Unveiling Critical Success Factors of Triple Bottom Line in the light of sustainability—an empirical study of Indian manufacturing SMEs

This study aims to identify the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) in evaluating sustainability aspects of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Indian manufacturing sector. Primary data were collected from 146 industry practitioners using a structured questionnaire designed in Google Forms. Respondents were selected through judgmental sampling, ensuring that participants had engaged in at least one environmental, economic, or social sustainability initiative aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A newly developed survey instrument was employed, and the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to identify and analyze the CSFs of TBL within Indian manufacturing SMEs. This study identified 15 CSFs grouped into three key latent constructs: Economic Sustainability Benefits (EcoSBs), Social Sustainability Benefits (SSBs), and Environmental Sustainability Benefits (EnvSBs). Six CSFs were identified under EcoSBs, four under SSBs, and five under EnvSBs. The study findings reveal that Indian manufacturing SMEs actively pursue at least one dimension of sustainability within the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework. Moreover, the 15 CSFs of TBL identified in this study are directly or indirectly integrated with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The PLS-SEM results further indicate positive and statistically significant relationships among the three sustainability dimensions, confirming their mutual interdependence for achieving SDGs. The study contributes novel insights to the manufacturing and sustainability literature by providing an empirically validated TBL-based framework tailored to SMEs in emerging economies like India, highlighting their significant contributions in achieving the SDGs.