Abstract
The rapid degradation of today’s environment has required the governments and organizations to introduce effective countermeasures. Governments have enforced green policies, and organizations have drawn on these policies to implement environmentally friendly workplace practices. The success of these practices is very much dependent on the employees and the extent of their green behavior. As such, there is a need to determine whether green behavior can be positively influenced by other variables. One of the suggested influencing variables is green human resource management (HRM). Another variable with the potential mediating effect is personal moral norms (PMN). Also, there is a need to examine the interplay of green HRM, employee green behavior (EGB), and PMN within the context of higher education institutions (HEIs) as they also take responsibility for protecting the environment. It is believed that to date, studies of this nature have not involved academics at HEIs in Malaysia. This study aims to examine the mechanism by which green HRM affects EGB of academics at Malaysian HEIs through PMN as mediator. Data were collected through a cross-sectional quantitative survey among 425 academics at five research universities in Malaysia. The analysis was performed using Smart PLS version 3.2.8. There was a positive significant relationship between green HRM and PMN and a positive significant relationship between PMN and EGB. Hence, green HRM had an effect on EGB through the mediating role of PMN. However, there was no significant direct relationship between green HRM and EGB. Other studies have investigated the effects of several mediating variables in the relationship between green HRM and EGB; however, the effect of one variable—PMN—has not been examined. This study, as it investigates the vital aspect of behavioral formation, is believed to be the first study that examines the mediating role of PMN in the interplay between green HRM and EGB of academics. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed in this study.
Highlights
BackgroundAn increasingly dire issue regarding the environment currently is its rapid degradation
The present study aims to examine the relationship between green human resource management (HRM) and employee green behavior (EGB) of academics at Malaysian higher education institutions (HEIs) through the inclusion of personal moral norms (PMN) as a mediator
The current study examined the role that green HRM plays in affecting the EGB of Malaysian academics through their PMN
Summary
An increasingly dire issue regarding the environment currently is its rapid degradation. Most governments, including those of developing countries, have made pledges to global movements, such as AGENDA 2030 (United Nations, 2015), and placed environmental sustainability at the top of their to-do list. 11th and 12th National Plans the goal of environmental sustainability. The governments and regulatory bodies have introduced green policies that aim to boost the participation of organizations toward environmentally friendly practices. The degradation of the environment has given organizations a cause for concern. Most organizations practice corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is defined as organization’s situational-specific conducts that put into consideration the bottom line of economic, social, and environmental performance (Aguinis & Glavas, 2012).
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