Organizations must go beyond technical fixes and adopt environmentally responsible beliefs, values, and norms to be sustainable and enforce green organizational culture. A framework with a holistic approach to comprehend the complex model is developed in this study. After a detailed review of existing literature, a model is drawn to understand the effects of green organizational culture on green employee behavior and green human capital. Its validity was examined by the quantitative method. Hypotheses were drawn from the framework and were tested for empirical evidence in the agri-inputs industry of Pakistan. The purposive sampling technique was used to draw the magnitude sample from which primary data was collected using a questionnaire survey. Structural equation modeling was applied for hypothesis testing. Results show that green organizational culture is related to green employee behavior with mediating effects of internal environmental orientation, employee value orientation, and green psychological climate. Islamic work ethics has a positive effect on internal environmental orientation. Green human resource management influences green employee behavior. And green employee behavior positively affects green human capital through synergistic improvements. The findings reveal that eudaemonic well-being is achieved by employees from such a culture. It provides insights to researchers, practitioners, and policymakers of the agri-inputs companies and industry overall.
Research Article
Reinforcing Green Organizational Culture to Sustain Green Human Capital: Innovative Way for Agri-Inputs Industry
https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1963428/v1
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License
Version 1
posted
You are reading this latest preprint version
Green organizational culture
Islamic work ethics
internal environmental orientation
employee value orientation
green psychological climate
green employee behavior
green human resource management
green human capital
Rapid global warming and increasing pollution are rationalized as a serious environmental threat calling organizations to become environment friendly (Baron, 1986; Begg et al., 2018; Kolk & Pinkse, 2005). The causal factors, effects, and possible solutions of the environmental challenges cut across every economic sector. Industries have a major contribution to exacerbate environmental degradation (Dunn, 2002), and it has a very complex interrelationship with environmental change (Hardy, 2003). The consensus among governments and scientists is increasing regarding climate change potential impacts (Kodua et al., 2022). There is an increased recognition and varying pressure from stakeholders in different countries to become environment friendly (Dunn, 2002). Industries have started to integrate environment friendly practices to avoid impact on climate that goes beyond merely including content and terms in advertising and promotion terms like recycled, reusable, healthy, green, sustainable, and eco-friendly.
Green organizational culture is a shared belief towards the environment, ecological-friendly style of (co)production shared by majority organizational members (Liu & Lin, 2020). A knowledge gap exists due to unclear guidance for businesses to have green organizational culture, green employee behavior, and green human capital as a part of green intellectual capital (Harris & Crane, 2002; Jeswani et al., 2008; Küçükoğlu & Pınar, 2015; Ratnamiasih et al., 2022). Green organizational culture can be adopted by organizations to address rising concerns of stakeholders for pro-environmental employee behavior (Pham et al., 2022) and ultimately green human capital in organizations (Howard-Grenville, 2006; Marshall et al., 2015; Parr, 2012), however, it lacks empirical evidence and causal directionality is unclear.
This study explores the reinforcement of green employee practices as a doorstep for green human capital. An effort is made to map the complexity and intricacy of important aspects of greening attempts at organizational level. Following research questions are answered:
- How companies can deliver value by adopting green notion in soft attributes of business i.e., culture and human capital.
- How green agenda is translated throughout the company by signaling environmental activism in company’s discourse ultimately effecting workers’ disposition.
The traditional view of environmental apprehension was that it negatively affects organizational performance which changed in the twenty-first century (Imran & Jingzu, 2022), and environmental consciousness in organizations is considered a proactive approach (Mandip, 2012). Green organizational culture has environmental and economic benefits including resource-based perspective (Russo & Fouts, 1997) and strategic fit perspective (Peattie, 1995). Culture is approved and reinforced by employees of organizations and appears to modify employee behaviors. However, unfortunately human behavior is often accounted as a major contributor to the environmental issues such as pollution, climate change, and biodiversity decline. To address the environmentally irresponsible behavior of workers it is important to understand antecedents and their effect pattern through literature.
Green organizational culture (GOC) is defined as a symbolic context of environmental protection and environmental management in which interpretations guide processes of members’ sense-making, guide behaviors, and set of norms and values to describe how the organization perceives the environmental variable (Azzone et al., 1997; Jo & Schultz, 1997). Its values include environmental considerations to be shared throughout the organization and the value chain (Shrivastava, 1995), moderating economic goals (Stead & Stead, 1992), adopting spirituality, morality, and futurity (Stead & Stead, 1992), intrinsic valuation, and respect for the environment (Shrivastava, 1994). Existing cultures in organizations shape the process of greening by supporting green values and institutionalizing them (Ahmad, 2015; Fernández et al., 2003). Denison and Mishra (1995) developed an organizational culture model based on four dimensions adapted in this study as green involvement, green consistency, green adaptability, green mission.
There is growing evidence that organizations can influence employee behaviors by organizational culture having pro-environmental communication. Therefore, environmental communication can change the culture and visibility of environmental infrastructure (Onkila, 2015; Raineri & Paillé, 2016). There is a need of such an organizational culture which is developed by all discourse from management. Since cultures are pervasive and reinforced as a result of constitutionalized practices, therefore it lasts longer and practiced frequently by becoming a norm. Tahir et al. (2020) suggested that the organizational environment should be encouraging employees to perform pro-environment (Küçükoğlu & Pınar, 2015) and pro-social activities beyond their interests (Ramus & Killmer, 2007). Organizational culture can foster such a pro-environment contribution by employees. According to Tudor et al. (2008), there is little evidence of a relationship between organizational culture influencing the employees’ perception and enforcing socially accepted norms and behavior. We can investigate it to understand empirical existence of such an effect and its pattern. In this study, the effect of green organizational culture on green employee behavior are examined hence hypothesized as follows:
H1: Green organizational culture positively affects green employee behavior.
Internal environmental orientation (IEO) is the firm’s level of commitment to ethical standards and internal values for environment-friendly organizational culture to protect the environment (Baker & Sinkula 2005). Setting environment-friendly organizational policies and procedures, elaborating sustainability reports and employee environmental trainings are included in the common manifestation of internal environmental orientation (Chan & Ma, 2016). The importance of environmental orientation has been recognized, however pattern of its effects on green performance remains unclear (Zhou et al., 2020). Research on the cross-level effects of organizational-level determinants on workers’ environmental behaviors is scant. Internal environmental orientation by organization seems to effect GEB as organizational internal environmental orientation is found to bring recycling behavior by employees (Salvador & Burciaga, 2020). Therefore, the mediating role of IEO affecting the relationship of GOC and GEB is examined in this study. Hypothesis are developed by using Baron and Kenny (1986) approach for mediation. Hence, it is investigated in three steps which are as follows.
H2a: Green organizational culture is positively related to internal environmental orientation.
H2b: Internal environmental orientation is positively related to green employee behavior.
H2c: Internal environmental orientation mediates the relationship of green organizational culture and green employee behavior.
The supplies-values fit theory posits the congruency between personal and organizational environmental values with green employee behavior (GEB) and attitude (Edwards & Shipp, 2007; Edwards, 1996). Moreover, in accordance with value-basis theory, Schultz (2001) has categorized three clusters of environmental concerns bringing equilibrium in decision making process and environmental behavior which includes egoistic, altruistic, and biosphere environmental concerns. According to Groot and Steg (2008), bio-spheric value is related to the underlying person’s consideration of the earth’s environment while making a decision. Altruistic value is related to the impact of a human decision on other people in relation to that environment. Egoistic value involves factors and their aspects related to the decision-making process which might affect the individual’s self-interest when environmental interests are at stake (Schultz, 2000, 2001; Schultz et al., 2005). This explains that one needs to feel psychologically connected to the natural world, i.e., to have positive emotional bonds with nature to show green behavior. The mediating effect of employee value orientations (EVO) on the relationship of GOC and GEB is investigated using Baron and Kenny (1986) approach. Hence, this hypothesis is also investigated in three steps,
H3a: Green organizational culture is positively related to employee value orientation.
H3b: Employee value orientation is positively related to green employee behavior.
H3c: Employee value orientation mediates the relationship of green organizational culture and green employee behavior.
The organizational climate is defined as shared perceptions of employees about their work environment, formal policies, and procedures which translates these policies to tacit guidelines and practices (Ashkanasy et al., 2010; Kuenzi & Schminke, 2009). The green psychological climate (GPC) is defined as employee’s perception of organizational environment-related policies, processes, and practices which are reflected in organizational green values (Dumont et al., 2017; Kuenzi & Schminke, 2009). The research found that organizational climate has a statistically significant effect on employee behavior (Kuenzi & Schminke, 2009; Norton et al., 2014). Perception of work climate reflects value-based schemas of employees, which are used for interpreting workplace information (James et al., 2008), including espoused values and behavior norms (Schneider & Reichers, 1983). In this study mediating role of GPC on the relationship of GOC and GEB is analyzed. It is also investigated in three steps (Baron & Kenny, 1986), which are as follows:
H4a: Green organizational culture is positively related to a green psychological climate.
H4b: Green psychological climate is positively related to green employee behavior.
H4c: Green psychological climate mediates the relationship of green organizational culture and green employee behavior.
The Holy Quran and the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) are the sources of derivation of Islamic work ethics (Yousef, 2001). IWE is “a set of moral principles that distinguish right from wrong and good from bad based on Islamic Principles” (Abuznaid, 2009). The Holy Quran asks humanity to consciously remain aware of all animal and plant life, and to respect ecosystems accordingly. Thus, “[t]here is a due measure (qadr) to things, a balance (mizan) in the cosmos, and humanity is transcendentally committed not to disturb or violate this measure (qadr) and balance (mızan)” (Quran 50:6-11). The person will be charged according to common law for the damage, including pollution, caused by him to the land (private or subjects to endowments or trusts (awqaf) or government-owned) (Dutton, 1992). The Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) provides evidence that he forbade his followers from polluting stagnant water, rivers, areas used as shades and roads (Al-Qazwini, 2007). Religious environmentalism has a crucial and unique contribution towards environmentalism; it challenges society to respond to the ecological and environmental crises (Sachs, 2015). It can be inferred that having internal environmental orientation is the responsibility of businesses according to Islamic work ethics. Therefore, the Islamic work ethics (IWE) is expected to be positively related to IEO:
H5: Islamic work ethics are positively related to internal environmental orientation
Organizations need clearly defined green responsibilities with job design, performance appraisal, and rewards for green employee behavior and green involvement in green activities (Yong et al., 2019). GHRM is found to be significantly related to green employee behavior (Burke et al., 2002; Schneider et al., 2013; Wright et al., 2001). It’s benefits include increasing employee retention rate, develop and inculcate skills & competencies in employees, improving the public image, attracting competent employees, sustainability and productivity, becoming pro-environment, enhanced organization’s competitiveness and overall performance (Cherian & Jacob, 2012).
Green human resource management (GHRM) functions include Green Job Analysis and Green Job Description (Crosbie & Knight, 1995; Renwick et al., 2013; Revill, 2000; Wehrmeyer, 1996), green hiring and recruitment (Harvey et al., 2010), green selection (Wehrmeyer, 1996), green training (Daily & Huang, 2001; Jabbour et al., 2013; Teixeira et al., 2012), green performance assessment (Del Brío et al., 2007), green rewards and appraisal systems (Teixeira et al., 2012), are studied in this research. Therefore, the following hypothesis is investigated,
H6: Green human resource management is positively related to green employee behavior.
Stewart and Stephanie (1994) have defined intellectual capital as the total stock of information, knowledge, intellectual property right, technologies, organizational learning, experience, customer relations, competence, team communication systems, and brands that are capable of value creation for a company (Ma et al., 2021). Green intellectual capital was introduced by Chen (2008), and he studied the effect on the competitive advantages of a firm. He found that green intellectual capital has three types, including green human capital, green relational capital, and green structural capital. All of them were found to have a positive effect on the competitive advantages of firms and meet consumer environmental consciousness challenges (Edvinsson & Malone, 1997; Roos & Roos, 1997). Human capital is defined as the total of employees’ knowledge, innovation, skills, and capabilities to achieve goals (Sackmann et al., 1989). Green employee behavior as an individual's propensity and disposition to engage environmental activism is expected to create green human capital in company through synergistic effect. Hence following hypothesis is tested:
H7: Green employee behavior is positively related to green human capital.
Based on the literature review, the following hypotheses were developed:
We collected data from low and middle level employees of 5 fertilizer and 5 insecticide companies located in the province of Punjab in Pakistan through purposive sampling technique. A total of 800 questionnaires were distributed, and 520 filled questionnaires were received, which were useable with a response rate of 65%. The data collection was divided into two sections where half of the respondents were selected from fertilizer companies and half from insecticidal companies. The sample size was determined by the following formula as suggested by Thornhill et al. (2009) and Fisher et al. (1991): n= z2 pq/e2= 1.962*50*50)/52, n= 384.
The data was collected using the following scales:
Table 3.1. Measures
|
Scale/ Indicator |
Code |
No. of items |
Source |
|
Green Organizational Culture |
GOC |
9 |
Denison and Mishra (1995) |
|
Internal Environmental Orientation |
IEO |
4 |
Banerjee et al. (2003) |
|
Employee Value Orientation |
EVO |
9 |
Stern et al. (1993) |
|
Green Psychological Climate |
GPC |
8 |
Norton et al. (2014) |
|
Green Employee Behaviour |
GEB |
3 |
Bissing‐Olson et al. (2013) |
|
Green Human Resource Management |
GHRM |
15 |
Jose (2011) |
|
Islamic Work Ethics |
IWE |
17 |
Ali and Al-Owaihan (2008) |
|
Green Human Capital |
GHC |
5 |
(Bontis, 2000; Edvinsson & Malone, 1997; Johnson, 1999; Roos & Roos, 1997; Stewart & Stephanie, 1994) |
3.1 Pilot testing and SEM overview
A pilot study was conducted on a sample size of 80 based on the criteria defined by Baker (1994) that the sample size to conduct a pilot study should be at least 10% of the actual sample size of the study that was expected to be 800. Mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis revealed that data was normally distributed. When the sample size is more than 200, the effects of skewness and kurtosis disappear without affecting the data (Kim, 2013).
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) as recommended by Hinkin (1998) was used to examine construct validity. Necessary changes were made based om CFA result and structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied. The SEM was done as recommended by Arnold and Reynolds (2003) and Anderson and Gerbing (1988) on SmartPLS 3 software and results are drawn from it.
The majority of respondents were males (70.6%) aged between 20 to 29 years (78.5%), master’s degree holder (29.4%), held experience of 5 to 10 years (37.7%) and 98.7% were Muslims.
Table 4.1. Descriptive analysis, construct reliability and validity
|
Variable |
Total Items |
Mean |
Std. Deviation |
Skewness |
Kurtosis |
Reliability |
Composite Reliability |
AVE |
|
GOC |
9 |
5.12 |
1.31 |
-0.971 |
0.276 |
0.90 |
0.920 |
0.562 |
|
IEO |
4 |
4.27 |
1.79 |
-0.224 |
-1.423 |
0.93 |
0.952 |
0.833 |
|
EVO |
9 |
3.31 |
1.21 |
-816 |
0.145 |
0.86 |
0.906 |
0.554 |
|
GPC |
8 |
2.55 |
1.15 |
1.457 |
1.306 |
0.94 |
0.952 |
0.713 |
|
IWE |
17 |
4.04 |
0.99 |
-0.481 |
-0.492 |
0.91 |
0.887 |
0.502 |
|
GHRM |
15 |
4.48 |
1.21 |
-0.652 |
0.172 |
0.96 |
0.967 |
0.660 |
|
GEB |
3 |
3.71 |
1.84 |
0.122 |
-1.526 |
0.94 |
0.960 |
0.889 |
|
GHC |
5 |
4.56 |
1.7 |
-0.431 |
-1.315 |
0.95 |
0.960 |
0.828 |
Harman’s single factor test (Harman, 1967) was used to examine common method variance (CMV). EFA was applied with maximum likelihood estimation and no rotation solution. The variance explained by a single factor was 15.859%, which is less than the 49% threshold limit (Podsakoff et al., 2003); therefore, it shows there was no CMV problem in data.
4.1. Structural equation modeling
4.1.1. Step #1: Assessment of measurement model
Measurement loadings were observed to examine individual item reliability. These are the standardized path weights that connect an indicator variable to its factors. Since data standardization occurs in SmartPLS 3 automatically, therefore, loadings varied from 0 to 1. Following the threshold of 0.5 as a criterion (Hair Jr et al., 2016), IWE factor numbers 1, 2, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 were deleted due to factor loadings less than 0.5. Deleting these items improved the composite reliability of variables. The remaining factors were retained due to high factor loadings (more than 0.5).
Reliability was measured using both the Cronbach alpha (0.7 and above) and composite reliability. Both had values in the acceptable ranges. The acceptance criteria for composite reliability is the same as of Cronbach alpha (Henseler et al., 2012).
The threshold for AVE (Average Variance Extracted) to examine convergent validity is >0.5, as well as greater than the cross-loadings showing those factors should explain more than half at least of their representative indicators (Chin, 1998; Hock & Ringle, 2010). It was used to test both, i.e., convergent and divergent validities. AVE represents the average commonality for every latent factor in the reflective model. AVE below the threshold of 0.5 means the explained variance is less than the error variance.
Table 4.2. Discriminant validity by Fornell Larcker
|
Variable |
EVO |
GEB |
GHC |
GHRM |
GOC |
GPC |
IEO |
IWE |
|
EVO |
0.744 |
|||||||
|
GEB |
0.541 |
0.943 |
||||||
|
GHC |
0.064 |
0.239 |
0.91 |
|||||
|
GHRM |
0.142 |
0.382 |
0.447 |
0.812 |
||||
|
GOC |
0.164 |
0.248 |
0.12 |
0.104 |
0.75 |
|||
|
GPC |
0.071 |
0.156 |
0.038 |
0.05 |
0.118 |
0.844 |
||
|
IEO |
0.144 |
0.233 |
0.164 |
0.136 |
0.155 |
0.069 |
0.913 |
|
|
IWE |
0.194 |
0.3 |
0.304 |
0.152 |
0.153 |
0.006 |
0.265 |
0.709 |
Discriminant validity was assessed by cross loadings and Fornell Larcker criteria. No indicator had a higher correlation with other variables than its own variable, therefore, the model was specified appropriately. Results of cross-loadings showed that all the factors established the discriminant validity. Fornell Larcker criteria was further used to assess discriminant validity where diagonal values of variance shared by an indicator in the columns were checked to be greater on their own constructs than for other constructs. It has shown that the square root of AVE, which appear in the diagonal cells should be higher than the correlations appearing below with other constructs (see Table 4.2).
4.1.2. Step #2: Assessment of structure model
Bootstrapping was applied with sub-sample setting of 5000 as recommended by Garson (2016) for confirmatory purposes. It calculated path coefficients, outer loadings (reflective model), outer weights (formative model), indirect effects (for indirect relations among latent variables), and total effects. The usual cutoff for the level of significance is 0.05, therefore, this threshold was used in the current study. All t-values more than 1.96 were significant at 0.05.
The GEB is an endogenous variable and tts R square was 0.424 showing that 42.4% of the variance was explained by the model (i.e., direct and indirect effects). R square for IEO was 0.084, R square for EVO was 0.027, R square for GPC was 0.014, R square for GHC was 0.067.
All the path coefficients in our framework were positive indicating that all the relationships were positive (see Figure 4.2). These weights were also found significant (using bootstrapping) and thus all the hypotheses were accepted.
Table 4.3. SEM results of direct paths
|
Variable Relations |
β |
T- Value |
R2 |
P Value |
|
GOC à GEB |
0.250 |
6.745 |
0.062** |
0.000 |
|
GOC à IEO |
0.175 |
5.130 |
0.031** |
0.000 |
|
GOC à EVO |
0.180 |
6.027 |
0.033** |
0.000 |
|
GOC à GPC |
0.130 |
3.234 |
0.017** |
0.001 |
|
IWE à IEO |
0.253 |
8.723 |
0.064** |
0.000 |
|
GHRM à GEB |
0.382 |
11.851 |
0.146** |
0.000 |
|
GEB à GHC |
0.240 |
5.742 |
0.057** |
0.000 |
|
IEO à GEB |
0.234 |
5.658 |
0.055** |
0.000 |
|
EVO à GEB |
0.541 |
19.510 |
0.293** |
0.000 |
|
GPC à GEB |
0.160 |
4.292 |
0.026** |
0.000 |
The Table 4.3 shows the results of direct effects in the investigated framework. Results were found statistically significant, and all path coefficients had values in positive integers showing positive effects.
Table 4.4. SEM results of indirect paths (mediation)
|
Indirect Relation |
Direct Relation |
Direct Effects |
P Value |
T Statistics |
R Square |
Indirect Effects |
T Statistics |
P Value |
|
GOC à IEO à GEB |
GOC à IEO |
0.157 |
0 |
5.534 |
0.101 |
0.097 |
2.73 |
0.006 |
|
IEO à GEB |
0.199 |
0 |
3.569 |
|||||
|
GOC à GEB |
0.217 |
0 |
4.75 |
|||||
|
GOC à EVO à GEB |
GOC à EVO |
0.168 |
0 |
4.573 |
0.319 |
0.316 |
4.366 |
0 |
|
EVO à GEB |
0.514 |
0 |
17.989 |
|||||
|
GOC à GEB |
0.164 |
0 |
4.487 |
|||||
|
GOC à GPC à GEB |
GOC à GPC |
0.118 |
0.006 |
2.728 |
0.078 |
0.074 |
2.218 |
0.027 |
|
GPC à GEB |
0.13 |
0.002 |
3.133 |
|||||
|
GOC à GEB |
0.232 |
0 |
6.136 |
The Table 4.4 depicts indirect effects focused in the framework. It was found that P-values remained significant after introducing mediators and R square values increased. It was interpreted as partial mediation effect in the evaluated linkages for mediation effects.
Hypothesis testing was done using PLS technique on the sample of 520, and all hypotheses were accepted statistically. Hypothesis 1 was aimed at examining the connectedness of green organizational culture and green employee behavior. Results revealed that they have a positive cause-effect association confirming the findings of Cho et al. (2013). This hypothesis also answered the question raised by prior research of Norton et al. (2015) that how organizations can embed green employee behavior in their culture.
Hypothesis 2a examined the role of green organizational culture in affecting internal environmental orientation. Results revealed that they are positively related. Therefore, hypothesis 2a is accepted. It confirmed the findings of Halmaghi et al. (2017). Hypothesis 2b examined the role of internal environmental orientation in green employee behavior and it was accepted confirming the findings of Salvador and Burciaga (2019). Results of mediation were interpreted in Hypothesis 2c by observing the change in P-value (Baron & Kenny, 1986), results showed partial mediation of internal environmental orientation.
Hypothesis 3a inspected the effect of green organizational culture on employee value orientation. Results demonstrated that they are positively related. Management can affect employee value orientation with the help of green organizational culture. Hypothesis 3b examined the effect of employee value orientation on green employee behavior. The results revealed that they are positively and directly linked. Results of Hypothesis 3c confirmed partial mediation of employee value orientation by the change in P-value (Baron & Kenny, 1986).
Hypothesis 4a inspected the effect of green organizational culture on green psychological climate. Results show that they have a significant positive relationship. Hence, hypothesis 4a was accepted. Hypothesis 4b was aimed at investigating the relationship of green psychological climate with green employee behavior. Results showed that relationship of green psychological climate leads positively to green employee behavior. It was consistent with the findings of James et al. (2008). However, these results were contrary to the findings of Norton et al. (2017) who found that green psychological climate was not significantly related to next day green employee behavior. We argue that this behavior change is noticed over time and not right next day. Results of Hypothesis 4c found partial mediation of green psychological climate.
Hypothesis 5 was aimed at examining the effect of Islamic work ethics on internal environmental orientation. The results revealed that they are positively related confirming Hanbali’s interpretation of Al-Quran, 50:6-11, and Masri (2016), i.e., internal environmental orientation are related to Islamic work ethics.
Hypothesis 6 was aimed at examining the effect of green human resource management on green employee behavior. We found that they were positively related supporting Dumont et al. (2017) findings that green employee behavior at the workplace is affected and stabilized by green human resource management.
Hypothesis 7 was aimed at examining the effect of employee green behavior on green human capital. Results revealed that they are positively related confirming the possibility observed by Ali et al. (2018).
5.1. Implications
The industry-specific framework was developed and tested in this study by extending the literature through empirical testing. Therefore, an empirical support and evidence is now available for GOC to meet both legislative and normative requirements to remain socially and legally acceptable. This study serves as a guideline for managers to introduce green organizational culture to have green human capital as a part of their green intellectual capital. Since organizational culture was studied, which is inclusive of many factors and keeps evolving, therefore, this study highlighted several such factors that reinforce green organizational culture and foster green employee behavior directly and indirectly. The study bridges the literature gap in I-O psychology and environmental sciences and therefore has a noteworthy contribution to both disciplines. It also verified pre-existing theories in new contexts and point in time.
5.2. Limitations and future research directions
These results should be considered within the context of various limitations. It is difficult to address all aspects of any construct in a single study and there are limitations of every technique and method (McGrath et al., 2010). We used purposive sampling technique that makes the findings hard to generalize and are more relevant for the agri-inputs industry of Pakistan. Unfortunately, due to budget and time constraints population was geographically divided into sub-locations. Data was collected from companies located in the vicinity of the province of Punjab. Data was collected from fertilizer and insecticide companies only. Self-report items of green employee behavior were used which induce chance of biasness in data and results, therefore, future research can explore further detail. More comprehensive range of psychological aspects like green employee attitude and green employee norms should be examined for their interplay with green behavior. In future other green human resource management functions can be assessed for their effects. Moreover, other religious work ethics can also be examined.
The current research broadly supports the contention that maintaining green culture brings psychological connectedness between organization and workers and enhances their propensity to behave in a green manner. Findings supported prior theory and research including Theory Z, Signaling Theory, and Value-Belief-Norm Theory by the statistical results. Results of the study supported the fact that employee involvement depicts environmental performance goals set by organizations as environmental activism. It helps to have supportive and conscious workers when the organization is actively involved in environmental protection (Del Brío, Fernandez, & Junquera, 2007). Mediation of internal environmental orientation and employee value orientation is also supported in accordance with value-basis theory for environmental attitudes by Stern and Dietz (1994), and the arguments of Schultz (2000) and Schultz (2001) about environmental concerns. Findings also confirm the mediation of green psychological climate i.e., employees analyze and interpret organizational policies & practices, and form their own perception of the organization and organizational values to behave accordingly (Kaya, Koc, & Topcu, 2010; Nishii, Lepak, & Schneider, 2008). The confirmation of the Islamic work ethics supports the arguments of Kula (2014). It is concluded that green human resource management affects green employee behavior at the workplace in a positive way (Dumont et al., 2017). Green employee behavior has a significant positive relationship with green human capital confirming findings of Schwenk and Möser (2009) and Chen and Chang (2013).
- Abuznaid, S. A. (2009). Business ethics in Islam: the glaring gap in practice. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 2(4), 278–288.
- Ahmad, S. (2015). Green human resource management: Policies and practices. Cogent Business & Management, 2(1), 1030817.
- Al-Qazwini, I. M. B. Y. (2007). English Translation of Sunan Ibn Majah. Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Maktaba Dar-us-Salam.
- Ali, A. J., Abdullah, A. G. K., & Al Amin Mydin, A. S. (2018). Greening of Malaysian School Human Resource Management by Green Intellectual Capital and Healthy Organization. Advances in Natural and Applied Sciences, 12(3), 46–50.
- Ali, A. J., & Al-Owaihan, A. (2008). Islamic work ethic: a critical review. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 15(1), 5–19.
- Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411.
- Arnold, M. J., & Reynolds, K. E. (2003). Hedonic shopping motivations. Journal of Retailing, 79(2), 77–95.
- Ashkanasy, N., Wilderom, C. P., & Peterson, M. (2010). Introduction to the handbook of culture and climate. In The Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate (pp. 3–10). SAGE.
- Azzone, G., Bianchi, R., Mauri, R., & Noci, G. (1997). Defining operating environmental strategies: programmes and plans within Italian industries. Environmental Management and Health, 8(1), 4–19.
- Baker, T. (1994). Doing Social Research. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc.
- Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A.. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of personality and social psychology, 51(6), 1173.
- Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173.
- Begg, K., Van der Woerd, F., & Levy, D. (2018). The business of climate change: Corporate responses to Kyoto. Routledge.
- Bissing-Olson, M. J., Iyer, A., Fielding, K. S., & Zacher, H. (2013). Relationships between daily affect and pro‐environmental behavior at work: The moderating role of pro‐environmental attitude. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(2), 156–175.
- Bontis, N. (2000). Managing organizational knowledge by diagnosing intellectual capital.
- Burke, M. J., Borucki, C. C., & Kaufman, J. D. (2002). Contemporary perspectives on the study of psychological climate: A commentary. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 11(3), 325–340.
- Chan, R. Y., & Ma, K. H. (2016). Environmental orientation of exporting SMEs from an emerging economy: Its antecedents and consequences. Management International Review, 56(5), 597–632.
- Chen, Y.-S. (2008). The positive effect of green intellectual capital on competitive advantages of firms. Journal of Business Ethics, 77(3), 271–286.
- Chen, Y.-S., & Chang, C.-H. (2013). Greenwash and green trust: The mediation effects of green consumer confusion and green perceived risk. Journal of Business Ethics, 114(3), 489–500.
- Cherian, J., & Jacob, J. (2012). A study of green HR practices and its effective implementation in the organization: A review.
- Chin, W. W. (1998). The partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling. Modern Methods for Business Research, 295(2), 295–336.
- Cho, Y.-N., Thyroff, A., Rapert, M. I., Park, S.-Y., & Lee, H. J. (2013). To be or not to be green: Exploring individualism and collectivism as antecedents of environmental behavior. Journal of Business Research, 66(8), 1052–1059.
- Crosbie, L., & Knight, K. (1995). Strategy for sustainable business: environmental opportunity and strategic choice. McGraw-Hill Companies.
- Daily, B. F., & Huang, S.-c. (2001). Achieving sustainability through attention to human resource factors in environmental management. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 21(12), 1539–1552.
- Del Brío, J. Á., Fernandez, E., & Junquera, B. (2007). Management and employee involvement in achieving an environmental action-based competitive advantage: an empirical study. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(4), 491–522.
- Denison, D. R., & Mishra, A. K. (1995). Toward a theory of organizational culture and effectiveness. Organization Science, 6(2), 204–223.
- Dumont, J., Shen, J., & Deng, X. (2017). Effects of green HRM practices on employee workplace green behavior: The role of psychological green climate and employee green values. Human Resource Management, 56(4), 613–627.
- Dunn, S. (2002). Down to Business on Climate Change. Greener Management International(39).
- Dutton, Y. (1992). Natural resources in Islam. Islam and Ecology, 51, 52.
- Edvinsson, L., & Malone, M. (1997). Realizing your company’s true value by finding its hidden brain power. Intellectual Capital.
- Edwards, I. R., & Shipp, A. I. (2007). The relationship between person-environment fit and outcomes: An integrative. Perspectives on Organizational Fit, 209.
- Edwards, J. R. (1996). An examination of competing versions of the person-environment fit approach to stress. Academy of Management Journal, 39(2), 292–339.
- Fernández, E., Junquera, B., & Ordiz, M. (2003). Organizational culture and human resources in the environmental issue: a review of the literature. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 14(4), 634–656.
- Fisher, A. A., Laing, J. E., Stoeckel, J. E., & Townsend, J. W. (1991). Handbook for family planning operations research design.
- Garson, G. D. (2016). Partial least squares: Regression and structural equation models. Asheboro, NC: Statistical Associates Publishers.
- Groot, D. J. I., & Steg, L. (2008). Value orientations to explain beliefs related to environmental significant behavior: How to measure egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric value orientations. Environment and Behavior, 40(3), 330–354.
- Hair Jr, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2016). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage publications.
- Halmaghi, E.-E., Iancu, D., & Băcilă, M.-L. (2017). The Organization's Internal Environment and Its Importance in the Organization's Development. International Conference Knowledge-Based Organization,
- Hardy, J. T. (2003). Climate change: causes, effects, and solutions. John Wiley & Sons.
- Harman, D. (1967). A single factor test of common method variance. Journal of Psychology, 35(1967), 359–378.
- Harris, L. C., & Crane, A. (2002). The greening of organizational culture: Management views on the depth, degree and diffusion of change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 15(3), 214–234.
- Harvey, D. M., Bosco, S. M., & Emanuele, G. (2010). The impact of “green-collar workers” on organizations. Management Research Review, 33(5), 499–511.
- Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2012). Using partial least squares path modeling in advertising research: basic concepts and recent issues. Handbook of Research on International Advertising, 252.
- Hinkin, T. R. (1998). A brief tutorial on the development of measures for use in survey questionnaires. Organizational Research Methods, 1(1), 104–121.
- Hock, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2010). Local strategic networks in the software industry: an empirical analysis of the value continuum. International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies, 4(2), 132.
- Howard-Grenville, J. A. (2006). Inside the “black box” how organizational culture and subcultures inform interpretations and actions on environmental issues. Organization & Environment, 19(1), 46–73.
- Imran, M., & Jingzu, G. (2022). Green Organizational Culture, Organizational Performance, Green Innovation, Environmental Performance: A Mediation-Moderation Model. Journal of Asia-Pacific Business, 1–22.
- Jabbour, C. J. C., Jabbour, D. S. A. B. L., Govindan, K., Teixeira, A. A., & Freitas, D. S. W. R. (2013). Environmental management and operational performance in automotive companies in Brazil: the role of human resource management and lean manufacturing. Journal of Cleaner Production, 47, 129–140.
- James, L. R., Choi, C. C., Ko, C.-H. E., McNeil, P. K., Minton, M. K., Wright, M. A., & Kim, K.-i. (2008). Organizational and psychological climate: A review of theory and research. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 17(1), 5–32.
- Jeswani, H. K., Wehrmeyer, W., & Mulugetta, Y. (2008). How warm is the corporate response to climate change? Evidence from Pakistan and the UK. Business Strategy and the Environment, 17(1), 46–60.
- Jo, H. M., & Schultz, M. (1997). Relations between organizational culture, identity and image. European Journal of Marketing, 31(5/6), 356–365.
- Johnson, W. H. (1999). An integrative taxonomy of intellectual capital: measuring the stock and flow of intellectual capital components in the firm. International Journal of Technology Management, 18(5), 562–575.
- Jose, C. J. C. (2011). How green are HRM practices, organizational culture, learning and teamwork? A Brazilian study. Industrial and Commercial Training, 43(2), 98–105.
- Kim, H.-Y. (2013). Statistical notes for clinical researchers: assessing normal distribution (2) using skewness and kurtosis. Restorative Dentistry & Endodontics, 38(1), 52–54.
- Kodua, L. T., Xiao, Y., Adjei, N. O., Asante, D., Ofosu, B. O., & Amankona, D. (2022). Barriers to green human resources management (GHRM) implementation in developing countries. Evidence from Ghana. Journal of Cleaner Production, 340, 130671.
- Kolk, A., & Pinkse, J. (2005). Business responses to climate change: identifying emergent strategies. California Management Review, 47(3), 6–20.
- Küçükoğlu, M. T., & Pınar, R. İ. (2015). Go Green at Work: Environmental Organizational Culture.
- Kuenzi, M., & Schminke, M. (2009). Assembling fragments into a lens: A review, critique, and proposed research agenda for the organizational work climate literature. Journal of Management, 35(3), 634–717.
- Ma, Y., Chen, S.-C., & Ruangkanjanases, A. (2021). Understanding the antecedents and consequences of green human capital. SAGE Open, 11(1), 2158244020988867.
- Mandip, G. (2012). Green HRM: People management commitment to environmental sustainability. Research Journal of Recent Sciences, ISSN, 1, 244–252.
- Marshall, D., McCarthy, L., McGrath, P., & Claudy, M. (2015). Going above and beyond: how sustainability culture and entrepreneurial orientation drive social sustainability supply chain practice adoption. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 20(4), 434–454.
- Masri, A.-H. B. A. (2016). Animal welfare in Islam. Kube Publishing Ltd.
- McGrath, R. E., Mitchell, M., Kim, B. H., & Hough, L. (2010). Evidence for response bias as a source of error variance in applied assessment. Psychological Bulletin, 136(3), 450.
- Norton, T. A., Parker, S. L., Zacher, H., & Ashkanasy, N. M. (2015). Employee green behavior: A theoretical framework, multilevel review, and future research agenda. Organization & Environment, 28(1), 103–125.
- Norton, T. A., Zacher, H., & Ashkanasy, N. M. (2014). Organisational sustainability policies and employee green behaviour: The mediating role of work climate perceptions. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 38, 49–54.
- Norton, T. A., Zacher, H., Parker, S. L., & Ashkanasy, N. M. (2017). Bridging the gap between green behavioral intentions and employee green behavior: The role of green psychological climate. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(7), 996–1015.
- Onkila, T. (2015). Pride or embarrassment? Employees’ emotions and corporate social responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 22(4), 222–236.
- Parr, A. (2012). Hijacking sustainability. Mit Press.
- Peattie, K. (1995). Environmental marketing management: Meeting the green challenge. Financial Times Management.
- Pham, N. T., Vo-Thanh, T., & Tučková, Z. (2022). Green Human Resource Management in Hotels in Developing Countries: A Practices-and Benefits-Related Conceptual Framework. In Environmental Sustainability in Emerging Markets (pp. 151–176). Springer.
- Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J.-Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of applied psychology, 88(5), 879.
- Raineri, N., & Paillé, P. (2016). Linking corporate policy and supervisory support with environmental citizenship behaviors: The role of employee environmental beliefs and commitment. Journal of Business Ethics, 137(1), 129–148.
- Ramus, C. A., & Killmer, A. B. (2007). Corporate greening through prosocial extrarole behaviours–a conceptual framework for employee motivation. Business Strategy and the Environment, 16(8), 554–570.
- Ratnamiasih, I., Ridwan, M., & Septiawan, B. (2022). Factors Influencing Green Human Capital to Improve Green Performance in Indonesian Start-Up Business. Indonesian Journal of Sustainability Accounting and Management, 6(1).
- Renwick, D. W., Redman, T., & Maguire, S. (2013). Green human resource management: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(1), 1–14.
- Revill, G. (2000). Music and the politics of sound: nationalism, citizenship, and auditory space. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 18(5), 597–613.
- Roos, G., & Roos, J. (1997). Measuring your company's intellectual performance. Long Range Planning, 30(3), 413–426.
- Russo, M. V., & Fouts, P. A. (1997). A resource-based perspective on corporate environmental performance and profitability. Academy of Management Journal, 40(3), 534–559.
- Sachs, W. (2015). Planet dialectics: Explorations in environment and development. Zed Books Ltd.
- Sackmann, S. A., Flamholtz, E. G., & Bullen, M. L. (1989). Human resource accounting: a state-of-the-art review. Journal of Accounting Literature, 8(s 235), 264.
- Salvador, R. O., & Burciaga, A. (2019). Organizational environmental orientation and employee environmental in-role behaviors: A cross‐level study. Business Ethics: A European Review.
- Schneider, B., Ehrhart, M. G., & Macey, W. H. (2013). Organizational climate and culture. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 361–388.
- Schneider, B., & Reichers, A. E. (1983). On the etiology of climates. Personnel Psychology, 36(1), 19–39.
- Schultz, P. W. (2000). New environmental theories: Empathizing with nature: The effects ofPerspective taking on concern for environmental issues. Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 391–406.
- Schultz, P. W. (2001). The structure of environmental concern: Concern for self, other people, and the biosphere. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21(4), 327–339.
- Schultz, P. W., Gouveia, V. V., Cameron, L. D., Tankha, G., Schmuck, P., & Franěk, M. (2005). Values and their relationship to environmental concern and conservation behavior. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36(4), 457–475.
- Schwenk, G., & Möser, G. (2009). Intention and behavior: a Bayesian meta-analysis with focus on the Ajzen–Fishbein Model in the field of environmental behavior. Quality & Quantity, 43(5), 743–755.
- Shrivastava, P. (1994). Castrated environment: Greening organizational studies. Organization Studies, 15(5), 705–726.
- Shrivastava, P. (1995). Environmental technologies and competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 16(S1), 183–200.
- Stead, W. E., & Stead, J. G. (1992). Management for a small planet: strategic decision making and the environment. In: Newbury Park, CA Sage Publication.
- Stewart, T., & Stephanie, L. (1994). Your company's most valuable asset: intellectual capital. In (pp. 68–74): Fortune.
- Teixeira, A. A., Jabbour, C. J. C., & Jabbour, D. S. A. B. L. (2012). Relationship between green management and environmental training in companies located in Brazil: A theoretical framework and case studies. International Journal of Production Economics, 140(1), 318–329.
- Thornhill, A., Saunders, M., & Lewis, P. (2009). Research methods for business students. Prentice Hall: London.
- Tudor, T. L., Barr, S. W., & Gilg, A. W. (2008). A novel conceptual framework for examining environmental behavior in large organizations: A case study of the Cornwall National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom. Environment and Behavior, 40(3), 426–450.
- Wehrmeyer, W. (1996). Green policies can help to bear fruit. People Management, 2(4), 38–40.
- Wright, P. M., Dunford, B. B., & Snell, S. A. (2001). Human resources and the resource based view of the firm. Journal of Management, 27(6), 701–721.
- Yong, J. Y., Yusliza, M., Ramayah, T., & Fawehinmi, O. (2019). Nexus between green intellectual capital and green human resource management. Journal of Cleaner Production, 215, 364–374.
- Yousef, D. A. (2001). Islamic work ethic–A moderator between organizational commitment and job satisfaction in a cross-cultural context. Personnel Review, 30(2), 152–169.
- Zhou, C., Xia, W., Feng, T., Jiang, J., & He, Q. (2020). How environmental orientation influences firm performance: The missing link of green supply chain integration. Sustainable Development, 28(4), 685–696.
No competing interests reported.