UNVEILING THE NEXUS: HOW SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES INFLUENCE ORGANIZATIONAL ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN KP’ MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES: A MEDIATING EFFECT OF QUALITATIVE PERFORMANCE

Abstract

Corporate sustainability practices are concepts that attract the attention of management analysts and scholars due to its proven positive influence on the performance of an organization. In terms of the institutional theory, the objective of this research was to determine quality performance mediates the relationship between sustainability practices (i.e., exploration and exploitation) and organisational economic performance. Simple random sampling was employed to sample 295 employees from manufacturing industries with an aim to examine the stated relationship. A closed-ended questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale was used to gather the data. The instrument reliability was determined using Cronbach’s alpha. The research hypotheses were tested used regression analysis and for mediation analysis, Process-macro was conducted. As per findings, sustainability exploration and exploitation are significantly and positively related to organisational economic performance. The findings of the mediation analysis indicate that quality performance partially mediates the link between the sustainability practices (i.e., exploration and exploitation) and organizational economic performance. The research concluded that to survive in this competitive environment, industries should shift their focus on short-term profitability to long-term sustainability. This study recommends that manufacturing industries to align themselves to sustainability-oriented practices to achieve long-term stability and growth. Limitations, implications and future study are also discussed.

Keywords: Exploration Practices, Exploitation Practices, Qualitative Performance, Organizational Performance, Manufacturing Industries