Green HRM,green innovation and environmental performance: The moderating role of servant leadership

1.1 Research gap

The link between green HRM and environmental performance is well established in the existing literature [11–13] but according to the study conducted by [14] the study in the field of green HRM that how it leads to environmental performance is not complete without considering its process [15] also emphasized the need for in-depth literature on the association between green HRM practices and its factors such as green human capital, interactions among green human resource management practices contributing to organizational performance, and green employee performance [14] emphasized the need to examine the alternative mediating mechanism to understand the association of green HRM and environmental performance and its dynamics. Further [16], showed the role of leadership in contributing to organizational outcomes positively by influencing attitudes and performance of an organization. Specifically, servant leadership has been recognized as one of the moderating factors influencing the relationship between green human resource management and environmental performance [17]. Servant leadership is self-sacrificing and more probably embeds a sense of interest in the community. Servant leadership pays attention to serving the community and green HRM and EP (environmental Performance) are related to the protection of the environment and society by preserving the environment. Thus, as per the view of [17], this becomes essential to study its moderating role in their relationship. Moreover, there are lack the studies examining the role of servant leadership in affecting environmental performance. The present research fills the gap by studying the mediating role of green innovation and moderation of servant leadership in their relationships.

2.1 Green HRM and environmental performance

Arulrajah [18] stated that GHRM refers to the techniques, programs, and processes that get fulfilled to reduce the negative effects on the organization. The green HRM method is regarded as one of the best methods to implement environmentally friendly programs, by training employees to have the capability to identify environmental issues in the organization [4]. Previous researchers have examined different indicators of environmental performance. For instance, the studies have focused on the environmental disclosure adequacy in financial reporting, which provides the information regarding exposure of the organization to green regulation and practices on environmental performance as discerned by [19, 20]. Another researcher [21], conducted research in the paper industry and employed profitability, systematic risk, total risk, price-earning ratio, and size to study or as indicators of environmental performance. His findings also indicated the significance of these variables with environmental performance. Moreover, the study in 1980 by [22] examined environmental performance by taking into account annual accounts of the corporation by looking at its environmental disclosure but their results reflected the insignificance of their relationship. The present research examined Green HRM as a strategic tool of management to increase environmental performance due to the view of [19], about the management strategy that is a key to exploring the interrelations between economic and environmental performance. Green values, beliefs, and awareness levels of the employees should be emphasized to encourage the green performance of the green enterprises. Standardization of GHRM obligations and objectives enhances the environmental performance of the enterprises. Various researchers have inspected the interrelation between GHRM and green performance. The results reflected that Green HRM enhances green consciousness, green innovation, green creativity, and green performance. Furthermore, organizations practicing green management systems i.e. GHRM officially, showed a high level of environmental performance. A recent survey on SMEs also indicated that green ability, motivation, and opportunity (GHRM) had a positive influence on sustainability. Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H1: Green human resource management has a positive influence on environmental performance

2.2 Green human resource management (GHRM) and green innovation

According to [23] green innovation is meant by developing eco-friendly processes and products through the adoption of practices of an organization such as the use of fewer and greener raw materials to design the products by following eco-design principles that intend to reduce carbon emission, reduce the consumption of electricity, water and other resources [24]. [25] deliberated that previous literature justifies green innovativeness as a key indicator of highly successful firms. These firms also have better overall performance in comparison to their rivals due to the leverage of green resources and abilities to act fast and according to the needs of the customers [25–27]. Several pieces of research suggested that human resource management has a positive and significant impact on product and technological innovation [28, 29]. As per the view of [28], HRM practices have focused on promoting a culture of commitment rather than compliance have a positive influence on companies’ innovation orientation. Moreover, Wei et al. 2011 proposed that strategic HRM has a positive impact on a firm’s product innovation, having a flat organizational structure and developmental culture. On the other hand [30], reviewed past literature on HRM-Innovation that HRM does not have much influence on administrative and product innovation as compared to technological and product innovation. Thus, past literature advocated the mixed results on the linkage between HRM and innovation in the firms. Therefore, the organization which values and leverages the abilities of its human talent will go to institutionalize Green HRM practices to attract, motivate and provide opportunities to green HR to leverage their abilities for green product and process innovation.

H2: Green human resource management has a positive influence on green innovation

H2 (a): Green human resource management has a positive influence on green product innovation

H2 (b): Green human resource management has a positive influence on green process innovation

2.3 Green innovation and environmental performance

Green innovation is concerned with the green management agenda of the enterprise, which enhances green performance. The negative impact on the environment is reduced significantly in the business through innovation in green products and processes. This also leads to an increase in the firm’s performance in terms of financial, social, and environmental through the reduction in waste and cost by saving time, money, and resources [31]. According to previous research, green performance is a positive influence by green innovation in the enterprise. As per the view of [32], environmental performance is related to initiatives of the organizations to meet and surpass the expectations of the society and natural environment [33] deliberated that, this environmental performance also goes over mere complying with the rules and regulations. It includes the effects of organizational products, processes, and consumption of resources on the environment in a way that also has optimum fit with environmental desires and requirements [33–35] were also of the view that the quality of eco-friendly products, green product, and process innovation, the introduction of environmental sustainability into business operations determine the environmental performance of the enterprise. The main results of the study conducted on the influence of green innovation and green suppliers on environmental performance revealed that product, process, and innovation in management have a significant and positive impact on the green performance of the enterprise. The study on SMEs also disclosed its positive influence on green performance. Hence, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H3: Green innovation has a positive influence on green or environmental performance.

H3 (a): Green product innovation has a positive influence on green or environmental performance.

H3 (b): Green process innovation has a positive influence on green or environmental performance.

2.4 Mediating role of green innovation

The practices of green Human resource management enhance environmental awareness of employees [4, 36] green creativity [37] and green performance of the organization [33, 37] Existing literature suggests that Green HRM influences green innovation (Chen and Chang; Zhou et al., 2018) and the green performance of the firm [38, 39]. But there are only a few studies conducted so needs more research especially when organizations experience great pressure from the key stakeholders to practice eco-friendly activities. Moreover, the studies from previous literature suggest that an organization should recruit potential employees by keeping in mind their environmental beliefs, values, and knowledge [4] to ensure that newly hired employees also appreciate and comprehend these beliefs and values as stated by [40]. likewise, green training and development, Green performance management, green compensation management stand out as core practices of HRM to positively influences a firm’s environmental performance [4, 41] were of the view that green training and development programs are designed to develop proficient skills and knowledge of employees for eco-friendly workplace analysis, waste management, recycling, and energy efficiency. Along with training and development, institutionalizing the performance management system, responsibilities, and eco-friendly objectives also increase environmental performance [42]. The existing studies [28, 42–44], suggest that bundles of human resource management practices influence product and process innovation, and administration. The negative impact on the environment is reduced significantly in the business through innovation in green product and process. This also leads to an increase in the firm’s performance in terms of financial, social, and environmental through the reduction in waste and cost by saving time, money, and resources [31]. Thus, we propose the following hypothesis

H4: Green Innovation plays a mediation role between green human resource management practice and environmental performance.

H4 (a) Green Product Innovation plays a mediation role between green human resource management practice and environmental performance.

H4 (b) Green Process Innovation plays a mediation role between green human resource management practice and environmental performance.

2.5 Moderating role of servant leadership

Leadership is defined as the art of motivating and influencing a group of persons to attain their common goal. Social influence is a driver of leadership rather than seniority or strict hierarchy. The researchers considered servant leadership as one of the most effective styles of leadership. The role of servant leadership is to serve the individuals rather than individuals attempting to serve the leader. The servant-leader aims to serve other individuals and ensure that the necessities of others are fulfilled [45]. As per servant-leadership philosophy, a servant leader depicts an altruistic personality for the followers and helps them to grow and learn by providing chances to experience and get better their spiritual and material condition [46]. The distinguishing feature of servant leaders is that they are caring and pay attention to the community in which they live. They are active in giving direction, support, and resources to their followers. In the area of green performance, these leaders augment the understanding of their followers concerning pro-environmental behavior by showing themself as role models of environmental values [47]. Abundant empirical research in the field of hospitality has scrutinized the positive influence of servant leadership on behavioral and attitudinal outcomes, like psychological empowerment [48], work engagement [49], organizational commitment [50], job satisfaction [51], service quality performance [52], organizational citizenship behavior [53]. employee creativity [48], and customer service performance [54]. In the field of Green HRM also expect that if it is implemented concerning servant leaders in the companies, will lead to a major increase in environmental performance. The moderating role of servant leadership in the relationship between GHRM and environmental performance and the mediating role of green innovation has not been examined to date to the best of our knowledge; however, existing literature [14, 56] have provided some empirical base or pieces of evidence that helped formulate a hypothesis based on the interaction between green human resource management and servant leadership.

H5: Servant leadership plays a moderating role between green human resource management and environmental performance.

3.1 Sample and procedure

Our sample population consists of the IT sector of India. Data were collected from IT sector employees that have more than 20 members and are located in the several geographic regions of India, specifically, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, and, Chandigarh. The majority of the respondents were from Bangalore and Delhi region due to the highly developed IT sector and which is also known as the IT hub. IT sector has been selected due to its ability to control global carbon emissions by 20% by 2030 which is balancing the Co2 emissions in 2015 (Global E-Sustainability initiative 2015 report, ‘SMARTer 2030’). Further, India is among the bottom 5 countries in terms of green scores (Yale and Columbia Universities report in collaboration with WEF, Economic Times).

3.2 Measuring instruments

The measuring or survey instrument was developed to collect the data on four major constructs, namely, the GHRM practices, Servant leadership, green innovation, and Environmental performance. 500 questionnaires were distributed to capture the data but received 328 valid responses representing a response rate of 65.6%. The benefit of collecting data through the survey method is due to its flexibility in covering a larger geographical region [73]. Forty-one of the participants were senior and middle-level managers and left were operational employees across the various functional departments. A 5-point Likert scale was used to measure each item of the factors under the survey, with a score from 5 to 1 (strongly disagree to strongly agree).

3.4 Data collection

Data were captured through both online and offline media. The questionnaire in the form of Google forms were sent online to employees of the IT sector through hyperlinks. About 250 questionnaires were sent through offline and online modes leading to 500 total invitations. 131 and 197 valid responses were received from both the modes respectively, yielding a return rate of 65.6% (328 responses). Left of 172 responses was not received or were invalid and discarded. The probability of potential biasness was also controlled by sending a maximum invitation of 10 questionnaires to single company employees.

5.1 Description of data

Table 1 shows the demographic details of the respondents’. Our sample population is heterogeneous, consisting of participants who varied in age, qualification, income, job role, and organizational department (see Table 1).

Table 1 reflects that most of the respondents belong to the age category of 31–35 i.e 35.6%. 64% of the participants were males. Although we considered age and gender while capturing the data, we did not use this information for analysis because the main aim of the research is to examine the relationship between green human resource management practices, servant leadership, and green innovation on environmental performance. Qualification of the respondents shows the awareness of green operations and the ability to adapt green HRM practices in different departments and at various levels irrespective of any gender or age. More than half of the respondents (57.3%) were graduates and only 6.7% belonged to the above post-graduation or super specialization. The majority of the participants (33.23% and 26.21%) were from HR and customer service departments and 59% of the survey respondents were operational employees.

Table no.2 reflected the descriptive analysis of the sample ie. Mean and standard deviation. Correlation analysis was also done for checking the inter-relation among the variables before processing to the measurement model. The results in the above table (see Table 2) shows that GHRM has positive and significant relation with green innovation (r = 0.434, p < 0.01), Servant leadership (r = 0.242, p < 0.01), and environmental performance (r = 0.359, p < 0.01). All the four variables are found to be significantly associated in the expected direction, therefore, providing fundamental support to the proposed hypothesis. Normality of data was also checked using Skewness and kurtosis [65]. The resultant values of skewness and kurtosis were found to be lying within the specified range of –1.5 and +1.5 [66]. Reflecting on the normality of data. Besides this, outcomes of the t-test and one-way ANOVA showed no significant difference in terms of age, gender, and organizational level but the results revealed significant variations in terms of qualification, work experience, and organizational departments. Thus, these variables are controlled to move for further analysis.

The four-factors model was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis(CFA) and reflected goodness of fit of data with chi-square/df = 983.226/359 = 2.739 < 3 [67], p < 0.01, GFI = 0.832 > 0.80 [68], CFI–0.92 > 0.9 [67], TLI = 0.91 > 0.90 [69, 70], RMSEA = 0.073 < 0.08 [71].

After examining the reliability and validity of the variables, the proposed or conceptual model was put for SEM analysis. The outcomes or results of direct effects using standardized path coefficients are reflected in Table 6.

The results of SEM analysis (Table 6) show that Green human resource management has a positive and significant effect on Environmental performance (EP). Thus, supported hypothesis 1(H1) (CR = 2.963, p-value < 0.01). Similarly, hypotheses 2(a), and 2(b) also estimated a positive and significant relationship between GHRM and product innovation (CR = 7.668, p-value < 0.01 and GHRM and process innovation (CR = 6.850, p-value < 0.01). Further, Product innovation (CR = 3.154, p-value < 0.01) and process innovation (CR = 8.595, p-value < 0.01) were also significantly positively associated with environmental performance. Therefore, provide support to hypotheses 3(a), 3(b), and hypotheses 2(a), 2(b).

Table 7 depicts the moderating effect of servant leadership on the relationship between green human resource management and environmental performance in the existence of mediating role of green innovation (product innovation and process innovation). It is discerned from the table that green human resource management through the mediating role of green innovation in the form of product innovation and process innovation also significantly and positively affects environmental performance. But the positive effect of green human resource management on the environment is reduced after the inclusion of green product and process innovation as a mediator. Moreover, to examine whether the mediation is full or partial, the direct influence of GHRM on EP is checked. It can be seen from Table 7 that the effect (β= 0.1539, t = 2.97 with p-value < 0.01) is significant. Thus, there is the existence of partial mediation of green innovation (product and process). So, it is interpreted that green human resource management serves as a predictor of environmental performance regardless of the presence or absence of green innovation as a mediator. Therefore, hypothesis 4(a) and hypothesis 4(b) are partially supported. Further on examining the moderating role of servant leadership, it was found that servant leadership moderates the nexus between green human resource management and environmental performance thereby supporting hypothesis 5. The conditional effect of servant leadership was also examined. On probing the conditional effect in Table 8, it is depicted that the effect of servant leadership varies with its degree. The effect is more significant (β= 0.2302, t = 3.7914, p < 0.01) in the case of servant leadership at a high degree (above mean) on the other hand the effect of servant leadership is less and insignificant (β= 0.0755, t = 1.1504, p > 0.01) in case of low degree i.e below mean.

The study provides a significant contribution to the existing literature on Green HRM and specifically in the IT sector. First, the importance of the present research lies in its focus on the environment and its protection which is a hot topic for the economy of every developing country. The research contributes to advancing the AMO theory to explain the reason for green innovation (product and process) and environmental performance. The firm should shape its green human resource management system to encourage green innovation and ultimately positive environmental performance. GHRM practices are crucial for attracting, motivating, and bringing innovative ideas for green innovation and promotion of green performance. The employees of the firm should be aware of green HRM practices to take the advantage of its implementation of competitive advantage and better service [14] emphasized the need to examine the alternative mediating mechanism to understand the association of green HRM and environmental performance and its dynamics. The research provides the essential understanding and fills the research gap in the sense that GHRM is a key predictor of green innovation to prompt employees’ proactive eco-friendly behavior. The research also suggests the key role of servant leadership in encouraging the development of green attitudes by recognizing the green abilities of employees. Servant leadership helps to motivate employees to show their tendencies regarding pro-environmental activities and engage in eco-friendly behavior beyond their work duties. There is a need for a specific type of servant leadership quality to develop a green attitude to achieve significant results and necessary job outcomes. Overall by examining the role of green human resource management, green innovation, and servant leadership in shaping environmental protection behavior leading to its positive performance in the IT sector of India, the study provides empirical evidence which has rarely been studied in the existing literature.

6.2 Practical implications

The research provides important practical implications for policymakers, researchers, experts, and practitioners. The IT sector plays an important role in the protection of the environment, through automation and digitization, which is a global challenge for the economy of almost every developing country. It is believed that large industries rather than small ones play an essential role in environmental sustainability. Thus, the large industries need to upgrade their system to GHRM for embedding green values, culture, and attitudes in the organization. This could stimulate the behavior of environmental protection among the employees. Hiring the employees with environmental consciousness, training, and rewarding them for the promotion of an environmentally friendly culture promotes green innovation. These practices ensure that behavior is embedded in the habits of employees for the responsible initiatives to protect the environment that results in positive environmental performance, which is a global need. Further Servant leadership is self-sacrificing and more probably embeds a sense of interest in the community. The research is helpful to the managers in making policies for the protection and preservation of the environment by considering the interest of the society also through the servant leadership.