Exploring the intersection of Sustainable Development Goals and business performance: A bibliometric analysis

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Abstract

There has been a growing focus on the connection between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and business performance, highlighting the increasing demand for companies to align their strategies with global goals. Nevertheless, the scholarly papers addressing this interrelationship are quite scattered (Awuah et al., 2024; Lin et al., 2025; Saha et al., 2024; Zhang-Hangjian et al., 2025). The review is intended to explore existing studies on how SDGs relate to business performance. The objectives are to discover the ongoing trends in publications, essential contributors, top-cited articles, and common themes. The research analysed 480 articles from Scopus-indexed journals between 2017 and 2024 using biblioMagika, OpenRefine, Microsoft Excel, and VOSviewer. There was a sharp increase in publications addressing SDGs between 2017 and 2023. The paper identified five research themes: sustainability reporting, green innovation, stakeholder theory, gender equality, and circular economy. Insights from the results help researchers see the latest trends, the variety of participants, and the main themes that signal what is essential for global sustainability. Scholars, experts, and those in charge of making policies can rely on the results to guide their efforts and involvement in this field.

Keywords: SDGs, Business Performance, Bibliometric Analysis, VOSviewer, Scopus

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization — A.I.N.R., H.Y., F.M.F., and N.S.J.; Methodology — A.I.N.R., H.Y., F.M.F., and N.S.J.; Software — A.I.N.R. and N.S.J.; Investigation — A.I.N.R.; Resources — A.I.N.R. and N.S.J.; Writing — Original Draft — A.I.N.R., H.Y., F.M.F., and N.S.J.; Writing — Review & Editing — A.I.N.R., H.Y., F.M.F., and N.S.J.; Visualization — A.I.N.R.; Supervision — H.Y., F.M.F., and N.S.J.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

JEL Classification: F65, G11, L21, L25, M14

Received: 25.02.2025
Revised: 04.06.2025; 23.09.2025
Accepted: 03.10.2025
Published online: 07.10.2025

How to cite this paper: Radzi, A. I. N., Yusoff, H., Mohd Fahmi, F., & Jasni, N. S. (2025). Exploring the intersection of Sustainable Development Goals and business performance: A bibliometric analysis [Special issue]. Corporate Governance and Sustainability Review, 9(3), 253–265. https://doi.org/10.22495/cgsrv9i3sip6