Digital transformation speed and firms’ ambidextrous green innovation: Do employee stock ownership and education levels matter?

This study investigates the conditions under which digital transformation speed influences firms' ambidextrous green innovation, which is a dual capability encompassing both exploitative and exploratory dimensions of sustainable practices. Anchored in dynamic capabilities theory, we propose that accelerating digital transformation speed may erode firms’ dynamic capabilities—namely, their ability to sense, seize, and reconfigure resources—thereby exerting a negative effect on ambidextrous green innovation. We further argue that employee stock ownership fosters greater alignment between individual and organizational goals, thus mitigating the disruptive impact of digital transformation speed, whereas higher levels of employee education enhance cognitive and problem-solving capacities, enabling firms to better navigate the complexities arising from faster digital transformation speed. Drawing on panel data from publicly listed Chinese manufacturing firms over the period of 2015–2021, our findings substantiate the majority of our hypotheses. By delineating, for the first time, the intricate logical nexus between digital transformation speed and ambidextrous green innovation, this study makes a substantive contribution to the burgeoning literature on sustainable industrial transformation.