Abstract:
Environmental disclosure has become a significant concern in business
management. Impact of business on the environment is likely to be of
increasing importance for managers over the coming decades.
Environmental awareness among Indian stakeholders gets strengthened
with advancement in communication technology. Stakeholders are
sensitive about the harmful impacts of industrial activities on
environment. Such high propensity of environmental awareness ensures
a more cautious approach among Indian corporations to be
environmentally responsible. Under this background, the objective of
this paper is to establish a possible relationship between sustainable
business practice and firm performance. Using a field survey
methodology, a sample of sixty companies in India was studied. The
firms were categorized into two groups, environmentally 'responsible'
and 'irresponsible' firms. An investigation was undertaken into the
possible relationship between firm performance and three selected
indicators of sustainable business practice: Health Safety and
Environment (HSE), Waste Management (WM), and Community
Development (CD), common within the 'responsible' firms. Findings
from empirical results reveal that the sustainable practices of the
'responsible' firms are significantly related with firm financial
performance.
