Technological Turbulence, Circular Economy Practices, and Digitalization as Determinants of Innovative Culture in High-Growth Firms

Abstract

In a business environment characterized by technological turbulence and an increasing societal demand for greater sustainability, companies seeking to enhance their growth are compelled to foster organizational cultures that promote continuous innovation. This study examines how environmental technological turbulence and circular economy practices influence the innovation culture of high-growth firms, taking into account the mediating role of organizational digitalization. The research is based on data collected from a sample of 183 Spanish high-growth firms, analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that both technological turbulence and circular economy practices exert a significant direct influence on innovation culture, and that digitalization partially mediates these relationships, operating as an enabling organizational capability that converts external pressures into innovation-supportive cultural orientations. Adopting a dynamic capabilities perspective, the study reframes innovation culture as an endogenous organizational outcome, rather than a static antecedent of innovation performance, emerging from firms' adaptive responses to technological and sustainability pressures through digital capability development. The study also offers practical implications for the design of organizational strategies that align digital transformation and sustainability in high-growth contexts.