Title: Do business sustainability practices influence firm performance? A bibliometric review

Authors: Rajni Kant Rajhans; Aritra Halder

Addresses: NICMAR University, Pune, Maharashtra, India ' NICMAR University, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Abstract: The study presents research evolution in the field of business sustainability (BS), and firm performance (FP) through systematic bibliometric analysis and presents future research agenda for researchers and practitioners. The study adopts a 5-step approach to conducting a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of articles. We collected the literature on the BS-FP research domain published in Scopus-indexed journals for the 1984–2021 period. Through a strategic diagram, we report global reporting initiatives as the leading research topic in the domain. This finding has a key implication for businesses to emphasise adopting international standards for sustainability practices disclosures. Additionally, we develop a 'research evolution diagram (RED) ' to show 'what we know', 'how we know', and 'what to know' in the field of ST-BS-FP research. Hence, the study provides not only a review of the foundation and research progress but also sets future research direction in this domain. With growing interest in environmental, sustainability, and governance practices for business excellence, the study is timely and relevant. The paper suggests the best sustainability practices for businesses to adopt and the emerging research frontiers for researchers to explore.

Keywords: stakeholder theory; business sustainability; BS; firm performance; FP; bibliometric analysis; content analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEA.2024.144240

International Journal of Economics and Accounting, 2024 Vol.12 No.2, pp.116 - 142

Received: 25 Jul 2023
Accepted: 09 Oct 2023
Published online: 03 Feb 2025 *

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