MODELING THE MEDIATING SYSTEM: THE COMPUTATIONAL ROLE OF GREEN TECHNOLOGY IN LINKING KNOWLEDGE ASSETS TO SUSTAINABILITY IN YUNNAN HOSPITALITY SECTOR

Abstract

The hospitality industry faces mounting pressure to transition towards sustainable practices. While knowledge assets such as human, structural, and relational capital are recognized as foundational for this shift, the precise mechanism through which they translate into superior sustainability performance remains underexplored. This study investigates the mediating role of adoption of green technology as a critical computational mechanism in this relationship. Drawing on resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theory, we propose a model where green technology acts as an active processing system, converting latent knowledge into actionable, sustainable outcomes. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) on survey data collected from hotel managers, we test this mediating model. The results confirm that green technology adoption fully mediates the relationship between knowledge assets and sustainability performance, measured through environmental, economic, and social dimensions. This research contributes to literature by moving beyond direct effects to model a more nuanced, systems-oriented pathway. The findings offer critical insights for hospitality managers, highlighting the strategic imperative of investing in integrated technological systems to leverage their intellectual capital for a sustainable future. The hospitality industry in China was forced to consider the importance of using green technology, training its employees and knowledge management. In this paper, the researcher explores the aspect of green technology as a mediator between training awareness and Knowledge Management Practices (KMP) and sustainable green practices in the hotel industry within Yunnan Province. Based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Social Learning Theory, the study takes the form of a quantitative, cross-sectional and sample of 288 hotel employees and managers in Dali and Kunming. The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis indicate that training awareness and KMP are both significantly associated with determining the adoption of green technology, which has an impact on sustainable operational outcomes. Green technology has a partial mediating effect on the limb, but then it also has a greater effect when it is accompanied by strong organizational learning structures.