Recently, the University of Salford’s Lecturer in International Business, Dr Neetu Sharma, presented her research at the Irish Academy of Management Conference 2026, held at Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick.
The Irish Academy of Management Conference is one of the largest annual gatherings of business scholars and educators in Ireland.
The conference centred on the theme of “modern management, meaningful tomorrow,” with researchers gathering from across Ireland and beyond to reflect on the changing world of management. These are among the defining issues in today’s business environment, as organisations collectively navigate challenges relating to business, public policy, sustainability and society at large.
About Neetu’s research
Neetu’s research paper is titled, “Circular Economy Practices and Sustainability Performance in Developed and Emerging Economies: Moderating Influence of Financial Performance.” It examines circular economy (CE) practices as an emerging ethical responsibility of businesses and investigates how financial performance and institutional context influence firms’ ability to fulfil this responsibility.
Drawing on institutional theory and the resource-based view (RBV), the study explores whether firms with stronger financial performance are better positioned to translate circular initiatives into meaningful sustainability outcomes and whether this capability differs between developed and emerging economies.
The findings indicate that CE practices significantly improve sustainability performance in both Indian and UK contexts. Financial performance positively moderates this relationship in both countries, although the effect is stronger among UK firms.
These results suggest that while CE is increasingly framed as a universal corporate responsibility, firms’ capacity to implement it effectively remains uneven across different institutional contexts. The findings highlight how financial resources and institutional maturity shape firms’ ability to engage in sustainability initiatives, raising important concerns regarding emerging forms of sustainability inequality.