Research On The Mechanism Of Corporate Environmental Responsibility On Sustainable Competitive Advantage

In the context of high-quality development,the country focuses on the quality and efficiency of economic development,and the implementation of a comprehensive green and low-carbon transition is an important initiative to promote economic restructuring.By addressing the relationship between economic growth rates and environmental carrying capacity,new opportunities for social and economic development can be created.As a fundamental component of the market economy,the environmental management practices of enterprises play an important role in supporting their development,as well as the achievement of green and low-carbon goals for industry and the country.Thus,enterprises are not only the "perpetrators" of environmental pollution problems,but can also be the "main force" in balancing environmental protection and economic development.At the same time,the policy guidance of ecological priority development and green low-carbon development patterns,as well as the development trend that future business activities will inevitably be constrained by natural environmental factors,have given more environmental connotations to the strategic management of enterprises.Nowadays,environmental investment is no longer an additional cost that would be detrimental to economic profitability under a limited rational model,but an important way for enterprises to gain future market position and build sustainable competitive advantage.In this context,how to correctly understand the dual goals of environmental protection and economic performance improvement?How can enterprises transform their existing development models at the expense of the environment? How to carry out corporate environmental responsibility practices to promote sustainable development,so as to find micro-responses to environmental problems and help enterprises grasp development opportunities under the new market pattern.These have become key issues of concern in both theoretical and practical circles.Corporate environmental responsibility is the responsibility of enterprises to balance environmental protection with the pursuit of economic benefits.It is a voluntary approach to incorporating environmental issues into business operations and interactions with stakeholders.Corporate environmental responsibility is a way for enterprises to play an important role in balancing environmental protection and economic development,and can bring substantial benefits to enterprises.Although academic research on corporate environmental responsibility has its roots in the early days,there are still many gaps in existing research.Firstly,there is a lack of focus on the impact of corporate environmental responsibility on sustainable competitive advantage.Whether corporate environmental responsibility can effectively contribute to building sustainable competitive advantage is an important prerequisite for good long-term performance,the neglect of this aspect of sustainable competitive advantage in existing research may be one of the reasons for the contradictory results.Secondly,studies have answered the question of ‘why’ corporate environmental responsibility should be implemented,but it has not clarified ‘how’ to do so effectively.The pathways by which corporate environmental responsibility affects sustainable competitive advantage remain unclear.Thirdly,the ripple effect of environmental directives across layers and the chain of non-environmental responsibilities has led to the concept of corporate environmental responsibility being applied not only within enterprises but also across the supply chain.The implementation of greening the whole product life cycle and the value chain is crucial for enterprises to build a sustainable competitive advantage.However,existing research has overlooked the importance of green supply chain integration in the link between corporate environmental responsibility and sustainable competitive advantage.Fourth,there are multiple constraints in the implementation of corporate environmental responsibility and the same enterprises fulfilling their corporate environmental responsibility may produce different results.However,most existing studies have focused on the weighted effects of environmental uncertainty or stakeholder pressure from an external perspective,and lack a comprehensive consideration of internal constraints and the weighting factors that combine internal constraints and external environmental changes.Focusing on theoretical contradictions and practical dilemmas,this study proposes a research framework and research hypotheses based on an exploratory multi-case study and a review of relevant literature.This study explores the mechanism of the role of corporate environmental responsibility in influencing sustainable competitive advantage,as well as the mediating role of green supply chain integration and green innovation,and conducts a comparative test of different chain mediations composed of sub-dimensions.The study also examines the role of different chain intermediaries consisting of sub-dimensions.The study aims to explore the transmission mechanism of green supply chain integration and green innovation between corporate environmental responsibility and sustainable competitive advantage,to help enterprises find the optimal path to enhance sustainable competitive advantage.Moreover,this study considers the moderating role of slack resources and environmental turbulence in the above paths from the perspectives of internal condition constraints and external environmental factors based on the contingency theory to increase the explanatory power of the model.Based on the actual situation of green transformation of manufacturing enterprises in China,this study takes 432 manufacturing enterprises in the Northeast,BeijingTianjin-Hebei,Yangtze River Delta,and Pearl River Delta regions as the research subjects.The study collected research data through questionnaire survey method and tested the research hypotheses through various methods such as regression analysis and Bootstrap analysis.The following findings emerged from this study: First,corporate environmental responsibility has a significant positive effect on sustainable competitive advantage.Second,green supply chain integration and its sub-dimensions,and green innovation and its sub-dimensions each play a partially mediating role between corporate environmental responsibility and sustainable competitive advantage.Third,green supply chain integration and green innovation play a chain mediating role between corporate environmental responsibility and sustainable competitive advantage.The chain of "Corporate Environmental Responsibility—Green Internal Integration—Green Process Innovation—Sustainable Competitive Advantage" is the strongest of the chain of intermediary paths composed of various dimensions.Fourth,slack resources and their sub-dimensions moderate the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and green supply chain integration,as well as the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and green innovation,and moderate the mediating role of green supply chain integration,and green innovation.Fifth,environmental turbulence and its sub-dimension(market turbulence)moderate the relationship between green supply chain integration and sustainable competitive advantage,as well as the relationship between green innovation and sustainable competitive advantage,and moderate the mediating role of green innovation.The technological turbulence dimension,on the other hand,does not significantly moderate the relationship between green supply chain integration and sustainable competitive advantage,nor between green innovation and sustainable competitive advantage,nor does it moderate the mediating role of green supply chain integration and green innovation.Sixth,slack resources and environmental turbulence jointly moderate the mediating effect of green innovation and fail to moderate the mediating role of green supply chain integration.In summary,this study constructs a theoretical model of the impact of corporate environmental responsibility on sustainable competitive advantage and extends the impact effects of corporate environmental responsibility from a long-term-oriented perspective.As an environmentally friendly practice that goes beyond legal requirements,corporate environmental responsibility is an effective means of addressing environmental factors at the micro level and a powerful grip for enterprises to gain sustainable competitive advantage.Secondly,this study provides a strategic and logical context for promoting the implementation of corporate environmental responsibility,and enriches the theoretical study of sustainable competitive advantage from the perspective of environmental sustainability-oriented resources.Moreover,this study combines the multiple research areas of supply chain management,innovation management and environmental management,and establishes the theoretical framework of "corporate environmental responsibility-green supply chain integration-green innovation-sustainable competitive advantage".The study provides insights into the important role of the chain intermediaries of green supply chain integration and green innovation in the above transmission mechanism,and opens up the black box between corporate environmental responsibility and sustainable competitive advantage.Moreover,this study provides a rich theoretical foundation for the study of sustainable competitive advantage.Thirdly,the study also provides a new perspective on the impact of internal and external variables on the mechanisms of corporate environmental responsibility.In addition,this study provides a reference for decision-making at a strategic level to promote the implementation of corporate environmental responsibility practices and the concept of sustainable development in Chinese manufacturing enterprises,and provides a direction for enterprises to build sustainable competitive advantages and seek a leading position in the economic development of their industries.