This study empirically explores the role of social capital in creating collaborative innovation and collective intelligence and maintaining organizational sustainability in the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. Data were collected from a sample of 289 managers, directors and heads of departments of top 50 manufacturing firms in Jordan and analyzed using Smart-PLS-SEM. The results indicate that social capital significantly impacts collaborative innovation, collective intelligence and organization sustainability during the COVID-19 crisis. They also reveal that collective intelligence significantly impacts collaborative innovation and organization sustainability. This study enriches the literature on social capital, collaborative innovation and collective intelligence. It elucidates the role of such dynamic capabilities in maintaining both organizational sustainability and the chance of recovery from unprecedented crises.

The relationship between social and environmental performance and financial performance in companies has been a subject widely debated in the literature but the results obtained to date are not conclusive. This research employs the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and offers new evidence on the relationship between both types of performance in a sample of companies listed in the Spanish capital market. Financial performance is measured by the return on equity (ROE) ratio, variable that is widely used in Finance and Accounting related research. The corporate performance of the company is measured by its inclusion or not in the sustainability index used as reference for the Spanish capital market, the FTSEGood4 IBEX. The model also incorporates other business variables that might affect the relationships between both types of performance, such as return on assets (ROA) ratio, company size, debt ratio, and industry. The results suggest that, for specific industries, return on assets is a necessary condition for companies with leverage to reduce the cost of debt due to their sustainability profile and consequently boost their ROE.

Socially responsible companies whose values are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) contribute to creating wealth and long-term economic and social value. This alignment leads to a competitive advantage based on the triple bottom line that enhances financial performance. In this paper, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is used to identify the configurations of conditions that lead to high or low financial performance (return on equity) for a sample of companies in the IBEX 35. Firms should adopt business models that embrace the SDGs because sustainability-based models can ensure not only the present but also the future of generations to come.

Tackling environmental pollution and climate change is a global challenge. Therefore, sustainability has become a hugely relevant topic in recent years. In their decision making, investors increasingly consider the non-financial performance of companies such as their social and environmental impact. However, the business research community has not yet reached a consensus regarding the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance. This research contributes to the discussion on this relationship. It does so by assessing the impact of the individual dimensions of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) score on the corporate financial performance of renewable energy firms from a quantitative and qualitative perspective. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) reveals complex and equifinal configurations that lead companies to record high and low levels of Tobin’s Q. The results for a sample of 96 energy companies from the Eikon database do not provide strong enough evidence to affirm that the individual dimensions of the ESG score have a decisive effect on the corporate financial performance of renewable energy firms.