Sustainable Business Performance Research Articles

Enhancing the circular economy business model towards sustainable business performance: Moderating the role of environmental dynamism

Enhancing the emphasis on incorporating sustainable practices reinforces a linear transition towards a circular economy by organizations. Nevertheless, although studies on circular economy demonstrate an increasing trend, the drivers that support circular economy practices towards sustainable business performance in the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) sector, especially in developing nations, demand exploration. Accordingly, the study examines circular economy drivers, i.e., green human resource management, in establishing sustainability performance and environmental dynamism as moderating variables. The study engaged 207 SMEs and 621 respondents who were analyzed utilizing structural equation modeling. The analysis indicated that sustainable business performance was affected by green human resource management and a circular economy. Subsequently, the circular economy mediated the linkage between green human resources management and sustainable business performance. The environmental dynamism moderated the linkage between green human resources management and the circular economy.

Institutional Pressure and Business Sustainable Performance: Does Environmental Management Accounting Matter?

This study investigates the relationship between institutional pressures (IP) and sustainable business performance (SP) within Oman’s industrial sector, emphasizing on the mediating role of environmental management accounting (EMA). Drawing from the institutional theory, a sample of 307 respondents from Oman-based manufacturing firms listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange was considered. Data were gathered via an online questionnaire directed at accounting and finance professionals, with an impressive response rate of 96%. Using structural equation modelling through SPSS and AMOS, the analysis revealed that coercive pressure has a positive yet insignificant influence on SP, while normative pressure significantly correlates with SP. Additionally, while most dimensions of IP positively influence EMA, normative pressure was found to have no significant relationship with EMA. The results further confirm the significant positive impact of EMA on SP. This study underscores the pivotal role of EMA in fostering a sustainable business environment in Oman, accentuating the need for environment-friendly policies driven by IP.

Can smart supply chain bring agility and resilience for enhanced sustainable business performance?

PurposeSupply chains need to be made viable in this volatile and competitive market, which could be possible through digitalization. This study is an attempt to explore the role of Industry 4.0, smart supply chain, supply chain agility and supply chain resilience on sustainable business performance from the lens of natural resource-based view.Design/methodology/approachThe study tests the proposed model using a covariance-based structural equation modelling and further investigates the ranking of each construct using the artificial neural networks approach in AMOS and SPSS respectively. A total of 234 respondents selected using purposive sampling aided in capturing the industry practices across supply chains in the UK. The full collinearity test was carried out to study the common method bias and the content validity was carried out using the item content validity index and scale content validity index. The convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs and mediation study was carried out in SPSS and AMOS V.23.FindingsThe results are overtly inferring the significant impact of Industry 4.0 practices on creating smart and ultimately sustainable supply chains. A partial relationship is established between Industry 4.0 and supply chain agility through a smart supply chain. This work empirically reinstates the combined significance of green practices, Industry 4.0, smart supply chain, supply chain agility and supply chain resilience on sustainable business value. The study also uses the ANN approach to determine the relative importance of each significant variable found in SEM analysis. ANN determines the ranking among the significant variables, i.e. supply chain resilience > green practices > Industry 4.0> smart supply chain > supply chain agility presented in descending order.Originality/valueThis study is a novel attempt to establish the role of digitalization in SCs for attaining sustainable business value, providing empirical support to the mediating role of supply chain agility, supply chain resilience and smart supply chain and manifests a significant integrated framework. This work reinforces the integrated model that combines all the constructs dealt with in silos so far in prior literature.

Linking stakeholders need and sustainable business performance: Unleashing the power of shared value creation for competitive advantage—Study on selected banks in Ethiopia

AbstractIntegrating social and environmental considerations into business strategies has become imperative for companies seeking competitive advantage in today's dynamic and complex business environment. This study explored the effect of Shared Value Creation Practices on Competitive Advantage within banks. The study focused on how banks can achieve competitive advantage by creating shared value that addresses business goals and social needs. Data were collected from 463 customers of selected commercial banks in Ethiopia. The self‐administrative questionnaire was given to the customers selected by convenience sampling method. The study used the Structural Equation Model to test relationship between variables. The Study findings reveal that Shared Value Creation Practices significantly enhance banks' competitive advantage. The study suggests that banks can strategically leverage Shared Value Creation practices to gain a sustained advantage in a competitive market. Banks should continuously innovate and adapt strategies to address evolving stakeholders' needs. The banks should consider shared value creation integral to their strategic planning.

Local wisdom and Government's role in strengthening the sustainable competitive advantage of creative industries

The competitive advantage of the Creative Industry is an important strategy to succeed in a highly competitive global business market. The Indonesian creative industry is a strategic industry characterised by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). However, these enterprises face challenges, such as low entrepreneurial orientation, low digital literation to access the global market, limited capital, lack of digital payment methods, and a focus on conventional marketing activities rather than implementing Entrepreneurial Marketing (EM). The previous research proposed that Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) and Entrepreneurial Marketing (EM) could increase competitive advantage due to the moderating role of local wisdom culture and the government's role. Therefore, this research aims to analyse the moderating role of local wisdom culture and the government's role in the effect of EO and EM on sustainable competitive advantage development. The quantitative research design employed a self-administered survey distributed to 400 top and middle managers within the superior and priority subsectors of the creative industry. The survey targeted four provinces in Indonesia known for their high contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP >9 %), based on the ‘Purposive Sampling’ method. The results of the SEM analysis, based on 330 useable data points, show that Local Wisdom and Government's Role significantly mediate the relationship between Sustainable Competitive Advantage and Sustainable Business Performance. The research results imply that it is necessary to empower the government's role in providing information technology infrastructure to facilitate the creative industry's access to the global marketplace and encourage the use of digital payment methods for the rapid development of sustainable competitive advantage. Theoretical contributions extend to Dynamic Capability Theory by integrating Resources Advantage Theory and Resources Base View Theory, including the moderating role of Local Wisdom and Government's Role, and examining the relationship of EO and EM with sustainable competitive advantage.

Supporting organizational decisions on How to improve customer repurchase using multi-instance counterfactual explanations

Improving customer repurchase intention constitutes a key activity for maintaining sustainable business performance. Returning customers provide many economic and other benefits to businesses. In contrast, attracting new customers is a process that is associated with high costs. This work proposes a novel counterfactual explanations methodology that utilizes textual data from electronic word of mouth to recommend business changes that can improve customers' repurchase behavior. Counterfactual explanation methods gained considerable attention because their logic aligns with human reasoning and the fact that they can recommend low-cost actions on how to turn an unfavorable outcome into a favorable. Most counterfactual explanation methods however recommend actions that can change the outcome of individual instances (i.e. one customer) rather than a group of instances. Therefore, this work proposes a multi-instance counterfactual explanation method that recommends optimum changes to an organization's practices/policies that increase repurchase intention for many customers or customer segments.The proposed methodology utilizes topic modeling to extract customer opinions from online reviews' text and use topics as features to train a binary classifier that predicts customer revisit intention. Multi-instance counterfactual explanations are computed for all or different groups of non-revisiting customers, recommending optimum business changes that can increase revisit intention. The proposed methodology is empirically evaluated through a case study on the restaurant revisit problem and compared against a prominent alternative from the literature. The results show that the method has better performance to the alternative method and produces recommendations that are actionable and abide by the customer-repurchase literature.

Leagile supply chains and sustainable business performance: application of total interpretive structural modelling

This study aims to develop an integrated model for the leagile (lean + agile) supply chain strategy to achieve sustainable business performance across the triple bottom line, including economic, environmental, and social performance. We draw upon a literature review and experts’ opinion, using total interpretive structural modelling (TISM), to determine interrelationships among leagile supply chain practices and sustainable business performance measures. To this end, first, unique and common practices of lean and agile supply chain strategies, i.e. leagile building blocks, are identified through a synthesis of the literature. Second, semi-structured interviews with four experts are conducted to gain an understanding of the mutual relationships among the leagile building blocks and to meticulously adjudicate their interactions with sustainable business performance measures. Validated by two independent researchers and literature enfolding, the final TISM model provides a 10-level hierarchical representation of the leagile supply chain strategy for sustainable business performance.

Evolution of dynamic capabilities for business sustainability performance: Evidence from the Indian manufacturing sector

Evolution of dynamic capabilities for business sustainability performance: Evidence from the Indian manufacturing sector

The Integration of Sustainable Technology and Big Data Analytics in Saudi Arabian SMEs: A Path to Improved Business Performance

Big data analytics technology offers significant opportunities for innovation and performance improvement for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in competitive environments. However, reaping these benefits requires the adoption of such technologies by SMEs. This study investigates the factors influencing the adoption of big data and analytics in Saudi Arabian SMEs in the service and manufacturing sectors, with a particular focus on the role of facilitating sustainable technology in enabling sustainable business performance. Data were collected from managers of SMEs in Saudi Arabia using a quantitative method. The proposed hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling with SmartPLS 4.0. The findings reveal that big data security and management support significantly influence the perceived ease of use and usefulness of big data analytics in SMEs. Perceived ease of use significantly influences the adoption of big data analytics. Furthermore, facilitating sustainable technology was a significant predictor of sustainable business performance. Additionally, the study revealed that the adoption of big data analytics significantly influenced business performance. The insights obtained from this study can be useful for the service and manufacturing industries operating in Saudi Arabia, particularly regarding the key influencing factor of perceived ease of use that determines the adoption of big data analytics in the Saudi Arabian SME market.

The role of green innovation in the relationship between green HRM practices and sustainable business performance; evidence from the mining industry

PurposeDrawing on the natural resource-based view (NRBV) theory, the study aimed to examine the mediating role of green innovation (GI) in the nexus between green human resource management practices (Green HRMPs) and sustainable business performance (SBP).Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted the descriptive time-lagged research design. Data were collected from 278 managerial staff of five mining companies in Ghana at different waves within a 3-month interval. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data received using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) statistics (V. 26.0) and Smart PLS (V.4.0).FindingsThe study found that Green HRMPs significantly related more to economic performance (EP) than social performance (SP) but did not significantly relate to environmental performance (EnP). Moreover, the results revealed that GI partially mediated the nexus between Green HRMPs and both SP and EP but fully mediated the link between Green HRMPs and EnP.Originality/valueThe relevance of Green HRMPs in ensuring corporate sustainability has been largely established in the extant literature. However, there is an evidential dearth of studies in the literature concerning the mediating role of GI in the nexus between Green HRMPs and SBP, especially in developing economies context. Hence, this study serves as a significant contributing card from Ghana by advancing the NRBV theory.

Digital transformation as the driving force for sustainable business performance: A moderated mediation model of market-driven business model innovation and digital leadership capabilities

Global organizations are still facing challenges in achieving sustainable performance despite the surge in digital technologies. It is imperative that firms invest in digital capabilities to secure sustainable market performance in the face of a barrage of novel inventions. Today, ensuring a resilient future demands business to focus on digital ambidexterity capabilities (i.e., exploitation and exploration), digitalized strategy adoption, and digital transformation. This study investigates the intricate dynamics between digital capabilities and digitalization strategies and their impact on sustainable business performance. The research employed a questionnaire-driven methodology to gather data from managerial personnel within industries. Results show that digital exploitation and exploration capabilities significantly enhance sustainable business performance. The research also establishes the beneficial effect of adopting a digitalization strategy on business performance and innovation. Market-driven business model innovation emerges as a critical factor, not only driving sustainable performance but also serving as a mediating link between various digital strategies and business success. Moreover, the study highlights the importance of digital leadership capabilities, further strengthening the relationship between innovative business models and sustainable performance. The findings underscore the synergistic effect of digital competencies and strategic digitalization in promoting sustainable and innovative practices in today's digital-driven business landscape.

The Role of Digital Transformation, Corporate Culture, and Leadership in Enhancing Corporate Sustainable Performance in the Manufacturing Sector of China

The Chinese manufacturing industry faces many challenges to sustainable development. This study examines how transformational leadership, corporate culture, and digital transformation affect Chinese manufacturing organizations’ sustainability. It will also examine the moderating role of environmental dynamism and the mediating effect of innovation capabilities. A self-administered survey was distributed to 350 manufacturing companies’ owners, managers, leaders, and employees, etc. Participants were selected via convenient sampling. This data collection effort validated findings and empirically tested theories. Smart PLS structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), quantitative research, and cross-research are used in this study. The findings suggest that corporate culture, transformational leadership, and digital transformation significantly affect organizations’ sustainability. Innovation capability does not affect the relationship between corporate culture and sustainability. However, it mediates the relationship between transformational leadership, digital transformation, and business sustainability. Innovation capabilities and business sustainability performance are moderated by environmental dynamism. This study contributes to sustainable corporate performance theory by showing managers how transformational leadership, digital transformation, and corporate culture can help manufacturing companies grow indefinitely. The findings have major implications for China, a highly industrialized nation. This study could benefit regulatory authorities, academic institutions, industry, government agencies, and researchers.

Modelling business performance from marketing practices of architecture firms in Nigeria

Purpose This study aims to establish marketing practices which predict business performance of architecture firms within the Nigerian Construction Industry (NCI) to address the sustained poor business performance of firms, which affects allied professionals as many projects in the built environment depend on design proposals from architects. Design/methodology/approach Survey responses from 86 firms were used to model business performance measured as total revenue of the firms from 40 commonly deployed marketing practices in construction. Findings Two-thirds of the marketing practices most used by architectural firms were ineffective in predicting business performance. The model also explains up to half the variance in business performance (37.4–49.9%), supporting the view that marketing in the CI affects business performance. Researching client needs and competitors emerged as the only significant positive predictor of business performance (β = 0.827, p = 0.043). Using social media (β = −1.247, p = 0.004), regular participation in awards/competitions (β = −1.420, p = 0.013) and inclusion of political offers in bids (β = −1.050, p = 0.016) negatively predicted business performance. Practical implications Architecture and allied professional bodies in Nigeria need to rethink existing restrictions regarding marketing based on traditional code of ethics in light of present-day realities of digital and internet business environments. Principals and management of architecture firms require a paradigm shift in deploying the appropriate marketing practices, especially as it relates to research regarding changing client expectations and current competition within the NCI. Originality/value The study established marketing practices which model business performance and demonstrate their value in a framework for improving the financial sustainability of architecture firms within the NCI.

Organizational Cybersecurity Systems and Sustainable Business Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia: The Mediating and Moderating Role of Cybersecurity Resilience and Organizational Culture

Cybersecurity challenges in Saudi Arabia’s service and manufacturing sectors are escalating due to increased digital adoption, highlighting the need for robust security measures and awareness in SMEs. Therefore, this research is significant due to the increasing reliance on digital technologies and the unique cybersecurity challenges faced by SMEs in these vital economic sectors. With rapid technological advancements, IT capabilities and cybersecurity have become paramount, particularly in the post-COVID-19 era. The service and manufacturing sectors in Saudi Arabia have seen significant shifts towards digital operations. This study aimed to explore the impact of organizational cybersecurity systems on organizational resilience and sustainable business performance in Saudi Arabia’s service and manufacturing sectors, examining the mediating and moderating effects of organizational resilience and culture. A quantitative research method was employed, combining a thorough literature review with empirical data from a sample of 394 respondents in Saudi Arabia, split evenly between the service and manufacturing sectors. Smart PLS 3.3.3 was used to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings suggested a positive effect of the factors of organizational cybersecurity systems on organizational resilience. Organizational cybersecurity systems also significantly influenced sustainable business performance; however, organizational resilience and culture did not play mediating and moderating roles. This study is one of the first to offer a nuanced analysis of IT capabilities and cybersecurity within Saudi Arabia’s service and manufacturing sectors, especially in a post-COVID-19 context. The insights gleaned contribute to the academic discourse and have pivotal managerial implications for organizations navigating the digital era in Saudi Arabia.

Artificial Intelligence Adoption by SMEs to Achieve Sustainable Business Performance: Application of Technology–Organization–Environment Framework

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate and present a theoretical model that identifies the most influential factors affecting the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by SMEs to achieve sustainable business performance in Saudi Arabia by integrating the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework. The authors utilized a quantitative method, using a survey instrument for this research. Data for this research were collected from managers working in six different sectors. Subsequently, based on company size, firms were divided into two groups, allowing multi-group analysis of small and medium-sized businesses to explore group differences. Hence, firm size played a moderating role in the conceptualized model. Data analysis was performed on SmartPLS 3, and the results suggest that dimensions of the TOE framework, such as relative advantage, compatibility, sustainable human capital, market and customer demand, and government support, play a significant role in the adoption of AI. Moreover, this study found a significant influence of AI on SMEs’ operational and economic performance. The multi-group analysis (MGA) results reveal significant group differences, with a medium-sized firm strengthening the relationship between relative advantage and AI adoption compared to small-size firms. The findings lead to practical implications for companies on how to increase the adoption of AI to help SMEs embrace their technological challenges in KSA and obtain sustainable business performance to contribute to the economy.

Analyzing Factors That Affect Korean B2B Companies’ Sustainable Performance

This study empirically examines factors that can influence the sustainable corporate performance of Korean business-to-business (B2B) companies with the help of unique survey data. Factors such as technological capability, the chief executive officer (CEO)’s risk-taking propensity, B2B seller skill, and key account management (KAM) are analyzed to clarify their impact on sustainable financial and non-financial performance. In particular, given that environment, society, and governance (ESG) reporting has recently been widely recognized as an important evaluation factor for companies, we look at the mediating effects of ESG management on sustainable business performance. The results show that the CEO’s risk-taking propensity and B2B seller skill significantly impact the company’s sustainable financial performance, while technological capability and the CEO’s risk-taking propensity significantly impact sustainable non-financial performance. The fact that a CEO’s risk-taking propensity affects both sustainable financial and non-financial performance indicates the importance of entrepreneurial competency in the sustainability of the company. Furthermore, the findings reveal that ESG management plays a crucial role in sustainable corporate performance. The mediating role of ESG management allows technological capability, B2B seller skill, and KAM to influence sustainable financial performance significantly. Likewise, all of the explanatory factors contribute to the company’s sustainable non-financial performance through ESG management. The findings are important for both practitioners and scholars because they emphasize the need to establish an optimal ESG management strategy for corporate survival and sustainability. Furthermore, this study underscores that ESG management should be implemented by all organizational members, from CEOs to employees. Future research will include more comprehensive samples and analyze various strategic factors not covered in this study to derive effective ways by which companies can increase their performance and sustainability. We will also explore the factors that contribute to good ESG management practices.

Business sustainability performance through sustainability awareness and business work ethics in Islamic institutions

Business sustainability performance through sustainability awareness and business work ethics in Islamic institutions

Dynamic capabilities and digitalization as antecedents of innovation and sustainable performance: empirical evidence from Vietnamese SMEs

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the relationship between dynamic capabilities and sustainable business performance in Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), focusing on the mediating role of digitalization strategies. Specifically, the authors seek to explore whether and how the three critical characteristics of dynamic capabilities (DCs) – sensing, seizing and transforming capabilities – are linked to business model innovation (BMI) or sustained performance and what dimensions contribute to their development and adoption in digitalization strategies.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyse a sample of 596 Vietnamese SMEs using a validated measurement framework to explore the three clusters of DCs activities and their contributions to digitalization strategies, BMI and sustainable business performance across economic, social and environmental dimensions.FindingsThe study highlights the pivotal role of sensing, seizing and transforming capabilities in the adoption of digitalization strategies, BMI, as well as in promoting sustainable business performance. Firstly, sensing capability profoundly influences product digitalization strategy, whereas seizing capability has the greatest impact on process digitalization strategy. Secondly, sensing and transforming capabilities significantly contribute to BMI. Thirdly, both process and product digitalization strategies exert a significant positive influence on sustainable business performance, especially the environmental dimension. Finally, the study exhibits the indirect impacts of seizing and sensing capabilities on sustainable business performance through product and process digitization strategies.Originality/valueThis study extends recent research by investigating the DCs underlying a firm’s digitalization strategies and contribute to ongoing calls for further investigation in the DCs literature. This research design, which draws from a validated measurement framework, responds to recent calls to broaden the toolkit used in DCs research. The practical implications of this study can benefit SMEs in Vietnam and beyond as they seek to enhance their digitalization strategies and achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

Optimizing Sustainable Business Performance: The Role of SME Agility in Digitalization

Optimizing Sustainable Business Performance: The Role of SME Agility in Digitalization

Examining the influence of top management green commitment and green intellectual capital on sustainable business performance of Thailand’s thrift and credit cooperatives: The mediating role of collaboration

This article aims to examine the influence of top management green commitment and green intellectual capital of Thailand’s thrift and credit cooperatives on sustainable business performance: the mediating role of collaboration. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 400 Thailand’s thrift and credit cooperatives. The measurement and structural models were analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The finding of the study demonstrated that top management green commitment and green intellectual capital have a positive influence on sustainable business performance and collaboration. Moreover, collaboration has a positive influence on sustainable business performance and mediates the relationship between top management green commitment on sustainable business performance, and also green intellectual capital on sustainable business performance. This empirical finding contributes to the body of knowledge in Resource Based View theory.