Maximising sustainable performance: Integrating servitisation innovation into green sustainable supply chain management under the influence of governance and Industry 4.0

Abstract

This study investigates the critical pillars of corporate transformation towards a green servitisation-oriented business model (GS-OBM) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. This study integrates multiple theoretical lenses rooted in resource-based theory (RBT). We empirically examine the interdependencies between green servitisation innovation, green sustainable supply chain management (GSSCM) practices, Industry 4.0, technology adoption, and corporate governance structure. This study uses a mixed-methods research paradigm and multiple datasets from the UK Innovation Survey (UKIS) 2021. The empirical study is based on FTSE companies listed on the London Stock Exchange over the period (2012–2021) with 1580 firm-years observation and extracts from corporate annual reports. We find that Industry 4.0 technology adoption facilitates the integration of green servitisation innovation strategies into GSSCM. Further, the synergic effects of corporate governance structure and Industry 4.0 technologies strengthen the nexus between green servitisation innovation trajectories and GSCCM practices towards GS-OBM and ESG performance. Our results add to the empirical evidence on the complementarities between the key pillars that reinforce GS-OBM and ESG performance. The findings of this study offer insights into the contextual factors surrounding radical innovation trajectories and their impacts on GSSCM practices and corporate transformation towards GS-OBM in the UK context. The results have managerial and theoretical implications based on a holistic perspective and can be adopted by other boardrooms as a benchmark approach to corporate transformation towards GSSCM and GS-OBM to maximise ESG performance.