تأثیر عملکرد ESG بر کارایی عملیاتی شرکت‌ها: نقش تعدیل‌گر جهت‌گیری راهبردی در مراحل چرخه عمر

Objective: Corporate strategic orientation reflects how resources are allocated and how management responds to the competitive environment, which can influence their willingness and commitment to invest in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) indicators. On the other hand, optimal ESG performance can lead to the enhancement of a company’s operational efficiency by optimizing resource consumption, reducing operational risks, and improving stakeholder relations. However, resource priorities and constraints vary across different stages of the corporate life cycle (e.g., growth, maturity, or decline), which can alter the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives. Under such circumstances, the type of management’s strategic orientation may play a dual role in how ESG affects operational efficiency. Accordingly, the objective of this research is to investigate the impact of  ESG performance on corporate operational efficiency, considering strategic orientation.
Methods: The present research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-correlational in terms of methodology. The statistical population includes companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) during the years 2015 to 2024 (equivalent to 1394 to 1403 in the Iranian calendar). After applying screening criteria, 141 companies (equivalent to 1410 firm-years) were selected. Data were extracted from audited financial statements and management commentary reports. To analyze the data and test the hypotheses, a multiple regression method based on panel data was used.
Results: The research results indicated that ESG performance has a positive and significant impact on corporate operational efficiency; such that an increase in the level of ESG performance improves corporate operational efficiency across all stages of the life cycle. The ESG coefficient in the birth stage is 0.278, in the growth stage 0.445, in the maturity stage 0.189, and in the decline stage 0.451, all of which are significant. Furthermore, the interaction coefficient of ESG performance and strategic orientation in the birth stage was −0.019and insignificant. This coefficient was obtained as −0.301 (significant at the 5%level) in the growth stage, −0.365 (significant at the 5%level) in the maturity stage, and −1.198 (significant at the 5%level) in the decline stage. This finding demonstrates that strategic orientation can reduce the effectiveness of ESG performance in improving corporate operational efficiency, particularly in the growth, maturity, and decline stages.
Conclusion: The results show that optimal ESG performance enhances corporate operational efficiency by facilitating access to resources and gaining stakeholder trust; however, the intensity of this impact is a function of the organizational life cycle stages and varies across different stages (especially in mature companies compared to start-ups) due to differences in resource levels and capabilities. Moreover, corporate strategic orientation plays a key moderating role in this relationship; the alignment of strategy with ESG activities contributes to improved efficiency, whereas their mismatch can lead to resource diversion and weakened efficiency. Ultimately, the effectiveness of this strategic moderating role also undergoes significant changes throughout the life cycle, commensurate with the structural and environmental changes of the company.
Innovation: Despite numerous studies on the impact of ESG performance on corporate financial performance, there remains a significant research gap in examining the impact of ESG performance on operational efficiency while considering the moderating role of strategic orientation. Most previous studies have investigated the relationship between ESG and performance directly, without considering contextual and moderating variables, and have neglected the interaction between ESG performance and strategic orientation. Additionally, empirical evidence from emerging markets, particularly the Iranian capital market, is highly limited, and most existing studies have focused on financial performance, while the impact of ESG on operational efficiency as a key mechanism has received less attention. By adopting an integrated approach, the present study simultaneously examines the effect of ESG performance on operational efficiency and the moderating role of strategic orientation to provide a more accurate understanding of the conditions under which ESG performance can affect operational efficiency. The significance of this approach lies in the fact that the interactive examination of these factors can lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms affecting operational efficiency and provide more practical solutions for managers and policymakers.