Corporate social responsibility and performance: mediating role of product innovation and moderating role of responsible leadership influence

The objective of the study was to examine the impact of corporate social responsibility over the performance of SMEs while considering business continuity as an outcome variable. Additionally, product innovation has been evaluated as a mediator, and responsible leadership has been evaluated as a moderator between corporate social responsibility and product innovation. Here the supposition is that if firms achieve performance through corporate social responsibility and innovative products with the influence of responsible leadership, they will achieve performance and will help the firm to survive even in the times of crisis. The data was collected from manufacturing sector SMEs of Jordan. While choosing the participating SMEs purposive sampling was followed, and SMEs that are involved in at least one of the social responsibility activities were chosen. The collected data was analyzed using Smart PLS-4. The findings confirmed that corporate social responsibility has a significant impact on performance, product innovation mediates between corporate social responsibility and performance and the relationship between corporate social responsibility and product innovation is moderated by responsible leadership. Grounded in a theoretical integration of stakeholder theory, resource-based view, and dynamic capability view, the research posits that responsible leadership enhances the strategic alignment of corporate social responsibility initiatives with innovation capabilities, fostering performance. The findings provide robust evidence for managers and policymakers to prioritize responsible leadership in CSR and innovation strategies to secure SMEs’ performance in volatile environments.