Organisational unlearning and radical innovation in enterprises: the mediating role of knowledge creation and the moderating effect of strategic flexibility

In the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) era, traditional incremental innovation struggles to overcome the constraints of technological path dependence and low-end lock-in. In contrast, radical innovation, characterised by profound transformation and disruption of existing technologies and products, has emerged as a critical mechanism for addressing technological bottlenecks and achieving leapfrogging strategies. Grounded in organisational learning theory, this study examines the relationship between organisational unlearning and radical innovation, with knowledge creation as a mediating variable and strategic flexibility as a moderating variable. The findings reveal that organisational unlearning significantly enhances radical innovation. Specifically, unlearning facilitates radical innovation through the mediating mechanism of knowledge creation, while strategic flexibility shapes the boundary conditions of this relationship. This study introduces an internal cognitive perspective to elucidate the micro-level mechanisms linking unlearning and innovation, thereby advancing research in organisational learning and innovation management. At the same time, it offers practical implications by highlighting how firms can refine unlearning–learning mechanisms, cultivate unlearning–learning organisations, optimise knowledge-creation environments, and enhance strategic flexibility to navigate an ever-changing business landscape.