This study examines the quality of governance and religious assurance provided by Shariah boards (SBs) when undertaking the crucial compliance review required in fulfilling the expected ethical and social legitimacy of Islamic banks. To better understand the complex behavioural processes, we explore the governance role of SBs and assess issues related to competence, effectiveness and independence in the light of the newly adopted 2011 Malaysian Shariah Governance Framework (SGF). A series of semi-structured interviews were undertaken with key individuals in two well-established fully-fledged Malaysian Islamic banks. Our findings reveal that the newly implemented SGF has generally brought about some of the benefits hoped for by its regulatory architects. We find the quality of religious assurance to have been enhanced due to the emphasis placed on religious audit giving rise to improved credibility. However, we report the compliance review process to be inadequately undertaken with SBs still excessively reliant on internal officers implying possible independence compromise. We highlight concerns relating to (1) the general level of competency of individual SB members; (2) lack of technical banking and finance knowledge; and (3) SB members generally fulfilling a ceremonial role rather than undertaking vigilant monitoring. Our findings lead us to question the full impact of the new 2011 SGF and query the value and effectiveness of SBs. We make the call for the establishment of external religious auditors to render compliance assurance which could provide the much-needed impetus to improve governance and increase market and stakeholder confidence.

Because it has become more and more urgent for organizations to implement environmental strategies with the support of organizational culture, this study considers it necessary to conduct an empirical study to examine the impact of organizational culture on environmental performance. Synthesizing the perspectives of organizational culture and environmental performance, we applied a theoretical model in the manufacturing industry of Pakistan linking an organizational culture that supports environmental practices for better environmental performance. Based on a survey of 314 manufacturing firms, using Smart-PLS, the current study found that adaptability, mission and consistency positively affect environmental performance. However, involvement does not have an effect on environmental performance. Additionally, organizational culture as a latent variable has a strong impact on environmental performance. The study is one of the first, to the author’s knowledge that links OC and EP in a developing economy, in this case Pakistan.

Purpose: This study aimed to focus on bibliometric analysis and the concept of corporate sustainability performance (CSP) to understand the evolutionary and developmental trends in the field of CSP. Design/methodology/approach: This study conducted a bibliometric analysis of 1,518 Scopus-indexed documents on CSP published from 1975 to August 2021 to provide meaningful insights for further discussions. For this purpose, the study used VOSviewer software for drafting the literature and Harzing's Publish or Perish software to obtain impact matrices and citation information. Findings: The findings revealed that the number of CSP-related publications has increased in recent years (1975-1991: 21 publications, 1992-2007: 206 publications, and 2008-2021: 1291 publications). Furthermore, the findings revealed a significant increase in interest in the CSP field. Business, management, and accounting (34 %) were the most studied subject areas, and the Journal of Business Ethics, with a TP of 150, as the most productive scientific journal. Research, Practical & Social implications: This study examines how academic interest in CSP has evolved and identifies areas for further exploration in the CSP context. This study contributes to the current literature in the CSP domain by providing a bibliometric analysis. Furthermore, this bibliometric analysis would aid in decision-making and policy formulation related to CSP. Originality/value: The overall findings revealed an increase in CSP development in the scientific field, linked to the continued expansion of empirical research papers, researchers/authors, and citations.