The role of sustainability control systems in translating CSR into performance in Iran

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to explore the extent to which companies rely on sustainability management control systems (SMCS) to translate corporate social responsibility (CSR) into superior performance building upon the premise of the natural resource orchestration perspective.Design/methodology/approachData were collected based on a survey data set from 118 Chief Financial Officers of publicly listed companies in Iran. The theoretical model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM, SmartPLS 3.0) as a method that enjoys minimum demands concerning normality assumptions and sample size.FindingsThe findings support the full mediation effect of SMCS on the relationship between CSR and organizational performance. This implies that CSR affects performance only through the mediating role of SMCS.Practical implicationsThe central premise in the proposed theoretical framework is that the utilization of proper management control mechanisms (i.e. SMCS) can help the organization to better synchronize, measure and manage – i.e. “orchestrate” – the social, environmental and economic impacts, and this, in turn, leads to improved organizational performance.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind, building on a unique synthesis of the agency cost perspective and resource orchestration theory, to introduce the “natural resource orchestration” approach for examining the intervening role of SMCS between CSR and organizational performance.

Green intellectual capital and ambidextrous green innovation: The impact on environmental performance

“…We consider the TSE an ideal sampling frame since it is Iran's primary stock exchange. Further, virtually all the TSE organizations are considered large corporations that typically possess greater capacities to engage in sustainability practices (Asiaei, Bontis, Barani, et al, 2022). Moreover, the complete information of the organizations is readily available as the mailing list provided by the TSE directory contains comprehensive data of all the Iranian publicly listed companies, such as managing directors' names, addresses, contact numbers, types of product/services manufactured/provided, number of employees, years of establishment, and so forth (Asiaei & Jusoh, 2017).…”

“…Although this viewpoint has dominated the intellectual capital literature (Bontis, 1998; Kianto et al, 2017; Roos & Roos, 1997), the emerging trend highlights that understanding the process through which resources affect performance remains obscure (Miao et al, 2017). Asiaei, Bontis, Barani, et al (2022) argue that possessing resources per se is unlikely to bring about competitive advantage and above‐market performance. Instead, resources must be accumulated, synthesized, and leveraged to unlock their value‐creating potential in what is known as resource orchestration theory (Sirmon et al, 2007, 2011).…”

“…We consider the TSE an ideal sampling frame since it is Iran's primary stock exchange. Further, virtually all the TSE organizations are considered large corporations that typically possess greater capacities to engage in sustainability practices (Asiaei, Bontis, Barani, et al, 2022).…”

Sustainable supply chain clusters: an integrated framework

“…However, there was no focus on SCCs or sustainability. While Al-Shammari et al (2022) and Asiaei et al (2022) utilised RBV to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility on performance, and Barakat et al (2022) used RBV to test the impact of information sharing on value creation, the focus of this study was not on SCCs' context. Jain et al (2022) also utilised RBV to investigate the impact of information and collaboration facilitation on CSR.…”

“…Although there is much to learn from the extant research on sustainability and organisational performance based on the system theory (ST) or extended resource-based view (ERBV)/resource-based view (RBV) (e.g. Bag et al ., 2020a; Al-Shammari et al ., 2022; Jain et al ., 2022; Asiaei et al ., 2022), limited is known regarding such issues in the context of SCCs with considerations of DC. There is also a relative absence of research on SCCs and performance in the existing efforts into DC and sustainability (e.g.…”