Explaining sustainable performance through digital transformation and green organizational culture: a hybrid PLS-SEM-ANN analysis

This study examines how digital transformation and green organizational culture contribute to sustainable performance through the mediating roles of green innovation and brand equity. Drawing on the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities perspective, the study conceptualizes digital transformation and green organizational culture as strategic resource bases and green innovation and brand equity as distinct resource-conversion mechanisms. Data from 318 managers in Vietnamese manufacturing firms were analyzed using a hybrid PLS-SEM–ANN approach. The PLS-SEM results show that green innovation mediates the effects of both digital transformation and green organizational culture on sustainable performance, whereas brand equity mediates only the effect of green organizational culture. The ANN results further indicate that green organizational culture has greater predictive importance than digital transformation for both green innovation and brand equity. For sustainable performance, PLS-SEM identifies green innovation as the strongest direct predictor, while ANN assigns slightly greater predictive importance to brand equity. These findings highlight asymmetric resource-conversion pathways and demonstrate the complementary value of structural and predictive approaches in explaining sustainable performance. This study contributes to the sustainability and strategic management literature by revealing distinct resource-conversion pathways through which technological and cultural resources shape sustainable performance, while offering practical implications for integrating digital transformation, green organizational culture, and innovation strategies.