The mediating effect of business process digitisation on organisational unlearning and the firms' innovation quality: evidence from China

With the rapid development of the digital economy, organisational resources and paradigms have dramatically changed, suggesting it is imperative for firms to unlearn the obsolete knowledge and adopt digital technologies and platforms to achieve high-quality innovation. However, there is currently little research exploring the role of organisational unlearning in innovation quality in the context of digital transformation. Based on a questionnaire survey of 324 respondents from various industries across China, this study proves that organisational unlearning significantly facilitates a firm's innovation quality divided into three dimensions, (i.e., technology innovation quality, transformation innovation quality, and service innovation quality). Additionally, business process digitisation plays a partial mediating role in the above relationships. This study contributes to organisational learning and innovation management literature. It also serves as a reference for managers to upgrade existing business processes while making effective strategic decisions on innovation.