Toward a Better Understanding of Green Human Resource Management’s Impact on Green Competitive Advantage: A Conceptual Model

Abstract

Today, green human resource management (GHRM) has become a key business strategy where HRM plays an active role in the ongoing green movement. Thus, the topic of GHRM is of growing interest among management scholars. However, despite the theoretically important role of GHRM, relatively small number of research has been discovered so far about how GHRM, in companies striving to achieve environmental sustainability, could help them gain a green competitive advantage (GCA). Thus, based on the resource-based view (RBV) arguments, the main objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual model of the relationship between GHRM and green competitive advantage through green knowledge, green values, and green commitment. This model is expected to provide a strategic map that could be utilized by the practitioners and managers so that GHRM implementation can be more effective in contributing to green competitive advantage. Overall, the present article extends knowledge on the resource-based view by contributing to the literature on GHRM and its interactions with the main assets that lead to green competitive advantage.

1. Introduction

With the emergent strategic concern of environmental protection, organizations nowadays are expected to be responsible for green management. Thus, strategic HRM as a framework linking elements of HRM with strategic goals and objectives is expected to play a pivotal role in fostering employees’ pro-environmental behavior and in achieving sustainability of the overall organizational system (people, environment, and practices) [1, 2].

In this regard, companies strive to develop innovative environmental processes that will have significant implications for management and that are able of making employees environmentally aware, involved, and highly trained. Consequently, HRM needs to ensure that targeted HRM programs are designed and developed to raise employee awareness of the importance of environmental initiatives, develop the workforce skills as well as engage it in the corporate green goals.

Several businesses have employed a strategic tool known as green human resources management (GHRM) [3]. Masri and Jaaron [4] define GHRM as the use of human resources management practices to reinforce environmentally sustainable practices and to increase employees’ commitment to the issues of environmental sustainability. Thus, with companies now changing their business strategies and efforts toward a more environmentally focused agenda; HR must adjust its mandate and expand its scope by incorporating environmental management into its core HR functions [5].

Green HR practices result in different outcomes, such as improved employee moral, stronger public image, increased employee loyalty, increased brand recognition, competitive advantage, increased workforce productivity, and increased employee retention [6].

Despite the previous literature, numerous issues remain misunderstood. Scholars have not given adequate attention to how GHRM contributes green competitiveness of the firm. It presents a major gap for scholars in green management to be filled [7]. Hence, the current study aims to bridge the gap between previous studies by expanding the understanding of how GHRM can lead to a green competitive advantage. This analysis draws on the resource-based view (RBV) and suggests that only companies with advanced personnel management in environmental issues will be able to gain a competitive advantage associated with improved green knowledge, enhanced green values, and environmentally committed employees. This paper is among the first works to deal with such a complex framework that considers the interrelationships among numerous constructs and their effects on green competitive advantage.

The present study argues that companies need to develop a GHRM that possesses both greenness and involvement attributes to improve competitive advantage in the environmentally friendly business era. Besides, one of the key elements for green competitive advantage is knowledge, commitment, and values. By increasing these three assets, workers would actually be conscientious, active, and committed to the company’s environmental goals, which further contributes to the corporate environmental activities’ success. The primary objectives of this study are:

• Define Green human resources management and Green competitive advantage;

• Emphasize how GHRM can lead to green competitive advantage under the RBV;

• Define green knowledge, green commitment, and green values concepts as well as highlight their role in gaining a green competitive advantage;

• Develop a conceptual model of the relationship between GHRM and GCA advantage through green knowledge, green commitment, and green values.

2. Literature review and hypotheses development

2.1 GHRM

According to Yong et al. [8] activities with a green focus are difficult to initiate as they require systemic change, and any change has to be initiated, implemented, and accepted by employees. Thus, human aspects are particularly important for environmental management because of the significant challenges that must be overcome by organizations striving to implement a large-scale organizational change [9].

Thus, GHRM is the result of increased efforts to integrate proactive environmental management with HR practices [10]. It is considered as a set of approaches, policies, methods, and strategies that motivate a company’s employees to perform green behavior and create an environmentally compatible work environment that is resource-efficient and socially responsible [11].

According to Gohar [12], GHRM is the utilization of HRM guidelines, strategies, and pursuits to encourage sustainable use of resources and prohibit injury arising from environmental concerns within business establishments. Thus, GHRM equips the organization with an environment-oriented workforce that understands, appreciates, and practices green initiatives and maintains its green objectives all throughout the HRM practices to drive sustainable management results [13].

According to Dumont et al. [5], for GHRM to be an impactful force in fostering green employee behavior in the workplace, it is necessary to ensure that the company has recruitment strategies to attract employees who have similar environmental values and beliefs to those of the organization; performance assessment and rewards practices that consider individual environmental performance; and effective training programs that nurture environmental awareness, attitudes, skills, and knowledge.

In addition, GHRM has the ability to encourage employee engagement and participation in environmental practices, which can increase their sense of belonging and pride, and thus motivate them to work harder [14]. These environmentally friendly practices can help the company to develop a good reputation, reduce stakeholder pressure and provide long-term benefits for future generations [14].

As posited by Bombiak [15], it is imperative that companies build green organizational culture through raised ecological awareness and development of environmentally friendly attitudes. This is only possible through environmental education on the conditions and needs of the environment and through the design and implementation of motivation systems that will promote engagement in various forms of environmental activity.

The major goal of GHRM is to educate employees on the intricacies of environmental management, that is, what to do, how it works, and how it benefits the environment. Those actions motivate employees and develop in them a sense of pride in being part of the going green program [16]. Thus, GHRM has been given direct responsibility to develop a green workforce through HR practices such as recruitment, training, development, etc., with benefits reaching the individual employee, the company, the society, the nation, and the global environment [10]. Figure 1 presents a synthesis of green human resources management practices.

Figure 1.

Adapted from Hossari and Elfahli [17].

2.2 Green competitive advantage

When a firm can accomplish somewhat a competitor cannot do or has something a competing firm aims for, then this would lead to a competitive advantage [18]. According to Barney [19], a firm is said to have a competitive advantage when it is implementing a value-creating strategy not simultaneously being implemented by any current or potential competitor and when these other firms are unable to duplicate the benefits of this strategy.

In the environmental sphere, Chen and Chang [20] defined green competitive advantage as a condition under which firms occupy some positions about environmental management or green innovation where their competitors cannot copy its success, thus resulting in the organization obtaining sustainable benefits from those successful environmental strategies. Moreover, Muisyo and Ho [7] define green competitive advantage as a situation in which the firm holds a position on environmental management and green innovation that cannot be imitated or copied by competitors, and this consequently plows in sustainable benefits to the firm. Additionally, Kuo et al. [21] defined green competitive advantage as environmental strategies that successfully develop environmental practices that competitors cannot replicate. Thus, green competitive advantage is considered as a combination of factors and capabilities that allow the company to occupy a distinct position in the environmental era.

Although environmental initiatives often come with costs and risk, environmental strategies help companies gain a competitive advantage [22]. Thus, intelligent firms utilize ecological strategies for shaping their green competitiveness [23]. Sarfraz et al. [24] states that organizations incorporate environmental concerns into their operations as it can create a competitive advantage for the company in the long run. Thus, environmental concerns may create opportunities and give competitive advantages to companies [25].

3. The interplay between GHRM and green competitive advantage: theoretical background

According to the resource-based view (RBV), an organization can be described as a combination of human, physical and organizational resources. These resources are valuable and inimitable, and are the primary source of sustainable competitive advantage and sustained high performance [26]. Thus, In the light of RBV, the firm characterizes the resource capability as a vital tool for sustaining performance, subsequently picking up a competitive edge over the other [27].

Aykan [3] points out that the tendency of firms to use valuable and inimitable internal sources to gain competitive advantage further increases the strategic importance of human resources. From the resource-based perspective, human resources are important contributors to firms’ competitive advantage because of their rarity, value, non-repetitiveness, and exclusiveness [14].

In this regard, the RBV integrates human resources as sources of a firm’s competitive advantage [13]. This theory lays out a rational link between human resources practices and the application of strategies that eventually enhance organizational outcomes, which aids to induce a competitive edge for the firm.

Kuo et al. [21] argue that many firms treat corporate environmental management as an unneeded and ineffective investment and even think that green policies are harming the development of the firm. However, pioneers in environmental management and green innovation will have a “first mover advantage or be recognized as an early adapter,” which will provide them with higher green profits, a green image, and a competitive advantage over their competitors. Thus, the RBV suggests that a firm can derive a competitive advantage on the basis of its environmental strategy and its relationship with the natural environment [22].

Scholars believe that GHRM is a very effective tool for developing green human capital, and can deliver green sustainable performance and green competitive advantage [4, 6, 7, 18, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39]. For instance, Aykan [3] affirms that companies have to develop and implement environment-oriented strategies to gain sustainable competitive advantage. Thus, the availability of staff with skills and knowledge about environmental protection, together with practices that encourage the setting up of environmental initiatives, are sources of competitive advantage in costs and differentiation among companies [40]. Thus, GHRM integrates environmental management into human resource management to help enterprises achieve green value and create a unique competitive advantage [41].

GHRM is a pre-condition for green management and a critical step for sustainable competitive advantage [3]. Thus, HRM department should manage talented workforces in accordance with the needs of the time to sustain a competitive edge as well as to encourage workers to become engaged in environmental behaviors [42]. In this regard, green initiatives increase the chances of better green management as it aligns employees’ goals, capabilities, motivations, and perceptions with green management practices and systems [6]. Thus, companies adopting proactive or advanced environmental strategies, such as GHRM, will be able to gain and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage.

From the discussion above, researchers believe that GHRM is considered as one of the very prominent strategies that eventually determine the green competitiveness of the firm. According to Ojo et al. [33], HRM practices can be considered as a bundle of internal resources for creating unique, valuable, and inimitable employee capabilities through which the organization can sustain its competitive advantage.

In a concrete manner, GHRM utilizes human resources to enhance environmental performance, waste reduction, social responsibility, and competitive advantage via continuous learning and development and by embracing employees’ green goals and strategies that are fully integrated with the goals and strategies of the organization [43]. Thus, GHRM has become crucial to improving environmental performance and maintaining a competitive edge [36].

From this perspective, GHRM practices in the form of green recruitment, green training, and green rewards can improve and support environmental performance and create a competitive advantage [39]. Consequently, GHRM practices are essential for achieving environmental performance and sustainable competitive advantage through aligning employee behavior with the organization’s strategic objectives [29].

For instance, hiring skilled and creative people leads to a competitive advantage. Specifically, it provides companies with important opportunities in terms of growth, expansion into new business areas, and enhanced profitability levels [13]. Thus, by implementing green activities during the recruitment and selection process, firms can attract talented, hardworking, skillful employees, which further helps the firms to gain a competitive advantage through attracting talented green profiles.

In addition, providing environmental training and building employees’ capacity may improve their skills, motivation, retention, and job-related outcomes, thus improving productivity and profitability [13]. Therefore, by introducing green activities, firms develop and retain green committed employees, and also attract environmentally aware profiles [26].

Overall, GHRM if implemented properly to realize the vision, mission, values, and strategies of environmental programs, will be a business value added to the competitive advantage [18]. Thus, we argue that GHRM constitutes a potential source of green competitive advantage because it provides firms with unique, conscious, engaged, and difficult to imitate workforce. Particularly, we argue that green knowledge, green commitment, and green play a mediating role between GHRM and green competitive advantage. The RBV framework provides a foundation to explain the importance of including environmental practices in HR policies to be competitive.

3.1 Green knowledge

Green or environmental knowledge refers to how much information people have about environmental problems and their ability to consider and assess their effect on culture and environment [44]. Fryxell and Lo [45] define environmental knowledge as a general knowledge of facts, concepts, and relationships about the natural environment and its major ecosystems. They also claimed that environmental knowledge involves what people know about the environment, the key relationships leading to environmental aspects or impacts, and the collective responsibilities necessary for sustainable development. In other words, green knowledge is considered as a range of information a person has on environmental degradation, necessary actions, and potential solutions.

Accordingly, matching employees’ knowledge with the organization’s policy will contribute to a long-term cooperative relationship between employees and the company [46]. Thus, when employees have skill, knowledge, and ability regarding the green initiatives or practices, they will be more inclined to perform the environment-oriented behaviors [32].

According to Raza and Khan [47], environmental knowledge is understanding concepts, ideas, facts, and relationships regarding the natural environment. Thus, green knowledge compels an individual to save the earth by adopting green strategies.

Accordingly, when employees are knowledgeable and well aware of the environmental issues, ecological degradation, the importance of eco-friendly practices, and perceived behavioral control, they are more likely to actually display pro-environmental behaviors [48]. However, when employees lack knowledge and awareness about the causes and effects of environmental degradation and do not consider non-immediacy of ecological destruction as an issue to be addressed, they do not engage in positive actions. Thus, environmental knowledge is likely to have a particularly strong influence on actions or behaviors to protect the environment [45].

Saeed et al. [43] support this assertion by stating that employee knowledge is found to affect decision-making and intentions. Therefore, individuals usually do not make themselves part of situations about which their knowledge is limited. In other words, green knowledge is a significant prerequisite for behaving in an appropriate manner and would be a significant barrier to action if its levels were low. Thus, the mainstream literature on environmental knowledge has proven that green knowledge led to understanding and incentivizing individuals to behave or refrain them from behaving.

The interaction between environmental knowledge and GHRM may strengthen employees’ willingness to cooperate with the organization, thus increasing the generation of employees’ green behavior [46]. For instance, green training can help employees obtain environmental techniques and knowledge, which enables them to develop their careers in a better manner [49].

In this regard, we support that GHRMP can effectively increase employees’ green knowledge through environmental training, green empowerment, green recruitment, and other practices. Overall, GHRM can play a vital role in enhancing employees’ environmental knowledge. Thus, we developed the following hypothesis:

H1. GHRM is positively related to green knowledge.

Furthermore, Mtembu [31] claimed that embracing knowledge management is one of the main sources of competitive advantage. Thus, organizations must ensure that they harness a wealth of knowledge and wisdom and make sure that it is shared within the organization and used optimally for the benefit of the company and its stakeholders. Astuti and Datrini [50] support this point of view and affirms that the environmental knowledge embedded in individuals is of great importance for firms, especially in developing green innovation and green management. Thus, it could be a source of GCA.

As has been pointed out, knowledge is a very important aspect of individual environmental awareness. Thus, we argue that the company holding employees, who are environmental experts or have deep environmental knowledge will be likely a source of competitive advantage. Therefore, the following research hypothesis is proposed:

H2. Green knowledge plays a mediating role between GHRM and green competitive advantage.

3.2 Green commitment

Suharti and Sugiarto [51] define green commitment as a high level of responsibility in implementing the Green Business concept in the company. Moreover, Aboramadan [52] defines green commitment as the energy an employee puts into his green work-related tasks, the willingness to exert efforts at the green level, and the absorption level in green work.

Commitment can be seen as the level at which employees are connected to their work cognitively, emotionally, and physically [52]. In this study, we use the term green commitment to refer to the extent to which a company’s employees are dedicated to the preservation of the natural environment and are willing to engage in environmentally friendly actions. Thus, engaging employees to address environmental concerns is one of the most significant challenges facing organizations, today and in the future, and this explains why an employee’s green commitment is well researched and grounded in theory [40].

According to Iftikhar et al. [53], the organization’s initiatives to introduce GHRM establish a groundwork that supports employees’ environmental commitment and enables them to develop environmental-friendly activities. Thus, GHRM practices ensure that members of a firm’s workforce have the abilities required to make decisions and take actions that are environmentally friendly, feel motivated to exert effort to achieve environmental performance goals, and have sufficient opportunities to contribute to the firm’s environmental agenda [54].

Assuming that a firm’s strategically aligned HRM system targets all employees in the organization, GHRM systems should be influential in shaping the green commitment of employees. The enhancement of commitment and participation mechanisms, through GHRM, allows voice options for employees to help them achieve environmental objectives [55]. Thus, several lines of argument support the positive relationship between the GHRM system and green commitment [9].

For instance, Saeed et al. [43] state that by incorporating environmental management objectives and targets within the performance evaluation system, providing regular feedback to employees about green achievement, providing environmental training and opportunities for employees to involve them in green suggestion schemes and joint consultations for environmental issues problem solving, organizations can increase employees concern and commitment toward protecting the environment. Furthermore, compensation practices related to environmental management are effective in engendering employee commitment [56]. In the same line, Kim et al. [57] state that companies implement environmental training and educational programs to focus on encouraging employees to take pride in belonging to the company and to increase their level of commitment.

Given the discussion above, we hypothesize that GHRM contributes to the employee’s green commitment.

H3. GHRM is positively related to green commitment.

Harvey et al. [55] emphasized that GHRM policies and practices are tailored to achieve specific green ends, via the enhancement of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and engagement more generally, this, in turn, increases the likelihood of employees supporting the environmental goals set by the firm. Therefore, green committed employees would be more inclined to work in an environmentally friendly way, which can have a positive impact on the firm’s competitive advantage.

Consistent with the logic of RBV, employees’ commitment to achieving environmental goals, strategy, and concerns of the organization, which we call green commitment, is not only valuable but also rare, imperfectly imitable, and not substitutable, which is likely to make the green committed workforce a source of competitive advantage. However, few studies have analyzed the relationship between GHRM practices that encourage employees’s green commitment as a potential source of competitive advantage with a unique and difficult to imitate workforce. Following the essential role played by employees as co-creators and implementers of the company’s green actions, we argue that their commitment could mediate between GHRM and green competitive advantage.

H4. Employee green commitment mediates the impact of GHRM on green competitive advantage.

3.3 Green values

Zoogah [58] defines green values as internalized social representations or moral beliefs, that people appeal to, as the ultimate rationale for their environmental actions. Therefore, aligned individual values with the organizational values are expected to result in optimal employee outcomes, such as strengthened organizational identification and positive work attitudes and behaviors [5].

For this reason, management must give importance to individual values in its recruitment process. This practice can help management to align organizational values with individual values [59]. In other words, the organization should consider individual green values and spread information about the organization’s green programs during the recruitment and selection process.

Additionally, organizations should communicate green values to the hired employees in their training programs [59]. Thus, organizations need to provide green training and communicate their green policies and environmental values effectively to current and potential employees, so that employees will be able to develop individual green values that support corporate environmental goals. As stated by Paillé et al. [34], firms often utilize training and education programs to embed ecological practices and showcase their green values to update employees about initial change(s), new performance criteria, and staff competencies.

According to Ihsan et al. [60], GHRM with its agile efforts can built-in green values among members about ecofriendly conventions like an efficient use of electricity, lesser usage of carbon, and prioritizing the recyclable products procurement.

Extending this argument, Cheema [61] argues that if an individual perceives that his organization acts in an environmentally responsible manner, his values and beliefs about the environment would better match to organizational values. Thus, we propose that when the organization supplies a favorable environment to employees with GHRM practices, it would create alignment between individual green values and organizational values. As posited by Zhu et al. [46], if the company creates an environment that is conducive to employees’ values, makes employees’ green values consistent with those of the firm, and creates a strong sense of belonging to the organization, employees will be more likely to show green behavior in their work and their commitment will be reinforced.

In the light of the foregoing, we hypothesize the following:

H5. GHRM is positively related to green values.

Dumont et al. [5] claim that the stronger an individual connects with his organization through aligned values, the greater the likelihood that the employee would commit to achieving organizational goals and objectives. Thus, by absorbing green values from the GHRM practices, employees may become “environmental activists” inside the organization and influence other stakeholders to engage in pro-environmental behaviors. Thus, we believe that if an individual’s values are based on beliefs about environmental restoration, it might strengthen organizational competitive advantage with a high-quality green workforce who is more aware and sensitive about the value of environmental protection.

As highlighted by Chaudhary [62], implementing GHRM is likely to signal the environmental values, principles, and orientation of the organization, this commitment to the natural environment is likely to provide organizations with much-needed differentiation in a highly competitive marketplace. Thus, individuals having a greater degree of green values are likely to strengthen the association between GHRM and GCA. From the above discussion, the following hypothesis is advanced:

H6. Green values mediate the impact of GHRM on green competitive advantage.

Figure 2 presents the hypothesized research model.

Figure 2.

Research model.

4. Discussion and conclusion

In today’s business era, companies that once were responsible for ecological degradation are now expected to become the catalysts of reform and advocates of environmental issues. Thus, preserving a competitive edge in the market requires the company to have an impact on the environment from employees with different visions, perceptions, and backgrounds, which is a challenging task. Thus, the awareness and responsibility of employees for environmental protection is a prerequisite for the success of companies.

As a crucial driving force for the organization to achieve sustainable goals, HRM is the most undefeated tool that contributes to involving employees in a new process, conducting change, and shaping behaviors. Thus, the atmosphere that the firm creates through green initiatives, such as GHRM, would be able to uphold the ecological norms and values of the firm and would lead to a green competitive edge.

In this regard, to build such sophisticatedly developed and robust GHRM toward green competitive advantage, it is most appropriate to develop green human resource management practices, including solid recruitment strategies, performance assessment, and reward systems that include environmental compliance, training and empowerment programs that will develop a new set of skills and competencies among the firm’s employees compared to those of competitors. Nevertheless, studies considering green competitive advantage as an outcome of GHRM practices are very scarce in GHRM literature, which is a major gap that this study attempted to fill.

Drawing on the RBV, we developed a research framework that explains how GHRM can lead to a green competitive advantage. This is done by building on green knowledge, green commitment, and green values as mediators. Hence, we suggest that GHRM is more effective and may substantially improve a business’ green competitive advantage when employees have enough knowledge, values, and commitment to participate, develop, create and innovate in environmental activities.

Overall, we consider that GHRM involves a set of environmentally friendly efforts and practices leading to improved knowledge, values, and commitment, which leads to being distinct in the business era.

This paper highlights that through a goal-oriented HRM process toward environmental preservation, such as GHRM, companies have the ability to increase employees’ knowledge of the habits and conducts that may harm the environment, the specific actions that need to be, undertaken and the ecological work processes that need to be followed. Thus, corporate environmental policies are not likely to be achieved by organizations lacking the essential employee knowledge required for the green movement. As posited by Khan et al. [44] knowledge of environmental issues is seen as a prerequisite for positive and proactive environmental behavior and its dissemination is seen as an essential module and standard for the effective adoption of environmental education initiatives. Without green knowledge, it may be difficult to encourage employees to be committed and passionate about environmental protection.

Accordingly, we believe that GHRM has the ability to improve green knowledge, through educational programs, recruitment of green profiles, empowerment, and involvement in green actions. Rubel et al. [63] state that if an organization demonstrates its responsibility to the environment through GHRM practices, the consequential outcome will a developed green understanding among employees. Thus, to be green, companies need well-designed HR practices to cultivate knowledgeable workers who are able to look into the emergent environmental issue and create ground-breaking, innovative, and creative solutions. Thus, the lack of environmentally literate employees with the right skills can lead to a gap in environmental management.

In the present research, the conceptual model also highlights that green knowledge mediates the role of GHRM on green competitive advantage. In the light of resource-based theory from the internal perspective, employees with environmental knowledge are unique resources that a firm possesses, which in turn will drive the company toward distinction and lead to a green competitive advantage. As posited by Rubel et al. [63], knowledge is considered as an important base for organizations to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. Thus, organizations are often eager to acknowledge that “knowledge” acts as a driver toward excellence [64].

In the same vein, Astuti and Datrini [50] claim that employees’ green knowledge enables companies to conduct research and development activities related to environmental protection or green innovation with the aim of offering products or services that are more environmentally friendly and difficult to imitate by competitors. Thus, sophisticated thinking processes spurred by knowledge may enhance novelty and uniqueness [64]. Overall, the paper highlights the potential role of GHRM as a policy that manages and develops employees’ green knowledge to make the company more competitive in the green era.

Besides, values filter information, act as an imperative for standard behavioral norms, and are an important predictor of green behaviors [65]. Therefore, individuals with high environmental values are more passionate about safeguarding the environment by engaging in environmental activities. Nevertheless, individuals with lower environmental values show less or no interest in those activities that promote environmental protection [38]. Thus, individual green values need to be strengthened and enriched, which is the major angle that can help organizations to achieve their goals in this area [66].

Accordingly, this paper emphasizes that green values are supported and promoted throughout GHRM practices, which further boosts environmental green competitive advantage. Thus, through rewards and recognition to environmental champions, training and sensitizing programs on the actual state of the environment, and empowerment programs to involve employees, the company’s human resources would be encouraged to imbed green values and deeply immerse in the environmental agenda. In the same line, Alzgool [66] claims that if companies implement GHRM practices such as green recruitment, green training programs, green benefits, and compensation, this will indicate a clear corporate ambition and focus on greener entities and can help reinforce individual green values.

Given that green values give meaning to every green action, motivate employees, and guide them toward protecting the environment while believing in greening, values may regulate behaviors and give direction to follow green conduct. Therefore, Al-Hawari [65] argues that employees with strong green values embed these values in their self-identities and show greater motivation to work on developing new skills and abilities and expand their thought processes to generate new solutions to protect the environment. For this reason, green values are incorporated as a mediator, we consider that workforce with inner green values may help the company grow and outperform its competitors in the green era. Thus, having a green workforce with green values and beliefs toward protecting the environment is unique, rare, exclusive, and difficult to imitate by competitors.

In other words, employees who engage in environmental activities as a result of their appreciation, mindset, beliefs, and values regarding the environment, may help the company gain a green competitive advantage. More specifically, manpower with high values can carry out more voluntary green work and can contribute to the company’s distinctiveness and uniqueness. Consequently, we suggested that green values play a mediating role between GHRM and green competitive advantage.

Moreover, this paper outlines that GHRM enhances employees’ green commitment. An employee is considered environmentally committed when he or she is willing to share, identify and care about the environmental concerns of his or her organization [35]. Thus, commitment to the natural environment is based on psychological attachment and the internalization of the goals and values of the organization that engenders a spontaneous feeling of responsibility for greening [67].

Pham et al. [37] emphasize that a possible way to strengthen employee green commitment at work is to provide green practices such as training and reward programs to employees and to develop a green culture in the organization. Thus, through GHRM, the company transmits to employees a signal of the company’s environmental concern, which makes employees more engaged in corporate environmental goals. Thus, GHRM as a strategic tool aims to involve employees in green initiatives and programs through several practices, that is, (green empowerment, green training, green induction, etc.).

Consequently, GHRM helps foster employee’s green commitment to embrace organizational goals, to work in accordance with the organization’s environmental guidelines, and to exert effort in environmental programs. As stated by Hameed [68], green commitment cannot be embodied by employees if the company shows no commitment, no practices, and no interest in the well-being of the community and the protection of the natural environment.

GHRM practices enable companies to create an empowering environment through training, suggestions programs, performance appraisal, etc. Thus, GHRM practices enhance employees’ commitment to environmental programs and empower them to innovate, take action, and make decisions. Similarly, Afsar [67] argues that employees with higher levels of commitment are more likely to adopt recycling, energy saving, and paper use behaviors in the office and become more dedicated to quality improvement and environmental problem-solving. Consequently, GHRM not only contributes to successful environmental strategies, but also promotes the creation of a unique, self-directed, and committed workforce. Thus, the paper discusses the potential of incorporating ecological aspects into HRM policy to create a green committed workforce and a gain green competitive advantage.

Overall, through the RBV lens, this paper asserts that GHRM improves competitive advantage by enhancing employee values, commitment, and knowledge. As stated by Zhu et al. [46], when employees have sufficient knowledge and green values, they may have a higher sense of belonging to the organization and maintain an optimistic attitude toward the establishment of the relationship between themselves and the organization. Thus, The RBV provides a more comprehensive framework for exploring the impact of GHRM on competitive advantage. In this context, GHRM is not limited to its direct effects on employee knowledge, commitment, and values. Its effects are more holistic as it contributes to transforming these assets into a green competitive advantage.

5. Theoretical and empirical implications

This study has a number of contributions for researchers and practitioners. From a theoretical perspective, the findings of this research make important contributions to the literature of GHRM and green competitive advantage. First, our study contributes to advancing the resource-based view while highlighting what causes green competitive advantage. Second, this study advances the GHRM-GCA link literature by considering the mediating effect of green knowledge, commitment, and values, yet to the best of our knowledge, no efforts have been made to study these three assets as mediators between GHRM and GCA. Thus, by applying the RBV to the GHRM-GCA link, we suggest that green commitment, values, and knowledge are critical resources that should be valued so that it becomes difficult for competing companies to imitate the firm’s environmental success.

From a practical perspective, through the conceptual model presented in this study, the researchers intended to provide a guide for companies, illustrating the potential impact of GHRM on GCA based on previous research. Therefore, companies can use GHRM as a strategy to create and improve environmentally conscious human resources and to gain a competitive advantage over competitors. Additionally, managers should also consider the crucial role of spreading green knowledge, values, and commitment with GHRM so that employees will have a deeply embedded green culture. To enhance employee green knowledge, commitment, and values, managers should play a part in developing green programs such as training, empowerment, compensation et performance appraisal to create a context in which employees are motivated and committed toward green programs. To conclude, this study adds to our knowledge of a new causal mechanism for how GHRM could be a source of green competitive advantage.

In conclusion, this study forms a strong grounding for enterprises to roll out GHRM and become competitive in the market while showing concern for the environment. We have presented a framework for GHRM-CGA link. Future research that explores this cohort would certainly be of value to enhance understanding in this area.

6. Limitations and future directions

Our research is conceptual in nature. Thus, one of its limitations is that it does not provide an empirical insight into the research model. However, the study presents several opportunities for empirical work. The model should be further explored in future research.

Furthermore, in developing this conceptual model, the researchers did not take into account all factors that may influence green competitive advantage. Instead, they focused on the most important assets.

Another limitation of the study is that this model may be limited to use in companies that have various GHRM practices. In contrast, in Morocco, GHRM practices are not implemented, which hinders the applicability of this model in countries where GHRM is still in its beginning. Thus, these countries may not be able to deploy the proposed framework.

Despite these limitations, the model provides a new starting point for investigating the importance of GHRM in cultivating employees’ knowledge, values, and commitment for competitive advantage. We encourage studies to test our proposed model in different countries. Undertaking this research would allow an empirical analysis of whether this conceptual model is applicable in different contexts or not. Finally, future research could investigate this research model in ISO 14001 certified companies or socially responsible companies, as these companies may have already implemented GHRM practices and may recognize its importance.