Turning data into green action: how the environmental value of digitalization emerges in maritime supply chains

Abstract

As digital transformation accelerates and environmental regulations become more stringent, increasing attention has been paid to how maritime firms translate digital resources into environmental value. Drawing on organizational information processing theory and the natural resource-based view, this study develops a multistage model to examine the relationship between supply chain digitalization and environmental performance. The model focuses on an information-processing pathway reflected in supply chain visibility and a supplier-coordination pathway reflected in green supply chain collaboration, highlighting the connecting role of firms’ internal green responses. Using 253 valid questionnaire responses from Chinese maritime logistics firms, the model was tested through covariance-based structural equation modeling. The results show that supply chain digitalization is positively and significantly associated with both supply chain visibility and green supply chain collaboration, although the two capabilities exhibit distinct downstream patterns of association. Supply chain visibility is positively and significantly associated with both internal environmental management and green operational practices, whereas green supply chain collaboration is positively and significantly associated only with green operational practices; its association with internal environmental management is not statistically significant. Both internal green responses are positively and significantly associated with improvements in perceived environmental performance. These findings reveal differences in how information processing and supplier coordination connect with firms’ internal green responses, deepen the understanding of how digital resources are translated into environmental value in the maritime context, and offer practical implications for aligning digitalization initiatives with green management.