| Abstract: |
This study empirically examines how Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) functions as a catalyst that transforms Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practice from a compliance exercise into a strategic driver of long-term organizational resilience. Drawing on survey data collected from 214 mid- to large-capitalization firms across manufacturing, financial services, and energy sectors, the study operationalizes ERM maturity using a validated five-point index and links it to ESG disclosure quality, pillar-level ESG performance, and a composite Organizational Resilience Index tracked longitudinally from 2019 to 2024. Using correlation analysis, ANOVA across ERM maturity tiers, and structural equation modeling (SEM), the results demonstrate a statistically significant positive relationship between ERM maturity and ESG disclosure scores (r = 0.71, p < 0.01), with governance-related ESG outcomes showing the strongest sensitivity to ERM sophistication. Firms in the high-ERM-maturity tier exhibited resilience index gains of approximately 54% between 2019 and 2024, compared to a decline of roughly 14% among low-ERM firms, confirming that ERM integration insulates organizations against systemic and reputational shocks. SEM results further reveal that ERM's effect on resilience is only partially direct (β = 0.31) and is substantially mediated through strategic ESG integration (β = 0.52 and β = 0.47 along the mediating path), underscoring ERM's catalytic rather than purely operational role. These findings extend risk governance theory by repositioning ERM as an antecedent of strategic ESG maturity and offer practitioners an empirically grounded rationale for embedding ERM functions within ESG governance architecture to secure durable competitive resilience. |
