CSR Dimensions, Business Model Innovation, and Sustainability Performance: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing SMEs

Despite growing scholarly interest in the CSR–sustainability nexus, the mechanisms through which distinct CSR dimensions translate into corporate sustainability performance (CSP) remain theoretically underspecified, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies. This study aims to address this gap by collecting survey data from 473 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Chinese manufacturing industry to explore the relationship between corporate social responsibility, business model innovation, and corporate sustainability performance. This study also includes four dimensions of corporate social responsibility: CSR to the environment (CSRET), CSR to employees (CSRES), CSR to the community (CSRCY), CSR to consumers (CSRCR). Combining structural equation modeling (SEM) with qualitative case evidence, results indicate that all four CSR dimensions—CSRET, CSRES, CSRCY, and CSRCR—positively affect business model innovation (BMI), and BMI, in turn, significantly promotes the development of corporate sustainability performance (CSP). Bootstrap-based mediation tests confirm that BMI serves as a significant mediator in all four CSR-CSP pathways. These findings extend stakeholder theory and the resource-based view by demonstrating how socially oriented organizational commitments are channeled into sustainability outcomes through business model reconfiguration within China’s unique institutional context.