Do green human resource management and self-efficacy facilitate green creativity? A study of luxury hotels and resorts

Abstract

Employees’ green-oriented behavior can produce positive outcomes for sustainability in all sectors. However, the granularity of how such behaviors can be promoted is limited in the literature. Therefore, research explaining the effect of policies pursued by organizations and the effect of leadership on employee green-oriented behavior can be useful. This study addresses this need by drawing upon Social Cognitive Theory to examine the association of green human resource management (GHRM) with green creativity (GC). In addition, we examine the mediation effect of green self-efficacy (GSE) and the moderation effect of green transformational leadership (GTL) to provide robust insights into how organizations can motivate employees to generate innovative solutions to environmental challenges. The model is tested by analyzing multi-wave and multi-source data collected from luxury resorts and hotels. The findings confirm a positive association of GHRM with GC as well as the mediation effect of GSE on the association of GHRM and GC. However, the moderated mediation influence of GTL on the indirect effect of GHRM on GC is not supported. Our findings can help tourism organizations boost employees’ creativity, which, in turn, can support the use of green processes and help these organizations become better aligned with sustainable development goals.

Keywords:

• Green human resource management
• green transformational leadership
• green self-efficacy
• green creativity

Acknowledgement

This study was funded by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71672139).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ramsha Farooq

Ramsha Farooq is a doctoral student at the School of Management, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China. Her research focuses on tourism and hospitality management. Her work has published in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

Zhe Zhang

Zhe Zhang is a professor at the School of Management, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China, where she also received her ph.D. Her research focuses on human resource management and corporate social responsibility. She has published papers in journals such as Organization Science, Human Relations, Human Resource Management, Journal of Business Ethics, and British Journal of Management.

Shalini Talwar

Shalini Talwar (PhD) holds a PhD in Business Administration and management. Currently, she is an Associate Professor at KJ Somaiya Institute of Management, Mumbai, India. Her work has published in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, International Journal of Hospitality Management, among others.

AmandeepDhir (DSc, PhD) is a Professor of Research Methods at the University of Agder, Norway. He is also a visiting professor at the Norwegian School of Hotel Management, University of Stavanger, Norway. His research appears in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Technology Forecasting and Social Change, Internet Research, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, International Journal of Information Management, Computers in Human Behaviour, Computers in Industry, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Journal of Cleaner Production, Food quality and preferences, Appetite, Information Technology & People, Australasian Marketing Journal, Enterprise Information Systems among others.