Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria are novel and exciting tools of corporate disclosure for decision making. Using quantitative and qualitative analyses, the present study examined the key characteristics and trends of ESG controversies in the European market. At the same time, it identified the controversies’ determinants. A bibliometric analysis was the qualitative method employed on the data derived from Scopus using Biblioshiny software, an R package. The quantitative analysis involved an international sample of 2278 companies headquartered in Europe from 2017–2019 being studied using a Generalized Linear Model. The findings of this research highlighted the role of the “S” and the “G” dimensions of the ESG controversies as the most crucial in affecting controversies. Women are under-represented in the business hierarchy, but their natural characteristics such as friendliness and peaceability lead to a low level of illegal business practices. However, independent of gender, executives have personal gains that they want to satisfy. Thus, executives may become involved in unethical practices and harm their colleagues and the business’s reputation. On the other hand, democracy emerged as one of the most disputed factors. Democracy gives people the voice to express themselves and publicly support their ideas without restrictions. Although, the regression results showed that democracy is not always operated as the “pipe of peace” and can affect, to some extent, controversies.
Organizations may examine both past and present data with the aid of information management, giving them access to all the knowledge they need to make sound strategic choices. For the majority of contemporary enterprises, using data to make relevant, valid, and timely choices has become a must for success. The volume and format of data have changed significantly over the past few years as a result of the development of new technologies and applications, but there are also impressive possibilities for their analysis and processing. This study offers a bibliometric analysis of 650 publications written by 1977 academics on the use of information management and big data analytics. The Bibliometrix function in the R package and VOSviewer program were used to obtain the bibliographic data from the Scopus database and to analyze it. Based on citation analysis criteria, the top research journals, authors, and organizations were identified. The cooperation network at the author level reveals the connections between academics throughout the world, and Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) identifies the research holes in the area. The recommendations for further study are influenced by the findings.