Achieving the Success of Sustainability Development Projects through Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Capability

Abstract

There has been increased interest in studying how big data analytics capability (BDAC) and artificial intelligence capability (AIC) lead to sustainable innovation and performance. Yet, few studies have investigated how these two emerging capabilities affect the success of sustainability development projects through the mediating effects of the sustainability design and commercialization processes. Based on Day and Wensley’s theoretical framework for diagnosing competitive superiority, we propose a research model to investigate how sustainability design and commercialization mediate the relationships between two emerging capabilities and sustainable growth and performance. To test the proposed research model, we collected empirical data from 905 sustainability development projects from China and the United States. This study makes theoretical and managerial contributions to sustainable development theory. The study findings reveal several interesting results. First, BDAC and AIC not only increase the proficiency of sustainability design and commercialization but also directly enhance sustainable growth and performance. Second, sustainability design and commercialization mediate the positive effects of BDAC and AIC on sustainable growth and performance. Finally, the empirical analyses uncovered several cross-national differences. For sustainability design, BDAC is more important than AIC in the United States, while AIC is more important than BDAC in China.