Companies around the world have recognized that environmental issues and social values constitute some of the most important management concerns and have actively introduced environmental, social, and governance management (ESG management, ESGM). In the digital age, an attempt is also often made to incorporate digital transformation into ESGM. However, research on the combination of digital leadership, ESGM, and organizational innovation is still in its early stages. Therefore, in this study, a research model was constructed by combining ESGM and organizational innovation (OI) from the perspective of digital leadership (DL). Specifically, for achieving organizational sustainability (OS), the mediating effect of two variables—ESGM and organizational innovation—was also explored, and empirical analysis was conducted on Korean and Chinese companies. We took into consideration the premise that the impact of digital leadership, ESGM, and organizational innovation on organizational sustainability could be different due to the differences in the cultures and systems of the two countries. For empirical analysis, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used. The results showed that digital leadership in both countries had a significant effect on ESGM and organizational innovation. Specifically, both digital leadership and ESGM together with organizational innovation played an important role in organizational sustainability in the entire model. However, between digital leadership and organizational sustainability, the mediating effect of ESGM and organizational innovation was different, viz., Korea had partial mediating effects and China had complete mediating effects. It is expected that this study would fill the research gap in the area of digital leadership in ESGM and contribute to the implementation of corporate ESGM strategies and organizational innovation. Furthermore, valuable implications for organizational sustainability and the sustainable growth of companies are also presented.

What corporate social responsibility (CSR) attributes determine the CSR authenticity of a company? In the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, what direction should the CSR strategy pursue? In the electronics industries in Korea and China, are there any differences in CSR attributes? In this study, we start with some of these basic questions. Considering the promotional and actual costs incurred from CSR activities, CSR strategy are not an issue that can be easily determined from the corporate perspective. However, now it is essential for companies to carry out CSR and sustainable development goals (SDGs) activities, and businesses cannot overlook social issues either. Companies cannot pursue only growth through corporate interests without social value. In this study, we derive three attributes of CSR fit, CSR sustainability, and CSR impact to verify the authenticity of CSR activities. Moreover, we demonstrated the impact of these three attributes on CSR authenticity for the electronics industries in Korea and China. As a result of empirical testing, most of three attributes above mentioned (i.e., CSR fit, CSR sustainability, and CSR impact) produce meaningful results for CSR authenticity. However, CSR sustainability was rejected for the Korea sample, and CSR fit was rejected for the Chinese sample, showing some differences between the two countries. Meanwhile, the digital transformation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution had strong partial mediating effects between CSR attributes and CSR authenticity. This means that digital transformation can be an important pathway to achieve CSR authenticity and suggests that important mediating effects can eventually lead to a firm’s competitiveness.

With the development of digital technology, tasks such as carbon neutrality have emerged as global issues because of the climate crisis. Digital transformation (DT) and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) management have already become strategic requirements on the agenda of corporate management, but theories and empirical research on how to affect corporate performance through digital transformation and ESG management are lacking. This study examined the intrinsic mechanism of DT to corporate performance based on the theory of a resource-based view (RBV). In addition, the theoretical framework of ESG management as mediating variables was constructed. The ‘Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM)’ was used to verify the hypotheses derived from the literature. Empirical analysis was conducted on companies interested in DT and ESG management in Korea and China. DT positively affected ESG management and corporate performance (e.g., non-financial and financial performance). On the other hand, an examination of the relationship between ESG management and corporate performance revealed differences between the results from Korea and China. The strategic implications for corporate DT and ESG management are suggested. In particular, this study also contributes to the academic aspect by providing new explanations for applying resource-based view theory and the relationship between DT, ESG management, and corporate performance.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare the effects of conventional and unconventional FDI on the host country in a more comprehensive and systematic way.Design/methodology/approach: Both the OLI paradigm and the imbalance theory are linked to the diamond model in order to compare the effects of conventional and unconventional FDI on the host country. This methodology is then applied to the real world as a case study, FDI toward the Korean automobile industry.Findings: Conventional FDI is often said to be more beneficial to the host country than the unconventional type. However, the actual effect of unconventional FDI is shown to be more positive with better management and is often larger than perceived. Therefore, unconventional FDI emerges as important as conventional FDI for sustainable economic development.Practical implications: In general, unconventional FDI has often been criticized severely because of misperceptions derived from the dominance of conventional FDI on theoretical aspects, incomprehensive perspectives toward assessing the effects of FDI, and negative political views. Therefore, rigorous and holistic case study analyses based on solid analytical tools are needed in order to better understand the effects of unconventional FDI and to draw up effective and proper FDI promotion policies.Originality/value: This paper provides a way to better understand the effect of unconventional FDI on the host country comprehensively and systematically by expanding and deepening existing theories. Based on this, the effects of conventional and unconventional FDI on the host country are compared theoretically and empirically, particularly with the case of the Korean automobile industry.

There have been many discussions about the business ecosystem in order to promote the sustainable growth of firms recently. Business ecosystems have developed independently from three perspectives: business, innovation, and the platform ecosystem. However, considering the emergence of advanced technology and social values, there is a growing need to look at business ecosystems from an integrated point of view. Based on a new win–win platform combining these discussions, we have designed and demonstrated a sustainable business innovation ecosystem (SBIE) framework. Using the triple helix model, data were collected from 290 experts—industry (95), government (100), and university (95)—in Korea. Results show that firms should consider social values as well as economic values when building a SBIE. The findings also emphasize that performances are more effective when core agents of ecosystem build a win–win platform using the fourth industrial revolution (FIR) technology.