Environmental management accounting and sustainability context in the management commitment–performance relationship: a meta-analysis

Barani, Omid and Asiaei, Kaveh and Joshi, Mahesh and Phan, Duc Hong Thi (2026) Environmental management accounting and sustainability context in the management commitment–performance relationship: a meta-analysis. Journal of Accounting Literature. ISSN 0737-4607 (In Press)

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Abstract

Purpose - This study examines the relationship between management commitment and organizational performance and assesses whether this relationship varies across contextual and organizational conditions. In particular, the study evaluates the potential moderating roles of national sustainability, environmental management accounting (EMA), performance type (environmental versus non-environmental), and firm size.
Design/methodology/approach - A meta-analysis was conducted using 47 independent samples comprising 14,163 observations drawn from empirical studies across multiple industries and countries. Effect sizes were aggregated to estimate the overall relationship between management commitment and organizational performance. Subgroup analyses were then performed to test whether this relationship differs across sustainability contexts, EMA-related study groupings, performance types, and firm size categories. National sustainability was operationalized using a sustainability index derived from the World Economic Forum’s Future of Growth Report (2024).
Findings - The results reveal a significant positive overall association between management commitment and organizational performance. However, subgroup analyses indicate that this relationship remains broadly consistent across high- and low-sustainability contexts, environmental versus non-environmental performance outcomes, SMEs versus large firms, and EMA-related study groupings. None of the examined factors shows statistically significant moderating effects, suggesting that the positive influence of management commitment on performance may be relatively stable across these contexts.
Practical implications - The findings highlight the importance of management commitment as a broadly effective driver of organizational performance across diverse contexts. While sustainability-oriented practices and EMA remain important managerial tools, the results suggest that strengthening managerial commitment itself may be a more universally reliable mechanism for improving organizational outcomes.
Originality/value - This study provides the first comprehensive meta-analytic synthesis of the relationship between management commitment and organizational performance while systematically examining the potential moderating roles of sustainability context, EMA, performance type, and firm size. By integrating evidence across prior empirical studies, the findings offer a robust pooled estimate of this relationship and challenge assumptions that contextual factors necessarily strengthen or weaken the commitment–performance link.

Item Type:	Article
Dates:	Date Event 24 March 2026 Accepted
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Management Commitment, Environmental Management Accounting, Environmental Performance, Sustainability at country level, Firm Size, Organizational Performance, Meta-analysis
Subjects:	CAH17 - business and management > CAH17-01 - business and management > CAH17-01-04 - management studies
Divisions:	Business School > Accountancy, Finance and Economics
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	30 Mar 2026 14:30
Last Modified:	30 Mar 2026 14:30
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16950

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