Corporate financial performance due to s

Received: 26 February 2019 Revised: July 2019 Accepted: 20 July 2019 DOI: 10.1002/csr.1836 RESEARCH ARTICLE Corporate financial performance due to sustainable development in Vietnam Nguyen Hoang Tien1 | Dinh Ba Hung Anh2 | Nguyen Minh Ngoc3 Saigon International University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Abstract Social responsibility and environmental sustainability issues began to be paid atten- Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam tion in Vietnam due to the impressive economic development in recent years How- University of Finance and Marketing, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam ever, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is still quite a new management concept, especially for small and medium enterprises Managers are facing multiple obstacles Correspondence Dr Nguyen Hoang Tien, Saigon International University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Email: vietnameu@gmail.com in executing CSR programs in accordance with international standards Regarding corporate environmental sustainability (CES), the idea of sustainable development is a rising trend in today's business reality Essentially, CSR is regarded as a part of the overall sustainability issues For the purpose of studying the impact of CSR and CES on corporate financial performance (CFP), quantitative method has been used to examine the relation between CSR and CFP Qualitative method has been applied to verify the relation between CSR, CES, and CFP On the basis of findings, several useful suggestions are made for managers to improve business performance and sustainable development in Vietnam K E Y W OR D S corporate environmental policy, corporate environmental sustainability, corporate financial performance, corporate social responsibility, corporate sustainable development JEL CLASSIFICATION M16 | I N T RO D U CT I O N Hung Anh, 2018) CSR is a growing social and entrepreneurial phenomenon with broad implications for business practitioners, academic Social responsibility is a field of research that investigates the scholars, and the society at large (Kot, 2014) Generally, CSR is a con- processes and solutions guaranteeing strategic equilibrium between tinuous commitment of the enterprises towards the idea of sustain- economic performance and social performance at both macroscopic able development by enhancing life quality of the recruited labor level (international, regional, national, and local) and microscopic level force and local community and effective protection of the natural (level of enterprises; Zdravkovic & Radukic, 2012; Placier, 2011; resource and environment (Rajnoha & Lesníková, 2016) Rajnoha & Lesníková, 2016) Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) a field of research aiming at defining the essence of socially responsi- defines sustainable development as a kind of development that meets ble business and exploring the benefits and the ways enterprises present needs without compromising the ability of future generations become socially responsible, such as corporate ethical program, corpo- to meet their own needs Like CSR, the concepts and theories of sus- rate governance, social policy, fair trading practice, socially responsible tainable development have also been analyzed in many studies at both plan of investment, and production (Tien, 2015) CSR is, more or less, macroscopic level and microscopic level The idea of sustainable an integrated element in Western firms' structure and policy (Tien & development is very popular today as it sets common trend for all Corp Soc Resp Env Ma 2019;1–12 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/csr © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment TIEN ET AL spheres of human and business activities, in all fields of research and 1999; Formankova, Hrdličková, Kučerová, & Skýpalová, 2017; Placier, development, both academic and practical At the microscopic level, 2011) Both large corporations and small companies have obligations corporate sustainable development is viewed as new management also to the society, which are above that of creating value for share- paradigm that recognizes corporate growth and profitability but holders Corporations should be managed for the benefit of all stake- at the same time requires business to incorporate and pursue holders (managers and owners, suppliers, employees, customers and nonprofitable, social goals, specifically relating to issues of sustainabil- consumers, local communities and environment, etc.; Man & Macris, ity, such as environmental protection, social justice and equity, and 2015) Consequently, the concept of CSR is constantly changing society and community development (Dudzevičiūtė, 2012) depending on the spatial and temporal sphere of scientific and practi- Currently, CSR and corporate environmental sustainability (CES)1 cal debate In the context of globalization process, in developing coun- are very popular management concepts worldwide that follow the tries, policy and regulations in this area are subjects of constant idea of corporate sustainable development In developing countries, changes and adaptations, spreading from financial model focusing on they are new but fast growing in importance topics as companies profit only, preferred by opponents of the CSR concept, to societal are beginning to be aware of the sustainability issues, to respect model of CSR focusing on people, planet, and profit, preferred by sup- CSR rules and regulations, and to conform to the environmentally porters of the CSR concept (Briš et al., 2013; Tien & Hung Anh, 2018) friendly behavioral standards due to the continually growing pressure However, companies cannot claim neutrality in contexts where the from foreign corporations entering and competing at home market states and government exercise high levels of authority on the CSR Vietnamese enterprises have been so far identified as practicing social issues (Kemp & Owen, 2017) Kemp, Owen, and Vimala (2015) also responsibility and switching towards environmental sustainability in have shown some level of contradictoriness between social responsi- an inadequate extent Additionally, there are no many in‐depth aca- bility and development in so‐called development‐oriented CSR basing demic studies carried out on the issues of CSR and CES in the local on the example of mining industry Today, the definition from the context of Vietnam (Tien & Hung Anh, 2018) This article's goal World Business Council for Sustainable Development (1998) on CSR (research problem) is to study the relationship between CSR–CES is widely used, which is considered complete and clear: “Corporate and corporate financial performance (CFP) and, as next, to propose social responsibility is a constant commitment of enterprises to busi- adequate solutions to enhance the CSR–CES performance to boost ness ethics and to contribute to economic growth, while improving the CFP Both quantitative and qualitative methods have been used the living quality of the workers and their families, as well as the local in the analysis The first‐stage quantitative analysis carried out on community and society.” the basis of the past data of financial statements of enterprises in In recent years, there have been significant discussions and the research sample showed now evidence of relation between CSR debates in both business and academic world about corporate sustain- and CFP However, the second‐stage qualitative analysis carried out able development, a new management paradigm that recognizes the on the basis of primary data and information gathered from currently importance of corporate growth and profitability However, it also conducted interviews with the same sample of enterprises has pointed requires corporations to pursue social goals, specifically those related out to the strong and rising linkage between CSR–CES and CFP As a to sustainability issues, such as environmental protection, social justice result, a set of suggestions and solutions has been put forward to build and equity, and local community development Corporate sustainable a CSR–CES platform for a move towards trust‐based (relationship) development consists in carrying out actions that improve the enterprises for gaining positive impacts on the CFP In addition, the economic growth and long‐term profitability of enterprises (Porter, article has laid a solid ground for further advanced studies in the field 1985) Furthermore, sustainable enterprises should bear responsibili- of “Corporate social responsibility and environmental management,” ties towards the environment that go beyond their economic ob- also the title of our respected journal ligations (Hart, 1995) Corporate sustainable development is a very popular business strategy that attempts to meet the needs of stakeholders without compromising resources and interests of the local LITERATURE REVIEW | community and environment (Dyllick & Hockerts, 2002) Essentially, corporate sustainable development consists of strictly interrelated 2.1 | CSR and CES In the literature of business and management, there are multiple definitions of CSR (Briš, Svoboda, & Brišová, 2013) It can be argued that the sphere of influence of CSR is not confined within the enterprise itself and no one could accurately define its border yet (Burianová & Paulík, 2014) CSR has a great influence on many different parts of society, especially in relation to the role of the government in the economy in terms of planning policy and setting regulations (Carroll, and mutually impacting concepts of CSR and CES (Figure 1) All of the above‐mentioned concepts' definitions and understandings were to suit the characteristics of the highly developed world However, it is also of great importance to point out to the scope and agenda of CSR and CES issues in developing countries such as most of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations states, apart from its typical manifestation in highly developed economies In a contrast to developed countries, in developing countries, whether managers with different attitudes and approaches are opted to operate in a responsive or unresponsive manner towards CSR and CES issues, they Or Corporate Environmental Management (CEM) are exposed to uncertainty caused by policy and regulatory change TIEN ET AL before interest and taxes) or after interest, depreciation, and amortization (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) should be in use instead This choice will lead to different financial implications The reason for such different methods of profit calculations may be due to the database constraints In many cases, the incompleteness of the database will cause some studies to carry out different calculations The ROA and ROE are effective indicators for assessing current CFP as they reflect the level of profitability that FIGURE Corporate sustainable development [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] the firm has achieved in past accounting periods When it comes to the future market value, Marris and Tobin's Q coefficients are very popular as good instruments for assessing long‐term CFP The initial (Marcus, 1981; Miliken, 1987; Wernerfelt & Karnani, 1987), particu- factor is the total market value of equity relative to the book value larly in the time of economic recession and/or economic upturn of equity, and the latter factor is calculated as the market value of (Placier, 2011) Visser (2008) argued that developing countries feature equity plus the book value of debts payable against the book value specific CSR and CES drivers due to the difference of local socioeco- of total assets The Marris and Tobin's Q ratios can indicate the future nomic, cultural, political, and legal settings where corporations operate CFP because they reflect the market's assessment of the potential and establish their relations with stakeholders Developing countries profitability expressed by the stock market price specificities change the conditions, context, and circumstance in which companies are facing business and social concerns (Muthuri & Gilbert, 2011) In developing countries, the CSR and CES issues not follow 2.3 | Corporate sustainable development and CFP beaten track but are associated with specific theme or pattern Although the application of CSR and CES philosophy in business for For decades, there have been multiple debates about the relation the purpose of sustainable development is becoming a popular trend between corporate social/environmental performance and CFP Espe- in developed countries, these issues are considered relatively new to cially, the last three decades have witnessed a huge amount of developing countries, particularly in case of Vietnam In addition, the research exploring the linkage between CSR, corporate sustainable CSR and CES studies conducted in Vietnam remain very scarce More- development, social responsibility and sustainability disclosure, and over, there was almost no impactful research conducted in Vietnam CFP So far, researchers have applied various methods and developed that relates to the relationship between CSR, CES, and CFP many theoretical backgrounds to investigate this relationship Nevertheless, the obtained results remain equivocal Two mainstream theories that have laid solid background for research studies in the field of 2.2 | Corporate financial performance CSR and corporate sustainable development are the agency theory and the stakeholder theory The agency theory is used to explain the The concept of sustainable development deals with protecting and asymmetric information problem between the owners and the man- sustaining society and environment for the sake of future generations agers of an enterprise As such, it quickly became a disposition for while trying to meet the maximization of market capitalization objec- researches on the issues of CSR, corporate sustainable development, tive Despite the increased awareness of corporate sustainable devel- and corporate governance The agency theory applies to matters relat- opment, questions remain on how to measure the corporate business ing to the representation contract between them Therefore, when the performance due to sustainable development, especially the CFP As enterprise develops its social responsibility and environmental sustain- an example, Kỹỗỹkbay and Sỹrỹcỹ (2019) proposed a new method ability orientation, it must be placed in the balance between the repre- for corporate business performance measurement, which incorporates sentative's interests and the interests of the owners The CSR four economic and financial subcriteria, two environmental subcriteria, expenditures are not a form of corporate charity, but they also serve and four social subcriteria In this section, we are narrowing down to to improve future financial performance Firms rather undertake CSR the financial aspect of corporate business performance presented by expenditures in the current period when they anticipate long‐term special system/set of indicators In the financial literature, there are sustainable financial performance (Eisenhardt, 1989; Hill & Jones, many indicators that measure CFP, but the most commonly used indi- 1992) According to American, European, and Japanese business man- cators in research studies can be divided into two following main cat- agers, the future belongs to those who create dynamic and integrated egories: (a) short‐term indicator related with accounting value ratios organization that is capable to achieve specific effects and at the same and coefficient of profitability and (b) long‐term indicator related with time capable of being both socially responsible and environmentally market value factors, also known as asset growth factors The most sustainable (Mizera, 2008) In addition to influencing the decision from commonly used profit targets are return on assets (ROA) and return the CEO level, the stakeholder theory explains more clearly the corpo- on equity (ROE) To calculate these two indices, simply net profit rate goal of achieving the ability to balance the conflict of interest (before or after tax) could be used (Tian & Estrin, 2008) However, between different stakeholders The stakeholder theory has in many researchers have suggested that pre‐tax profit after interest (earnings ways become an inseparable companion of the concept of CSR and TIEN ET AL the wider concept of corporate sustainable development (Donalson & to improving it in the long term The findings of this research indicate Preston, 1995; Hill & Jones, 1992) that, in the international construction business, the impact of CSR on CSR is starting to receive a supreme interest, especially from developing nations Experts have revealed the outcomes of CSR dis- CFP is not immediate and unchanging, and it takes time to materialize CSR for sustainable development closure towards organizational performance across the globe, includ- The results of study presented by Busch and Friede (2018) demon- ing the aspect of marketing and sales that indirectly contribute to strate a highly significant, positive, robust, and bilateral relation the CFP The comprehensive analysis carried out by Waheed and Yang between corporate social performance (CSP) and CFP The relation is (2019) on 450 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Pakistan positive regardless of whether firms focus on ecological or social unveiled the significantly higher effect of external CSR disclosure than aspects, though corporate reputation turns out to be a key CSP determi- internal CSR disclosure on marketing and sales performance nant Authors found a particularly strong CSP–CFP relation for opera- Brogi and Lagasio (2019) investigated the association between tional, short‐term CFP Furthermore, potential biases resulting from environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure and company methodological weakness not distort the positive CSP–CFP relation profitability, as measured by ROA on a large sample of US listed Marti, Rosa, Lisa, and Drescher (2015) have analyzed the effect companies based on MSCI ESG KLD STATS data from 2000 to exerted by corporate social strategies on (short term and long term) 2016 Significant differences between industrial firms and financial CFP of firms listed in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index and Stoxx Europe intermediaries have emerged Sustainability Index from 2007 to 2010 The results obtained show Zhu, Zou, and Zhang (2019) on a sample of 494 Chinese SMEs that the implementation of CSR strategy, the level of national eco- have developed a conceptual model to explore if the three types of nomic development, and the firm size determine CFP In addition, innovation (technology, management, and marketing) have moderation the investment in research and development influences the ROA, and mediation effects on relationships between CSR practices and whereas the company's financial slack affects the Tobin's Q So com- corporate business performance The results show that technology panies that contribute to sustainable development incur higher CFP and management innovation can improve environmental performance, Finally, study carried out by Herremans (1993) shows that large US social image, and community involvement, whereas marketing innova- manufacturing companies with better reputations for social responsi- tion is necessary to gain economic momentum and CFP bility and sustainability image outperformed other companies with Although many extant studies focus on the relation between CFP poorer reputations and image in the period 1982‐1987, and provided and CSR reporting, less attention has been given to the shifting role investors better stock market returns at lower risk Table below has of financial performance in CSR reporting in a changing institutional summarized the above presented researches carried out on CSR/CES‐ environment Sun, Zhao, and Cho (2019) have investigate whether, CFP relations why, and how institutional transitions affect the role of financial performance in CSR reporting in terms of firms' propensity to issue standalone CSR reports, the quality of voluntary CSR reports, and | M E TH OD O LO GY the quality of mandatory CSR reports Authors found that CFP buffers against external pressures brought by institutional transitions rather This study uses the archival methodology to summarize published than only serving as a slack resource research articles in the world over issues of relation between CSR, Hou (2019) examined the relationship between CSR and CFP in CES, and CFP In addition, this study uses the interpretive methodol- Taiwan The study found that socially responsible firms can achieve ogy to analyze, evaluate, and compare mainstream background theo- financial results superior to those of firms that not pursue CSR ries and obtained results of the researches conducted in the past In initiatives For the nonelectronics industries, the results revealed that our original research study, we use the quantitative method to test board ownership has a significant positive influence on the CSR– the relationship between CSR and CFP of a selected sample of enter- CFP relationship and a negative relationship if it is a family business prises within food and beverage industry in Vietnam The issues of Hussain, Rigoni, and Cavezzali (2018) have considered various CSR, CFP, and their measurement and interrelations are strongly manifestations of sustainability practices and investigated their link investigated abroad but need some adaptive changes in terms of both with CFP Authors analyzed the sustainability reports of the 100 content and form to fit in the current local cultural and socioeconomic best performing U.S firms and revealed that fragmentation in the context and political and legal settings The secondary data were col- results obtained is caused by the ways of sustainability performance lected from financial reports of 30 companies throughout the histori- measurement as the interlinks between different sustainability per- cal period of 2013–2015 CSR is a multidimensional concept that is formance dimensions and subdimensions are weak and somewhat often measured using diverse indicators However, composite indices contradictory can aggregate single indicators into one measurement In advanced Lu, Ye, and Chau (2018) carried out a research to substantiate the research studies, the model that reflects the impact of CSR on CFP is hypothesis of a paradoxical dynamic link between CSR and its material measured by stock market indicators (Marris and Tobin's Q), indicators implications including CFP By analyzing a panel of 67 international of accounting (ROE and ROA), and control variables including S (size construction companies from 2006 to 2015, authors found that CSR of the firm) and L (the financial lever) In this research study, from share- programs can be detrimental to CFP in the short term but conducive holders' point of view in developing countries, the most important ratio TIEN ET AL TABLE Summary of researches carried out on CSR/CES–CFP relation Author(s) and year of study Research scope Research results Brogi and Lagasio (2019) Association between environmental, social, and governance disclosure and company profitability measured by ROA Significant differences between industrial firms and financial intermediaries Zhu et al (2019) Innovation has moderation and mediation effects on relationships between CSR practices and CFP Technology and management innovation improve social and environmental performance Marketing innovation is necessary to gain economic momentum and CFP Sun et al (2019) Institutional transitions affect the role of financial performance in CSR reporting CFP buffers against external pressures on CSR brought by institutional transitions Hou (2019) Relationship between CSR and CFP in Taiwan Socially responsible firms can achieve financial performance superior to those which not pursue CSR initiatives Hussain et al Link between sustainability practices and CFP (2018) Interlinks between different sustainability performance dimensions and subdimensions are weak and somewhat contradictory to bias and fragment research results Lu et al (2018) Link between CSR and its material implications including CFP CSR programs can be detrimental to CFP in the short term but conducive to improving it in the long term Busch and Friede (2018) Relation between CSP and CFP The relation is positive regardless of whether firms focus on ecological or social aspects Strong relation for operational, short‐term CFP Marti et al (2015) Effect exerted by corporate social strategies on short‐term Companies that contribute to sustainable development incur higher CFP and long‐term CFP CSR strategy, the level of national economic development, and firm size determine CFP Herremans (1993) Social/sustainable performance and general business performance of U.S manufacturing firms Companies with better reputations for social responsibility and sustainability image outperformed other companies Source: Own development Abbreviations: CES, corporate environmental sustainability; CFP, corporate financial performance; CSP, corporate social performance; CSR, corporate social responsibility; ROA, return on assets is the ROE that will represent CFP This ROE ratio is designed to measure the company's profitability per share The ROE rate is the best TABLE Variables description measure of a company's ability to maximize profits from each of its Variable Description capital investments The mentioned control variables (S and L) have Dependent variable been widely employed in empirical studies to deal with the association ROE between CSR and CFP So we have the specification of following econometric equation (and its variables explanation is presented in Table 2): Measurement Return on equity Ratio between the net income (invested capital) and the equity Explanatory variable CSR ROEit ¼ ỵ *CSRit ỵ *Sit ỵ *Lit þ εit : Corporate social responsibility 1—if the label issued by the sustainable development report is hold; 0—if not Control variable The literature review reveals a lack of attention and interest in explaining conceptual foundations, focusing instead on descriptions S Size of the firm Total assets L Financial lever Ratio between the debts and the own capital of CSR and CES issues and practices in developing countries (Arya & Bassi, 2009; Chapple & Moon, 2005; Eweje, 2006; Ite, 2004; Wiig & Kolstad, 2010) This trend to understand what companies in develop- Source: Authors' ing countries are doing for the sake of social responsibility and to preserve the environmental sustainability is related to the type of vast preference for qualitative research methods indicates many methodology that most papers used Case studies and interviews with existing obstacles and difficulties encountered in the process of surveys are used to find the answers to the “why” and “how” ques- conducting empirical research (collecting and processing exact data) tions as well as to offset the lack of previous findings in the literature in developing countries (Husted & Allen, 2006; Jamali & Mirshak, (Rubin & Rubin, 2005; Yin, 2009) Thus, the preference and prevailing 2007) This is also true in our case In the first‐stage quantitative type of research design for these studies suggests that those are the research, we were facing a lack of access to the necessary data to con- first steps taken to understand the driving motivations underlying duct our study in a full scale We are able only to collect data related CSR and CES issues and practices in developing countries The general to the ROE (one of short‐term indicators of financial performance) of TIEN ET AL selected enterprises This is really the most important constraint of our consideration and in practical implementation Thus, the understand- quantitative research framework that leads to the need of supplement ing, the adaptation, and the so far achievement of CSR implementa- with qualitative analysis to reexamine the obtained disputable find- tion are still limited The barriers and challenges for the effective ings In the second stage of our research, we applied the case study‐ implementation of CSR in Vietnam's sociobusiness context and condi- based and interview‐based qualitative method to examine the relation tion include the following things: limited awareness and understanding between CSR, CES, and the CFP We have conducted in‐depth inter- of CSR ideas, concepts, and issues by business; lack of resources to views with the members of boards of directors of all firms selected implement CSR standards in small and medium enterprises; CSR issues in our research sample but years after the finish of the first‐stage are bound and regulated chiefly by management practices and stan- quantitative analysis Interviews are provided to examine their percep- dards such as SA8000, WRAP, ISO 14000, and GRI, but they are far tion of the business reality and pioneering trends in the fast‐changing from enough for enterprises growing and reaching out to the world; socioeconomic landscape and conditions for conducting sustain- and evidently manifested lack of ethics social and environmental able business in Vietnam, test their attitudes and approaches towards responsibility in both business philosophy and culture and in both pro- social responsibility and sustainable environmental management duction and operation activities of enterprises issues and concerns, and relate that to the achieved CFP The obtained CSR is of great importance for enterprises from both highly devel- research results of the second‐stage qualitative analysis are to supple- oped and developing countries Developing countries are those being ment and to reinterpret the disputable findings of the early carried out in a period of economic transition from centrally planned system to first‐stage quantitative analysis fully market‐based system in order to integrate with the global economy For those countries, all the issues related to modern management and conducting business in accordance with market mechanism | RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION are still of inadequate interest in both theoretical research and practical application, of course, including the CSR So far, in developing In Table 3, we present the summary of data collected for the above‐ countries, the issues related with CSR standards and regulations are mentioned analyzed companies Fixed‐effects model and random‐ less paid attention and less appreciated, at least in the initial stage of effects model are used to estimate the panel data The research results the economic transition period In emerging markets, there are were estimated by these two models If the result shows that there is reigning perceptions that profit, instead of being a means, still is seen statistical significance and relevance between CSR and CFP, the better as a supergoal for all business activities, and only enterprises from model will be chosen wealthy countries may follow noble ethical standards (Kopycinska, The results are shown in Tables and The summarized results 2001) It is true that only the highly developed countries that had been from Tables and show that the independent variable CSR is not cor- through many decades of capital accumulation, with matured and related with the dependent variable ROE in the random‐effects GLS transparent market mechanism, may afford to build and operate a regression model (P > [z] = 762 > 05) and in the fixed‐effects regres- so‐called moral‐based economy That is why, compared with the sion model (P > = 553 > 05) In other words, there is no statistical highly developed capitalist countries, those economies are in the stage significance and relevance between CSR and CFP in terms of ROE of the 60s and 70s of XX century, taking into account the level of As the above presented first‐stage secondary and historical data‐ awareness and consciousness of the CSR issues as well as the capacity based quantitative test results show, there is no correlation between of enterprises to execute their social obligations Their understanding CSR and CFP in terms of ROE This result is consistent with the cur- and perception of CSR issues primarily have a push character that is rent state of adoption of CSR ideas, concepts, and implementation, strictly related with carrying out all obligations imposed by the law which are still considered relatively novel for developing and under- and required by the market with quite passive and reluctant attitude, developed countries, especially in the case of Vietnam In reality, treating social responsibility as things that mandatorily must be done CSR and related issues are quite new in Vietnam, both in theoretical (Tien, Thao, & Hung Anh, 2019) In particular cases, if the resources are available, some of them will actively contribute to solving the TABLE social problems that are within their scope of capability (pull character Summary of the data collected of CSR in contrary to push character) Almost all enterprises in devel- Variable Obs Mean SD Min Max Code Age 24.93333 13.4989 63 management capacity and weak economic potential It is not difficult Year_obs 90 2014 0.8210708 2013 2015 to remark on the correlation between the level of CSR awareness ROE 90 0.1029456 0.4736007 −3.674 1.4148 S 90 1.692032 2.206606 0.1548 16.6705 L 90 1.692032 2.206606 0.1548 16.6705 CSR 90 1.188889 0.3936132 oping countries are of a microscale (small and medium enterprises) They suffer from a serious lack of capital, together with inadequate and the size of enterprises as well as the correlation between CSR awareness and the level of national prosperity (Filek, 1996) Highly developed and wealthy nations often apply more sophisticated CSR Source: Duc, Yen, Thuy, and Tien (2018) and ethical standards towards enterprises and expect from them much higher level of awareness and commitment Furthermore, the scale of capital engaged and the professionalism in terms of skills TIEN ET AL TABLE Random‐effects GLS regression results Random‐effects GLS regression Number of obs = 90 Group variable: macty1 Number of groups = 30 R2: within = 0.6091, between = 0.6379, and overall = 0.5080 obs per group: = 3, avg = 3.0, and max = corr(u_i, x) = (assumed) Wald χ2(4) = 87.06 P > χ2 = 0000 ROE Coef SE z P > [z] 95% confidence interval CSR −0.0325728 0.1073922 −0.30 762 [−0.2430576, 0.1779119] S −0.0288483 0.0231473 −1.25 213 [−0.0742162, 0.0165196] L −0.1658886 0.0180249 −9.20 000 [−0.2012168, −0.1305603] Age −0.0038294 0.0028671 −1.34 182 [−0.0094488, 0.00179] _cons 1.302651 0.6090064 2.14 032 [0.1090209, 2.496282] sigma_u 0.07125273 sigma_e 0.27746426 ρ 0.06186624 (fraction of variance due to u_i) Source: Duc et al (2018) Abbreviation: GLS, generalized least square TABLE Fixed‐effects regression results Fixed‐effects (within) regression Number of obs = 90 Group variable: macty1 Number of groups = 30 R2: within = 0.6797, between = 0.0117, and overall = 0.0326 obs per group: = 3, avg = 3.0, and max = F (4, 56) = 29.71 corr(u_i, Xb) = ‐0.9729 P > F = 0000 Coef SE t P> 95% confidence interval CSR −0.1230248 0.206246 −0.60 553 [−0.5361852, 0.2901355] S −0.1569672 0.0982693 −1.60 116 [−0.3538242, 0.0398898] L −0.2865879 0.0283035 −10.13 000 [−0.3432866, −0.2298891] Age 0.122275 0.0376828 3.24 002 [0.0467872, 0.1977628] _cons 1.955662 2.678486 0.73 468 [−3.409989, 7.321314] sigma_u 1.7943693 sigma_e 0.27746426 ρ 0.97664777 (fraction of variance due to u_i) F test that all u_i = 0: F (29, 56) = 2.57, P > F = 0012 Source: Duc et al (2018) and competencies of workers and management staff are absolutely business operations executed in self‐interested manner in order to incomparable with those of enterprises in developing countries (Ho, attain quick profit only Partly and perhaps, this is due to the legal sta- Wang, Dac, & Vitell, 2019) tus of CSR, which is not strict and severe enough, and the CSR The results of many investigations carried out by research centers macropolicy and measures, which are in most cases not strongly bind- on the issues of CSR in different parts of the world had proved the ing enough to punish and deter enterprises from irresponsible and truth of the above‐mentioned facts Those researches are carried out unsustainable behavior The findings of many researches indicated simultaneously in both developed and developing countries The find- that enterprises in developing countries have been putting profit‐ ings indicated that enterprises in developing countries often attach related criteria very high in their system of corporate goals (Lewicka, great importance to profit and put the economic criteria and indicators 1999) Stunning economic growth and looking for profit as quickly as above social and ethical norms in their development strategy as well possible and at any cost, especially when the market economy was still as in their corporate values system (Klimek, 2012; Kopycinska, in a stage of conception with less competitive pressure and unstable 2001) More seriously, most of SMEs in developing countries conduct legal system, are the main factors behind Profit is an overriding, regularly opportunistic behaviors in their business activities, with their privileged goal to be positioned higher than social responsibility and TIEN ET AL other noneconomic activities in order to catch up with the pace of ambidexterity, conflictual nature, ambiguous, and multipolar mission: growth of enterprises in developed countries However, the findings to improve and to supplement useful values to the society and to bring of researches and the above‐mentioned perceptions are decreasingly about profit for shareholders understood in terms of CFP (Sulphey & convincing as developing economies are approximating developed Alkahthani, 2017) In countries being in transitional period, the role economies in terms of understanding the importance of CSR, ethical of business, especially private enterprises, is vital as driving force for standards, and the rules of the law, once the world is globalized and economic development Thus, their awareness and right perception differences between regions are fading away When all the domestic, of CSR and CES issues for the local community and the surrounding regional, and international market become a common playground environment are really important, and as such, they need to be equally for all players due to ongoing process of global integration, the highlighted correspondingly Private enterprises will have to compete CSR, sustainability, and ethical issues will become effective means of with foreign ones on an equal basis at home and globally Understand- competition for potential customers, partners, suppliers, human, and ing and dealing properly with the sensitive CSR and CES issues and other resources serving the further development of enterprises concerns will become a core competitive means and advantage for The second‐stage interview‐based qualitative investigation carried the enterprises to assure CFP in a long term (Tien et al., 2019) CSR out years after (2018–2019) has been served to gather and process and CES issues are related not only to the CFP for the large enter- the current, more exact primary data and information on CSR and prises but also to the CFP for the SMEs Small enterprises, limited in sustainable environmental management issues and concerns, which power, resources, and capability, contribute a humble part to the are important for the top managers and the board of directors of the society and local community Social responsibility and environmen- same sample of enterprises selected during the first‐stage quantitative tal sustainability are common concerns of all organizations as constitu- research The increasing importance of CSR and CES issues and their tive components of the society, regardless of size and nature (Klimek, impact on CFP is due to the rising role of enterprises in the society 2012; Langenecker & Moore, 1991) When the size and resources and serious consequences they have been causing to the environment, of enterprises are growing, their capacity to carry out social res- the urgent need to find out effective and sustainable solutions to deal ponsibility and contribute to the environmental sustainability is to be with them CSR and CES issues are top priority for enterprises operat- proportional SMEs are just seeds, the source of social expectations ing on the basis of market mechanism Enterprises are special subjects to become socially responsible and environmentally sustainable corpo- of interest of CSR and CES policies and regulations due to their rations actively contributing to the sustainable development of the TABLE Soft controlling and regulating instruments Instruments Explanation Well‐grounded ethical standards and norms Based on ethical standards and norms, attitudes, and behaviors in dealing with business situations, processing transactions, and solving problems, such as disputes and conflicts resolution become friendly and understandable, effectively boosting mutual and multilateral cooperation, enhancing enlisted and consolidated trust and respect of the comprehensive partners and the whole community Comprehensive communication and understanding Communication and understanding help promote strategic orientations related to business ethics and CSR and CES issues and concerns Communication conveys important messages within and to outside partners in the society while facilitating smooth cooperation with other enterprises and taking advantage of governmental support Fundamental business culture and common system of values Both business culture and common value system are related strictly with social responsibility and prerequisite of environmental sustainability They are to self‐consolidate over time to lay ground for enterprise to overcome never‐ending conflicts, disputes, and difficult situations and establish trust and credibility in the local community and the society at large The common system of values is to be consulted and shared as fundamentals forming individual values and serves as an integrating driver to further build and enhance social trust, credibility, and reputation, reducing conflict of interest and tensions for the purpose of sustainable development in a very complex and constantly changing business environment Corporate sustainable leadership Corporate sustainable leadership is strictly related with CSR and CES issues as the leaders have a great role and immense impact on the corporate sustainable business strategy (Piotrkowski, 2001) Enterprises should adapt to new requirements, new rules, and new standards to solve newly emerged CSR and CES issues Corporate sustainable leadership should fulfill equally all the expectations of stakeholders, putting issues of sustainable development above own interests and goals This is a great challenge for sustainable business leaders in developing countries who used to think locally instead of globally as they not have adequate experiences and exposures to act consistently and in line with changing global sustainability issues High sense of social responsibility and environmental sustainability will secure social trust, the core of indisputable sustainable advantage, and intangible and priceless asset leading to better financial performance in a long run Source: Tien et al (2019) Abbreviations: CES, corporate environmental sustainability; CSR, corporate social responsibility TIEN ET AL local community in the future SMEs should be well educated and emerging economies being in a period of transition into effective mar- informed to be and strongly aware in terms of social responsibility ket economy The bottom line is their capacity to selectively and and environmental sustainability issues at the earliest stage of devel- appropriately apply the experiences of countries with long‐standing opment in order to become future socially responsible, environmen- market economy and developed society Diverse experiences in tally sustainable, and financially resilient flagships of the society and boosting effectiveness of CSR and CES platform may be a starting economy The interview‐based qualitative analysis and investigation point for emerging countries to establish their own platforms Pro- leads us to the following facts that point out to the relations between found understanding of CSR and CES concepts and contents by man- CSR, CES, and CFP and the ways of their strengthening agers becomes urgent in a globally interconnected and integrated First, due to dualism and ambidexterity of CSR and CES issues, for economy Enterprises in developing countries, in order to catch up the purpose of parallel corporate sustainable development and sus- with the pace of business and trends of global economy, should tainable financial performance, managers should enhance both the change their mindset in addition to the changing business model from individual responsibility (staff members and managers themselves) traditional development towards sustainable development where CSR, towards the enterprise and the corporate responsibility towards the CES issues, professional business ethics, mutual understanding, trust, society and environment In order to boost the CSR and CES of enter- and respect are the main pillars and development drivers of a so‐called prise, each staff member should act in a responsible way and be aware moral economy or a trust‐based economy that they are seeds contributing to the image, reputation, and active CSR and CES are still a hotly debatable topic on the relationship role of enterprise in the community Low labor productivity in devel- and impact of sustainable development orientation on business There oping countries compared with that in developed the world stems are already many studies in the world devoted to CSR, CES, and their from the low sense of responsibility and weak discipline at work and sustainable business impact, including impact on CFP These studies that situation has not changed for a long time It is urgent to assure were presented in the above literature overview In our multistage professionally qualified staff members in order to carry out their task research process carried out in different periods of time but based efficiently and attentively by training them on the issues of CSR, on the same sample of enterprises, the first‐stage quantitative analysis CES, and professional ethical standards (code of conducts and right has reject any relation between CSR and CFP The second‐stage qual- attitudes and behaviors required at workplace) in order to perform itative investigation has pointed out to the fact that CSR, or broadly, their jobs accordingly That will lead to the better business perfor- corporate sustainable development (including CSR and CES), and mance in general and better CFP in particular CFP are in certain positively correlative relationship, and this fact Second, to enhance the CSR and CES spirit of enterprise in a pursuit should be further investigated, both profoundly and extensively, of strong CFP, mutual and multilateral social trust should be preserved regarding Vietnam's quite stable institutional and political settings and consolidated Enterprise is also a tiny society in a large society For but quickly transforming legal, social, and business condition, context, the purpose of sustainable development that is to become both socially and landscape in order to achieve interesting findings responsible and orient towards environmental sustainability, before Apart from previous studies conducted abroad and in Vietnam, this being entrusted with important social missions, enterprise has to be article has investigated the CSR and CES issues and their relation with trustworthy for internal staff and credible for external partners In order CFP in multiple period of the quickly transforming business landscape to attain this goal, enterprises should deliver dialogs and conduct inter- of Vietnam economy This article has contributed a research frame- active, open debates at all levels and consolidate mutual trust and work for investigating the issues of CSR and CES related to the CFP, understanding by continuously searching for new compromises and including background theory (stakeholder theory and agency theory), consensus Otherwise, the cost to run a business, such as processing literature reviews (overview of previous studies conducted on the transactions, internal and external control, will be too much to be paid CSR–CES and CFP relation), and methodology (both quantitative and That will certainly badly impact the CFP of the enterprises in both short qualitative) The research results may be useful for state agencies term and long term In developing economies, in order to progress and policy makers, management researchers, and business practi- towards the model of so‐called moral‐ or trust‐based enterprises that tioners so that they can introduce research results into practice and will significantly reduce all transactional costs and improve the CFP, conduct similar research in the future Additionally, the article delves managers should deploy the four important soft controlling and regulat- deeply into the two interrelated concepts, CSR and CES, which are ing instruments (presented in the Table 6): well‐grounded ethical the main pillars of very popular today overall and overarching concept standards and norms, comprehensive communication and understand- of corporate sustainable development The article also signaled that ing, fundamental business culture and common system of values, and the latter concept of corporate sustainable development represents corporate sustainable leadership a new business philosophy that reflect current but more comprehensive understanding of CSR, including much more topical dimensions interested by today's management researchers and business practi- | C O N CL U S I O N S tioners, as well as state agencies and policy makers across the globe Thus, the future similar research studies should be carried out to reex- Rising attention on the issues of CSR and CES is not only a character- amine the relationship between the corporate sustainable develop- istic feature of developed economies This is also specific feature of ment (including both CSR and CES dimensions) and the corporate 10 TIEN ET AL economic performance Importantly, the achievements as the outcome indicators, which relate to the market value and future potential asset of corporate business processes related to social responsibility and growth Second, further studies should also extend the research environmental sustainability issues should be understood not only in objects group into samples of companies from different industries, of terms of financial performance but also in terms of socioeconomic different origins (foreign vs domestic), in order to compare their CFP performance to reflect the broader scope and true sense of the due to the implementation of CSR–CES standards and practices, based expected corporate business performance on that to draw multiple interesting and meaningful conclusions Third, the extension of understanding of the output of the corporate man- 5.1 | Implication This article has contributed to the fast‐changing concept of CSR and the overarching sustainable development philosophy and practices in developing countries and in today's global business There are different definitions and understandings of CSR concept and practice Each organization, company, and government recognizes and sees CSR from its agement process from traditional CFP to the overarching corporate business performance has been pointed out in previous researches and signaled in the above part of this section This is also necessary in further researches to be strongly in line with the current trend of sustainable strategic management that needs to adopt more sophisticated indicators and metrics and prefers nonfinancial ones to measure business performance rather than solely financial performance own perspective and lens, depending on the conditions, characteristics, and landscape of national socioeconomic development Organizations that want to survive in the market and achieve strong CFP in a long run must adopt strategy embracing economic, social, and ecological ORCID Nguyen Hoang Tien https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6205-0666 dimension in a sustainable way To achieve adequate level of corporate sustainable development, it is necessary to apply business strategies RE FE RE NC ES that meet all parties' (stakeholders') needs while protecting, strengthen- Arya, B., & Bassi, B (2009) Corporate social responsibility and broad‐ based black economic empowerment legislation in South Africa: Codes of good practice Business and Society., 50(4), 674–695 ing, and enhancing the human and natural resources for the need of use in the future (Bakanauskiene, Staniuliene, & Zirgutis, 2016) For business activities to be efficient, effective, and economically valuable, at the same time both socially responsible and environmentally sustainable, this strategy should result from social multiaspect dialogs, negotiations, and consensus with all interested parties (Mizera, 2008) In addition to theoretical implications, this article also provides practical implication for management researchers, business practitioners, and authority's representatives as well The research results show that the understanding CSR and CES issues and practices is still insufficient, and the awareness of business and political leaders on those issues and practices is now of great importance for all enterprises, the whole Bakanauskiene, I., Staniuliene, S., & Zirgutis, V (2016) Corporate social responsibility: The context of stakeholders pressure in Lithuania Polish Journal of Management Studies, 13(1), 18–29 https://doi.org/10 17512/pjms.2016.13.1.02 Briš, P., Svoboda, J., & Brišová, H (2013) The growing importance of the practical application of corporate social responsibility in the management of companies in the Czech Republic Journal of Competitiveness, 2(June 2013), 124–138 Brogi, M., & Lagasio, V (2019) Environmental, social, and governance and company profitability: Are financial intermediaries different? Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(3), 576–587 https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1704 economy, and the society at large to perish or prosper Many empirical evidences have proven that there is indeed strongly positive correlation between CSR, CES, and CFP in the world, and firms in Vietnam are not out of this global trend and direction as are reflected in our multistage analysis Due to that strongly positive correlation, in addition to the second stage of this multistage analysis, a set of soft controlling and regulating instruments is proposed to transform enterprises into moral‐ or trust‐based businesses to benefit (and profit) from streamlining opera- Burianová, L., & Paulík, J (2014) Corporate social responsibility in commercial banking—A case study from the Czech Republic Journal of Competitiveness, No 1, March 2014, 6, 50–70 https://doi.org/10 7441/joc.2014.01.04 Busch, T., & Friede, G (2018) The robustness of the corporate social and financial performance relation: A second‐order meta‐analysis Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(4), 583–608 https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1480 tions and reducing transaction costs to boost their CFP Carroll, A (1999) Corporate social responsibility: Evolution of a definitional construct Business and Society, 38(3), 268–295 https://doi org/10.1177/000765039903800303 5.2 Chapple, W., & Moon, J (2005) Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Asia: A seven‐country study of CSR reporting website Business and Society, 44(4), 415–441 https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650305281658 | Limitation and recommendation Despite important theoretical and empirical contributions, this article still faces some limitations that need to be eliminated in the future studies First, in our first‐stage quantitative analysis, for the purpose of simplification, the CFP is identified by ROE (accounting value ratios and short‐term coefficient of profitability), the dependent variable in the model Further researches on this topic need to consider other indicators such as ROA and long‐term financial performance Donalson, T., & Preston, L E (1995) The stakeholder theory of the corporation: Concepts, evidence and implications Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 65–91 https://doi.org/10.5465/amr 1995.9503271992 Duc, L D M., Yen, N T H., Thuy, N T X., & Tien, N H., (2018) Corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance Case of Vietnamese listed companies “Czestochowa University Management TIEN 11 ET AL Research Reviews” 32/2018, 251‐265, https://doi.org/10.17512/ znpcz.2018.4.23 61, Multinational corporations and the global context Sheffield, United Kingdom: Greenleaf Publishing Dudzevičiūtė, G (2012) Conceptual approaches towards sustainability Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues, 1(4), 261–272 www.lka.lt/ index.php/lt/217049/, https://doi.org/10.9770/jssi.2012.1.4(3) Klimek, J (2012) Corporate social responsibility in Poland Torun: Adam Marszalek Publisher Dyllick, T., & Hockerts, K (2002) Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability Business Strategy and the Environment, 11, 130–141 https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.323 Kopycinska, D (2001) Concept of corporate social responsibility—Poetry of theories and prose of daily life In W Gasparski (Ed.), 2001 Business ethics in action, experiences and perspective Warsaw: Polish Scientific Publisher Eisenhardt, K M (1989) Agency theory: An assessment and review Academy of Management and Review, 14(1), 57–74 https://doi.org/10 5465/amr.1989.4279003 Kot, S (2014) Knowledge and understanding of corporate social responsibility Journal of Advanced Research in Law and Economics, 5(2), 109–119 Eweje, G (2006) The roles of MNEs in community development initiatives in developing countries Business and Society, 45(2), 93129 https:// doi.org/10.1177/0007650305285394 Kỹỗỹkbay, F., & Sỹrỹcỹ, E (2019) Corporate sustainability performance measurement based on a new multicriteria sorting method Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(3), 664–680 https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1711 Filek, J (1996) Freedom and social responsibility in economic activity Bulletin of Business Ethics, Praxeology Scientific Association, December, 2(1), 7–15 Langenecker, J G., & Moore, C W (1991) Small business management In An entrepreneurial emphasis (8th ed.) Chapter 24: Social and ethical issues Cincinati Ohio: South‐Western Publishing Company Formankova, S., Hrdličková, A., Kučerová, R., & Skýpalová, R (2017) Evaluation of the applicability CSR standards in the praxis of tertiary education institutions Forum Scientiae Oeconomia, 5(1), 94–103 Hart, S L (1995) A natural‐resource based view of the firm Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 986–1014 https://doi.org/10.5465/ amr.1995.9512280033 Herremans, I M (1993) An investigation of corporate social responsibility reputation and economic performance Accounting Organizations and Society, 18(7), 587–604 https://doi.org/10.1016/0361‐3682(93) 90044‐7 Hill, C W L., & Jones, T M (1992) Stakeholder–agency theory Journal of Management Studies, 29(2), 131–154 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467‐ 6486.1992.tb00657.x Ho, F N., Wang, H M D., Dac, N H., & Vitell, S J (2019) Nature and relationship between corporate social performance and firm size: A cross‐ national study Social Responsibility Journal, 15(2), 258–274 https://doi org/10.1108/SRJ‐02‐2017‐0025 Hou, T C T (2019) The relationship between corporate social responsibility and sustainable financial performance: Firm‐level evidence from Taiwan Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(1), 19–28 https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1647 Lewicka, S A (1999) Ethical standards of companies and workers, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology Chapter 3: Principle of corporate duties Warsaw: Polish Academy of Science Lu, W S., Ye, M., & Chau, K W (2018) The paradoxical nexus between corporate social responsibility and sustainable financial performance: Evidence from the international construction business Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(5), 844–852 https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1501 Man, M., & Macris, M (2015) Integration of corporative governance into organization's social responsibility system Polish Journal of Management Studies, 11(2), 100–114 Marcus, A A (1981) Policy uncertainty and technological innovation Academy of Management Review, 6(3), 443–448 Marti, C P., Rosa, M., Lisa, R V., & Drescher, G J (2015) Are firms that contribute to sustainable development better financially? Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 22(5), 305–319 https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1347 Miliken, F J (1987) Three types of perceived uncertainty about the environment state, effect and response uncertainty Academy of Management Review, 12/1, 113–143 Hussain, N., Rigoni, U., & Cavezzali, E (2018) Does it pay to be sustainable? Looking inside the black box of the relationship between sustainability performance and financial performance Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(6), 1198–1211 https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1631 Mizera, K (2008) Social responsibility instruments Contemporary Economics, 2(3), 83–96 Husted, B W., & Allen, D B (2006) Corporate social responsibility in the multinational enterprise: Strategic and institutional approaches Journal of International Business Studies, 37(6), 838–849 https://doi.org/ 10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400227 Piotrkowski, K (2001) Organization and management Chapter 17.6: Social responsibility in the process of management Warsaw: University of Economics Ite, U E (2004) Multinationals and corporate social responsibility in developing countries: A case study of Nigeria Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 11(1), 1–11 https://doi.org/10.1002/ csr.49 Muthuri, J., & Gilbert, V (2011) An institutional analysis of corporate social responsibility in Kenya Journal of Business Ethics, 98(1), 467–483 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551‐010‐0588‐9 Placier, K (2011) The impact of recession on the implementation of corporate social responsibility in companies Journal of Competitiveness No, 2(June 2011), 83–98 Porter, M E (1985) Competitive advantage New York: Free Press Jamali, D., & Mirshak, R (2007) Corporate social responsibility: Theory and practice in developing country context Journal of Business Ethics, 72(1), 243–262 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551‐006‐9168‐4 Rajnoha, R., & Lesníková, P (2016) Strategic performance management system and corporate sustainability concept—Specific parameters in Slovak enterprises Journal of Competitiveness, September 2016, 107‐124 Kemp, D., & Owen, J R (2017) Grievance handling at a foreign‐owned mine in Southeast Asia Extractive Industries and Society, 4(1), 131–139 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2016.09.001 Rubin, H J., & Rubin, I S (2005) Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data (second ed.) California: Sage https://doi.org/10.4135/ 9781452226651 Kemp, D., Owen, J R., & Vimala, D (2015) Operational intent and development impact in mining In D Jamali, C Karam, & M Blowfield (Eds.), Development‐oriented Corporate Social Responsibility, Vol 1, 49‐ Sulphey, M M., & Alkahthani, N S (2017) Organization ambidexterity as a prelude to corporate sustainability Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues, 7(2), 335–348 http://doi.org/10.9770/jssi.2017.7.2 12 Sun, W Z., Zhao, C G., & Cho, C H (2019) Institutional transitions and the role of financial performance in CSR reporting Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(2), 367–376 https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1688 Tian, L., & Estrin, S (2008) Retained state shareholding in Chinese PLCs: Does government ownership always reduce corporate value? Journal of Comparative Economics, 36(1), 74–89 https://doi.org/10.1016/j jce.2007.10.003 Tien, N H (2015) Leadership in socially responsible enterprises Warsaw: Ementon Publishing Tien, N H., & Hung Anh, D B (2018) Gaining comparative advantage from CSR policy change—Cases of international corporations in Vietnam Polish Journal of Management Studies 18(1), 403‐417 https:// doi.org/10.17512/pjms.2018.18.1.30 GICID: 01.3001 0012.8213 Tien, N H., Thao, V T T., & Hung Anh, D B (2019) Sustainability issues in social model of corporate social responsibility Theoretical analysis and practical implications Journal of Advanced Research in Management, 19 No 1, June, 2019 Visser, W (2008) Corporate social responsibility in developing countries In A Crane, A McWilliams, D Matten, J Moon, & D Siegel (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility (pp 473–479) Oxford: Oxford University Press Waheed, A., & Yang, J H (2019) Effect of corporate social responsibility disclosure on firms' sales performance: A perspective of stakeholder engagement and theory Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(3), 559–566 https://doi.org/10.1002/ csr.1701 TIEN ET AL Wernerfelt, B., & Karnani, A (1987) Competitive strategy under uncertainty Strategic Management Journal, 8(2), 18–194 Wiig, A., & Kolstad, I (2010) Multinational corporations and host country institutions: A case study of CSR activities in Angola International Business Review, 19(1), 178–190 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev 2009.11.006 World Business Council for Sustainable Development (1998) Corporate social responsibility Date of access: 11/07/2011, http://www.wbcsd org/Doc Root/hbdf19Txhmk3kDxBQDWW/CSRmeeting.pdf World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our common future: Brundtland report New York: Oxford University Press Yin, R K (2009) Case study research: Design and methods (4th ed.) California: Sage Zdravkovic, D., & Radukic, S (2012) Institutional framework for sustainable development in Serbia Montenegrin Journal of Economics, 8(3), 27–36 Zhu, Q H., Zou, F., & Zhang, P (2019) The role of innovation for performance improvement through corporate social responsibility practices among small and medium‐sized suppliers in China Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(2), 341–350 https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1686 How to cite this article: Tien NH, Anh DBH, Ngoc NM Corporate financial performance due to sustainable development in Vietnam Corp Soc Resp Env Ma 2019;1–12 https://doi org/10.1002/csr.1836