From employee green behavior to sustainable competitive advantage: The role of fintech adoption and sustainability performance within banking institutions

With the fast-paced technological innovation and escalating environmental issues, financial institutions globally are embracing fintech innovations and sustainability initiatives at an accelerated rate to stay competitive sustainably. Employee green behavior can play a central role in the operationalization of these fintech innovations and sustainability-oriented initiatives at the individual level. This study seeks to examine the influence of fintech adoption (FTA) and sustainability performance (SP) on employee green behavior (EGB) and, subsequently, sustainable competitive advantage (SCA), while exploring the mediating role of EGB based on evidence from commercial banks in Bangladesh. The study employed partial least squares structural equation modeling and machine learning (ML) approach to analyze the collected survey dataset. The study found that fintech adoption and sustainability performance significantly impact employee green behavior in the financial industry. The findings also revealed that fintech adoption, sustainability performance, and employee green behavior significantly impact the sustainable competitive advantage of banking institutions. The mediation analysis revealed that employee green behavior substantially mediates the relationship between FTA-SCA and SP-SCA. The findings of the ML-based XGBoost regression model suggested that fintech adoption is the most significant factor for achieving sustainable competitive advantage, followed by employee green behavior. This study advances psychological literature by explaining the role of organizational factors, such as fintech adoption and sustainability performance, as enablers of employee green behavior. This research proposes an integrated strategic framework in the literature and offers actionable guidance to financial organizations for effective decision-making to enhance employee green behavior and achieve a sustained market position.