Quality and environmental management systems as business tools to enhance ESG performance: a cross-regional empirical study

Abstract

The growing societal and political focus on sustainability at global level is pressurizing companies to enhance their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance to satisfy respective stakeholder needs and ensure sustained business success. With a data sample of 4292 companies from Europe, East Asia and North America, this work aims to prove through a cross-regional empirical study that quality management systems (QMSs) and environmental management systems (EMSs) represent powerful business tools to achieve this enhanced ESG performance. Descriptive and cluster analyses reveal that firms with QMSs and/or EMSs accomplish statistically significant higher ESG scores than companies without such management systems (MSs). Furthermore, the results indicate that operating both types of MSs simultaneously increases performance in the environmental and social pillar even further, while the governance dimension appears to be affected mainly by the adoption of EMSs alone. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, such large-scale, cross-regional analysis of the impact of QMSs and EMSs on ESG performance is absent from the literature, thus paving the way for pioneering academic research. The study is grounded in stakeholder theory and demonstrates managers how the implementation of MSs can assist in successfully translating stakeholders’ sustainability concerns into actionable business practice. Furthermore, it allows decision-makers to gain insight into the strengths and weaknesses of QMSs and EMSs for tackling specific ESG issues and highlights the performance advantages of combining both MSs. The work also depicts policymakers how corporate sustainable performance (CSP) can be improved by fostering MSs adoption, thereby emphasizing the importance of supporting and facilitating the diffusion of these systems.

ISO management system standards in the light of corporate sustainability: a bibliometric analysis

“…This observation aligns with empirical research on the impact of QMSs on ESG performance (e.g. Ronalter et al, 2022a).…”

“…Empirical research on the impact of EMSs on ESG performance verifies the positive impacts on all three pillars (e.g. Ronalter et al. , 2022a).…”

“…Nonetheless, first scholars start overcoming such sole focus on particular adoption benefits, but instead take into account the relation between MSs and the ESG concept in a broader sense. Ronalter et al (2022a), for example, sort the benefits of QMSs and EMSs (often based on ISO 14001) adoption by ESG theme and evidence through a cross-regional empirical study that both MSs represent suitable business tools to achieve enhanced ESG performance. However, this study does not make statements about specific underlying MSSs, but rather explores QMSs and EMSs in general.…”

Greening Emerging Economies: Enhancing Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance through Environmental Management Accounting and Green Financing

“…Amidst recent global crises and a turbulent business landscape marked by supply chain disruptions, sustainable development, market fluctuations, and evolving consumer behavior, managers are increasingly prioritizing sustainability practices [1][2][3][4][5]. These encompass environmental management accounting (EMA), green financing, energy development, renewable energy sources, and sustainable production [2,4,[6][7][8][9], serving as focal points for managers seeking to address sustainability challenges across environmental, social, and governance (ESG) dimensions [10,11].…”

Certification and sustainability as a key tool for competitiveness

“…A tightening of the conditions for businesses in incorporating sustainable conditions into business can therefore be expected in most segments over time. Maximilian Ronalter et al (2023) state that companies with an implemented quality management system and an environmental management system achieve a statistically significantly higher ESG score than companies without such management systems.…”