile sector

Abstract

The global consumer market demands personalized products and it is quite challenging for the manufacturing industry to address the consumer requirements along with optimal production. In order to curb customization and production challenges, emerging industrial technologies (EIT) are adopted by the industries such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), autonomous robots (AuR), and mobile technologies (MT). However, this technological transformation may impact organizational sustainability due to EIT's higher capital investment, lack of skilled personnel to operate EIT, and EIT dependency on extensive energy consumption. In addition, EIT must resonate with the sustainable ways of production and consumption which again brings in another challenge of balancing sustainability and production. Ambidextrous practices may enable industrial stakeholders to explore and exploit this disparity. Therefore, it is required to explore the impact of EIT on organizational sustainability along with the mediation of ambidextrous practices which is a notable gap in the existing literature. The sample is taken from Pakistani textile industry to estimate the relationship between the research variables while a quantitative survey approach was adopted to collect data from textile industry professionals. The collected data from 192 respondents was analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method in SmartPLS 4. The findings reveal a differential influence of EIT on the organizational sustainability dimensions, significant impact in the case of AI, complementary mediation of OA with AuR, competitive mediation of Organizational Ambidexterity for IoT, and fully mediated by Organizational Ambidexterity for MT. The study enriches the dynamic capabilities framework, highlighting Organizational Ambidexterity as essential for effective technological integration to achieve sustainability. For practitioners and policymakers, this research offers a strategic roadmap for leveraging EIT aligned with organizational sustainability objectives, advocating for the development of ambidextrous capabilities to navigate implementation hurdles effectively.