Corporate sustainability and enterprise performance: The mediating effects of internationalization and networks
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management
ISSN: 1741-0401
Article publication date: 12 March 2020
Issue publication date: 30 December 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between economic performance in terms of labour productivity of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their corporate sustainability in association with the driving forces of internationalization process and enterprise networks.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper develops an innovative theoretical–conceptual approach and applied unique empirical survey to investigate the simultaneous causalities between labour productivity and corporate sustainability, in the context of the set of relationships controlled with two other set of variables for mediating role of the internationalization process and enterprise networks focusing on business collaborations between SMEs. Four hypotheses are tested by the developed structural equation model for the unique in-depth survey data of Slovenian SMEs.
Findings
The results highlight significant positive correlations between the studied variables and their constructs, which indicate scientific justification to variables as factors. The results confirmed that internationalization process and enterprise networks are positively associated in improving corporate sustainability, which drives labour productivity.
Practical implications
The implications of this research are for managers regarding strategies and approaches aiming at sustainable development of SMEs, and for policy-makers regarding appropriate policies for practices encouraging internalization processes and enterprise networks as important drivers of corporate sustainability and labour productivity of SMEs.
Originality/value
The main scientific value added of this research is that combines and empirically examines driving forces of corporate sustainability in SMEs based on related studies, to develop more comprehensive structural equation model for better understanding of the corporate sustainability behaviour in SMEs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the useful suggestions and constructive comments made by the anonymous journal reviewers.The study was partly supported by Slovenian Research Agency.
Citation
Bojnec, Š. and Tomšič, N. (2021), "Corporate sustainability and enterprise performance: The mediating effects of internationalization and networks", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 70 No. 1, pp. 21-39. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-05-2019-0226
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited