Sustainable Practices and Business Performance: Evidence from Sri Lankan Manufacturing Firms

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of sustainable practices (SP) on business performance (BP) of ISO 14001 EMS certified manufacturing firms of Sri Lanka and also to examine the moderator effect from firm size on the link between sustainable practices and business performance. The study used the questionnaire survey technique to collect data from a sample selected using simple random sampling from known population and SPSS software is used for survey data analysis. The major finding indicates that sustainable practices have a positive influence on business performance and it can be measured using environmental practices, corporate governance, and human resource management practices. Moreover, the results indicate firm size has no moderating effect on the link between sustainability practices and business performance. The findings of this paper is a novelty for Sri Lankan manufacturing industry and for policymakers as it provides new insights to the manufacturing industry on sustainable practices(SP) and the business performance (BP). Moreover, the results of the study is useful for manufacturing firms in Sri Lanka looking forward to install ISO 14001 based environmental management system within the firms as results provide areas need to be focused. This research is confined to ISO 14001 EMS certified manufacturing firms of Sri Lanka and therefore the findings obtained may not be generalized to other countries.

Keywords: Sustainable Practices, Business Performance, Environmental Practices, Human Resource Management Practices, Corporate Governance

DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-5-09

Publication date: February 29^th 2020