Eliza Sharma

This study employs a panel data model to examine the impact of sustainable business practices on profitability in the Indian market, focusing on 49 companies listed in the S&P BSE ESG 100 index from 2015 to 2022. Sustainable business practices are measured by ESG composite scores and individual environmental, social, and governance scores. Profitability is represented by return on equity and return on assets. Utilizing the Panel Corrected Standard Error technique to address data issues like autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity, the study finds that sustainable business practices insignificantly impact profitability. However, the social pillar has a significantly positive correlation with return on assets, with each unit improvement in the social score resulting in a 0.1323 increase in return. Conversely, the governance pillar negatively impacts return on assets, with each unit increase in governance score resulting in a decrease of 0.1527 units in profitability. Interestingly, larger companies experienced reduced returns on both assets and equity, as financial risk also lowered returns. These findings emphasize the relevance of companies’ socially responsible behavior, suggesting that managers and investors should prioritize sustainable practices for long-term benefits. Additionally, the findings advocate for robust regulatory frameworks focused on sustainability.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Amidst growing employee-related challenges such as turnover, declining trust, and disengagement, examining the impact of CSR initiatives on behavioral outcomes, such as organizational commitment, becomes critical. This study systematically maps the social, conceptual, and intellectual structure of fragmented research on the CSR–organizational commitment link. Using Biblioshiny and VOS viewer, it analyzes 432 documents from the Web of Science spanning 2005–2025. Results show a consistent growth in publications over two decades, with China as the most prolific contributor and the UK as the top international collaborator. The study showcases recurring contributions from multiple journals and authors. Keyword co-occurrence reveals eight thematic clusters, and thematic evolution shows how the CSR–employee commitment relationship has expanded to include HRM practices, corporate governance, and the underexplored SME context. Analysis of trend topics indicates a clear shift in research focus from ethics and stakeholder theory to literature examining intervening variables in the CSR–organizational commitment association. The study suggests future research directions, including investigating new mediator–moderator variables, deeper integration of CSR and HRM, and greater focus on SMEs, where empirical data are limited. These findings reflect the growing interdisciplinary nature of CSR–employee commitment research, which merges sustainability, behavioral, and organizational perspectives.