Sustainable leadership and green campus performance in GCC universities through ESG data capability

Purpose This study examines whether sustainable leadership is associated with green campus performance directly and indirectly through environmental, social and governance (ESG) data capability, and whether institutional sustainability climate strengthens the association between sustainable leadership and ESG data capability in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) universities. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey generated 436 valid responses from academic and administrative employees working in 24 universities across Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait. The moderated-mediation model was estimated using partial least squares structural equation modeling in SmartPLS 4 with 5,000 bootstrap resamples. Measurement invariance of composites and exploratory multi-group analyses were used to assess the appropriateness of pooling respondents across countries and questionnaire-administration modes. Findings Sustainable leadership was associated with green campus performance (ß = 0.229, p < 0.001) and ESG data capability (ß = 0.486, p < 0.001). ESG data capability was associated with green campus performance (ß = 0.452, p < 0.001), and the indirect association was significant (ß = 0.220, 95% CI [0.161, 0.284], p < 0.001; VAF = 49.0%). Institutional sustainability climate strengthened the leadership–capability association (ß = 0.118, p = 0.007). R2 was 0.397 for ESG data capability and 0.468 for green campus performance. The cross-sectional design supports associative, not causal, interpretation. Originality/value The study is an integration of the existing leadership, organizational capability, institutional climate, and campus-performance constructs in a pooled GCC higher-education context. It has been the primary vehicle for defining ESG data capability as an organizational mechanism to link sustainability-oriented leadership with perceived campus performance, and demonstrating that this mechanism is more powerful when there is a supportive institutional sustainability climate.