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Independent director-CEO friendliness and sustainable growth capability in enterprises: the moderating role of CSR and executive compensation

Meiwu Liu (School of Economics and Management, Hanshan Normal University, Chaozhou, China)
Lijuan Peng (International Business School, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming, China)
Rui Huang (International Business School, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming, China)
Hanxiao Liu (International Business School, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming, China)
Yunlong Duan (International Business School, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming, China)
Shanwei Lin (School of Economics and Management, Hanshan Normal University, Chaozhou, China)

Cross Cultural & Strategic Management

ISSN: 2059-5794

Article publication date: 13 September 2022

Issue publication date: 8 February 2023

299

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine whether and how independent director-CEO friendliness has an impact on the enterprise's sustainable growth capability and further explore how corporate social responsibility (CSR) and executive compensation affect the relationship in the Chinese context.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of Chinese-listed companies from 2010 to 2020, the study adopts fixed effects models to empirically analyze the effect of independent director-CEO friendliness on the enterprise's sustainable growth capability and the roles of CSR and executive compensation.

Findings

This study finds that independent director-CEO friendliness is significantly positively correlated with the sustainable growth capability of an enterprise, and this effect is enhanced with the improvement of the degree of CSR fulfillment. What is more, the positive relationship between independent director-CEO friendliness and the enterprise's sustainable growth capability becomes stronger with higher executive compensation.

Originality/value

Given that the existing research on sustainable growth capability mainly focused on the macroeconomic field, this study is of great theoretical significance in exploring the relationship between independent director-CEO friendliness and the enterprise's sustainable growth capability from the micro-level, contributing to the research on the enterprise's sustainable growth capability. In addition, this study considers the boundary conditions of CSR and executive compensation from internal and external perspectives, respectively, as it is innovative to elucidate organizational development from the perspective of internal and external balance.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Funding: The paper was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: 72274165), the Applied Basic Research Key Project of Yunnan Province (Grant Number: 2018FA037), the Philosophy and Social Science Program of Yunnan Province (Grant Number: YB2018073), the Yunnan Philosophy and Social Science Innovation Team Project, Doctor Research Project of Hanshan Normal University (Grant Number: QS202014), 2020 Youth Innovative Talents Project of Guangdong Colleges and Universities (Grant Number: 2020WQNCX049).

Citation

Liu, M., Peng, L., Huang, R., Liu, H., Duan, Y. and Lin, S. (2023), "Independent director-CEO friendliness and sustainable growth capability in enterprises: the moderating role of CSR and executive compensation", Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 69-92. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCSM-12-2021-0225

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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