Corporate ambidexterity: Uncovering the antecedents of enduring sustainable performance

Abstract

Most companies only adopt occasional sustainable development. That is, when financial goals conflict with environmental or social responsibilities, the former will be given priority, leading to accelerated environmental damage and increased social inequality. To address this problem, this study adopted ambidexterity theory to explore the impact of combinations of instrumental (i.e., green human resource management practices, sustainable expenditure, technology capability and stakeholder pressure) and moral drivers (i.e., entrepreneur's moral self-awareness) on corporate enduring sustainable performance (ESP). Using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method, the results of a survey of 397 Chinese enterprises were obtained. Findings reveal that the different configurations of instrumental and moral drivers promote corporate ESP by balancing financial, environmental and societal interests. In particular, an entrepreneur's moral self-awareness plays a crucial role as a sufficient and necessary condition for achieving ESP. This study contributes to the sustainable development and organizational resilience literature by explicating the configuration conditions that effectively promote corporate ESP.