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Corporate Sustainability Performance and Firm Performance Research
Corporate Sustainability Performance and Firm Performance Research
www.emeraldinsight.com/0025-1747.htm
Corporate
Corporate sustainability sustainability
performance and firm performance
performance research
361
Literature review and future research agenda
Praveen Goyal and Zillur Rahman
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee,
Roorkee, India, and
A.A. Kazmi
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee,
Roorkee, India
Abstract
Purpose – The aim of this paper is to present a taxonomy of available literature on the relation of
sustainability performance and firm performance, and to provide a path for future research for this
field of study.
Design/methodology/approach – Research papers were collected on sustainability performance
assessment from various journals available at different online databases. The unit of evaluation was a
full paper published in one of the relevant journals. Papers were classified in different categories and
tabulated under various classes. A total of 101 research paper sources were studied and assessed in
terms of nature of research, level of analysis, and application.
Findings – The review reveals that most of the research in the field of sustainability performance and
firm performance association, analyzed this relationship in developed countries. The result differs in
various cultural and economic contexts and there is no universally accepted direction of this relationship.
Contribution of research has also revealed a pattern of growth in recent years. Financial performance is
used in most of the research as a proxy to firm performance. As discussed, the different research gaps
may be exploited for further research. It also argues that further empirical research in relation of
corporate sustainability performance and firm performance is required in developing countries.
Research limitations/implications – The findings of this paper can be generalized only to the
specific population of online databases selected for this research for a given period of time and not for
the entire universe of the sustainability performance literature. There may be various unexploited
areas for future research in terms of different variables.
Originality/value – This paper fulfils the need of a comprehensive review of corporate
sustainability performance assessment literature. It provides a literature review and bibliography
for the period between January 1992 and March 2011 for the use of both academicians and
practitioners.
Keywords Sustainability performance, Literature, Firm performance, Performance management,
Sustainable development
Paper type Literature review
Figure 1.
Flow chart for literature
classification
Corporate
sustainability
performance
365
Figure 2.
Distribution in terms of
time period
Australia – – 1 1 2
Belgium – – 1 – 1
Brazil – – – 1 1
Canada 2 – – 1 3
China – – – 1 1
Egypt – – – 1 1
Finland – – – 2 2
France – – – 2 2
Germany – – 8 3 11
India – – 1 1 2
Italy – – 1 1 2
Japan – – – 1 1
Korea – – – 1 1
Malaysia – – 1 – 1
Netherlands – 2 1 2 5
Philippines – – – 1 1
Portugal – – – 1 1
Saudi Arabia – – 1 – 1
Slovenia – – 2 – 2
South Africa – – 1 – 1
South Korea – 1 – – 1
Spain – 1 3 7 11
Switzerland – – – 2 2
Taiwan – – – 4 4
Thailand – – – 1 1
UK – 4 4 2 10 Table I.
USA 2 12 7 9 30 Country-wise distribution
MD Germany. There is crunch of research studies from other countries especially
51,2 developing countries like India (see Figure 3).
Figure 3.
Distribution in terms of
country
Figure 4.
Distribution in terms of
issue coverage
MD Journal name No. of articles
51,2
Academy of Management Journal (AMJ) 1
Academy of Management Review (AMR) 1
Accounting & Finance (A&F) 1
Accounting Organization & Society (AO&S) 2
Benchmarking: An International Journal (BAIJ) 1
368 Building & Environment (B&E) 1
Building Research & Information (BR&I) 1
Business Ethics: A European Review (BEER) 1
Business Strategy & the Environment (BS&E) 6
Corporate Governance(CG) 3
Corporate Social Responsibility & Environmental Management (CSREM) 4
Ecological Economics (EE) 5
Ecological Indicators (EI) 1
Eco-Management & Auditing (EM&A) 2
Environment & Resources Economics (E&RE) 1
European Business Review (EBR) 1
European Financial Management (EFM) 1
European Journal of Operational Research (EJOR) 1
European Management Journal (EMJ) 3
Hospitality Management (HM) 1
Industrial Management & Data Systems (IMDS) 2
Industrial Marketing Management (IMM) 1
Int. J. Business Governance & Ethics (IJBGE) 1
Int. J. Production Economics (IJPE) 2
International Journal of Bank Marketing (IJBM) 1
Journal of Management Studies ( JMS) 1
Journal of Business Ethics ( JBE) 11
Journal of Business Finance & Accounting ( JBFA) 1
Journal of Business Research ( JBR) 1
Journal of Cleaner Production ( JCP) 6
Journal of Environmental Economics & Management ( JEEM) 1
Journal of Environment Management ( JEM) 2
Journal of Management ( JOM) 2
Journal of Marketing ( JOM) 1
Journal of Operations Management ( JOOM) 3
Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services ( JRCS) 1
Journal of Services Research ( JOSR) 1
Journal of Strategic Information Systems ( JSIS) 1
Journal of World Business ( JOWB) 1
Long Range Planning (LRP) 2
Management Accounting Quarterly (MAQ) 1
Management Decision (MD) 2
Management & Environmental Quality: An International Journal (MEQIJ) 2
Management Science (MS) 1
Management Auditing Journal (MAJ) 1
Omega 2
Quantitative Research in Accounting & Management (QRAM) 1
Resource Conservation & Recycling (RC&R) 1
Scandinavian Journal of Management (SJOM) 1
Strategic Management Journal (SMJ) 3
Structural Change & Economic Dynamics (SCED) 1
Sustainable Development (SD) 2
Technology in Society (TIS) 1
Table III. The Service Industries Journal (TSIJ) 1
Journal-wise distribution Tourism Management (TM) 1
Distribution of articles in terms of methodology adopted Corporate
This classification scheme provides more transparency to the paper for its reader. This sustainability
classification criterion will help the future researchers to understand changes in the
methodologies adopted for the sustainability performance assessment. This performance
classification permits a holistic picture of various research approaches used for
sustainability performance assessment (Marasco, 2008). In the distribution of articles,
in terms of methodology adopted, it is found that there is a lack of theoretical research 369
in all time intervals between 1992 and 2011. Very few studies are published on the
aspect of conceptualization of sustainability assessment and its impact on both
financial and non-financial performance of firm (Table IV).
Among the articles, identified very few studies mentioned their sampling technique.
Out of 101, only seven studies have mentioned regarding their sampling technique,
which includes random sampling (5) and convenience sampling (2). Hence, based upon
this finding random sampling method is the most appropriate method for data
collection purpose (see Figure 5).
Figure 5.
Distribution in terms of
methodology
MD area there is plenty of scope for learning the subject. In this study we identified 101
51,2 research articles published between 1992 and March 2011 in various refereed journals
available online. A significant growth is observed in research related to sustainability
assessment both empirically and theoretically. The major conclusion drawn from the
study is that, despite lots of rigorous efforts the association between corporate
sustainability performance and firm performance is still not well understood. More
370 study on this association in a different environment is necessary to reach more reliable
and conclusive results. The area of study is so broad that there is no any accepted
framework in general.
Another important observation is that most of the researchers considered financial
performance as the substitute of firm performance. That is why generalization of
existing result is very little. According to Poolthong and Mandhachitara (2009), it is
necessary to measure the return on investment in both financial and non-financial
terms on these activities. Third, most of the studies have been rated by independent
agencies or some other proxy like awards or certification has been under taken to
determine the status of sustainability performance. Finally, the most important
observation is that the maximum number of research has focused on developed
countries. Nevertheless, research focus is increasing in developing countries, although
at a very slow pace. The body of research is very limited in case of developing
countries like India.
Methodology
Methodology-wise, our findings suggest that existing studies are both quantitative and
qualitative in nature, therefore, to extract more detailed and thorough information on
the impact of corporate sustainability performance on firm performance a proper
combination of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are required. As most
of the studies shown in above dealt with secondary data of corporate sustainability
performance assessment, empirical research should be directed towards the
assessment of corporate sustainability performance. Existing literature on
association of corporate sustainability performance and firm performance mainly
focused on financial performance of the firm. Therefore, further impact assessment on
other non-financial performance indicators is necessary to reach a more conclusive
outcome.
Figure 6.
Proposed framework for
future research
MD strategies. This article will enhance managers’ awareness regarding stakeholders’
51,2 interest in the company activities. Consequently, this will lead to the inculcation of
current and demanding sustainability issues in the strategy formulation.
The classification and bibliography presented in this paper will assist managers
and academic researchers alike in getting acquainted with the issues faced during
previous endeavors. Although, it is not surprising that a majority of sustainability
372 related studies were conducted in developed country context, it is imperative that
global business organizations promote research on sustainability assessment issues in
the developing countries. Similarly, sustainability assessment of service sector cannot
be ignored due to the increasing contribution of service sector to the global economy.
Moreover, these studies lend insights to the use of non-financial performance measures
for evaluating performance due to sustainability. Almost all studies have focused on
“mere financial” effect of sustainability through historical data. However, the authors
feel that the inclusion of primary collected data based on subjective and behavioral
parameters will add to the robustness of the measurement model.
In the end, we can conclude that sustainability performance assessment has
attracted good amount of research especially in last decade. If we go for a trend
analysis of the research publications we can surely forecast a good amount of research
in this area in future.
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