Balancing Corporate Social Responsibility, Environmental Policies, and Stakeholder Expectations for Sustainable Development: A Stakeholder‐Centric Analysis

ABSTRACT Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stakeholder engagement are essential pillars of SP, where incorporating green initiatives into operations can additionally support the relationships between CSR, stakeholder engagement, and sustainable performance (SP). Drawing on stakeholder theory, this study investigates the connection among CSR, environmental policies (e.g., renewable energy adoption, green environmental adoption, eco‐friendly productions, water conservation policies, emission reduction policies, innovation for sustainability policies, carbon footprint policies, climate resilience policies, and environmental awareness programs), stakeholder engagement, and SP from the context of China. First, the study confirmed a positive connection between CSR and SP using structural equation modeling. Second, the study confirmed a positive link between environmental policies and SP. Finally, this study affirmed a positive moderation of stakeholder engagement between CSR, environmental policies, and SP. Besides, this study endows distinct insights into the adoption of CSR and environmental policies that can trigger SP whereby stakeholder engagement contributes a crucial role in managing the strength of the relationships. The study also reports certain limitations that could be considered by scholars in their future studies for additional validation.