Nexus between government initiatives, integrated strategies, internal factors and corporate sustainability practices in Malaysia

The current study investigates the impact of government initiatives, integrated strategies and some key internal factors on corporate sustainability practices (CSP) in Malaysian public listed companies (PLCs). Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) employed to a pooled data composed of 878 firm-year observations of 12 sectors of Malaysian PLCs from 2011 to 2013. The results indicated a significant improvement in CSP of the Malaysian PLCs over the period of 2011–2013. Further, corporate sustainability-related awards, global reporting initiatives (GRI) framework, and organizational strategy were proved to be the drivers of CSP. Additionally, firm profitability, size, and age have also found as significant characteristics of CSP. Unexpectedly, both Malaysian code on corporate governance (MCCG) 2012 and top management commitment do not influence CSP. The findings provide important insights for the various stakeholders of the country including government, regulatory bodies, practitioners, academia, researchers, banks, Bursa Malaysia, security commission and management of PLCs to make informed decisions about CSP.