SUSTAINABLE NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN VIETNAM: INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT IN REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL EXTERNALITIES

The research objective was to establish the impact of operations management, entrepreneurial orientation, and technological innovation capabilities on environmental externalities with the mediating effect of sustainable natural resource management in Vietnam’s travel and tourism industry. For this purpose, data was collected from 320 senior managers of Vietnam’s travel and tourism industry through purposive sampling techniques. Data was analyzed through Smart PLS 4 employing the PLS-SEM technique. The structural model results show that operation management, entrepreneurial orientations, and technology innovation capabilities significantly improve environmental externalities. Also, sustainable natural resource management significantly improves the environmental externalities. The indirect effect results show that sustainable natural resource management is partially mediated among operations management, entrepreneurial innovation technological innovation capabilities, and environmental externalities. The study with these findings emphasized that businesses must implement sustainable operational practices together with eco-friendly entrepreneurial initiatives and technological applications as strategies to protect the environment. The policy guidance proposes economic rewards alongside regulatory backing and innovative technology solutions to develop sustainable tourism. This study added a new understanding of sustainability studies by delivering practical advice that will guide businesses alongside policy designers and academic researchers toward the promotion of responsible tourism methods.