When Sustainable Management Governs Innovation: How Social and Environmental Dimensions Amplify the Entrepreneurship–Performance Link Through Technological Innovation

Grounded in the dynamic capabilities framework, this study examines how entrepreneurship and technological innovation jointly shape business performance and how sustainable management conditions these effects across its economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Using survey data from 300 firms across multiple industries, we find that entrepreneurship significantly enhances both non-financial and financial performance, and that technological innovation serves as a key mediating mechanism through which entrepreneurship translates into performance outcomes. The results reveal differentiated moderating effects of sustainable management. While the economic dimension of sustainable management shows a limited moderating influence, the social and environmental dimensions significantly amplify the returns to entrepreneurship and technological innovation. By disentangling sustainable management into distinct dimensions, this study moves beyond prior research and demonstrates that sustainability functions as a contextual capability that asymmetrically conditions the returns to entrepreneurship and innovation. The findings offer actionable insights for managers and policymakers seeking to align entrepreneurial initiatives and innovation strategies with social legitimacy and environmental stewardship to achieve sustained value creation.