Title: CEO characteristics, corporate social responsibility, and corporate performance: a systematic and bibliometric analysis

Authors: Xiaolin Wang; Ai-Fen Lim; Kay-Hooi Keoy

Addresses: UCSI Graduate Business School, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur Campus, No. 1, Jalan Menara Gading, UCSI Heights (Taman Connaught), Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' UCSI Graduate Business School, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur Campus, No. 1, Jalan Menara Gading, UCSI Heights (Taman Connaught), Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' Centre for Business Informatics and Industrial Management (CBIIM), UCSI Graduate Business School, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur Campus, No. 1, Jalan Menara Gading, UCSI Heights (Taman Connaught), Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; College of Economics and Management, Wenzhou University of Technology, China

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between CEO characteristics, corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, and corporate performance (CP), by conducting a systematic literature review and bibliography analysis of 65 published articles from 2011 to 2022. Three underlying themes are found by a thematic analysis, including: 1) the impact of CEO characteristics on CP via CSR as a mediator; 2) the impact of CSR on CP via CEO characteristics as a moderator; 3) the impact of CP on CEO dismissal (compensation or turn over) via CSR as moderator. Our results attest to the inconclusiveness of CEO characteristics and CP, and the inconsistency of CSR and CP by other scholars. Our results also find that CSR becomes an impact factor in CEOs' career outcomes. Firms can take advantage of CEOs' characteristics and really internalise CSR to improve their CP and to achieve the target of sustainable development goal 12.

Keywords: chief executive officer; CEO; corporate social responsibility; CSR; sustainable development goal 12; corporate performance; CP; systematic literature review; SLR; bibliography analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSS.2024.143428

International Journal of Services and Standards, 2024 Vol.14 No.3, pp.213 - 239

Received: 15 Apr 2024
Accepted: 12 Jul 2024
Published online: 19 Dec 2024 *

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