The impact of environmental strategy on environmental performance: mediating role of green human resource management and moderating role of green consciousness of top managers

Abstract

The significant influence of green human resource management (GHRM) on a firm’s environmental performance (EP) has garnered considerable attention in recent literature. Research on GHRM has primarily focused on its impact on employee green behavior or outputs, neglecting its role as an organizational-level resource in facilitating the implementation of environmental strategy (ES). Additionally, limited attention has been paid to the influence of green consciousness (GC) of top managers on this process. Drawing on the resource-based view and upper echelons theory, this study employed a moderated mediation model to explore the relationships among ES, GHRM and GC of top managers. Data were collected from questionnaire responses of 476 senior executives from Chinese warehousing or logistics firms, gathered in three phases using a time-lagged approach. Results indicated that GHRM partially mediates the relationship between ES and EP. Additionally, it was found that GC of top managers moderates the relationship between ES and GHRM, acting as a boundary condition for the mediating effect of GHRM on EP. The study concludes with a discussion of several theoretical and practical implications arising from these findings.

Keywords:

• Green human resource management
• resource-based view
• upper echelons theory
• environmental strategy
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, X. L. The data are not publicly available due to the privacy restriction of research participants.