Research on the Enhancement Path of Enterprises' Green Innovation Capability from an Adaptive Structuration Perspective

Tariff wars and decoupling policies have triggered profound adjustments in global supply chains. As the core entities within these supply chains, manufacturing enterprises play a crucial role in addressing global sustainable development challenges through their green innovation capabilities. This paper employs Adaptive Structuration Theory as the theoretical analytical framework. Focusing on 89 automotive manufacturing enterprises from 2019 to 2023, it utilizes the dynamic Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) method to explore the enhancement paths driving the green innovation capability of these enterprises from a configurational perspective. The results indicate that: (1) No single antecedent condition can constitute a necessary condition for enhancing enterprises' green innovation capability on its own; (2) Achieving high-level green innovation capability requires specific configurations, where ESG culture is a key factor and the allocation of green attention is an important factor. Specifically, there are five paths leading to high-level green innovation capability, which can be categorized into three driving modes: "Technology-Organization Mutual Construction," "Organization-Led Adaptation," and "Tripartite-Structure Synergy"; (3) The time effect is not significant in the configurations for high-level green innovation capability, while the case effect is significant in some configurations. This research contributes to understanding the complex relationships involved in enhancing corporate green innovation capability and offers theoretical and practical value for automotive manufacturing enterprises striving to achieve green development.