INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE

The concepts of corporate sustainability performance (CSP) calls for a convergence between the three overlapping aspects: economic development, social equity, and environmental protection. Integration of sustainable business practices (SBPs) (i.e. economic, environmental and social) in businesses has gained extensive attention in recent times owing to the escalating pressures from different stakeholder groups. To investigate this phenomenon, this study developed a conceptual framework to explore the impact of environmental and social performance on a firm’s economic bottom line, based on a large-scale questionnaire survey in the Bangladeshi RMG industry. A total of 255 responses were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to identify the relationships among the different performance dimensions of CSP. This study confirmed that there is a positive impact of both environmental and social performance on economic performance. It is worth noting that environmental performance has a more significant positive effect on a firm’s financial performance than social performance. The results of this study offer valuable insights into the managerial decision-making process by informing corporate managers, as well as policymakers, the interlink among all three dimensions and how the improved environmental and social performances positively influence a firm’s economic performance