Intellectual Structure of Green Human Resource Management and Environmental Self-Efficacy: Mapping Research Trends

Authors

Kausilyah Chandran

Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, 43600 Selangor (Malaysia)

Khairul Anuar Mohd Ali

Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, 43600 Selangor (Malaysia)

Maryam Jamilah Ashaari

Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, 43600 Selangor (Malaysia)

Article Information

DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS.2025.91100085

Subject Category: Management

Volume/Issue: 9/11 | Page No: 1034-1050

Publication Timeline

Submitted: 2025-11-17

Accepted: 2025-11-25

Published: 2025-11-29

Abstract

The analysis is focused on three aims: first, analyzing publishing trends and geographical representation, detecting emerging themes, and questioning the intellectual structure and future of the field. Using a bibliometric method, the study retrieved and analyzed 142 papers in the Scopus database with the support of VOS viewer and BiblioMagika. The results indicate that there has been a growing academic interest in GHRM and ESE, especially since 2020. The Asian countries, especially Pakistan, Malaysia, and China, have made noticeable contributions. Two main thematic groups were identified: one of the strategic constructs, sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and innovation, and the other of the psychological constructs, green behavior, self-efficacy, and human resource practices. The discussion explains why ESE is a crucial psychological process in GHRM that links HR policies and sustainable employee conduct. The implications of the study's findings are theoretically synthesized, enhancing GHRM and the ESE models by creating sustainability-based labor structures. The study can guide managers in developing GHRM interventions that will foster pro-environmental cultures. Overall, the study contributes to conceptual clarity by combining behavioral science with organizational sustainability, which implies a conscious shift toward employee-centric environmental change.

Keywords

green management, human resource, environmental self-efficacy

Downloads

References

1. Ahmad, S., Islam, T., Sadiq, M., & Kaleem, A. (2021). Promoting green behavior through ethical leadership: a model of green human resource management and environmental knowledge. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 42(4), 531-547. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Ahmi, A. (2021). Bibliometric Analysis for Beginners: A starter guide to begin with a bibliometric study using Scopus dataset and tools such as Microsoft Excel, Harzing’s [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Ahmi, A. (2022). Bibliometric Analysis for Beginners (UUM Press). UUM Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Anwar, N., & Mahmood, N. H. (2020). N.; Yusliza, MY; Ramayah, T.; Faezah, JN; Khalid, W. Green Human Resource Management for organisational citizenship behaviour towards the environment and environmental performance on a university campus. J. Clean. Prod, 256, 120401. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Aukhoon, M. A., Iqbal, J., & Parray, Z. A. (2024). Impact of corporate social responsibility on employee green behavior: Role of green human resource management practices and employee green culture. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 31(5), 3768-3778. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Bandura, A. (1999). A social cognitive theory of personality. In L. Pervin & O. John Handbook of personality. New York, Guildford Publications: 154-196. Psychological Review 106(4), 676. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Barney, J. B. (2001). Resource-based theories of competitive advantage: A ten-year retrospective on the resource-based view. Journal of Management, 27(6), 643-650. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Bhardwaj, B., Sharma, D., & Chand, M. (2025). Ensuring sustainability through green HRM practices: a review, synthesis and research avenues. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 12(1), 57-90. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Carballo-Penela, A., Ruzo-Sanmartín, E., Álvarez-González, P., & Saifulina, N. (2022). A systematic literature review of green human resource management practices and individual and organizational outcomes: The case of pro-environmental behaviour at work. Green Human Resource Management Research, 79-115. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Chaudhary, R. (2020). Green human resource management and employee green behavior: an empirical analysis. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(2), 630-641. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Chiappetta Jabbour, C. J., & Renwick, D. (2020). Guest editorial: organizations as catalysts of sustainable development: greening the workforce for responsible management in the 21st century. International Journal of Manpower, 41(7), 833-844. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Donthu, N., Kumar, S. and Pattnaik, D., 2020. Forty-five years of Journal of Business Research: A bibliometric analysis. Journal of business research, 109, pp.1-14. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Farrukh, M., Raza, A., Mansoor, A., Khan, M. S., & Lee, J. W. C. (2023). Trends and patterns in pro-environmental behaviour research: a bibliometric review and research agenda. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 30(3), 681-696. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Guerci, M., Longoni, A., & Luzzini, D. (2016). Translating stakeholder pressures into environmental performance–the mediating role of green HRM practices. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(2), 262-289. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Jabeen, R., Irshad, M. Z., & Mahmood, T. (2022). Green HRM and pro-environmental behaviors: Uncovering the role of employee green self-efficacy and organizational support. Journal of Cleaner Production, 362, 132299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132299 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Kavvadia, H. (2022). Green Economy in the Post-pandemic Period: A Framework for Organizational Stakeholder Analysis. Business and Economic Research, 12(1). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Khanra, S., Dhir, A. and Mäntymäki, M., 2020. Big data analytics and enterprises: a bibliometric synthesis of the literature. Enterprise Information Systems, 14(6), pp.737-768. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Khanra, S., Dhir, A., Kaur, P. and Mäntymäki, M., 2021. Bibliometric analysis and literature review of ecotourism: Toward sustainable development. Tourism Management Perspectives, 37, p.100777. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Kim, Y. J., Kim, W. G., Choi, H. M., & Phetvaroon, K. (2019). The effect of green human resource management on hotel employees’ eco-friendly behavior and environmental performance. International journal of hospitality management, 76, 83-93. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Leung, X.Y., Sun, J. and Bai, B., 2017. Bibliometrics of social media research: A co-citation and co-word analysis. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 66, pp.35-45. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Liao, H., Tang, M., Luo, L., Li, C., Chiclana, F. and Zeng, X.J., 2018. A bibliometric analysis and visualization of medical big data research. Sustainability, 10(1), p.166. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Linnenluecke, M.K., Marrone, M. and Singh, A.K., 2020. Conducting systematic literature reviews and bibliometric analyses. Australian Journal of Management, 45(2), pp.175-194. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Masri, H. A., & Jaaron, A. A. (2017). Assessing green human resources management practices in Palestinian manufacturing context: An empirical study. Journal of cleaner production, 143, 474-489. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Miah, M., Rahman, S. M., Biswas, S., Szabó-Szentgróti, G., & Walter, V. (2024). Effects of green human resource management practices on employee green behavior: the role of employee’s environmental knowledge management and green self-efficacy for greening workplace. International Journal of Organizational Analysis. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Musaddiq, R., Ullah, S., & Usman, M. (2024). Effect of Green HRM and Green Self-efficacy on Pro-environment Behavior-Mediating Role of Environmental Commitment. Annals of Social Sciences and Perspective, 5(1), 115-125. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Naz, S., & Haider, S. A. (2023). Greening China, Malaysia, and Pakistan Through Deploying Green HR Practices to Spur Environmental Sustainability: A Systematic Literature Review. Global Perspectives on Green HRM: Highlighting Practices Across the World, 43-67. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Nurul Alam, M., Mashi, M. S., Azizan, N. A., Alotaibi, M., & Hashim, F. (2025). When and how green human resource management practices turn to employees’ pro-environmental behavior of hotel employees in Nigeria: the role of employee green commitment and green self-efficacy. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 26(3), 383-410. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Rahman, S. U., & Nguyen‐Viet, B. (2023). Towards sustainable development: Coupling green marketing strategies and consumer perceptions in addressing greenwashing. Business Strategy and the Environment, 32(4), 2420-2433. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Rehman, S. U., Kraus, S., Shah, S. A., Khanin, D., & Mahto, R. V. (2021). Analyzing the relationship between green innovation and environmental performance in large manufacturing firms. Technological forecasting and social change, 163, 120481. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Ren, S., Tang, G., & E Jackson, S. (2018). Green human resource management research in emergence: A review and future directions. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 35, 769-803. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. Renwick, D. W., Jabbour, C. J., Muller-Camen, M., Redman, T., & Wilkinson, A. (2016). Contemporary developments in Green (environmental) HRM scholarship. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(2), 114-128. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. Ringle, C. M., Sarstedt, M., Mitchell, R., & Gudergan, S. P. (2020). Partial least squares structural equation modeling in HRM research. The international journal of human resource management, 31(12), 1617-1643. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. Roscoe, S., Subramanian, N., Jabbour, C. J., & Chong, T. (2019). Green human resource management and the enablers of green organisational culture: Enhancing a firm's environmental performance for sustainable development. Business Strategy and the Environment, 28(5), 737-749. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

34. Shahzad, M. A., Jianguo, D., & Junaid, M. (2023). Impact of green HRM practices on sustainable performance: mediating role of green innovation, green culture, and green employees’ behavior. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(38), 88524-88547. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

35. Shan, Z., & Wang, Y. (2024). Strategic talent development in the knowledge economy: a comparative analysis of global practices. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 1-27. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

36. Shoaib, M., Abbas, Z., Yousaf, M., Zámečník, R., Ahmed, J., & Saqib, S. (2021). The role of GHRM practices towards organizational commitment: A mediation analysis of green human capital. Cogent Business & Management, 8(1), 1870798. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

37. Singh, R., Joshi, A., Dissanayake, H., Iddagoda, A., Khan, S., Félix, M. J., & Santos, G. (2025). Integrating Industry 4.0, Circular Economy, and Green HRM: A Framework for Sustainable Transformation. Sustainability, 17(7), 3082. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

38. Singh, S. K., Del Giudice, M., Chierici, R., & Graziano, D. (2020). Green innovation and environmental performance: The role of green transformational leadership and green human resource management. Technological Forecasting And Social Change, 150, 119762. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

39. Xu, X., Chen, X., Jia, F., Brown, S., Gong, Y. and Xu, Y., 2018. Supply chain finance: A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis. International Journal of Production Economics, 204, pp.160-173 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

40. Xue, X., Wang, L. and Yang, R.J., 2018. Exploring the science of resilience: critical review and bibliometric analysis. Natural Hazards, 90, pp.477-510. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

41. Zaid, A. A., Jaaron, A. A., & Bon, A. T. (2018). The impact of green human resource management and green supply chain management practices on sustainable performance: An empirical study. Journal of cleaner production, 204, 965-979. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

Metrics

Views & Downloads

Similar Articles