Sustainability knowledge capability in infrastructure projects: linking sustainable operations, leadership innovation and operational transformation

Abstract

Construction organisations increasingly adopt sustainable technologies, process controls and formal policies, yet temporary project arrangements can fragment what teams learn. This study examines sustainability knowledge capability (SKC) as an organisational capability associated with sustainable leadership innovation capability (SLIC) and sustainability transformation ability (STA), while testing digital readiness (DR) as a boundary condition. We analysed survey data from 355 infrastructure-project professionals in Indonesia using PLS-SEM, bootstrapped indirect-effect and interaction tests, predictive assessment, common-method diagnostics and endogeneity sensitivity checks. Technical practices, operational processes and organisational structures each showed positive associations with SKC. SKC showed strong positive associations with SLIC and STA, and the tests supported all six specific indirect effects through SKC. DR showed substantial lower-order associations with both outcomes, while its incremental interaction effects remained small. These cross-sectional findings support a capability-conversion interpretation but do not establish temporal ordering or causation. They indicate that organisations benefit when they retain, retrieve and reuse sustainability experience, while digital readiness complements rather than substitutes for those knowledge routines.