Socially responsible human resource management and hotel employee organizational citizenship behavior for the environment: A social cognitive perspective

Abstract

• Develops a holistic understanding of employee pro-environmental behavior. • Uses the social cognitive theory as the theoretical base. • Links human resource management to environmental performance from the employee perspective. Drawing on the social cognitive theory, this study intends to discuss the concept of socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) and empirically examine the impact of SRHRM on hospitality employee’s organizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCBE). By a two-stage survey of 270 responses from one chain hotel group in Shanghai, China, our findings indicated that SRHRM had a positive impact on OCBE; moral reflectiveness fully mediated the relationship between SRHRM and OCBE. Moreover, the effect of SRHRM on moral reflectiveness and the indirect impact of SRHRM on OCBE via moral reflectiveness were stronger with lower rather than higher levels of responsible leadership. These results extend the macro-level factors in influencing hospitality employee’s environmental-behavioral intentions and provide significant insights into why and how SRHRM affects hospitality employee OCBE. Finally, we outline the results, theoretical and empirical significance, and propose future research directions.