Is gender diversity is diversity washing or good governance for firm sustainable development goal performance: A scoping review

In Industry 4.0, sustainability is the heart, and governance is the soul of the business, but diversity washing, greenwashing, and SDG washing are skeptical. This is due to the reactive/normative approach in dealing with sustainability and governance, which has created an amounting number of greenhouse gases, waste generation, and several business washing challenges. This study has explored the Scopus and Web of Science databases and searched for the keywords �Sustainable Development Goals� AND �Director,� which provided 76 documents. However, when the authors added the third keyword, �ISO 37001�2021,� along with the above two keywords, the database provided no study investigating the moderation role of ISO 37001�2021. Therefore, the study advocates the adoption of newly developed ISO 37000:2021 good governance standards for greenwashing, SDG washing, and diversity washing challenges without failing to contribute to the firm sustainable development goal performance and earning management. Secondly, the independent director attribute�s role is vital due to the potential, power, position, and evidence to adopt ISO 37000:2021 standards. Thirdly, the scoping review study has proposed a conceptual model to extend the reporting discloser and transparency. It goes beyond mere compliance, contributes towards societal development, and promotes adopting sustainable development goal performance and reporting as a new non-financial parameter for evaluating the firm�s performance. Lastly, this will boost firm sustainability and adopt the circular economic model, creating a unique competitive edge and green governance goodwill among the business�s external stakeholders and attracting sustainably responsible investors. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.