CACTUS CACTUS J Tour Bus Manag Econ CACTUS – Journal of Tourism Business, Management and Economics 2247-3297 ASE Publishing House Bucharest, Romania 10.24818/CTS/6/2024/2.05 cactus-2024-12 Research Article M14, L25, Q56 Work climate and economic performance in sustainable companies Dumitru Anastasia-Cristiana https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6687-7988 dumitruanastasia16@stud.ase.ro Bran Ionel https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5968-598X Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania 15 12 2024 6 2 15122024 Copyright © 2024, The Author(s) 2024 The Author(s) This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This research aimed to investigate the relationship between work climate, sustainability practices and perceived economic performance in sustainable companies, focusing on the impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives. The main objective is to assess how workplace climate influence economic performance and how sustainability practices contribute to employee satisfaction. The study uses a quantitative methodology based on a questionnaire consisting of 15 questions distributed to employees of sustainable companies. The collected data were statistically analysed using SPSS software, with correlation and linear regression tests to validate the hypotheses. Three main hypotheses were tested in the study: (H1) the positive relationship between a favourable work climate and economic performance, (H2) the contribution of sustainability practices to improving work climate, and (H3) the correlation between involvement in ESG initiatives and employee satisfaction. The results indicate a significant correlation between a positive work climate and perceived economic performance as well as a correlation between the implementation of ESG initiatives and employee satisfaction. This research contributes to the understanding of how sustainability practises can influence both employee satisfaction and overall business performance and provides guidance for improving organisational strategies in sustainable companies.

 Keywords sustainability work climate economic performance ESG employee satisfaction

Full text available in PDF format.

References Acquah, A., Nsiah, T. K., Antie, E. A., & Otoo, B. (2021). Literature review on theories motivation. EPRA International Journal of Economic and Business Review, 9(5), 25–29. https://doi.org/10.36713/epra6848 10.36713/epra6848 Andersson, J. (2024). Theory of change for sustainable business. In A. Koleros, M.-H. Adrien, & T. Tyrrell (Eds.), Theories of change in reality: Strengths, limitations and future directions (pp. 62–67). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032669618-9 10.4324/9781032669618-9 Bocken, N. M. (2023). Business models for sustainability. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.842 10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.842 Chiriţă, R. A., Ungureanu, C. E., & Sbîrcea, I. A. (2024). Perspective on the motivational theories in organizations. Bulletin of the Polytechnic Institute of Iași, Machine Constructions Section, 69(3), 49–56. https://doi.org/10.2478/bipcm-2023-0023 10.2478/bipcm-2023-0023 Covaș, L. (2019). Modifying the organisational culture in order to increase the company’s level of sustainability. Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, 13(1), 254–267. https://doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2019-0023 10.2478/picbe-2019-0023 Gorski, A.-T., & Dumitraşcu, D. D. (2023). Stakeholder ecosystems and corporate sustainability: A nexus for value creation in the age of sustainability. Studies in Business and Economics, 18(2), 158–177. https://doi.org/10.2478/sbe-2023-0030 10.2478/sbe-2023-0030 Gutterman, A. S. (2022). Corporate sustainability. Sustainable Impact Entrepreneurship Project. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363811210_Corporate_Sustainability Harrach, C., Geiger, S., & Schrader, U. (2020). Sustainability empowerment in the workplace: Determinants and effects. Sustainability Management Forum, 28(3–4), 93–107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00550-020-00505-1 10.1007/s00550-020-00505-1 Iazzolino, G., Bruni, M. E., Veltri, S., Morea, D., & Baldissarro, G. (2023). The impact of ESG factors on financial efficiency: An empirical analysis for the selection of sustainable firm portfolios. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 30(4), 1917–1927. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2463 10.1002/csr.2463 Kero, C. A., & Bogale, A. T. (2023). A systematic review of resource-based view and dynamic capabilities of firms and future research avenues. International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning, 18(10), 3137–3154. https://doi.org/10.18280/ijsdp.181016 10.18280/ijsdp.181016 Kiesnere, A. L., & Baumgartner, R. J. (2019). Sustainability management in practice: Organizational change for sustainability in smaller large-sized companies in Austria. Sustainability, 11(3), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030572 10.3390/su11030572 Linnenluecke, M. K. (2022). Environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in the context of multinational business research. Multinational Business Review, 30(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1108/MBR-11-2021-0148 10.1108/MBR-11-2021-0148 Lubis, N. (2022). Resource based view (RBV) in improving company strategic capacity. Research Horizon, 2(6), 587–596. https://doi.org/10.54518/rh.2.6.2022.587-596 10.54518/rh.2.6.2022.587-596 Manuti, A., & Giancaspro, M. L. (2019). People make the difference: An explorative study on the relationship between organizational practices, employees’ resources, and organizational behavior enhancing the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development. Sustainability, 11(5), 1499. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051499 10.3390/su11051499 Mendes, T., Pereira, L. F., Gonçalves, R. A., Dias, Á. L., & Lopes da Costa, R. (2021). Sustainable practices impacting employee engagement and well-being. Progress in Industrial Ecology – An International Journal, 15(2/3/4), 239–267. https://doi.org/10.1504/PIE.2022.125618 10.1504/PIE.2022.125618 Permatasari, J., & Ratnawati, I. (2021). Work climate and employee performances: A literature [review]. International Research Journal of Management, IT & Social Sciences, 8(2), 184–191. https://doi.org/10.21744/irjmis.v8n2.1425 10.21744/irjmis.v8n2.1425 Pham, C. D., Do, T. N., Doan, T. N., Xuân, H. N., & Pham, T. K. (2020). The impact of sustainability practices on financial performance: Empirical evidence from Sweden. Cogent Business & Management, 8(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2021.1912526 10.1080/23311975.2021.1912526 Pradhan, R. K., Jena, L. K., & Panigrahy, N. P. (2020). Do sustainability practices buffer the impact of self-efficacy on organisational citizenship behaviour? Conceptual and statistical considerations. Journal of Indian Business Research, 12(4), 509–528. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIBR-05-2019-0170 10.1108/JIBR-05-2019-0170 Radzi, S. H., Hamid, N. A., & Ismail, R. F. (2023). An overview of environmental, social and governance (ESG) and company performance. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences, 131, 1111–1122. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2023.11.90 10.15405/epsbs.2023.11.90 Rahman, M., Wahab, S. A., & Latiff, A. S. (2022). Definitions and concepts of organizational sustainability: A literature analysis. Society & Sustainability, 4(2), 21–32. https://doi.org/10.38157/ss.v4i2.496 10.38157/ss.v4i2.496 Rahman, M., Wahab, S. A., & Latiff, A. S. (2023). The underlying theories of organizational sustainability: The motivation perspective. Journal of Business and Management Studies, 5(1), 181–193. https://doi.org/10.32996/jbms.2023.5.1.18 10.32996/jbms.2023.5.1.18 Rehman, R. U., Zain ul Abidin, M., Ali, R., Nor, S. M., Naseem, M. A., Hasan, M., & Ahmad, M. I. (2021). The integration of conventional equity indices with environmental, social, and governance indices: Evidence from emerging economies. Sustainability, 13(2), 676. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020676 10.3390/su13020676 Sady, M. (2023). The role of stakeholders in sustainable development. In U. Jagielloński (Ed.), Organizing sustainable development (pp. 203–215). Routledge. Samaibekova, Z., Choyubekova, G., Isabaeva, K., & Samaibekova, A. (2021). Corporate sustainability and social responsibility. E3S Web of Conferences, 250, 06003. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202125006003 10.1051/e3sconf/202125006003 Schaltegger, S., Hörisch, J., & Freeman, R. (2019). Business cases for sustainability: A stakeholder theory perspective. Organization & Environment, 32(3), 191–212. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026617722882 10.1177/1086026617722882 Spiliakos, A. (2018). What is sustainability in business? Harvard Business School Online Blog. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/what-is-sustainability-in-business Valentinov, V. (2023). Sustainability and stakeholder theory: A processual perspective. Kybernetes, 52(13), 61–77. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-05-2023-0819 10.1108/K-05-2023-0819 Zhang, T., Zhang, J., & Tu, S. (2024). An empirical study on corporate ESG behavior and employee satisfaction: A moderating mediation model. Behavioral Sciences, 14(4), 274. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14040274 10.3390/bs14040274 Zhivkova, S. (2022). Sustainability in the companies practices. European Journal of Marketing and Economics, 8(1), 46–57. https://doi.org/10.26417/169cbl93 10.26417/169cbl93