Abstract:
The increasing degradation of the environment due to human activities at work has
heightened the interests in ways to enhance environmental sustainability in the
workplace. For this purpose, studies have highlighted the need to implement green
human resource management (green HRM) to influence employee green behaviour
(EGB). Using the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) theory and the extended
theory of planned behaviour (TPB), this cross-sectional study examined the impacts
of green human resource management (green HRM), behavioural intention, and
perceived behavioural control (PBC) on the EGB of academics at Malaysian public
research universities. Data were collected from 425 academics through a survey
questionnaire developed based on prior studies. First, attitude, PBC, personal moral
norms, environmental knowledge, and environmental concern were examined as
regard their relationships with intention. Next, the mediation role of intention between
the antecedents and EGB were examined. Further, the mediation role of PBC between
green HRM and EGB were also assessed. The relationships were analysed using Smart
PLS 3. The findings indicated that attitude, personal moral norms, and environmental
concern of academics impact their intention to practice EGB, which consequently lead
to the actual conduct of the EGB. Further, the findings showed that academics' PBC
significantly impacts their conduct of EGB but not their behavioural intention. The
key finding of this study showed that the academics' perceived green HRM
significantly impacts their PBC, which leads to the ability to perform the EGB. This
finding has provided a theoretical implication in terms of the ability, motivation and
opportunity theory. The scope of this study was limited to public research universities
in Malaysia. Future studies may explore other variables that can expedite the
relationship between green HRM and EGB. A practical implication of the study
includes policy making that places the emphasis on enhancing the favourable attitude,
personal moral norms, environmental knowledge, and environmental concern to
ensure that academics practice the EGB. Further, there is a need to focus on enhancing
the green HRM practices at the universities, which will be centred on the
environmental management systems, as well as improving the EGB of academics
through the enhancement of their PBC.
