A Systematic Review: How Does Organisational Learning Enable ESG Performance (from 2001 to 2021)?

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the relationship between organisational learning and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance. The PRISMA protocol was followed by full-text reading 57 peer-reviewed academic journal articles published in different international journals from 2001 to 2021. After investigating and synthesising the empirical papers, the author found that organisational learning is instrumental to derive the fundamental factors and mechanisms to drive ESG performance. The findings of this research provide the first comprehensive assessment of the relationship between organisational learning and ESG, as well as highlight that organisational learning related to ESG is significantly important to ESG performance, which lies in the overlooked and hidden extant studies. The major contribution of this study is to connect organisational learning with ESG performance from a holistic perspective through different learning loops and put stress on the importance of two learning loops to better facilitate ESG strategy through ‘2P’ (people and process). Specifically, the conceptual framework of two learning loops was developed, which could lay the foundation for scholars’ future research on organisational learning related to ESG performance, such as single-loop learning about the process (i.e., control system, decision-making, ethics, gender balance, human resource management, knowledge management, risk management, and training), and double-loop learning about the roles of people (i.e., practitioners, professionals, managers, and the top management team). The ‘PPT’ (people, process, and technology) approach is also designed for future testing and validation to transform single-loop learning into double-loop learning.