The importance of corporate responsibility for society and environments is emphasized by increasing influence of firms on various stakeholders. Firms strengthen environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities, which are critical elements for sustainable management. However, there are inconsistent findings on the relationship between ESG activities and firms’ financial performance in prior studies because of the lack of full consideration of internal mechanisms and external conditions. To overcome this limitation, this study investigates the mediating effect of non-financial performance and the moderating effect of the institutional environment on the relationship between firms’ ESG activities and their financial performance in a unified moderated mediation model. Samples for empirical analyses were collected by a survey from 304 small and medium-sized Chinese manufacturers. The results of a mediation analysis reveal that each ESG activity has a positive effect on firms’ financial performance, and the impact of ESG activities on financial performance is completely mediated by non-financial performance. The results of a moderated mediation analysis further indicate that the mediating effect varies depending on the level of institutional pressure from the government, consumers, and competitors. The study suggests the need for interdisciplinary research in sustainable management and institutional theory and emphasizes the importance of sustainable management for performance improvement in a changing environment.

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between three intangible resources and the innovation performance of Chinese high-tech firms, and the moderating effect of internationalization on these relationships. We implement a hierarchical multiple regression analysis using data for 274 Chinese high-tech firms. The results show that all three intangible resources, measured by top management team diversity, research and development intensity, and government subsidies, positively influence Chinese high-tech firm innovation performance. We find the relationships between these intangible resources and the innovation performance of Chinese high-tech firms are significantly positively moderated by internationalization. These findings have important implications, as follows. First, they provide evidence of the strategic value of intangible resources and their effects on innovation performance. Second, our results show that increasing internationalization alone does not guarantee performance improvement. Firms should consider their internal and external environments and the complex relationships among factors when they make decisions about internationalization investments. Prior research does not provide an explanation for how internationalization affects performance, because it primarily focuses on the direct relationship between internationalization and performance. This study overcomes this limitation by examining the indirect effect of internationalization on performance.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities, along with green innovation, have become crucial strategies for achieving sustainable development in business. However, the relationship between ESG activities and green innovation remains inconclusive in the current literature. This study aims to clarify this relationship by addressing three key questions: (1) whether ESG activities are linked to green innovation, (2) the mechanisms through which these activities influence green innovation, and (3) the conditions that enhance their effectiveness. Therefore, we integrated the Input-Process-Outcome(IPO) model with leadership theory and collected empirical data through a questionnaire survey of 299 small and medium-sized Chinese manufacturers. The results indicate that each of ESG activities has a positive impact on green innovation, with the social and governance(SG) aspects partially mediated by employees’ cognition, Furthermore, the moderated mediation analysis shows that the strength of this mediation varies depending on the leadership style of the CEO. These findings highlight the critical roles of employees’ cognition and CEO leadership in fostering green innovation through ESG activities, providing new insights into effective management for sustainable development.