Driving business sustainability through leadership, knowledge, and commitment: the mediating role of innovation culture in an emerging economy

This study addresses the fragmented understanding of how internal organisational capabilities jointly drive business sustainability, particularly in knowledge-intensive firms within emerging economies. While prior research has examined leadership, knowledge management, and organisational commitment in isolation, limited attention has been given to their integrated effects and the underlying mechanisms linking them to sustainable performance. This study investigates the direct and indirect relationships among visionary leadership, knowledge management, and organisational commitment, with innovation culture as a mediating construct, in telecommunication consulting firms in Indonesia. A cross-sectional survey of 360 managerial and professional employees was used; the data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that all three antecedents significantly influence business sustainability, both directly and indirectly through innovation culture, which acts as a partial mediator. The model demonstrates substantial explanatory power, highlighting the central role of innovation-oriented culture in translating organisational capabilities into sustainable outcomes. Theoretically, this study advances the integration of the resource-based view and the dynamic capabilities perspective to explain sustainability in emerging-market contexts. In practice, it provides sector-specific insights to strengthen internal capabilities, enhancing long-term organisational resilience and competitiveness.