Dynamic Capabilities and Environmental Strategy in the Era of the Double Transition: Systematic and Bibliometric Review of Business Sustainability (2020–2025)

Abstract

Introduction. Corporate sustainability has become a strategic imperative under the simultaneity of environmental, technological, and institutional pressures that require coordinated responses. Recent literature articulates the dual transition (twin transition) as a convergence between sustainability and digitalization, mutually reinforcing forces in the generation of new productive models. Nevertheless, a conceptual fragmentation persists that makes it difficult to understand how dynamic capabilities allow companies to navigate this double transformation.

Methods. A hybrid review design (SLR + bibliometric) was adopted on 319 Scopus articles (Business, Management and Accounting, 2020–2025), selected through PRISMA 2020. The analysis of scientific networks was carried out with VOSviewer (co-citation, co-occurrence) and Bibliometrix (R).

Results. Production of science increased gradually, but since 2022, it has accelerated. A tripartite intellectual structure was identified through co-citation: digital transformation, sustainability and green innovation, and the foundations of dynamic capacities. Four clusters were found to co-occur: sustainable supply chain management, digital transformation and sustainability, green innovation and the circular economy, and dynamic capabilities and sustainable performance. Cross-sectional quantitative approaches predominated (surveys and PLS-SEM), with a scarcity of longitudinal designs. China, India, the United Kingdom, and Italy stood out geographically; sectorially, manufacturing industries stood out.

Discussion. Dynamic capabilities operate as a theoretical pillar to articulate technological innovation and sustainability in the dual transition, managing convergence through sensing, seizing, and transforming. The fragmentation among green innovation, circular economy, and ESG governance domains remains a limitation that future research should address through integrative frameworks. The proposed conceptual model connects dynamic capabilities, sustainability strategies, and sustainable performance, with digital transformation and institutional pressures as key moderators.