Corporate social responsibility and firm performance nexus: Moderating role of CEO chair duality

Wasim Nasir; Arshad Hassan; Mushtaq Hussain Khan

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0289037

Peer Review History

Original SubmissionMay 4, 2023
24 May 2023 Decision Letter - José Manuel Santos Jaén, Editor PONE-D-23-13630Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Performance Nexus: Moderating Role of CEO Chair DualityPLOS ONE Dear Dr. Khan, Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process. Please submit your revised manuscript by Jul 08 2023 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file. 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Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. Reviewer #1: Yes ******** 2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? Reviewer #1: Yes ****** 3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available? The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified. Reviewer #1: Yes ****** 4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English? PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here. Reviewer #1: Yes ****** 5. Review Comments to the Author Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters) Reviewer #1: This article is of great interest to the empirical literature published so far, as it deals with a highly topical and relevant subject. The authors have made a great effort, and I congratulate them on their work. The article is solid and responds to the stated objectives. The conclusions contribute to future articles that may be published in this area. However, the literature review section should be updated with references closer to the present day. That is why I suggest these articles to the authors, which I believe could be of great help to you: Gimeno-Arias, F., Santos-Jaén, J. M., Palacios-Manzano, M., & Garza-Sánchez, H. H. (2021). Using PLS-SEM to analyze the effect of CSR on corporate performance: The mediating role of human resources management and customer satisfaction. An empirical study in the Spanish food and beverage manufacturing sector. Mathematics, 9(22), 2973 Palacios-Manzano, M., León-Gomez, A., & Santos-Jaén, J. M. (2021). Corporate Social Responsibility as a Vehicle for Ensuring the Survival of Construction SMEs. The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction and Innovation. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. León-Gómez, A., Santos-Jaén, J. M., Ruiz-Palomo, D., & Palacios Manzano, M. (2022). Disentangling the impact of ICT adoption on SMEs performance: the mediating roles of corporate social responsibility and innovation. Oeconomia Copernicana, 13(3), 831–866. doi:10.24136/oc.2022.024 Santos-Jaén, J. M., León-Gómez, A., Ruiz-Palomo, D., García-Lopera, F., & Valls Martínez, M. del C. (2022). Exploring Information and Communication Technologies as Driving Forces in Hotel SMEs Performance: Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility. Mathematics, 10(19), 3629. https://doi.org/10.3390/math10193629 Ortiz-Martínez, E., Marín-Hernández, S., & Santos-Jaén, J.-M. (2023). Sustainability, corporate social responsibility, non-financial reporting and company performance: Relationships and mediating effects in Spanish small and medium sized enterprises. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 35, 349–364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2022.11.015 Becerra-Vicario, R., Ruiz-Palomo, D., León-Gómez, A., & Santos-Jaén, J. M. (2023). The Relationship between Innovation and the Performance of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses in the Industrial Sector: The Mediating Role of CSR. Economies, 11(3), 92. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11030092 ****** 6. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files. If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public. Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy. Reviewer #1: No ******** [NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.] While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289037.r001
Revision 1
6 Jul 2023 Author Response RESPONSE TO THE VALUABLE COMMENTS OF THE ACADEMIC EDITOR AND REVIEWERS Corporate social responsibility and firm performance nexus: moderating role of CEO chair duality Reference: PONE-D-23-13630 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The authors would like to thank the Editor, for the opportunity to revise the original manuscript. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for providing us with valuable comments and suggestions, which have improved the quality of the paper. We have examined all the general and specific comments provided by the reviewer and accordingly made the necessary changes to meet their suggestions. We have presented below our responses to reviewer’s query. We hope that these revisions have improved the quality of the present version of the manuscript and will earn the satisfaction of the reviewer. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESPONSE TO ACADEMIC EDITOR Comment # 1: Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript: • A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'. • A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'. • An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'. Response: Thank you. Three separate files have been uploaded as per your suggestion. In the case of 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes', changes have been highlighted using coloured text. Comment # 2: Please ensure that your manuscript meets PLOS ONE's style requirements, including those for file naming. Response: In the revised version, the PLOS ONE's style guide has been followed. Comment # :3 Please ensure that you include a title page within your main document. Could you therefore please include the title page into the beginning of your manuscript file itself, listing all authors and affiliations. Response: Title page has been included into the beginning the manuscript file as per instructions. Comment # 4: We note that you have indicated that data from this study are available upon request. PLOS only allows data to be available upon request if there are legal or ethical restrictions on sharing data publicly. In your revised cover letter, please address the following prompts: a) If there are ethical or legal restrictions on sharing a de-identified data set, please explain them in detail (e.g., data contain potentially sensitive information, data are owned by a third-party organization, etc.) and who has imposed them (e.g., an ethics committee). Please also provide contact information for a data access committee, ethics committee, or other institutional body to which data requests may be sent. b) If there are no restrictions, please upload the minimal anonymized data set necessary to replicate your study findings as either Supporting Information files or to a stable, public repository and provide us with the relevant URLs, DOIs, or accession numbers. We will update your Data Availability statement on your behalf to reflect the information you provide. Response: The dataset used in this study has been uploaded as Supporting Information file. Comment # 5: PLOS requires an ORCID iD for the corresponding author in Editorial Manager on papers submitted after December 6th, 2016. Please ensure that you have an ORCID iD and that it is validated in Editorial Manager. To do this, go to ‘Update my Information’ (in the upper left-hand corner of the main menu), and click on the Fetch/Validate link next to the ORCID field. Response: Thank you for providing guidance. The ORCID iD of corresponding author has been linked with the Editorial Manager. Comment # 6: Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. Response: In the revised version, reference list and in-text citations have been carefully matched and corrected. Moreover, to manage the consistency in reference list and in-text citations, EndNote has been used. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESPONSE TO REVIEWER # 1 Comment # 1: This article is of great interest to the empirical literature published so far, as it deals with a highly topical and relevant subject. The authors have made a great effort, and I congratulate them on their work. The article is solid and responds to the stated objectives. The conclusions contribute to future articles that may be published in this area. Response: We would like to thank you for this positive comment. Comment # 2: The literature review section should be updated with references closer to the present day. That is why I suggest these articles to the authors, which I believe could be of great help to you: 1. Gimeno-Arias, F., Santos-Jaén, J. M., Palacios-Manzano, M., & Garza-Sánchez, H. H. (2021). Using PLS-SEM to analyze the effect of CSR on corporate performance: The mediating role of human resources management and customer satisfaction. An empirical study in the Spanish food and beverage manufacturing sector. Mathematics, 9(22), 2973 2. Palacios-Manzano, M., León-Gomez, A., & Santos-Jaén, J. M. (2021). Corporate Social Responsibility as a Vehicle for Ensuring the Survival of Construction SMEs. The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction and Innovation. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. 3. León-Gómez, A., Santos-Jaén, J. M., Ruiz-Palomo, D., & Palacios Manzano, M. (2022). Disentangling the impact of ICT adoption on SMEs performance: the mediating roles of corporate social responsibility and innovation. Oeconomia Copernicana, 13(3), 831–866. doi:10.24136/oc.2022.024 4. Santos-Jaén, J. M., León-Gómez, A., Ruiz-Palomo, D., García-Lopera, F., & Valls Martínez, M. del C. (2022). Exploring Information and Communication Technologies as Driving Forces in Hotel SMEs Performance: Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility. Mathematics, 10(19), 3629. https://doi.org/10.3390/math10193629 5. Ortiz-Martínez, E., Marín-Hernández, S., & Santos-Jaén, J.-M. (2023). Sustainability, corporate social responsibility, non-financial reporting and company performance: Relationships and mediating effects in Spanish small and medium sized enterprises. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 35, 349–364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2022.11.015 6. Becerra-Vicario, R., Ruiz-Palomo, D., León-Gómez, A., & Santos-Jaén, J. M. (2023). The Relationship between Innovation and the Performance of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses in the Industrial Sector: The Mediating Role of CSR. Economies, 11(3), 92. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11030092 Response: Thank you for constructive comment and for suggesting important studies. In the revised version, suggested studies have been included. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once again, thank you for the detailed and insightful comments. We are, of course, open to any additional suggestions. Attachments Attachment Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers.docx https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289037.r002
10 Jul 2023 Decision Letter - José Manuel Santos Jaén, Editor Corporate social responsibility and firm performance nexus: moderating role of CEO chair duality PONE-D-23-13630R1 Dear Dr. Khan, We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements. Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication. An invoice for payment will follow shortly after the formal acceptance. To ensure an efficient process, please log into Editorial Manager at http://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/, click the 'Update My Information' link at the top of the page, and double check that your user information is up-to-date. If you have any billing related questions, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org. If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org. Kind regards, José Manuel Santos Jaén Academic Editor PLOS ONE Additional Editor Comments (optional): Having verified that the authors have implemented all the recommendations made by the reviewers, I proceed to accept the article. Good work! Reviewers' comments: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289037.r003
Formally Accepted
25 Jul 2023 Acceptance Letter - José Manuel Santos Jaén, Editor PONE-D-23-13630R1 Corporate social responsibility and firm performance nexus: moderating role of CEO chair duality Dear Dr. Khan: I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department. If your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information please contact onepress@plos.org. If we can help with anything else, please email us at plosone@plos.org. Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access. Kind regards, PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff on behalf of Dr José Manuel Santos Jaén Academic Editor PLOS ONE https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289037.r004

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