How Does Green Human Resource Management Shape Organizational Sustainable Performance? A Literature Review and Future Research Agenda

Abstract

ABSTRACT Understanding how green human resource management (GHRM) shapes organizational sustainable performance (OSP) is increasingly important for aligning human resource practices with organizations' environmental, social, and economic sustainability goals. This study systematically reviews how GHRM shapes OSP by integrating performance analysis with an in‐depth synthesis based on the theory, context, characteristics, and methodology (TCCM) framework. Following the SPAR‐4‐SLR procedure, 391 articles from Web of Science and Scopus published between 2012 and April 2026 were analyzed for research performance, whereas a subset of 104 articles published in A*, A, and B journals according to the ABDC list was selected from this dataset for detailed content analysis. The findings show a sharp increase in publications since 2016 and reveal that the field is dominated by the Ability‐Motivation‐Opportunity framework, resource‐based view, social cognitive theory, and social learning theory. Empirical research remains concentrated in the hospitality, manufacturing, and service sectors and relies heavily on quantitative, cross‐sectional survey designs. The review also identifies several important gaps, including limited multi‐theoretical integration, insufficient attention to high‐emission and underexplored sectors, overreliance on subjective performance measures, limited use of longitudinal and mixed‐method designs, and inadequate examination of the dark side of GHRM. By integrating these insights into a TCCM‐informed multilevel framework, this study clarifies the mechanisms and boundary conditions through which GHRM may shape OSP while offering a focused agenda for future research.