Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources (2021) ,  doi:10.1111/1744-7941.

12313

Promoting green performance through green

human resource practices and green servant
leadership
Adil Mansoor Putra Business School, Malaysia; Ilma University, Karachi, Pakistan,
adilmansoor5@gmail.com
Muhammad Farrukh Ilma University, Karachi, Pakistan; Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, China,
mfarrukhiqbal@hotmail.com
Sarwat Jahan Lincoln University College, Malaysia
Jong-Keon Lee Chung-Ang University, South Korea
Sazali Abd Wahab Putra Business School, Malaysia

Previous studies have analysed the effect of human resource (HR) practices on organisational green
performance. However, this study provides a more robust analysis by highlighting the synergetic
impact of green HR practices and green organisational strategies (green management initiatives) on
firms’ environmental performance. Moreover, this research also identifies the role of green servant
leadership (SL) in implementing green management initiatives, which has been overlooked previ-
ously. Using a sample of 272 employees working in Pakistani manufacturing firms and applying
structural equation modelling technique, this research reveals that the combined impact of green
HR practices and green strategies promotes green performance through green SL as a mediator.
Therefore, the current study emphasises the need to have an integrative mechanism to enhance
green performance. Besides, the intervening role of green SL suggests that managers must exhibit
this style for the accomplishment of an organisational green agenda.
Keywords: environmental performance, green HR practices, green performance, green servant
leadership, green strategy

Key points
1 Green human resource practices and green strategies of the firm positively influence
green performance.
2 This research has also found the mediating effect of green servant leadership in the
relationship of green management initiatives and green performance.
3 HR practices such as recruiting, training, developing and rewarding must be linked
with the green agenda.

Correspondence: Mr. Muhammad Farrukh, Department of Economics, Shenzhen MSU-BIT

University, Guangdong Province, China; e-mail: mfarrukhiqbal@hotmail.com
Accepted for publication 14 September 2021.
© 2021 Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI).
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

4 Leaders should exhibit a green servant leadership style to persuade their employees
to act for environmental care.
5 Green HR practices coupled with green strategy create an environment that enables
the firms to enhance their green performance.

Introduction
Organisations are now paying more attention to improving their environmental perfor-
mance. This focus has shifted due to environmentally conscious customers, environmen-
tal protection laws and stakeholders’ pressure for compliance with those laws. Although
business activities contribute positively toward the prosperity of the economy through
employment generation, they have also become a cause of environmental destruction
(Sullivan et al. 2018). Therefore, organisations are increasingly adopting green measures
to protect the natural climate. Many firms have initiated environmental management sys-
tems. For this purpose, the green performance of employees has now become the most
important contributor to the successful implementation of the organisational green
agenda (Robertson and Carleton 2018). Green performance is described as the assessment
of the relationship between a company and its environment (Olsthoorn et al. 2001). Green
performance is related to the organisational commitment toward the preservation of the
environment (Mansoor, Jahan et al. 2021). It also deals with the inclusion of environmen-
tal protection strategies in the production process. Nowadays, firms demonstrate corpo-
rate social responsibility through environmental protection initiatives, which address the
concerns of customers and multiple stakeholders (Tang et al. 2018).
Green performance has recently gained a lot of attention from researchers (Roscoe
et al. 2019). However, prior studies have not sufficiently explored how green performance
can arise from organisational-level mechanisms such as integration of green human
resource (HR) practices and green business strategies (Kim et al. 2019). Although both
green HR practices and green strategies are pivotal for environmental performance (Yus-
off et al. 2019), the impact of their integration on green performance has been neglected,
especially in the manufacturing sector. Ostroff and Bowen (2016) stressed the alignment
of strategic direction and organisational HR practices. Oke et al. (2012) found evidence
that the integration of HR initiatives and organisational policies leads to superior firm
performance.
In addition, the success of green initiatives also depends on the behaviour of leaders.
The role of leadership in promoting green performance has been widely acknowledged
(Robertson and Barling 2017). Leaders can yield multiple organisational outcomes, one of
which is green performance (Ying et al. 2020). Servant leadership (SL) has established its
distinct ability to produce a range of outcomes well above and beyond other leadership
behaviours (Hoch et al. 2018). SL is considered one of the best leadership styles for the
achievement of organisational success (Alafeshat and Aboud 2019). However, there is a
need to extend the focus of SL toward concern for the environment to persuade employees

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 Adil Mansoor et al.

to participate in green activities (Robertson and Barling 2017). According to Luu (2018),
environmentally focused servant leaders encourage their followers to act in accordance
with the organisational green agenda. With a bottom-up approach (i.e. employees first),
green servant leaders provide all necessary resources in order to stimulate green perfor-
mance. Although a few scholars have provided initial insights related to green SL, a com-
prehensive understanding of how green SL promotes organisational green performance is
still lacking (Luu 2018). Therefore, the current research aims to fill this gap by exploring
the synergetic impact of green strategies and green HR policies (hereafter, green manage-
ment initiatives) on green performance through the intervening role of green SL.
This study has provided several contributions to the existing body of knowledge. First,
current research uses an integrative mechanism to predict green performance in manufac-
turing firms. This synergy provides new insight into the green management literature. Sec-
ond, the current study extends the leadership literature by exploring the role of green SL
in translating green management initiatives for the promotion of environmental perfor-
mance. Hence, this research provides a novel contribution by analysing the role of green
SL, which has been overlooked in previous studies. Lastly, this study provides empirical
evidence on how and why green management initiatives and green SL are essential in
enhancing the green performance of organisations.
In addition to the aforementioned contributions, the current research provides a novel
conception because very limited prior studies have analysed the link of green management
initiatives, green SL and organisational green performance, specifically in the context of
the Pakistani cement industry. Moreover, Pakistan has become one of the most severely
impacted countries due to environmental pollution and climate change (Mumtaz et al.
2019). Therefore, the context of this work is extremely important for practitioners.
The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. The next section presents a review
of the literature and hypotheses development. The research methodology is presented in
the third section, followed by results in the fourth. Lastly, the discussion, implications,
limitations and conclusion of the study are presented.

Theory and hypotheses

Resource-based view and social information processing theory
Drawing on two theories, the resource-based view (Barney 1991) and social information
processing theory (Salancik and Pfeffer 1978), this research examines the link between
green management initiatives, green SL and environmental performance in the Pakistani
manufacturing sector.
The resource-based view suggests that the performance and competitive advantage of
the firm depends on its utilisation of strategic resources, which are valuable, rare and diffi-
cult to imitate by competitors (Barney 1991). Extant literature in strategy and human
resource management (HRM) highlighted the association between human capital and the
performance of firms (Barney 1991; Takeuchi et al. 2007). Sustainable competitive

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Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

advantage can be obtained from knowledgeable, motivated and committed employees.

Therefore, green SL coupled with green management initiatives promote green knowl-
edge, provide opportunities and motivate individuals to act for environmental care. Lead-
ership with the support of strategic green initiatives would become a critical success factor
of the organisation. Therefore, green HR policies and top management commitment con-
tribute toward a productive workforce and make this relationship a valuable strategic
resource for the firm to enhance green performance through their employees (Singh et al.
2020).
This study also applies social information processing theory in understanding the
development of green SL through green management initiatives. According to the social
information processing perspective, individuals’ behaviour and attitudes form in accor-
dance with the social environments in which they work (Salancik and Pfeffer 1978). Peo-
ple understand their work environment through the interpretation of cues surrounding
them. Thus, through the interpretation of cues provided by green HR practices and green
strategies, a leader himself/herself can develop a green SL style (Luu 2020b).

Green management initiatives and green performance

The commitment of the organisation to environmental protection is organisational green
performance (Paille et al. 2014). Green performance relates to organisational actions that
go beyond merely following rules and regulations to address stakeholders’ environmental
concerns. The outcome of organisational efforts directed toward the conservation of the
environment is viewed as green performance (de Burgos-Jimenez et al. 2013).
Zhang et al. (2011) explained the green strategy as the degree to which green activities
are prioritized and mirrored in organisational plans and strategic focus. A green strategy
is a crucial element and a necessary condition in promoting green performance. However,
it requires interaction with HR practices to sufficiently ensure the enhancement of the
green performance of employees (Luu 2020b). Shin and Konrad (2017) stressed the need
for the adoption of fine-grained HR practices rather than generic HR practices for the cre-
ation of a unique pool of talented workers mainly focused on green goal achievement.
Green HR practices emphasise developing a workforce that recognises the importance of
green practices and gives value to environment-friendly initiatives (Anwar et al. 2020).
Green HR practices stimulate employees’ pro-environmental behaviour by increasing
their green knowledge (Tang et al. 2018). Different scholars (e.g. Pham et al. 2019; Yong
et al. 2019) have argued that effectively implemented green HR practices lead to superior
employees’ green performance. Similarly, Singjai et al. (2018) found a positive relation-
ship between green strategy and green performance.
The integration of green HR practices and green strategy cultivates mutual comple-
mentarity to stimulate environmental consciousness in organisational workers (Luu
2020b). This integration is also in line with the view of Oke et al. (2012), who proposed
that complementarity of multiple practices yields better outcomes for firms. Other schol-
ars (e.g. Ostroff and Bowen 2016; Yusoff et al. 2019) have also emphasised that the

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 Adil Mansoor et al.

synergetic impact of strategy and HR practices proved effective for organisational perfor-
mance. Therefore, this study postulates:
Hypothesis 1: Green management initiatives positively influence organisational green
performance.

Green SL and green performance

In their meta-analysis, Hoch et al. (2018) argued that servant leadership is considered a
morally based form of leadership. Servant leaders focus on providing benefits to the wider
community and serve the interests of multiple stakeholders (Lemoine et al. 2019). Spears
(2010) identified various characteristics of servant leadership, and one of them was serving
the community. Servant leaders demonstrate greater humility and stewardship toward
their followers (Iqbal et al. 2020). SL research has identified its association with a wide
variety of individual and organisational outcomes (Paas et al. 2020). However, its role in
promoting green behaviour among employees is underresearched (Luu 2019). Therefore,
this study attempts to determine how green SL persuades followers and makes them more
environmentally focused while performing their tasks.
Green SL emphasises the protection of the natural environment and translates this
vision into employees through the enhancement of pro-environmental behaviours (Afsar
et al. 2018). Green SL positively influences green performance through the creation of a
green climate within the firm (Luu 2019). Green SL provides opportunities to learn green
skills and knowledge, and this promotes green performance (Luu 2020b). Green servant
leaders encourage their followers to volunteer in community development practices.
Greenleaf (1977) provided a general viewpoint regarding how servant leaders influence
multiple factors, while Liden et al. (2014) introduced a new mechanism, ’serving culture’,
through which servant leadership promotes organisational level performance. Green SL,
by exhibiting concern for the environment, creates a conducive organisational culture in
which followers’ green activities are fully supported through the provision of necessary
green knowledge, resources and skills (Luu 2018). In light of the above-presented argu-
ments, the current research proposes the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 2: Green SL positively influences organisational green performance.

Green management initiatives, green SL and green performance

Servant leaders motivate and encourage their employees through empowerment and
engage them in spiritual, relational and emotional dimensions. Servant leadership is pri-
marily driven by empathy and community stewardship (Greenleaf 1977). Due to its moral
aspect toward community betterment, scholars have extended the conceptualization of
servant leaders as green agenda promoters within an organisation. Robertson and Barling
(2017) emphasised further assessment of the role of green SL in the achievement of envi-
ronmental goals. Green SL develops and persuades employees and makes them more envi-
ronmentally conscious.

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Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

Green management initiatives provide employees with green skills, environmental

knowledge and necessary resources for the successful accomplishment of the green
agenda. Organisational strategic direction coupled with green HR policies requires the
managers to adopt green SL. Drawing on social information processing theory, this study
proposes that occupational settings have a direct impact on the style exhibited by leaders.
An organisational aim to enhance green performance would require leaders to exhibit an
environmentally specific leadership style (Luu 2020b). Therefore, green management ini-
tiatives promote the culture of environmental care, which may guide leaders to adopt a
green SL style. Resultantly, green servant leaders persuade their employees and make them
more environment-friendly. Therefore, employees act in accordance with the culture,
which is characterised by the actions of organisational leaders and organisational strategic
priorities (Song and Lee 2020).
Moreover, Jiang et al. (2013) argued that the link between organisational performance
and HR practices is mediated by proximal HR outcomes. Such proximal HR outcomes
facilitate the applicability of HR practices on the employees. Therefore, leadership can
serve as a channel to carry forward green HR policies to make the employees more aware
of the organisational green agenda. Hence, this research postulates that green SL may serve
as a mediator between green management initiatives and green performance. Green ser-
vant leaders would carry the environmental vision of the organisation and facilitate its
implementation through their followers.
Additionally, organisational structure and strategic direction shape the behaviour of
leaders (Clarke and Higgs 2016). For example, organisational change can be better facili-
tated by the transformational leadership style (Han et al. 2018). Similarly, servant leader-
ship may develop as an intervening variable under HR practices and innovation-led
organisational strategy (Do et al. 2018). Therefore, this study proposes that due to the
alignment between green management initiatives and green SL in terms of serving wider
community interests (Liden et al. 2014), green SL can emerge through the effects of green
management initiatives. Furthermore, this study assumes that green management initia-
tives affect green performance through green SL. In light of the arguments presented
above, this study proposes the following hypothesises:
Hypothesis 3: Green management initiatives positively influence green SL.
Hypothesis 4: Green SL mediates the relationship between green management initiatives and
green performance.

The conceptual model of this study is presented in Figure 1, which is empirically

tested in this research.

Research methodology
Sampling and data collection
The sample was selected from seven large manufacturing firms (cement industry) of Pak-
istan. There are several reasons for this selection. First, big manufacturing firms usually
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 Adil Mansoor et al.

Green servant leadership

Green management Green performance

initiatives

Figure 1 Conceptual framework

have a well-structured and organised human resource department. Second, large manu-
facturing companies are increasingly affecting the environment. Manufacturing firms con-
tribute to the economy, but they also lead to destruction of the natural environment
(Yong et al. 2019). Lastly, stakeholders’ pressure on the manufacturing sector is mounting
for the adoption of green activities in order to minimise its environmental footprint (Cai
et al. 2019).
Data were collected through questionnaires with a simple random sampling technique,
and a cross-sectional research design was applied. A two-wave data collection process was
adopted for this investigation. Each questionnaire was coded for the purpose of matching
the responses from T1 and T2. This collection process helped in mitigating the effect of
common method variance (CMV) bias (Podsakoff et al. 2011). In the first wave (T1), 500
questionnaires were mailed to the respondents and got 339 responses. In T1, employees
were asked to provide data regarding green management initiatives and demographics.
Three months after T1, questionnaires were sent to the 339 respondents who had partici-
pated at T1. In the second wave (T2), respondents were asked to give details regarding the
remaining variables. We received 281 responses, and after the elimination of nine ques-
tionnaires that contained incomplete data, we used 272 responses for data analysis. Only
those employees were contacted for this investigation who were working in departments
of research and development, production and human resources. Employees were con-
tacted after getting approval from the human resource department.
CMV bias was mitigated through statistical and procedural measures. Applying statis-
tical measures, values of variance inflation factors (VIFs) were used to check the collinear-
ity issue. VIF values were below the 3.0. threshold level suggested by (Kock 2015), which
showed no collinearity issue. Considering procedural measures, the cover letter was
attached with questionnaires that clarified the purpose of the research. Besides, confiden-
tiality and anonymity of responses were also ensured (Podsakoff et al. 2003). Double-
barreled, vague and complicated syntax were avoided in questions, which would have cre-
ated problems at the comprehension stage (Tourangeau et al. 2000). Therefore, concise
questions with simple wording were used to minimise the effect of CMV bias (Podsakoff
et al. 2011).

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Research measures
A twelve-item scale developed by Liden et al. (2008) was used to gauge the employees’ per-
ceptions of green SL. This scale was also adapted by Luu (2020b). A four-item scale
adapted from Paille et al. (2014) was used to measure organisational green performance.
Green strategy implementation was assessed through the scale of Banerjee et al. (2003).
This scale comprised seven items. Green HR practices were measured through a six-item
scale developed by Dumont et al. (2017).

Data analysis and results

Since our final sample consisted of respondents from different manufacturing firms, sam-
pling non-independence may distort the estimates of our model. Therefore, to address this
issue, we used the Huber–White sandwich estimator to control the organisational effects
on the results. This estimator provides more robust estimates for the standard error of the
data collected from different clusters (organisation).
PLS-SEM is used to test the hypotheses of this study. Because of the numerous features
of PLS-SEM, it has been widely used in management and marketing literature (Wilden
et al. 2013). Based on the following features, we believe the use of PLS-SEM in this study
is appropriate. First, PLS-SEM is considered a soft modelling technique and is not suitable
for testing a well-established theoretical model; however, it is well suited for analysing
models that are in the early stages of development, as is the case in the current study. To
the best of our knowledge, no empirical studies have analysed the relationship between
green HR, green servant leadership and green organisational performance; thus, our
model is not well established yet; therefore, PLS-SEM is an appropriate technique to
empirically analyse it. Following the guidelines of Henseler et al. (2015), SmartPLS is less
demanding when the sample size is small, while it provides a better outcome. Lastly, better
predictive relevance of the model can be attained through SmartPLS (Yong et al. 2019).

Demographic profile
Table 1 presents the demographic attributes of the respondents. It is evident that male
respondents (78.28%) outnumbered female respondents (21.32%). Moreover, most of the
respondents belong to the 25- to 30-year age-group, followed by the 31- to 39-year age-
group. Sixty-three per cent of respondents had master’s degrees, while 36 per cent of
employees had bachelor’s degrees.

Measurement model
Considering the recommendations of Hair et al. (2017), the measurement model was
assessed by establishing its convergent validity, composite reliability and discriminant
validity. Table 2 presents the values of Cronbach’s alpha, and all variables have values
greater than the threshold level of 0.70 recommended by Fornell and Larcker (1981). In
addition, according to Hair et al. (2019), composite reliability values ranging from 0.7 to
0.9 are considered ‘good’. This established the composite reliability of the measurement

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Table 1 Demographic attributes

Frequency %

Gender
Male 214 78.68
Female 58 21.32
Total 272
Age
Below 25 2 0.74
25–30 164 60.29
31–39 80 29.41
40–49 22 8.09
Above 50 4 1.47
Total 272
Education
Bachelor’s 98 36.03
Master’s 172 63.24
Doctoral 2 0.74
Total 272

Table 2 Reliability and convergent validity

Cronbach’s alpha Composite Reliability AVE

Green management initiatives 0.841 0.742 0.676

Green SL 0.811 0.818 0.641
Green performance 0.894 0.845 0.627

model as all values are between 0.7 to 0.9. Values of average variance extracted (AVE)
establish convergent validity. Fornell and Larcker (1981) suggested that AVE values above
0.5 represent the convergent validity of constructs. As shown in Table 2, AVE values are
above 0.5; therefore, this also established the convergent validity.
Heterotraite-monotrait (HTMT) values should be used to check discriminant validity
(Henseler et al. 2015). HTMT values below 0.85 established discriminant validity (Kline
2015); hence, this is also achieved in the proposed model (Table 3).

Structural model
The Bootstrapping technique was applied to examine the hypothesised relationship
between variables. Table 4 shows that all hypotheses are supported. Both green manage-
ment initiatives and green SL were found positively related with organisational green per-
formance (b = 0.60, p = 0.00; b = 0.41, p = 0.00) respectively. Moreover, the connection
between green management initiatives and green SL was also empirically established
(b = 0.36, p = 0.00). Lastly, the mediation effect of green SL was also found in the green
management initiatives-green performance link.

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Table 3 Heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) ratio of correlation

Green management initiatives Green SL Green performance

Green management initiatives

Green SL 0.625
Green performance 0.665 0.701

Table 4 Testing of hypotheses

Relationship Beta value T value P-value

GMI -> green performance 0.60 7.24 0.00

Green SL -> green performance 0.41 6.82 0.00
GMI -> green SL 0.36 6.02 0.00
GMI-> green SL -> green performance 0.30 5.22 0.00
Abbreviation: GMI, green management initiatives.

Following the recommendations of Nitzl et al. (2016) for mediation analysis, the rela-
tionship of green management initiatives and green SL was found significantly positive.
Similarly, green SL showed a positive relationship with green performance. This satisfies
the first condition of the mediation effect. Moreover, the direct relationship of green man-
agement initiatives and green performance was also positive and in the same direction
(i.e. positive). Therefore, the complementary mediation effect of green SL was established
(Nitzl et al. 2016). It indicated that some portion of the effect of green management initia-
tives on green performance was mediated by the green SL; however, green management
initiatives still explain a portion of green performance which is independent of green SL.

Discussion and limitations of research

This investigation focused on how green performance can be enhanced through the
impact of green management initiatives and green SL. It was found that the combination
of green HR interventions and firms’ green strategy positively influence green perfor-
mance. This is in line with studies conducted by various scholars. To start with, Yong
et al. (2019) highlighted the role of human resources in pursuing a greener agenda. Simi-
larly, Yusoff et al. (2019) found that HR strategy coupled with organisational strategy
builds the green human capital of the firm, which increases green performance. Other
studies (e.g. Hameed et al. 2020; Siyambalapitiya et al. 2018) also established that green
HR practices positively influence the green performance of firms with the help of commit-
ment from top management. However, this research has also found the mediation effect
of green SL, which indicates that the implementation of green strategies also depends on
the behaviour exhibited by the organisational leaders.

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 Adil Mansoor et al.

The effect of green management initiatives on green SL was also found in this research.
The current study highlights the fact that HR practices promote the leadership behaviour
that is required to achieve corresponding HR goals. In their study, Singh et al. (2020)
found that HR practices and green transformational leadership stimulate the environmen-
tal performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study, however, has
established that green management initiatives become the basis on which managers
choose their style of leadership. That leadership style (i.e. green SL) enables them to
achieve the green objectives of the firm.
Leaders persuade their subordinates and direct their focus toward the fulfilment of
organisational objectives (Mansoor et al. 2021). The mediation effect of green SL suggests
that input from leaders creates an alignment of organisational goals with employees’ goals.
Li et al. (2020) found an association between green transformational leadership style and
employees’ creativity. Recently, Luu (2020a) highlighted a similar relationship between
green SL and organisational innovation. Therefore, it strengthens the view that green lead-
ership promotes positive organisational outcomes. Similarly, this research has established
that green SL positively influences organisational green performance by making their
employees more engaged in green tasks.

Theoretical implications
The findings of the current study provide important contributions to the green manage-
ment literature. First, this research has integrated two important systems of an organisa-
tion (HR system and organisational strategy) and explored its impact on green
performance, which was neglected previously (Luu 2020b). In this way, the current study
has responded to the call for more empirical research on the synergetic effect of HR prac-
tices and firm strategy on firm performance (Do et al. 2018; Oke et al. 2012). Moreover,
Renwick et al. (2013) stressed the need for the integration of green HR practices with
organisational policies as this alignment produces better outcomes for the organisation.
This study also endorses the perspective of strategic human resource management, which
requires the integration of HR policies with the firm’s strategic initiatives (Jiang et al.
2013). In this manner, the current investigation enriches the management literature by
establishing that the combined impact of green HR policies and green strategies produces
a better outcome for the organisation. It highlights the important role of green manage-
ment initiatives in the implementation of the organisational green agenda.
Second, while different researchers have focused on exploring the interaction effect of
leadership and HR practices (e.g. Karam et al. 2017; Neves et al. 2018), this study has iden-
tified the role of leadership in implementing HR practices. Initially, leaders themselves
indulge in green behaviour; then they act as a catalyst and shape the behaviour of employ-
ees accordingly. Third, the intervening effect of green SL contributes to the leadership lit-
erature by identifying green management initiatives as contextual precursors of green SL.
It implies that a leader’s behaviour is strongly dependent on the organisation’s policies
along with its HR initiatives.

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In addition, this research used social information processing theory (Salancik and Pfef-
fer 1978) to postulate a link between green management initiatives and green SL. It was
proposed that people make sense of their organisational environment which shapes their
behaviour and attitudes. This study reveals that green SL can be developed if the green
agenda becomes one of the organisation’s priorities. Green HR practices coupled with
green strategy is a reflection of organisational concerns toward environmental care. There-
fore, managers would exhibit green SL and transform their workers into green workers.
Resultantly, the organisation would be able to satisfy the needs of environmental protec-
tion which have been raised by various stakeholders. Different scholars (e.g. Luu 2020b;
Zientara and Zamojska 2018) have previously applied social information processing theory
in green management literature. However, this research maintains that the development of
green SL relies heavily on the existence of green strategies and green HR policies.
The theory of the resource-based view was also applied in this study. It was argued that
the firms achieve competitive advantage through those resources which are rare, valuable
and difficult to imitate by their rivals. Green management initiatives promote green SL
within firms, and this synergy may lead toward competitive advantage by making it a valu-
able strategic resource. It becomes difficult for competing organisations to create this kind
of synergy, which is strongly embedded in the culture and strategies of the firm. Thus, the
strategic direction along with green HR policies would enable the organisation to achieve
goals of environmental care through green SL.

Managerial implications
The findings of this study have several implications for large manufacturing organisations
in general and the cement industry in particular. Top management must understand that
green performance can be enhanced through indirect supportive mechanisms. Managers
must devise environment-friendly policies, and they must reflect these in their own
actions. Moreover, the organisation should not only be concerned with financial perfor-
mance; rather, there is also an emerging need to address stakeholders’ pressure regarding
environmental care. This pressure can be handled through the establishment of a green
strategy with a dedicated focus on green performance. In this manner, firms with green
strategies can also better serve the needs of environmentally conscious customers.
The strategic focus of green performance will be effective if there is an alignment of
departmental strategies with organisational strategy. One of the key departments which
can play its role is the HR department. Therefore, the integrated effect of green strategy
and HR strategy is essential for promoting environmental performance. Many studies
have previously established a link between organisational green strategy and green perfor-
mance (Arda et al. 2019; Pham et al. 2019; Shafaei et al. 2020). However, this research has
empirically established that the synergistic impact of green management initiatives plays a
better role in the improvement of green performance.
Another important insight is related to the development of green SL. This study has
explored the possibility that green management initiatives become antecedents for the
development of green SL. Green SL serves as a foundation for the implementation of the
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 Adil Mansoor et al.

green agenda because leaders affect and shape the behaviour of employees (Mallen et al.
2020). This is another reason for the initiation of green HR interventions based on the
strategic direction of an organisation. Hence, policy-makers must make sure that they have
the right strategies in place, which are also reflected in HR practices. Employees will likely
act for environmental preservation if they are guided and persuaded by their leaders.
Organisations should adopt multiple HR strategies to cultivate green SL. HR practices
such as recruiting, training, developing and rewarding must be linked with the green
agenda. Training can enhance green knowledge; the selection method must include
dimensions through which applicants’ pro-environmental behaviour can be assessed. Per-
formance management should include green activities as key performance indicators, and
participation in environmental care activities should also be in rewarding criteria. Fur-
thermore, training should be directed toward the promotion of servant leadership charac-
teristics such as emotional healing, empowering, helping and behaving ethically. Previous
studies have also found that green HR practices significantly boost green performance
(Renwick et al. 2016; Shafaei et al. 2020).

Limitations and directions for future research

Like every study, this research also has some limitations, which will become future ave-
nues for research. First, the use of subjective instruments for measuring green perfor-
mance is a limitation. Although these instruments are widely used in management
research, discrepancies might be present between objective and subjective instruments
(Obeidat et al. 2018).
Second, this research used self-report data, which can become a potential reason for
CMV bias. Although self-report data is valid and applied widely in research (Wall et al.
2004), future research should consider participants from multiple categories within an
organisation. Nevertheless, this research has applied both statistical and procedural mea-
sures to mitigate the impact of CMV bias.
For a better and more in-depth understanding of the relationship between variables,
future research should adopt experimental and longitudinal research designs. In addition,
this research has focused on only the Pakistani cement sector; therefore, future studies
should replicate this model across other industries. This study was conducted in the cul-
tural context of Pakistani organisations, and research in Western cultures may provide
different thoughts and implications. Lastly, this study has explored the impact of one lead-
ership style on the attainment of an organisational green agenda. Hence, future research
with a combination of other leadership styles such as green transformational leadership
should also be considered.

Mr. Adil Mansoor is a lecturer in the Department of Business Administration, Ghazi University,
Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Management from Putra Business
School, University Putra Malaysia. His main research interests include human resource manage-
ment, leadership, organizational sustainability and innovation.

© 2021 Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI). 13

Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 

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