The influence of sustainability practices, especially those related to the environment and society in driving business growth is evident from the annual sustainability reports of big corporations. Also, there has been a plethora of research relating sustainability performance to the financial performance of these companies. However, in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises, a very limited research study has been done so far considering the societal and environmental aspects of their business operations. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially those in the emerging economy have grossly neglected their responsibilities and obligations towards the environment and society. SMEs are considered as growth engines for any nation. However, literature has shown that a large percentage of SMEs across the world fail within a few years of their incorporation. This paper aims to verify the relationship between sustainability performance and business growth for SMEs in the developing economy.,In the paper, the authors have tried to develop a model taking a sample of 200 SMEs from Indian leather and chemical sectors and find out how the factors like collaborative synergy and government policy initiatives impact the sustainability performance of small and medium firms and how in turn, their improved sustainability performance helps them to drive sustainable business growth. Data were mainly collected through primary survey and also from the company websites.,Empirical results of the study reveal that both policy initiatives and collaborative synergy positively influence the firm’s sustainability performance and, in turn, the company’s business growth is positively impacted by their enhanced sustainability performance. Company size was found to have a moderating effect on this relationship.,There are theoretical and conceptual papers elaborating on the importance of adoption of sustainability practices in SME business operations but no empirical study has been conducted to mathematically relate the factors of sustainability and business growth. The authors have tried to build a model relating the factors of sustainability improvement with those of the business growth of the firm and also verified the influence of control variables like company size on the proposed relationship.

中文翻译：

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政策举措和协同效应对印度中小企业的可持续性和业务增长的影响

从大公司的年度可持续发展报告中可以明显看出可持续发展实践的影响，尤其是与环境和社会相关的实践对推动业务增长的影响。此外，还有大量研究将可持续性绩效与这些公司的财务绩效联系起来。然而，就中小企业而言，考虑到其业务运营的社会和环境方面，迄今为止所做的研究非常有限。中小企业，尤其是新兴经济体的中小企业，严重忽视了对环境和社会的责任和义务。中小企业被视为任何国家的增长引擎。然而，文献表明，世界上很大一部分中小企业在成立后的几年内就失败了。本文旨在验证发展中经济体中中小企业的可持续性绩效与业务增长之间的关系。在本文中，作者试图建立一个模型，以来自印度皮革和化工行业的 200 家中小企业为样本，并找出协作协同效应和政府政策举措等因素会影响中小企业的可持续发展绩效，而它们改善的可持续发展绩效又如何帮助它们推动可持续的业务增长。数据主要通过初步调查收集，也来自公司网站。研究的实证结果表明，政策举措和协同协同作用对公司的可持续发展绩效产生积极影响，反过来，公司的业务增长受到其增强的可持续发展绩效的积极影响。发现公司规模对这种关系有调节作用。有理论和概念论文详细阐述了在中小企业业务运营中采用可持续性实践的重要性，但没有进行实证研究以数学方式将可持续性和业务增长的因素联系起来. 作者试图建立一个将可持续性改进因素与公司业务增长因素联系起来的模型，并验证了公司规模等控制变量对所提出的关系的影响。反过来，公司的业务增长受到其增强的可持续发展绩效的积极影响。发现公司规模对这种关系有调节作用。有理论和概念论文详细阐述了在中小企业业务运营中采用可持续性实践的重要性，但没有进行实证研究以数学方式将可持续性和业务增长的因素联系起来. 作者试图建立一个将可持续性改进因素与公司业务增长因素联系起来的模型，并验证了公司规模等控制变量对所提出的关系的影响。反过来，公司的业务增长受到其增强的可持续发展绩效的积极影响。发现公司规模对这种关系有调节作用。有理论和概念论文详细阐述了在中小企业业务运营中采用可持续性实践的重要性，但没有进行实证研究以数学方式将可持续性和业务增长的因素联系起来. 作者试图建立一个将可持续性改进因素与公司业务增长因素联系起来的模型，并验证了公司规模等控制变量对所提出的关系的影响。有理论和概念论文详细阐述了在中小企业业务运营中采用可持续性实践的重要性，但没有进行实证研究以数学方式将可持续性和业务增长的因素联系起来。作者试图建立一个将可持续性改进因素与公司业务增长因素联系起来的模型，并验证了公司规模等控制变量对所提出的关系的影响。有理论和概念论文详细阐述了在中小企业业务运营中采用可持续性实践的重要性，但没有进行实证研究以数学方式将可持续性和业务增长的因素联系起来。作者试图建立一个将可持续性改进因素与公司业务增长因素联系起来的模型，并验证了公司规模等控制变量对所提出的关系的影响。