The influence of business intelligence on sustainability performance: is it moderated by perceived environmental uncertainty?

Purpose This paper aims to consider the nexus between antecedent factors (i.e. supporting and technological variables), business intelligence (BI) and sustainability performance (SUSP) in the context of Vietnam, a rapidly growing economy in which we consider BI as a mediation component within the research framework. Furthermore, perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) is investigated as a moderation component in the BI–SUSP nexus. Design/methodology/approach The sample for this study was gathered using thorough screening procedures using Dun and Bradstreet data to assure population representativeness. This study relies on email-based questionnaires to collect information. An electronic questionnaire was disseminated to 900 chief financial officers at manufacturing companies in Vietnam. For the subsequent analysis, 486 complete and usable responses were included. Findings By utilizing partial least squares structural equation modeling, the finding indicates that supporting factors (i.e. organization readiness and management support) and technological factors (i.e. relative advantage and compatibility) have an advantageous influence on BI and SUSP. Furthermore, BI positively mediates the linkages between supporting and technological factors and SUSP, whereas PEU plays a notable moderation role in the BI–SUSP link. Practical implications This paper highlights the significant role of supporting and technological factors for the internal adoption of modern practices (i.e. BI) and sustainable value (i.e. SUSP) of manufacturing firms in rapidly growing economy. Thus, firm-leaders should scrutinize performing supporting and technological factors in an important window for developing more effective modern work habits and make them more sustainable, thus upgrading the SUSP of their firms. Especially, firm-leaders should pay attention to employing the PEU, which improves the relationship between BI and SUSP. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to empirically examine the mediating role of BI and the moderating effect of PEU on SUSP in an emerging market. By integrating organizational, technological and external factors into a unified model within the Vietnamese manufacturing sector, the study offers a novel and context-specific contribution to the sustainability and BI literature.