Identifying the role of absorptive capacity in the relationship between quality management and sustainability: Evidence from the tourism industry

Abstract Firms need to develop dynamic capabilities to anticipate, adapt and respond to a changing competitive environment. Quality management, absorptive capacity and sustainability can act as dynamic capabilities, helping firms to adapt better and more quickly to new stakeholder demands. Some dynamic capabilities can help develop others. The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of quality management and absorptive capacity as enablers and drivers of environmental, economic and social sustainability development, and to study the mediating role of absorptive capacity in the relationship between quality management and the three dimensions of sustainability. Through structural equation modelling and using data from Spanish hotels, this study adds value to the dynamic capabilities theory by empirically demonstrating that quality management and absorptive capacity, used together, positively influence (directly or indirectly) the environmental, economic and social sustainability of hotels in order to reduce their environmental impact, and improve the social well‐being of stakeholders and the economic development of the region.