Management for sustainability: An analysis of the key practices according to the business size

•Larger companies have higher levels of adoption of management practices for sustainability and business performance.•The number of associations between the management practices for sustainability and business performance is higher in larger companies.•The adoption of management practices for sustainability and business performance differs according to the size of companies in the mining sector.

The mining sector has many challenges with regard to the incorporation of sustainability in the strategies and operations of the industry, given its extractive nature and the numerous social and environmental impacts related to this productive activity. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the relationship between the management practices for sustainability and business performance, according to the size of companies in the Brazilian mining sector. The study of descriptive and quantitative nature was conducted through a survey with companies associated with the Brazilian Mining Association (IBRAM). The main results show that larger companies indicate higher levels of adoption of management practices for sustainability and business performance. The correlation analysis also allowed us to verify that the number of associations between the management practices for sustainability and business performance is higher in larger companies. Thus, the central hypothesis proposed that the adoption of management practices for sustainability and business performance differs according to the size of companies in the mining sector, was corroborated, as we found significant differences in the behavior of companies, according to their size, with regard to the management practices for sustainability and business performance.