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A Study of the Relationship between Corporate Culture and Corporate Sustainable Performance: Evidence from Chinese SMEs

Author

Listed:
  • Siyuan Wang

    (Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China)

  • Linglan Huang

    (Shenzhen Aerospace Industry Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd., Shenzhen 518048, China)

Abstract

Sustainable development is a significant issue facing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on the literature of corporate sustainable development and the resource-based view, this study aims to examine how corporate flexibility and control culture influence sustainable performance by triggering innovation capabilities and investigate the moderating role of leadership style (i.e., transformational and transactional). The 186 matched questionnaire data from managers and employees in Chinese SMEs reveal that the flexibility and control culture are positively and negatively related to innovation capability, respectively, and that the latter mediates their influence on sustainable performance. Moreover, transformational leadership positively (negatively) moderates the relationship between flexibility (control) culture and innovation capability, while transactional leadership positively moderates the relationship between control culture and innovation capability. This study enriches the theoretical literature on corporate sustainable performance and provides management insights into how SMEs could survive and achieve sustained growth through corporate culture.

Suggested Citation

  • Siyuan Wang & Linglan Huang, 2022. "A Study of the Relationship between Corporate Culture and Corporate Sustainable Performance: Evidence from Chinese SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-22, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:13:p:7527-:d:843665
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Papen, Marie-Christin & Magalhaes, Katrin Marques & Tenbrock, Sebastian & Märkel, Christian, 2022. "Digitalisierungsanwendungen und Identifikation von Digitalisierungstrends im Mittelstand," WIK Discussion Papers 495, WIK Wissenschaftliches Institut für Infrastruktur und Kommunikationsdienste GmbH.
    3. Galvão Meirinhos & António Cardoso & Maria Neves & Rui Silva & Reiville Rêgo, 2023. "Leadership Styles, Motivation, Communication and Reward Systems in Business Performance," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-30, January.
    4. Hongni Zhang & Xiangyi Xu, 2023. "Innovative Technology Method Based on Evolutionary Game Model of Enterprise Sustainable Development and CNN–GRU," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-17, February.
    5. Elisabeta-Emilia Halmaghi & Diana-Elena Ranf & Dorel Badea, 2023. "Interdisciplinary Exploration between Organizational Culture and Sustainable Development Management Applied to the Romanian Higher Education Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-17, July.
    6. Said Yousef Dwikat & Darwina Arshad & Mohd Noor Mohd Shariff, 2022. "The Influence of Systematic Strategic Planning and Strategic Business Innovation on the Sustainable Performance of Manufacturing SMEs: The Case of Palestine," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-26, October.

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