IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i18p7911-d1475375.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Influence of Green Transformation on ESG Management and Sustainable Competitive Advantage: An Empirical Comparison of Companies in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta

Author

Listed:
  • Lei Xi

    (College of Management, Anhui Science and Technology University, Bengbu 233000, China
    Key Laboratory of Philosophy and Social Science of Anhui Province for Digital Rural Construction and Governance, Bengbu 233000, China)

  • Hui Wang

    (College of Management, Anhui Science and Technology University, Bengbu 233000, China)

Abstract

With the continuous deterioration of the global ecological environment, energy saving, emission reduction, low carbon, and green industry have become new trends in global economic development. Green transformation (GT) and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) elements have become the internal driving forces of corporate modernization. However, there is a lack of systematic theoretical and empirical research on the consequences of green transformation and ESG management on sustainable competitive advantage. Based on the core competence theory of enterprises, this research has discussed the effects of green transformation and ESG management on sustainable competitive advantages of enterprises, as well as the mediating role of ESG management between green transformation and sustainable competitive advantage of enterprises. The study took high-tech enterprises in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta as samples and used correlation analysis, factor analysis, and multiple regression analysis to test the research hypotheses. The obtained empirical results showed that GT had a significant effect on ESG management and enduring competitive edge (encompassing both financial and strategic outcomes). There are obvious differences in the relationship between ESG management and sustainable competitive advantage in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta enterprises. ESG management acts as a partial intermediary factor between GT and sustained competitive advantage. This study enriches the view of core competence theory and provides a reference for enterprises to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

Suggested Citation

  • Lei Xi & Hui Wang, 2024. "The Influence of Green Transformation on ESG Management and Sustainable Competitive Advantage: An Empirical Comparison of Companies in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-21, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:7911-:d:1475375
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/7911/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/7911/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Noushi Rahman & Corinne Post, 2012. "Measurement Issues in Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility (ECSR): Toward a Transparent, Reliable, and Construct Valid Instrument," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 105(3), pages 307-319, February.
    2. Alkaraan, Fadi & Albitar, Khaldoon & Hussainey, Khaled & Venkatesh, VG, 2022. "Corporate transformation toward Industry 4.0 and financial performance: The influence of environmental, social, and governance (ESG)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    3. F. Alkaraan & K. Albitar & K. Hussainey & V.G. Venkatesh, 2022. "Corporate Transformation toward Industry 4.0 and Financial Performance: The Influence of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)," Post-Print hal-04445029, HAL.
    4. Pratima Bansal, 2005. "Evolving sustainably: a longitudinal study of corporate sustainable development," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 197-218, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cristina Lopez-Cozar-Navarro & Tiziana Priede-Bergamini & Sonia Benito-Hernandez, 2023. "How Family Character Affect the Financing of Environmental Protection Strategies and Energy-Saving Measures," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 25(63), pages 503-503, April.
    2. Laudien, Sven M. & Reuter, Ute & Sendra Garcia, Francisco Javier & Botella-Carrubi, Dolores, 2024. "Digital advancement and its effect on business model design: Qualitative-empirical insights," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    3. Sam Solaimani, 2024. "From Compliance to Capability: On the Role of Data and Technology in Environment, Social, and Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-16, July.
    4. Beibei Zhang & Yang Mei & Yuxin Xiong & Yan Liu, 2024. "Can Digital Transformation Promote Service Innovation Performance of Construction Enterprises? The Mediating Role of Dual Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-17, January.
    5. Mark Fuller, 2022. "Wheat and chaff: the degree to which strategic management principles are integrated within corporate social responsibility reporting among large Canadian firms," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-17, December.
    6. Dong, Weiwei & Niu, XiaoQin & Nassani, Abdelmohsen A. & Naseem, Imran & Zaman, Khalid, 2024. "E-commerce mineral resource footprints: Investigating drivers for sustainable mining development," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    7. Yu Sang & Kannan Loganathan & Lu Lin, 2024. "Digital Transformation and Firm ESG Performance: The Mediating Role of Corporate Risk-Taking and the Moderating Role of Top Management Team," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-18, July.
    8. Cai, Cen & Tu, Yongqian & Li, Zhi, 2023. "Enterprise digital transformation and ESG performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PD).
    9. Xiaowen He & Weinien Chen, 2024. "Digital Transformation and Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance from a Human Capital Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-21, June.
    10. Nilashi, Mehrbakhsh & Ali Abumalloh, Rabab & Keng-Boon, Ooi & Wei-Han Tan, Garry & Cham, Tat-Huei & Cheng-Xi Aw, Eugene, 2024. "Unlocking sustainable resource management: A comprehensive SWOT and thematic analysis of FinTech with a focus on mineral management," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    11. Chege, Samwel Macharia & Wang, Daoping, 2020. "The influence of technology innovation on SME performance through environmental sustainability practices in Kenya," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    12. Yong Tan & Amir Karbassi Yazdi & Jorge Antunes & Peter Wanke & Angappa Gunasekaran & Henrique Luiz Corrêa & Giuliani Coluccio, 2024. "The Quest for an ESG Country Rank: A Performance Contribution Analysis/MCDM Approach," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-24, June.
    13. Trotta, Annarita & Rania, Francesco & Strano, Eugenia, 2024. "Exploring the linkages between FinTech and ESG: A bibliometric perspective," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    14. S. M. Shafiul Alam & K. M. Zahidul Islam, 2021. "Examining the role of environmental corporate social responsibility in building green corporate image and green competitive advantage," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-16, December.
    15. Wang, Lu & Ruan, Hang & Lai, Xiaodong & Li, Dongxin, 2024. "Economic extremes steering renewable energy trajectories: A time-frequency dissection of global shocks," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    16. Li, Junjun & Wu, Tong & Liu, Bailu & Zhou, Ming, 2024. "Can digital transformation enhance corporate ESG performance? The moderating role of dual environmental regulations," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    17. Bai, Dongbei & Du, Lizhao & Xu, Yang & Abbas, Shujaat, 2023. "Climate policy uncertainty and corporate green innovation: Evidence from Chinese A-share listed industrial corporations," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PB).
    18. Huarng, Kun-Huang & Yu, Tiffany Hui-Kuang, 2024. "Causal complexity analysis of ESG performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    19. Xiao Liu & Huanxue Pan & Weixing Lin & Mengkai Wang & Qiange Zhang, 2024. "Sustainable Practices and Performance of Resource-Based Companies: The Role of Internal Control," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-14, February.
    20. Kumar, Mukesh & Raut, Rakesh D. & Mangla, Sachin Kumar & Chowdhury, Soumyadeb & Choubey, Vikas Kumar, 2024. "Moderating ESG compliance between industry 4.0 and green practices with green servitization: Examining its impact on green supply chain performance," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:7911-:d:1475375. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.