Leveraging environmental management accounting and green ambidexterity for competitive advantage: a natural resource orchestration view

Asiaei, Kaveh and Barani, Omid and Rezaee, Zabihollah and Bontis, Nick and Najaf, Khakan (2026) Leveraging environmental management accounting and green ambidexterity for competitive advantage: a natural resource orchestration view. Accounting Forum. pp. 1-25. ISSN 0155-9982

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Abstract

This study explores how organisations leverage environmental management accounting (EMA) and green ambidexterity to translate green knowledge assets into competitive advantage. Drawing on survey data from chief financial officers and analyzing the results using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), we find that green human assets drive competitive advantage only through EMA, while green structural assets show no significant association with EMA. Green relational assets, however, positively influence both EMA and competitive advantage. We further demonstrate that green ambidexterity, where firms’ simultaneous pursuit of exploitative and exploratory green innovation initiatives, strengthens the effect of EMA on competitive advantage. Drawing on the natural resource orchestration perspective, this study offers a novel perspective to EMA research by documenting how organisations can effectively synchronise, bundle, and structure (i.e. orchestrate) various green resources to achieve superior strategic outcomes. It offers important practical insights into how sustainability-oriented initiatives can be harnessed to build and sustain competitive advantage.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1080/01559982.2025.2604169
Dates:	Date Event 10 December 2025 Accepted 23 January 2026 Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Environmental management accounting, Green knowledge assets, Green ambidexterity, Innovation, Competitive advantage, Natural resource orchestration
Subjects:	CAH17 - business and management > CAH17-01 - business and management > CAH17-01-08 - accounting
Divisions:	Business School > Accountancy, Finance and Economics
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	03 Feb 2026 13:41
Last Modified:	03 Feb 2026 13:41
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16834

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