Innovating for a sustainable future: exploring the interplay of knowledge integration, digital leadership and moral reflectiveness

Purpose Global sustainability is a priority for organisations, yet knowledge management (KM) research offers limited clarity on how knowledge integration capability converts knowledge resources into sustainability outcomes. This study aims to examine how knowledge integration capability and digital leadership influence co-innovative behaviour and, in turn, sustainable performance in Chinese manufacturing firms, while considering absorptive capacity and moral reflectiveness as boundary conditions. Design/methodology/approach Data collected from 259 employees in Chinese manufacturing firms were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling to examine the proposed relationships. Findings Knowledge integration capability and digital leadership positively influence co-innovative behaviour, which enhances sustainable performance. Co-innovative behaviour mediates the effects of knowledge integration capability and digital leadership on sustainable performance. Absorptive capacity strengthens the digital leadership → co-innovative behaviour relationship but does not strengthen the knowledge integration capability → co-innovative behaviour relationship. Moral reflectiveness positively moderates the co-innovative behaviour → sustainable performance link. Practical implications Managers should strengthen KM routines that support knowledge integration, cultivate digital leadership practices and invest in learning mechanisms that build absorptive capacity, while encouraging ethical reflection so that co-innovation consistently translates into sustainable value. Originality/value This study extends the knowledge integration literature by showing that knowledge integration capability contributes to sustainable performance through co-innovative behaviour rather than through direct capability–performance effects alone. It also clarifies how this process is conditioned by absorptive capacity and moral reflectiveness in Chinese manufacturing firms.