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Over the past years, business strategies have been designed to improve ‘firms' financial and non-financial performances and achieve sustainable development, leading to corporate sustainability. This article is a bibliometric analysis of two decades of the relationship between corporate sustainability and firm performance, identifying the research focus and the gaps for future research.

The bibliometric review of corporate sustainability and performance research is between January 2004 and June 2023. As per the Web of Science database, the theme's research commenced around 2004, growing gradually till 2023. Five hundred thirty-nine published articles by peer-reviewed ABDC-indexed A and A* journals in English have been reviewed. The bibliometrix package in R software is used with VOSviewer for the bibliometric analysis.

The study's findings indicate a lack of research on the theme from developed and underdeveloped nations. Further, the analysis reveals five clusters of research: (1) business sustainability, (2) corporate sustainability reporting, (3) corporate sustainability, strategy, and innovation, (4) stakeholder and corporate sustainability, and e) corporate sustainability assessment.

The future research areas proposed are on two major themes, namely, corporate sustainability and organizational competitive advantage, including sub-themes such as “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and financial performance” and “greenhouse-gas emissions” and “market orientations,” respectively. There is a need for more research in developing markets, a comprehensive definition of corporate sustainability, and further exploration of the theme linking strategy and innovation.

Despite the well-recognized importance of recycled water, the study of industry-peer pressure on recycled water is relatively new. This study investigates how organizations experience and react to industry-peer pressure to set recycled water targets. Additionally, this study investigates the role of board chairs involved in sustainability committees in contributing to responses to industry-peer pressure.

Using Eviews 12, this study employed a pooled logistic regression model to analyze data from 1,346 firms on Taiwan and Taipei exchanges (2017–2020).

The findings revealed that frequency-based imitation drives recycled water target-setting diffusion. However, there is no direct relationship between outcome-based imitation and recycled water target-setting. Notably, outcome-based imitation drives the adoption of recycled water target-setting of firms with board-chair membership in sustainability committees.

This study faces certain data limitations. First, this study primarily focuses on water recycling. Future research could explore other ways to reduce water usage, such as using water-efficient equipment. Second, this study gathered information solely on the presence or absence of a board chairperson on the sustainability committee. Future researchers could explore the impact of the composition of sustainability committee on recycled water target-setting. Lastly, the sample used in this study is restricted to Taiwan's corporations that existed during 2017–2020. Future researchers may consider adopting a longitudinal design in other economies to address this limitation.

The findings of this study offer several guidelines and implications for recycled water target-setting and the composition of sustainability committees. It responds to an urgent call for solutions to water shortages when pressure from governments and nongovernmental organizations is relatively absent. The number of industry peers that have already set recycled water targets is indispensable for motivating firms to set their own recycled water targets. In terms of insufficient water-related regulatory pressure and normative pressure, this study found evidence suggesting that the direct motivation for setting recycled water targets stems from mimetic pressures via frequency-based imitation. The evidence in this study suggests that policymakers should require companies to disclose their peers’ recycled water target information, as doing so serves as an alternative means to achieving SDG 6.3.

Recycled water target-setting might be challenging. Water recycling practices may face strong resistance and require substantial additional resources (Zhang and Tang, 2019; Gao et al., 2019; Gu et al., 2023). Therefore, this study suggests that firms should ensure the mindfulness of board members in promoting the welfare of the natural environment when making recycled water target-setting decisions. To reap the second-mover advantage, firms must consider the conditions in which board members can more effectively play their role. Corporations may help their chairpersons in setting recycled water targets by recruiting them as members of sustainability committees. Meanwhile, chairpersons tend to activate accurate mental models when the water conservation performance of pioneering industry peers is strong enough to indicate the potential benefits of adopting recycled water target-setting. Investors’ and stakeholders’ understanding of how the composition of sustainability committees is related to recycled water target-setting may help to identify the potential drivers of firms’ water responsibility. Investors and stakeholders should distinguish firms in terms of the board chair’s membership of their sustainability committee and focus on water-use reduction outcomes in the industry. This study provides insights into circumstances whereby chairpersons help to restore the water ecosystem.

This study explains how frequency-based and outcome-based imitation are two prominent mechanisms underlying the industry-peer pressure concerning recycled water target-setting. Moreover, this study fills literature gaps related to the moderating roles of board-chair membership in sustainability committees concerning industry-peer pressure on recycled water target-setting.

This study aims to investigate sustainability practices in the banking industry, focusing on a developing economy. It uses the triple-bottom-line framework to answer the following research question: how do banks in Nigeria conceptualise sustainability, and what role does it play in their banking practices?

This study adopts a social constructivist approach in its exploration of banking sustainability practices in an emerging economy, and the research design is a purpose-based (exploratory) approach. The qualitative data was collected from 33 bank personnel from various bank units and departments through semi-structured interviews to achieve the research objective.

The study reveals a lack of sustainability policies and programmes, as banks focus mainly on profitability. It uncovers unfair treatments of bank workers through casualisation, low wages and work overload. It indicates that most banks in developing countries ignore environmental considerations, as they still carry out paper-based transactions and use diesel-powered generators, which cause various negative environmental impacts. It also confirms that governments and banks in the country are not doing enough to propagate sustainable practices and banks have also not taken advantage of the sustainability concept to promote their brands; instead, they consider it as requiring additional operational costs.

The findings demonstrate the need for banks to see sustainability from a marketing point of view and adopt sustainable practices to create additional value that will improve their brand image and enhance their competitiveness.

The importance of sustainability in the banking industry in emerging economies is considered a viable means of contributing to the overall development goals of the United Nations as the world tries to preserve the environment. It also highlights the consequences of inaction or unsustainable banking practices.

This study investigates how sustainability influences employer branding across generational cohorts – Generations Z, Y and X – and between two neighboring countries, Slovenia and Croatia, with different economic development levels.

A comparative cross-generational survey was conducted among respondents from Slovenia and Croatia to assess the impact of sustainability on employer brand perception. The survey explored generational attitudes toward sustainability and its integration into the employer value proposition.

The study found that all the generational cohorts view sustainability as an important factor in their evaluation of employer brands. Generation X showed the most favorable attitude toward sustainability, followed by Generation Z, highlighting the need for organizations to communicate sustainability efforts effectively to attract these groups. However, there were subtle differences between the countries, with Slovenian respondents indicating a slightly higher preference for sustainable practices. Additionally, while Generation Z may not have the same financial leverage as Generation X, their high valuation of sustainability in employer branding demonstrates their future influence as they enter the workforce.

Limitations include the survey’s conceptual framing, which may be inherently biased toward the more affluent Generation X’s capacity to prioritize sustainability and the focus on USA-based generational definitions, which may not be fully applicable across different cultural settings. Future research could address these limitations by refining the conceptual approach and expanding the sample to include more diverse geographical contexts.

By comparing responses from two economically distinct neighboring countries, the study reveals complex inter-generational dynamics and national contexts affecting sustainability’s role in employer attractiveness.

The primary objective of this research is to chronicle how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other United States Federal Government Agencies (USFGA) agencies have played a role in shaping the trajectory of financial reporting for sustainability, with a particular emphasis on triple bottom line (TBL). This exploration extends to other indexes reporting sustainability data encompassed within financial, social and environmental reporting.

This study adopts an illustrative methodology, utilizing data sourced from governmental, business and international organizational documents.

Sustainability accounting predominantly finds its place within the framework of TBL. However, it is crucial to note that sustainability reporting remains voluntary rather than mandatory. Nevertheless, accounting firms and professional accounting societies have embraced it as a supplementary facet of financial accounting reporting.

The research highlights the historical evolution of sustainability within the USFGA and corporate entities. Corporations’ interest in accounting for sustainability performances has significantly contributed to the emergence of voluntary sustainability accounting rules, as embodied by the TBL.

This paper aims to document international evidence of the impact of a board-level governance bundle [size, independence, CEO duality, gender diversity and sustainability committee (SC)] on sustainability reporting (SR) and, separately, on its three dimensions (economic, environmental and social).

The sample includes 370 listed firms from 50 countries. A GRI standards-based disclosure index was constructed to quantify SR across various reporting media.

The baseline findings show that SC positively affects SR and its three dimensions. Board size also has a significant and positive impact on SR and two of its dimensions (economic and social). Similarly, board independence and CEO duality have a significant but negative association with SR and the same two dimensions. Finally, board gender diversity has no significant impact on SR and all its three dimensions.

The findings that only SC significantly influences SR, and its three dimensions, have important implications for corporate governance reforms internationally to improve SR in countries where such committees are not yet part of the board of directors’ sub-committees.

Overall, this study contributes to board characteristics–SR literature and holds significant theoretical and practical implications.

The integration of sustainability, performance measurement and new product development (NPD) is key for aligning environmental and social objectives with business strategies. While previous research has initiated proposals for integrating sustainability into NPD or incorporating sustainability into corporate measurement systems, there is a notable deficiency in studies that comprehensively integrate these three perspectives. In this sense, this study proposes a performance framework (PF) to integrate sustainability performance indicators (PIs) into the measurement system considering the company’s NPD phases.

The PF was developed through a literature review and action research (AR). This resulting PF was positively evaluated by the practitioners in the company.

First, the review enabled the synthesis of an initial conceptual PF with 188 sustainability PIs and a five-step procedure. Then, the empirical results of the AR led to a new PF that presents the systematisation of the PIs database and a practice-based seven-stage approach.

This action-oriented research limits the extent to which this study’s findings can be generalised. Future research should apply the PF in different research designs to produce managerially relevant knowledge.

This PF may provide managers with actionable knowledge that best supports the measurement system integration with sustainability PIs considering the NPD phases.

Integrating sustainability, performance measurement and the NPD has been recognised as critical for supporting decision-making concerning the impact of processes and products. Compared with previous frameworks, the proposed PF extends the existing literature by introducing a systematised PIs database and a novel procedure for integrating sustainability measurement throughout the NDP.

This research investigates the influence of corporate–NGO collaborations on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure measured in three different ways (i.e. extent, level and quality) in low-income developing economies. Additionally, it examines the moderating effect of corporate profitability in the relationship between corporate–NGO collaborations and CSR disclosure.

This research uses multivariate regression analysis based on data collected from 201 non-financial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE).

The findings reveal that corporations with NGO partnerships are more likely to disclose CSR information and provide high-quality information regarding workers, the environment and community-related issues. Further, corporate profitability positively moderates the corporate–NGO collaborations and CSR disclosure relationship.

Research limitations are presented in the conclusion section.

The findings underline the crucial significance of NGOs and their associated normative isomorphism logics for CSR disclosure in low-income countries with weak law enforcement and relatively ineffective state institutions, which were previously believed to lack such institutions.

While some research has suggested that companies in developing countries perceive significant pressure from NGOs to adopt social disclosure, no study has specifically explored how internally driven corporate–NGO collaboration (as opposed to external NGO activist pressures) promotes CSR disclosure specifically in developing economies.

Financial and nonfinancial disclosures (sustainable accounting) are crucial in the annual financial reports of many firms. This study aims to explore the dynamic relationship between sustainability disclosure quality (SDQ) and financial performance (FP) within mandatory disclosure frameworks. SDQ is evaluated across six dimensions, encompassing both the quality and quantity of disclosures, aiming to understand their reciprocal influence.

Using the generalized method of moments (GMM), this research analyzes data from 2013 to 2019, focusing on 99 listed Indian firms within the S&P Bombay stock exchange (BSE) 500 index. The study uses rigorous measurement criteria to assess SDQ and uses statistical methods to unveil the causal link between SDQ and FP.

The results show a positive causal connection between SDQ and FP, where organizations with good FP make relatively higher disclosures across FP proxies than their counterparts. Additionally, the study investigates the impact of research and development (R&D) expenditure and dividend payments (DIVD) on SDQ. Notably, lower R&D spending is associated with higher quality SDs, and companies with superior SDQ exhibit increased DIVD.

The findings advocate for strengthened regulatory compliance, incentivized sustainable practices and heightened reporting standards for a transparent business environment and achieving the relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

This research contributes original insights by uncovering the intricate relationship between SDQ and FP, shedding light on the impact of R&D expenditure and DIVD on SDQ. These findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of the interplay between FP and sustainability reporting within the context of mandatory disclosure frameworks.

This study explores the variance in investor responses to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance of firms, as influenced by information sources and investor types.

This study applies a short-term event study and cross-sectional analysis with unique CSR datasets obtained from newspaper articles and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

Investor reactions are significantly shaped by their sources of information. Individual investors are found to predominantly respond to accessible news announcements, whereas institutional investors show heightened sensitivity to adverse news from both scrutinized sources. Foreign investors, mirroring institutional investors' patterns, uniquely react positively to index additions.

Investors’ assessment of CSR activities varies due to the differing sources of information obtained; further, it is affected by the type of investor.

The findings guide public relation managers in strategizing CSR communication toward diverse investor types. This includes recommending targeted approaches for Japanese individual investors through newspapers and TV, exercising caution in disseminating adverse news to Japanese institutions, and promoting and justifying CSR actions to foreign investors. It underscores the need for a strategic investor relations frameworks that considers accessibility, literacy, and investors' interests.

This study examines the relationship between sources of information for CSR activities and investors’ responses, an area under-represented in the literature. The author uses CSR announcement data, collected from newspapers to make the results more accurate and relevant.