Conceptualizing and theorizing green human resource management: a narrative review

Abstract

PurposeThe study reviews the recent conceptualizations and theorizing of green human resource management (GHRM) and explores GHRM's interconnections with the sustainability literature. The research findings have implications affecting GHRM measurement and design of future studies in the sparsely investigated human resource management (HRM)-environment-sustainability-responsibility spectrum.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a narrative style based on a review of quantitative field evidence from 38 recent empirical papers to provide an analytical framework on how the GHRM research agenda has broadened to include aspects of corporate sustainability (CS) and corporate social responsibility (CSR).FindingsThe study finds support from the literature on the impact of environment-related HR initiatives on building long-term capabilities and enhancing firm-specific social outcomes. Further, the study finds that different perspectives used in the conceptualization of GHRM reveal GHRM's differential impact on organization and environmental sustainability underlying GHRM's growing recognition as an important tool for organizations to demonstrate their commitment to being a responsible stakeholder of the socio-economic system.Originality/valueGHRM scholars would find the review useful as the review provides a detailed explanation of how GHRM problems are defined and measured. The understanding of the process of conceptualization has been identified as a research gap in previous reviews; thus, one of the aims of this paper is to aid further knowledge development by understanding how research has progressed previously. The other benefit of the review is that management practitioners would find the insights useful to align HRM initiatives with organization CS/CSR objectives.