Green human resource management: a comprehensive review and future research agenda

Abstract

Purpose

Green human resource management (GHRM), seen as a current research trend, plays an important role in organizations’ sustainable development strategies. However, there is still a research gap in the systematization and integration of the available GHRM-related knowledge to suggest detailed future directions. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic literature review on GHRM aimed at proposing detailed research gaps and agendas for future study.

Design/methodology/approach

First, this work reviews 74 articles, including 61 research/empirical articles and 13 review articles, linked with the GHRM field from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. These publications are then coded and classified into ten categories before the main findings linked with GHRM knowledge are identified. Last, the study addresses existing research gaps and proposes detailed recommendations and a research framework for further studies.

Findings

Analysis of the relevant literature is presented in the following main sections: an overview that illustrates the existing findings related to GHRM coded and classified; a description that stresses research gaps and proposes in detail 16 recommendations; and a research framework that focuses on GHRM for a future research agenda.

Originality/value

This review is important for researchers orient the research in GHRM by identifying research gaps and providing detailed recommendations. It is the first work that proposes a full research framework for future studies, especially suggestions of development related to green behavior outside of organizations, the circular economy, and technology based perspectives/Industry 4.0.

Citation

Pham, N.T., Hoang, H.T. and Phan, Q.P.T. (2020), "Green human resource management: a comprehensive review and future research agenda", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 41 No. 7, pp. 845-878. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-07-2019-0350