Sustainable minds delivering profits: managers' characteristics and CSR driving SME performance through business model innovation

Purpose This study examines how top management characteristics and social capital shape corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment in SMEs, and how this, in turn influences firm performance through business model innovation (BMI). Focusing on post-transition economies, it explores BMI as a mechanism linking top management intent to competitive outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in Upper Echelons Theory (UET), the study develops and tests a conceptual model using survey data from 200 internationally active Polish manufacturing SMEs. Structural equation modeling is used to assess the relationships among managerial traits, CSR, external networks, BMI and firm performance. Findings Managerial experience positively predicts both social and environmental sustainability commitments, while higher education and general experience show negative effects on environmental commitment. External networks strengthen the link between experience and social commitment, but not environmental commitment. Social commitment improves performance indirectly through BMI, whereas environmental commitment has only a direct effect. BMI thus emerges as a key mechanism for translating leadership-driven social sustainability into firm-level value. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to Polish manufacturing SMEs and cross-sectional data; future research should broaden sectoral and regional scope. Originality/value This study contributes to SME and emerging market research by integrating leadership traits, social capital and BMI into a unified framework. It identifies BMI as a central mechanism within UET and reveals asymmetries in how social vs. environmental commitments translate into performance in post-transition settings.