Business strategy and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance: Does a firm's strategic orientation matter?

IF 8 3区管理学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE

British Accounting Review Pub Date : 2026-07-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-24 DOI:10.1016/j.bar.2026.101872

Olayinka Moses, A.T.M. Tariquzzaman, Emmanuel Edache Michael, Ainul Islam, Tony van Zijl

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study investigates whether business strategy influences firms' holistic Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance, and which strategic orientation has the greatest impact both across and within the distinct ESG pillars. Drawing on the Miles and Snow (1978) business strategy typology, we analyse a panel of 6408 firm-year observations mostly drawn from the US. Our findings reveal a positive association between business strategy and aggregate ESG performance. Specifically, firms adopting a Prospector strategy exhibit significantly higher ESG performance relative to Defender firms, with notable advantages in the Environmental and Social dimensions. This differential, however, does not extend to the Governance pillar, likely due to the homogenisation of governance practices across industries. Importantly, even firms operating under substantial financial constraints or within environmentally sensitive sectors can enhance their ESG outcomes through a Prospector strategic orientation. These insights have significant implications for firms navigating evolving sustainability reporting regimes, particularly amid the growing adoption and implementation of mandatory IFRS Sustainability Standards. For managers and stakeholders, our results emphasise the importance of understanding both the intended and unintended consequences of strategic choices on ESG performance and demonstrate how strategic orientation can shape a firm's capability to meet emerging sustainability compliance demands.

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企业战略与环境、社会和治理（ESG）绩效：企业的战略取向重要吗？

本研究探讨了企业战略是否会影响企业的整体环境、社会和治理（ESG）绩效，以及哪种战略取向在不同的ESG支柱之间和内部都具有最大的影响。借鉴迈尔斯和斯诺（Miles and Snow, 1978）的商业战略类型学，我们分析了6408个主要来自美国的公司年度观察结果。我们的研究结果揭示了企业战略与总体ESG绩效之间的正相关关系。具体而言，采用“探勘者”战略的公司在ESG方面的表现明显高于“防御型”公司，在环境和社会方面具有显著优势。然而，这种差异并没有延伸到治理支柱，可能是由于跨行业治理实践的同质化。重要的是，即使是在严重的财务限制或环境敏感行业中运营的公司，也可以通过勘探者的战略导向来提高其ESG成果。这些见解对企业在不断发展的可持续发展报告制度中导航具有重要意义，特别是在强制性国际财务报告准则可持续发展标准日益采用和实施的背景下。对于管理者和利益相关者来说，我们的研究结果强调了理解战略选择对ESG绩效的预期和非预期后果的重要性，并展示了战略导向如何塑造公司满足新兴可持续性合规要求的能力。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

British Accounting Review BUSINESS, FINANCE-

CiteScore

8.60

自引率

3.90%

发文量

审稿时长

76 days

期刊介绍： The British Accounting Review*is pleased to publish original scholarly papers across the whole spectrum of accounting and finance. The journal is eclectic and pluralistic and contributions are welcomed across a wide range of research methodologies (e.g. analytical, archival, experimental, survey and qualitative case methods) and topics (e.g. financial accounting, management accounting, finance and financial management, auditing, public sector accounting, social and environmental accounting; accounting education and accounting history), evidence from UK and non-UK sources are equally acceptable.