Tariq2016 Article GreenEmployeeEmpowermentASyste

Qual Quant (2016) 50:237–269
DOI 10.1007/s11135-014-0146-0
Green employee empowerment: a systematic literature

review on state-of-art in green human resource
management
Sanober Tariq · Farzand Ali Jan ·

Muhammad Shakil Ahmad
Published online: 14 December 2014

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
Abstract Being a member of the society, it is evident that the organization has to operate
like a team player; cue the influx of the green management concept. The study focuses on
the second aspect of the green human resources management definition, which is preserva-
tion of knowledge asset and specifically addresses the novel concept of “Green employee
empowerment” as a mediator. The research paper focuses on integrating and systematically
arranging literature regarding motivating employees to pursue green tasks, as mediated by
green employee empowerment. Literature supports that employees must be encouraged,
empowered, and eco-conscious in order to take responsibility of green management tasks,
which is core dilemma in today’s world. Green empowered employees is a novel concept as
introduced by this research paper but also has strong literature support stemming from the
concept of “employee empowerment”. The unit of analysis was previous available research
studies relevant to the topic (their findings are included). Both the service and manufacturing
sectors was focused and data was collected from ISI web of knowledge. Additionally, the
search mostly focused on updated knowledge and only focused on 104 of recent and relevant
studies. The study concluded that empowered employees are more motivated to perform
environmental tasks which pay to be green. Human resources are truly the back bone of any
successful organization, so motivated green workforce has a deep influential effect on social
organizational profitability and productivity.
Keywords Green human resource management · Green employee empowerment ·

Mediator · Systematic literature review · Sustainability
1 Introduction
It’s not the leaf that is only green—organization can also turn out to be green. The term
“green management” has sprouted from this concept of taking care of the society as well
S. Tariq (B) · F. A. Jan · M. S. Ahmad

Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology,
Kamra Road, Attock 43600, Pakistan
M. S. Ahmad
e-mail: onlyshakil@gmail.com
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as taking care of knowledge capital from organization’s possessions (Dutta 2012). As a

member of society, it is critical that an organization operates like a team player, that influx
of the green management concept (Belal 2002; Jackson et al. 2014). It has become a core
schema that environmental concerns have deep-rooted effects on an organization’s outcome
(Belal 2002; Jackson et al. 2011, 2014). Green management is globally top of mind for
today’s forward-thinking organizations (Belal 2002; Jackson et al. 2011, 2014). Theories
support that employees must be encouraged, empowered and eco-conscious in order to be
compelled to pursue green functions (Ali and Ahmad 2009; Matthews et al. 2003). Because
this is today’s core dilemma, employees shall take responsibility for green management tasks.
Organizations are becoming more concerned about their existence as citizens of the society
(Jackson et al. 2011, 2014). Like other populations, organizations are obligated to best serve
the society in which it operates its business and it shall also reserve its own knowledge-base,
as far as firm’s existence is concerned and soon the term “job title” will be replaced by
“environmental job titles” for attracting new recruits (Jackson et al. 2011). So this employee
empowerment is need of the organization of today in order to meet versatile demands of
customers in more influential and customized way (Matthews et al. 2003; Mougbo 2013;
Renwick et al. 2013b). As this employee empowerment is done to ensure fulfillment of green
tasks, so it can be termed as “Green Employee Empowerment”. The concept is new to ears but
it co-exists in the organization which is involved in green practices. So there is gap in previous
literature and little emphasis is being placed on this novel concept. There exists a need to
fully define the concept incorporated with green practices, because this will open new doors
of research going towards this novel concept that has not being introduced anywhere before
this research paper (Jackson et al. 2011, 2014). Complex nature of greening the existing
organizations for attaining the competitive advantage highlights the need to study this topic
(Andersson et al. 2013).
Green management involves greening of every bit and byte of an organization, such as
greening operations, greening HR, greening accounting and finance, greening retailing and
greening marketing and employees come under every single head in these functional areas
(Renwick et al. 2013b). Giving voice to these employees and encouraging them to participate
in decision making and problem solving will ensure empowerment (Ali and Ahmad 2009;
Matthews et al. 2003). When they are empowered in pursuing green tasks of organization this
will be termed as “Green Employee Empowerment” which will come under the vast umbrella
of green HR. With this, the idea of greening HR with green employee empowerment is gain-
ing importance, because employees play a vital role in an organization as “neurons play in
brain functioning”. The componential division of green HR involves two vital rudiments:
eco-protection (environmental aspect i.e. pollution control) and the protection of the orga-
nization’s knowledge assets (i.e. the human/employee aspect) (Dutta 2012). Both of these
rudiments need green employee empowerment so that due attention can be given to this
knowledge asset, which will ultimately ensure organizational well-being.
Little effort has been made in regards to the second perspective of GHRM that is the
protection of knowledge capital. This paper focuses on this second aspect by incorporating
the gaps identified in the research paper by Renwick et al. (2013a, b) in “GHRM: a review
and research agenda”. The second perspective i.e. preservation of knowledge asset, is impor-
tant for both the manufacturing and service sectors, as both function to preserve knowledge
asset (Renwick et al. 2013b). Today, where a single bad move can have long-lasting and
even judicial consequences, it has become very difficult for organizations to keep their focus
solely on profit earning and environmental concern are needed to be induced (Jackson et
al. 2011, 2014). Organizations also need to focus on implementing green practices. These
practices depend upon an experienced workforce as more satisfied employees will enforce
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Green employee empowerment 239
green practices in more successful manner. And this employee satisfaction can be attained by
giving them enough authority to function freely and become involved in organizational envi-
ronmental tasks; in other words, empowerment (Gutowski et al. 2005). Regarding literature
on this subject, a gap exists in HRM aspects of eco-management, or GHRM i.e. to see the
potential mediating effect of employee empowerment for motivating them to pursue green
tasks (Renwick et al. 2013a), which are: (a) gathering and integrating previous research data;
and (b) aligning that literature in order to show the potential mediating effect on employee
empowerment.
Studies have shown that many areas pertinent to GHR practices remain unaddressed (e.g.
gaps in previous research findings). Undoubtedly, there has been great advancement in the
GHR field in the past two decades, yet the field is still in its infancy, and there are still
many opportunities for research and studies to progress the field (Jackson et al. 2011). The
fairly new concept of greening an organization through employee empowerment is being
incorporated into organizational policy, legitimizing the importance of employee motivation
(Renwick et al. 2013b). While this concept is gaining importance, it is necessary to study
what green employee empowerment in pursuing GHR practices (Renwick et al. 2013b).
Along with studying “Green Employee Empowerment”, this research is also an extension
of a study conducted by Renwick et al. (2013a, b) named, “GHRM: a review and research
agenda”. The beauty of this research paper is the additional mediating effect that has not yet
been discussed by any of the research studies conducted in this field. Renwick’s study (2013a;
2013b) has shown a need for testing the potential mediating effect of employee empowerment
on employee motivational level for pursuing green HR practices.
The question is whether or not there is a need for research on green HRM. There is
an emerging requirement for induction in GHRM literature in terms of its integration with
eco-management, as well as introduction of novel concept of green employee empowerment
to enrich the broad spectrum of green management. This study focuses on green employee
empowerment as mediator. The fundamental goal of this study is to explore and synthesize
existing literature regarding the mediating impact of green employee empowerment as it
relates to employees’ inclination to practice GHRM. This evaluation is also essential due to
the fact that socially responsive organizations are more welcomed and favored by both fresh
candidates (generation Y) and experienced expert applicants which can only be achieved by
the efforts of dedicated employees (Renwick et al. 2013b).
2 Literature review
The issues of organizations’ sustainability and productivity have strong roots and paramount
significance, since green workforce motivation carries much significance in today’s ever-
changing and competitive environment (Belal 2002; Jackson et al. 2011, 2014). The study
also has worthwhile implications being a subject of keen interest in countries like Bangladesh,
Pakistan and China, where in developing countries green practices add to the firms’ outcome
an in developed countries they provide competitive edge over the competitors (Faleye and
Trahan 2011; Li et al. 2010; Peng and Peng 2009; Sharmin et al. 2014). Little effort has
been made on content of what is the social responsibility of corporate and how firms can
be benefited from employee perspective, especially in countries like Bangladesh that is in
developing stage like Pakistan (Sobhani et al. 2009). In case of developing countries, these
initiatives are criticized mostly due to lack of necessary structure and mismatch with local
preferences (Idemudia and Ite 2006). Green HRM has overlapping impact on CSR because
firm that respects and recognizes its employees are willing to preserve knowledge asset and
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thus favors what satisfies them i.e. empowerment (Buciuniene and Kazlauskaite 2012; Hallin
and Gustavsson 2009). As per little research made in this field, it has also been pointed out
by Naeem and Welford (2009) in his study that a need for further exploration on Pakistan’s
firms exists (Naeem and Welford 2009). There is a large gap and the findings of this research
study will help a lot to gauge some of the issues that remained unaddressed till now (Naeem
and Welford 2009; Sharmin et al. 2014). Green workforce in both public and private organi-
zations maintain that motivation enhances productivity (Pfeffer 1998). Motivated employees
also account for an organization’s competitive edge and attaining profitability, two factors
that are ultimately the goal of any organization (Pfeffer 1998). Employee motivation is the
core dilemma of a study that showed a positive link between employee motivation and organi-
zational practices (Mougbo 2013). Paired with profitability, there are several benefits linked
to motivated green workforce, such as better quality of work, decreased absenteeism, lower
turnover rate, higher commitment, more satisfaction and positive self-efficacy, low stress
levels and less counter-productive work behavior (Gutowski et al. 2005). According to the
study by Matthews et al. (2003), enhanced employees’ motivational level can be attained
through empowering them, which leads to achieving goals; that is, a motivated workforce
and organizational profitability (Matthews et al. 2003). This is so because motivation needs
internal satisfaction, and when employees feel personally fulfilled (empowered), they are
motivated to achieve goals (Mougbo 2013). In order to include people management con-
cerns in the concept of GHRM, the ability-motivation-opportunity theory that was used
in an initial article published by Renwick et al. (2013a, b) is also used in this research to
further the research agenda. This theory is based on a conceptualization that demonstrates
the effect of HR practices on organizations’ outcomes (Appelbaum et al. 2000; Boselie et
al. 2005). This theory provides evidence that good HR practices improve organizational
knowledge asset (productive employees) that ultimately improves organizational outcomes
(Wagner et al. 2001). According to this theory, HR functions by improving an employee’s
“ability, motivation and opportunity” for participative activities by means of employee
involvement (EI).
Employee involvement is vital for corporate social responsibility that ultimately accounts
for employee commitment (Davies and Crane 2010; Ramachandran 2011; Rego et al. 2010).
Satisfaction of personal treatment brings needed commitment for eco-goals of the firm and
it mediates the relationship between employee perception and efforts. Rewards in monetary
terms raises employee commitment (Lent and Wells 1994). But only money-related benefits
are not enough but also a personal level treatment of employee is needed, so empowerment
is ideal practice for the firm. Because money-related benefits only reduces job strains and
empowerment/involvement of employees is smarter move to gain better outcomes for the
firm (Zhu and Sarkis 2004) (Table 1).
After gathering data on relevant literature, a systematic literature review summary is pre-
pared as shown in Table 2, which shows the relevant mediating effect of employee empow-
erment on both employee motivation and GHR practices. The mediating effect of employee
empowerment as it relates to employee involvement, participation, recognition, supervisory
support, and organizational culture support is studied. This is due to an organization’s ten-
dency to thrive when employees are satisfied, determined and committed, as it results in
low turnover rate and more motivated employees. A study showed that employees’ motiva-
tion in an organization has an important impact on their overall performance. The analysis
depicted that there is a direct relationship between employees’ motivation level and organi-
zational performance (Mougbo 2013). Consequently, it can be concluded that what enhances
employees’ motivation levels will automatically increase organizational performance. This is
also true as it relates to employee empowerment. Responses from a study focused exclusively
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on the benefits owed to an organization after giving its employees the required authority and
participation (Banerjee 2001).
This concept of successful business practices is gaining ground with environmental
aspects, or green business management, in forward-thinking organizations. “Green man-
agement” has, thus, become a catch-phrase. Incorporating the green concept is needed at
every level within an organization’s foundation. It shall also be noted that an organization
depends on its knowledge capital which brings a hallmark of profitability and achievement
within an organization combined with the state-of-art technology. Surely, it seems evident
that the new management level triumph may pivot on how the employees respond, and for
this organizations are leaning more towards strategic and participative approaches to envi-
ronmental achievements. In this paper, the literature on GHRM focuses on the various ways
to motivate employees to participate in green practices within an organization. According to
the study by Renwick et al. (2013a, b), green practices require:
• Employing talented staff;
• Designing jobs for employee involvement and development;
• Training of GHR practices;
• Control and evaluation based on GHR practices; and
• Rewards systems linked to environmental performance.
Renwick et al. (2013a, b) research depicts how performance results will be gauged in
the future, which will surely be based on sustainability (more achievement oriented) rather
than just results (less outcome oriented). Due to its increasing impact in just about every
sphere of function, green ideology will soon become commonplace in the near future rather
than simply a concept of eco-friendliness. This is a subject of keen interest in developing
countries (Li et al. 2010; Sharmin et al. 2014; Sobhani et al. 2009). In case of developed
countries these practices outperform their competitors (Faleye and Trahan 2011). Green
HRM has overlapping impact on CSR because firm that respects its employees are willing to
preserve knowledge asset and thus favors what satisfies them i.e. empowerment (Buciuniene
and Kazlauskaite 2012; Hallin and Gustavsson 2009). Due to vital role of corporate social
responsibility China strives to promote this in its firms (Peng and Peng 2009). Empowerment
then is key to enhancing an organization’s outcome, where employees are motivated to pursue
green goals more effectively and efficiently (Wagner et al. 2001). Furthermore, it is likely
in the not-too-far future that decision making, problem solving and planning from a green
perspective will be commonplace i.e. either in deliberate or emergent strategies (Polonsky
et al. 1998). The graphical representation of “Publications mentioned in tabulated form for
SLR” is shown in Graph 1 below, and “Summary of No. of articles/journal used in SLR” is
shown in Graph 2. The journal names’ abbreviations are mentioned in Table 1.
3 Usefulness of the “empowerment concept”
The empowerment concept supports that empowered employees will help attain an organiza-
tion’s competitive edge (Conger and Kanungo 1988; Thomas and Velthouse 1990). Employee
empowerment can thus be introduced by changing an organization’s hierarchal approach
from centralized to decentralized, which facilitates employee empowerment because the
traditional organizational structure approach does not favor employee empowerment. Hori-
zontal organization and a participative atmosphere provide the basis for promoting employee
empowerment (Mallak and Kurstedt 1996). Two concepts that support employee empower-
ment are:
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242 S. Tariq et al.
Publicaons on"GHRM"used in SLR
2012
2010
2008
2006
2004
Years
2002
2000
1998
1996
1994
1992
1990
0 2 4 6 8
# of publicaons
Graph 1 .
1. The top-down approach (relational and mechanistic); and the

2. Bottom-up approach (psychological).
Literature that supports the top-down approach incorporates corporation’s ability to lead
employees, delegate tasks and collaborate in terms of sharing information with them
(Kamalian et al. 2010; Quinn and Spreitzer 1997; Randolph 1995; Spreitzer 1997). The
bottom-up approach, on the other hand, is where an organization defines empowerment from
employees’ psychological perspectives to accomplish an empowerment goal by developing
a sense of empowerment among employees (Kamalian et al. 2010; Mishra and Spreitzer
1998; Quinn and Spreitzer 1997; Spreitzer 1995, 1997; Thomas and Velthouse 1990). More-
over, the belief is that an organization’s environmental agenda, scheme and objectives will be
exchanged more commonly so that employees are familiar with what is anticipated to achieve
objectives. Activities such as interactive skill-building and team formation exercises, bench-
mark setting, consensus building and brainstorming will evoke a sense of empowerment in
employees and they will proceed towards desired achievements (Begley 1996; Woods 1993).
An organization should focus on what factors will benefit the organization by enhancing
employees’ own perceptions of empowerment (Kamalian et al. 2010; Quinn and Spreitzer
1997). Empowerment is a means to a destination because motivated employees are more
enthusiastic to complete tasks and attain goals. Various studies have shown that empowering
employees reduces stress and increases job satisfaction (Kamalian et al. 2010; Matthews et
al. 2003; Mougbo 2013; Singh 1993; Zeithaml et al. 1988). Employee’s discretionary pow-
ers call for lesser role ambiguity and thus more motivation because empowerment causes
faster problem solving (Singh 1993). Appropriate empowerment systems will arise to boost
workers’ motivational level in order to nurture organizational productivity (Mougbo 2013).
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No. of arcles/Journal used in SLR

J. of bus. & mgt.
Int. J. of mgt. reviews
Int. J. of env. Res.
Res. J. of Rec. sci.
Int. J. of env., wp & emp.
Aca. of mgt. pers.
J. of app. BR
J. of mgt. std.
Cali. Mg. review
Ind. Mgt. & data sys.
Ana. & stra. Mgt.
Tec. Ana. & stra. Mgt.
The int. J.of HRM
Mgt. decision
Aca. of mgt. J.
J. of clean. Pro.
Int. J. of oper. & pro. Mgt.
J. of app. BS
Env. Mgt. & health
Aca. of Mgt. exe.
Corp. env. Strategy
Ind. Mgt.
Aca. of mgt. review
Bus. Horizons
Pers. J.
J. of Qual. & Par.
0 1 2 3 4
Graph 2 .
The importance and outcomes of employee empowerment within positive organizations are
shown in Table 3 below, which also details the link to employee motivational level.
4 “Green Employee empowerment” as potential mediator
Identifying the mediating variable is important, as it influences the relationship between

dependent and independent variables. Within this study, green employee empowerment is
considered a potential mediator that shows the influence on employees’ motivational levels
for pursuing green practices. The study also supports its effects on dependent and independent
variables. Table 4 shows a complete picture, where previous studies support the mediating
effect of employee empowerment from various aspects, including employee involvement,
participation and recognition, supervisory support, organizational cultural support, govern-
mental policy support, supervisory commitment, eco-awareness, team building and informa-
tion and resource sharing but none of the previous literature has defined the green employee
empowerment which is a novel introduction in wide spectrum of green management. Previous
literature regarding organizational environmental concerns highlights employee empower-
ment as a potential mediator for an organization’s growth, which is the outcome of employees
being empowered and thus motivated (Ali and Ahmad 2009; Smith 1997). Empowerment
is key to enhancing an organization’s outcome, and it increases employee performance in
terms of effectiveness and efficiency, where empowerment also increases employees’ moti-
vational levels (Jackson et al. 2014; Matthews et al. 2003). This empowerment when done
for pursuing green tasks will be termed as green employee empowerment. There is ample
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244 S. Tariq et al.
Table 1 Abbreviations used for Journal names

Names of journals Abbreviations
Journal of quality and participation J. of Qual. & Par.

Personnel journal Pers. J.
Business horizons Bus. Horizons
Academy of management review Aca. of mgt. review
Industrial management Ind. Mgt.
Corporate environmental strategy Corp. env. Strategy
Academy of management executives Aca. of Mgt. exe.
Environmental, management and health Env. Mgt. & health
Journal of applied behavioral science J. of app. BS
International journal of operations and production management Int. J. of oper. & pro. Mgt.
Journal of cleaner production J. of clean. Pro.
Academy of management journal Aca. of mgt. J.
Management decisions Mgt. decision
The international journal of human resource management The int. J.of HRM
Technology analysis & strategic management Tec. Ana. & stra. Mgt.
Analysis and strategic management Ana. & stra. Mgt.
Industrial management & data systems Ind. Mgt. & data sys.
California management review Cali. Mg. review
Journal of management studies J. of mgt. std.
Journal of applied business research J. of app. BR
Academy of management perspectives Aca. of mgt. pers.
International journal of environment, workplace and employment Int. J. of env., wp & emp.
Research journal of recent sciences Res. J. of Rec. sci.
International journal of environmental resources Int. J. of env. Res.
International journal of management reviews Int. J. of mgt. reviews
Journal of business and management J. of bus. & mgt.
literature available on this perspective that supports the notion of increased employee moti-
vation due to employee empowerment (Ali and Ahmad 2009; Mani 2010; Matthews et al.
2003; Smith 1997). Employee participation in decision-making increases employees’ moti-
vational levels and creates positivity in terms of self-efficacy and innovation (Ali and Ahmad
2009). This is because employees need recognition, and they practice better performance in
order to sustain this recognition. Empowerment calls for recognition and is thus the source
of increased employee motivation (John et al. 2005). In the rules of success, it is noted that
employees are more satisfied and committed when they have a stake in decision-making and
feel empowered (Ali and Ahmad 2009; Matthews et al. 2003). Regarding green employee
empowerment, upper-managements’ dedication proves to be the foundation for instituting
eco-initiatives (Ramus and Steger 2000). After all, it is they who decide on the mandatory
eco-procedures (e.g. training, empowerment and delegated responsibilities given to employ-
ees). Effective measures for environmental improvement can only be practiced by upper-
management’s willingness to empower employees (Hoffman 1993). It is then that desired
outcomes will easily be achieved.
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Table 2 Brief description of analyzed studies on “green HRM”
Year Author (s) Title Journal Objectives Findings Evidence for current
research subject
1990 Enander, R. T. and Employee involvement Journal for quality To assimilate knowledge Employee involvement is Importance of employee
Pannullo, D. and pollution prevention and participation on workforce key to pollution involvement &
participation and reduction Theoretical empowerment for
pollution control analysis pursuing environmental
tasks
Green employee empowerment
1992 Laabs, J. J. The greening of HR Personnel journal To assimilate knowledge The raising attentiveness Employee empowerment
on workforce in workforce for will bring employee
participation and its environmental participation that will
impact on protection has further be more
environmental practices accounted for the beneficial for
institution of built-in motivating them in
environmental programs order to pursue
for environmental environmental
protection protection practices
1995 May, D. R. and Cutting waste with Business horizons To inspect how firms can This article shows that Effective recognition
Flannery, B. L. employee involvement employ employee workforce training, through proper
teams participation teams as knowledge and employee involvement
problem solver for resources sharing, and framework will help
pollution control effectual recognition implement necessary
system are significant solutions
for achievement
1995 Shrivastava The role of corporations Academy of Employee in ecological People-based need for Importance of
in achieving ecological management review sustainability support is needed for empowerment for
sustainability appropriate pursuing environmental
environmental change tasks
i.e., from governmental
policies, consumer
behaviors and corporate
actions. Theoretical
analysis
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245
246
Table 2 continued
123
research subject
1996 Mallak, L. A. and Understanding and using Industrial This study defines Shift to empowerment is Shift to empowerment is
Kurstedt, H. A. empowerment to change management empowerment and effectual and well-built effectual and well-built
organizational culture differentiates in strong cultures in strong cultures
empowerment from
participative
administration
1997 Ramus, C. Employee empowerment Corporate To portray changes in Culture supports that Empowered employees
at GE plastics Europe: environmental organization, ideas workforce is will call for positive &
example of a successful strategy frosting and workforce stakeholders of the creative change and will
environmental change empowerment for environmental targets achieve environmental
process environmental change for which financial targets
concerns as components rewards are given to
of cross-functional bring environmental
groups creativity. Case analysis
1998 Berry, M. A. and Proactive corporate Academy of To assimilate text on Set of laws have come to Proactive corporate
Randinelli, D. A. environmental management growing proof about the be more rigorous on environmental
management: a new executives way proactive environmental concerns management will give
industrial revolution environmental strategies for giving competitive competitive edge to the
are better competent edge to the company company
1999 Denton, D. K. Employee involvement, Environmental To check employee Employee involvement Employee involvement is
pollution control and management and participation for planning and well the key to
pieces to puzzle health pollution control communication are keys environmental goals
to pollution control
1999 Sharma et al Corporate environmental Journal of applied To see organizational The importance of Importance of
responsiveness behavioral science framework for firm’s environmental behavior environmental
strategies: the receptiveness ways for organization. Case responsiveness for
importance of issue analysis organizational outcome
interpretation and
organizational context
S. Tariq et al.
Table 2 continued
research subject
2000 Kitazawa, S., and The relationship between International journal The study foresees ISO Employee empowerment Employee empowerment
Sarkis, J. ISO 14001 and of operations and 14001 EMS in constant is key to constant source is the key to
continuous source production source diminution diminution programs environmental goals
reduction programs management programs for success for successful
program by some vital environmental goals.
concerns Case analysis

2000 Remmen, A., and Employee participation Journal of cleaner Employees’ active Employees’ active Employee participation is
Lorentzen, B. and cleaner technology: production participation in the participation is vital in the key to
learning processes in environmental goals of the environmental goals environmental goals
environmental teams company of company
2000 Hanna, M. D., Linking operational and International journal To assimilate knowledge The findings show that Workforce participation
Newman, W. R. environmental of operations & on workforce there is strong and pollution control
and Johnson, P. improvement through production participation and relationship in the
employee involvement management pollution control operational objectives
& workforce for
environmental outcome
(manufacturing firms).
Empirical analysis
2000 Ramus, C. and The role of supervisory Academy of Competitive edge, Supervisory support in Employee motivational
Steger support behaviors and management journal information propagation general and level influenced by
environmental policy in and employee effective environmental concern organizational and
employee recognition through has positive relationship supervisory factors
eco-initiatives’ at proper employee with employee
leading edge European involvement framework environmental
companies to help implement practices. Empirical
necessary solutions. analysis
Relationship of
supervisory support
behaviors to employee
motivational level in
organizations
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247
248
Table 2 continued
123
research subject
2001 Banerjee, S. B. Corporate environmental Management decision 2 themes as business For organizational theory Corporate environmental
strategies and actions environmental direction and its and practice firm’s management will give
strategy focus are studied. environmentalism is competitive edge to the
Management perceptions, important. Theoretical company
public environmental analysis
apprehension, executives’
dedication and competitive
edge are catered to transform in
environmental practices
2001 Beugre, C. D., and Managing for The international journal A culture-fit model to integrate Positive culture calls for Positive culture calls for
Offodile, O.F. organizational of human resource indigenous culture & modern JIT, TQM, organizational
effectiveness in management management techniques in re-engineering, effectiveness
sub-Saharan Africa: sub-Saharan Africa teamwork &
cultural fit model collaborative
management
2001 Forman, M., and The social shaping of the Technology analysis & Participation of employees in a Employees’ Employee participation is
Jorgensen, M. S. participation of strategic management Danish context. Need of empowerment in the the key to
employees in employees’ empowerment in environmental environmental goals
environmental work the environmental concerns, concerns, supervisors’
within enterprises: supervisors’ support and support and
experiences from a environmental works are environmental works
Danish context catered are important for
competence building.
Case analysis
2001 Daily, B. F. and Achieving sustainability Analysis & strategic To develop a theoretical model of HR factors are keys to HR factors are keys to
Huang, S. through attention to management the environmental managing environmental environmental
human resource factors arrangement management goals. management goals
in environmental Theoretical analysis
management
S. Tariq et al.
Table 2 continued
research subject
2001 Madsen, H. and Greening of HR: Industrial management & The study delineates The findings show Importance of
Ulhoi, J. P. environmental data systems environmental importance of environmental
awareness and training positioning and training environmental awareness among the
interests within the concerns in Danish awareness among the employees
workforce workforce employees for

environmental policy
execution
2001 Ramus, C. Organizational support California management The study foresees Supervisory support in Supervisory support for
for employees: review environmental act for general and empowered employees
encouraging creative increasing employees’ environmental concern will call for creative
ideas for environmental willingness for has positive relationship environmental change
sustainability environmental creativity with employee
environmental
practices. Empirical
analysis
2003 Fernandez, E., Organizational culture The international journal To assemble literature The study analyses the Strategic corporate
Junquera, B. and and human resources in of human resource dealing with firm’s processes that allow a environmental
Ordiz, M. the environmental issue: management culture and HR strategic environmental management for
a review of the literature view incorporated in organizational outcome
company’s culture and
spread throughout the
company
2003 Starkey, K. and Towards green narrative: Academy of management Gathering knowledge It gives implications on Link between green
crane, A. management and the review base on environmental environmental concerns management and
evolutionary epic concerns and and managerial theory ecology
managerial theory and and practice on the view
practice on the view of of green evolutionary
green narration-based marathon
evolutionary marathon
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249
250
Table 2 continued
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research subject
2003 Rothenberg, S. Knowledge content and Journal of management To show “How & in what Workforce significant “How & what”
worker participation in studies way” employee background perspective of employee
environmental contribute in information, the contribute in
management at environmental magnitude of environmental
NUMMI development procedure, intra-firm development
and peripheral
information make role
of experts more vital
2004 Govindarajulu, N. and Motivating employees for Industrial management & The paper foresees Executives develop model Incorporation of
daily, B.F. environmental data systems incorporation of for EMS and managerial
improvement managerial communicating commitment, workforce
commitment, workforce significance workforce empowerment,
empowerment, motivation for incentive system,
incentive system, eco-performance. feedback and review for
feedback and review for Management shall eco-performance as
eco-performance involve employees as tools for motivating
well for employee
eco-performance
2007 Brio, J. A. D. Fernandez, Management and The international journal To show HR factors & HR factors & Employee involvement is
E. and Junquera, B. employee involvement of human resource management concerns management concerns the key to
in achieving an management influencing influencing environmental goals
environmental eco-performance for eco-performance for
action-based competitive edge for the competitive edge for the
competitive advantage: firm firm, where workforce
an empirical study empowerment has
positive impact on
eco-achievement.
Empirical study.
S. Tariq et al.
Table 2 continued
research subject
2007 Daily, B. F., Bishop, The mediating role of Journal of applied The article foresees the The study sees Supervisors’ approval for
J. W. and Steiner, R. EMS teamwork as it business research relationship between supervisors’ approval EMS and its training,
pertains to HR factors human resource factors for EMS and its training teamwork and incentive
and perceived and workforce and incentive system system linked to
environmental perceptions of linked t eco-performance

performance environmental eco-performance.
performance Moreover, EMS
teamwork has a
mediating effect on
environmental
outcomes
2008 Jabbour, C. J. C., EMS and HR practices: is Journal of cleaner Theoretical model that Findings tell many Environmental
Santos, F. C. A., there a link between production shows environmental theoretical bases cannot management for
and Nagano, M. S. them in four Brazilian management for be applied on these continuous
companies? continuous Brazilian firms improvement in
improvement in organization.
organization
2008 Ambec, S. and Does it pay to be green? Academy of To see empirical evidence Findings show positive It really pays to be green
Lanoie, P. A systematic overview management in eco-financial or link between as empowered
perspectives eco-economical environment and employees are more
performance financial/economical motivated for
outcome environmental pursuits
2009 Haden, S. S. P., Oyler, Historical, practical, and Management decision To gather literature on The ultimate definition of It really pays to be green
J. D. and theoretical perspectives green practices first green management is as empowered
Humphreys, J. H. on green management: gathering historical outcome. It really pays employees are more
an exploratory analysis background, second to be green as motivated for
actual practice check, empowered employees environmental pursuits
third recent are more motivated for
enhancement in theory environmental pursuits
123
251
Table 2 continued
252
research subject
123
2009 Marcus A. and Green management Academy of Green management shall be Regardless of anything green It really pays to be green as
Fremeth, A. R. matters regardless management practiced management shall be practiced empowered employees are
perspectives as managers will be able to more motivated for
preserve resources more wisely environmental pursuits
then, minimizing waste and
respect eco-importance
2009 Massoud, J., Reward for environmental International journal To gather knowledge on This plan shows employee Employee participation that
Daily, B. F. performance: using the of environment, utilization of Scanlon involvement, cooperation, enhances environmental
and Bishop, J. Scanlon plan as catalyst workplace and Plan principles for incentive system and measures performance
to green organizations employment eco-practices enhances eco-practices.
2011 Sudin, S. Strategic green HRM: a International To investigate framework of Novel strategic framework shall Strategic Green HRM
proposed model that conference on strategic GHRM include EMS, GIC (green supports corporate
supports corporate sociality and intellectual capital) and CEC environmental citizenship
environmental economic (corporate environmental
citizenship development citizenship)
2012 Mandip, G. Green HRM: people Research journal of To investigate framework of Future of GHRM is at its good for Motivation for
management recent sciences GHRM involving stakeholders where motivation eco-performance, employee
commitment to top-bottom practices for for eco-performance, employee involvement and
environmental HRM to show relevant involvement and participation, participation, waste
sustainability importance with green waste reduction etc is reduction etc are
HR policy worthwhile. Management shall worthwhile. Management
involve employees as well for shall involve employees as
eco-performance. Unions and well for eco-performance
workforce can help its adoption
in firms
2012 Daily, B. F., Role of training and International journal To investigate link of Both training and empowerment Both training and
Bishop, J. W. empowerment in of operations & employee empowerment, are worthwhile but employee empowerment are
and Massoud, environmental production training, teamwork and training showed to have more worthwhile but employee
J. A. performance: a study of management supervisory impact on dependent variables training showed to have
the Mexican empowerment, training that is mediated by teamwork more impact on dependent
maquiladora industry and teamwork with variables that is mediated
eco-performance by teamwork
S. Tariq et al.
Table 2 continued
research subject
2012 Junquera, B. and del Research effort, International journal Gathering knowledge base Managerial effort has It shows link between
Brio, J. functional integration, of environmental on environmental positive link with environmental concerns
and environmental resources concerns and managerial environmental outcomes. and managerial theory
action-based theory and practice for and practice for giving
competitive advantage: giving competitive edge competitive edge to the

an empirical study to the firm firm
2013 Renwick, D. W. S., GHRM: a review and International journal Gathering knowledge base GHRM practices influence GHRM practices
Redman, T. and research agenda of management on environmental on employee motivation influence on employee
Maguire, S. reviews concerns and managerial to become involved in motivation to become
theory and practice for environmental activities involved in
giving on the grounds of lags behind than how firm environmental activities
Ability-motivation- develop these abilities and
opportunity give opportunity to the
theory employees
2013 Goyal, M. Future outlook of green Journal of business To investigate how to adopt Green practices for better Importance of green
management practices and management green practices for better working involve car management
working pooling, teleconferencing,
online training waste
reduction by recycling etc
will also help building
brand image
2013 Jabbour, C. J. C., Green teams: Journal of cleaner To see relationship between Proactive environmental Green teams helps in
Santos, F. C. A., understanding their production green teams level of firms adopt green greening firms for
Fonseca, S. A. and roles in the eco-practices in Brazilian practices very well. Green betterment
Nagano, M. S. environmental firms teams helps in greening
management of firms for betterment
companies located in
Brazil
123
253
Table 3 Brief description of analyzed studies on “employee empowerment”
254
Year Author (s) Title Journal Objectives Findings Link of the study to
current research subject
123
1988 Conger, J. A. and The empowerment Academy of management To gather knowledge on Model for workforce The process of
Kanungo, R. N. process: integrating review how to empower empowerment on the empowerment and
theory and practice employees in basis of integrated organizational outcome
organizational context literature. Theoretical
analysis
1990 Thomas, K. and Cognitive elements of Academy of management The paper explains model Empowerment calls for Here in this study
Velthouse, B. empowerment: an review of empowerment based on intrinsic motivation on the empowerment is seen as
interpretative model of cognition basis of: impact sense, intrinsic motivation
intrinsic task motivation competency,
meaningfulness and
option
1993 Klassen and TQM and environmental Industrial management To study HR for HRM is key to successful HR for environmental
McLaughlin excellence in and data systems environmental excellence organizational excellence
manufacturing environment. Theoretical
analysis
1995 Randolph, W. A navigating journey to Organizational dynamics Recognition gained through Recognition and powering Delineates empowerment
empowerment empowerment and is allocated through as recognition and
powering people for information sharing, internal motivational
intrinsic motivation giving understandability, process
trust-building, innovating
self-monitoring processes
and further using this
structure to create
autonomy and involving
teams hereafter
S. Tariq et al.
Table 3 continued
1995 Spreitzer, G. M. Psychological Academy of management To study multi-facet The findings include valid Psychological
empowerment in the journal measure of psychological framework for empowerment
workplace: dimensions, perspective of psychological
measurement, and empowerment empowerment
validation
1997 Quinn, R. E. and The road to Organizational dynamics Integrates literature on Despite chances of failure, Empowerment if taken in
Spreitzer, G. M. empowerment: 7 antecedents, empowerment if taken in account risk, trust and

questions every leader consequences and account risk, trust and initiative will be
should consider processes of initiative will be productive for both the
implementing productive for both the organization & the
empowerment in organization & the employees
organization. employees. Theoretical
analysis
1997 Smith, B. Empowerment-the Empowerment in To gather knowledge on Developing people account Embraced by all
challenge in now organization how to empower for developing employee’s type of
employees in organizations empowerment shall be
organizational context practiced
1997 Spreitzer, G. M. Toward a common ground Research in It constructs development Gives parsimonious and Describes development of
in defining organizational change of empowerment and generalizable definition of empowering employees
empowerment and development integrates literature on it empowerment
1998 Argyris, C. Empowerment: the Harvard business review To gather knowledge on Empower right people not Empower right people not
emperor’s new clothes empowerment new all all
aspects
1998 Mishra, A. K. and Explaining how survivors Academy of management The paper develops a Trust and justice facilitate Empowerment influences
Spreitzer, G. M. respond to downsizing: review stress-focused model of more constructive replies active responses
the role of trust, replies to downsizing and empowering
empowerment, justice employees affect 2ndary
and work design appraisal
123
255
Table 3 continued
256
123
2003 Mathews, R. A., Organizational Personal review To build up such a scale to Empowering employees Empowering employees
Diaz, W. M., empowerment scale differentiate and gauge guide to the bona fide guide to the bona fide
and Cole, S. G. the three environmental goals in terms of goals in terms of
factors of vibrant employees’ motivation employees’ motivation
structural model, and the related and the related
managing firm decisions outcomes.The outcomes outcomes
and information sharing from empowered
for effective employee workforce and existence
empowerment of dimensions depend
upon culture and standing
of the firm
2010 Kamalian, A. R., Survey of relationship European journal of To ascertain the relationship Study reveals that we Importance of employee
Yaghoubi, N. between organizational economics, finance and between organizational should pay specific empowerment in
M., and justice and administrative sciences justice and empowerment attention to percept of organization
Moloudi, J. empowerment (a case empowerment and
study) improve organizational
justice
S. Tariq et al.
Table 4 Evidence for current research subject (mediating effect of green employee empowerment)
Works Importance of Importance of Importance Importance of Importance of Importance Importance Importance Importance of
employee employee of Cultural employee of executives’ of green of information &
involvement & recognition supervisory support eco-awareness commitment teams governmental resource
participation support (corporate & formation policies sharing
actions) management
Enander, R. T. and x
Pannullo, D.
Laabs, J. J. x
May, D. R. and x
Flannery, B. L.
Shrivastava x x
Mallak, L. A. and X x
Kurstedt, H. A.
Ramus, C. X x
Berry, M. A. and x x
Randinelli, D. A.
Denton, D. K. x x
Sharma et al. x X
Kitazawa, S., and x
Sarkis, J.
Remmen, A., and x
Lorentzen, B.
Hanna, M. D., x
Newman, W. R.
and Johnson, P.
Ramus, C. and x x X
Steger
Banerjee, S. B. X x
Beugre, C. D., and X
Offodile, O.F.
Forman, M., and x X x
Jorgensen, M. S.
123
257
Table 4 continued
258
123
actions) management
Daily, B. F. and x
Huang, S.
Madsen, H. and x X
Ulhoi, J. P.
Ramus, C. x X
Fernandez, E., x X
Junquera, B. and
Ordiz, M.
Starkey, K. and x
crane, A.
Rothenberg, S. x X
Govindarajulu, N. x x X
and daily, B.F.
Brio, J. A. D. x
Fernandez, E.
and Junquera, B.
Daily, B. F., x X x
Bishop, J. W. and
Steiner, R.
Jabbour, C. J. C., x
Santos, F. C. A.,
and Nagano, M. S.
Ambec, S. and x
Lanoie, P.
Haden, S. S. P., x
Oyler, J. D. and
Humphreys, J. H.
S. Tariq et al.
Table 4 continued
actions) management
Marcus A. A. and x
Fremeth, A. R.
Massoud, J., Daily, x X

B. F. and Bishop, J.
Sudin, S. x
Mandip, G. x x
Daily, B. F., Bishop, x x x
J. W. and
Massoud, J. A.
Junquera, B. and del x
Brio, J.
Renwick, D. W. S., x
Redman, T. and
Maguire, S.
Goyal, M. x x
Jabbour, C. J. C., x
Santos, F. C. A.,
Fonseca, S. A. and
Nagano, M. S.
123
259
260 S. Tariq et al.
The role that upper-management plays in this regard greatly influences employees (Hoff-
man 1993; Ramus and Steger 2000). It is up to them to establish necessary framework to
effectively deal with organization’s environmental issues (Hoffman 1993). Empowered man-
agers who act as role models are more likely to have empowered employees who can accord-
ingly manage circumstances (Daily and Huang 2001; Matthews et al. 2003; Ramus 1997,
2001, 2002). Additionally, studies explain that a workforce is further prepared for assum-
ing eco-programs when supervision play a participative role in such issues (Ramus 2001;
Ramus and Steger 2000). And this workforce will constitute green empowered employees
for practicing green tasks.
Empowering employees is a fiddly notion to adopt (Matthews et al. 2003). Empowerment
is described in two manifolds (Conger and Kanungo 1988). The first is in terms of authority
delegation, from managers to the workforce. The second relates to intrinsic force development
to get tasks done by way of a positive self-efficacy approach. This was further developed by
the four dimensions of psychological empowerment: sense, competence, self-determination
and influence (Spreitzer 1995). It should be noted that through these definitions, empower-
ment leads to good performance. Research built on this concept that demonstrated that task
motivation has a positive impact on empowerment and performance (Kirkman et al. 2004;
Mougbo 2013). All projects in an organization, including green ones, warrant various work-
force competencies as they relate to customer demand (Renwick et al. 2013b; Rothenberg
2003). Therefore, green empowerment competencies can be used in a productive way by
delegating authority to employees so that they decide to do what is in the best interest of the
company (Rothenberg 2003). Another study showed that employees need to be well aware of
eco-initiatives and be motivated to take on eco-plans within organizations (Sudin 2011). It is
a misconception that environmental efforts will only work for organizations or the commu-
nity; nevertheless, it gives employees an additional advantage. Another concept is that giving
employees empowerment will ultimately be beneficial for the organization, community and
employees themselves, as they will yield more productive results in the future. Linking all of
these concepts together (allocation of power, change acceptance and innovation), motivation
that results in green empowered employees leads to their attaining environmental goals and
performance (Ramus 2001; Ramus and Steger 2000). All of this supports and serves as the
backbone of this research study.
Employees are knowledge repositories, and green management requires employees’ tech-
nical and management expertise for environmental concerns. They are also agents of inno-
vation who have significant managerial implications within organizations, so they need to
be empowered (Sudin 2011). And thus for pursuing green tasks, they can be termed as
“green empowered agents of the organization”. According to Argyris (1998), in an inter-
view, a CEO once uttered, “Any visualization or policy cannot be attained without a capa-
ble, competent and empowered workforce”. Workforce empowerment is extremely valuable
in order to execute an organization’s goals, but also from an environmental aspect. The
green workforce empowerment approach is also very productive because when introducing
a new program or implementing any change within an organizational green goals, employ-
ees perform better when they are considered members of that organization (Mohrman et al.
1996). Employees will also be more motivated and determined to become involved in fruitful
environmental practices, as those who are not empowered have demonstrated little concern
for commitment and improvement (Argyris 1998). It is true that when an employee feels
empowered, they put forth what is called “better than before”, because at that point, they
develop a sense of ownership. This is also the case with employees who demonstrate effec-
tive results when they have been empowered with decision-making (Wever and Vorhauer
1993).
123
Green employee empowerment also includes employee involvement for pursing green
organizational tasks (Longoni et al. 2014; May and Flannery 1995). The function of empow-
erment in environmental perspective has gained much attention throughout the last few years,
where employee involvement is seen as a vital element of organizational success (Daily et
al. 2007; Fernandez et al. 2003; Govindarajulu and Daily 2004; Hanna et al. 2000; Lon-
goni et al. 2014; Ramus 2002; Rothenberg 2003). Empowered employees will be more
participative and involved in decision-making and will provide more productive outcomes.
It can also be argued that empowered employees’ induction for EMS effectual execution
will result in the development of green intellectual capital (GIC) and further organizational
achievement (Hamschmidt and Dyllick 2001; Hui et al. 2001; Sudin 2011). A research
paper supports this view by showing a positive link between eco-performance and opera-
tional performance involving the green workforce (Hanna et al. 2000; Wagner et al. 2001).
A recent study also showed that eco-awareness is also necessary, as fully-aware employ-
ees perform better green practices and vice-versa (Madsen and Ulhoi 2001). According to
Banerjee (2001), every company has a responsibility concerning the environment, but the
nature of that responsibility changes according to the style of the organization. Actions
are more important than empty words, which comes into play when tasks are performed
and not simply discussed without action. Employees can be motivated to take action by
encouraging them to do things according to the a prescribed framework and delegating
authority, necessary obligations and responsibilities (Banerjee 2001). Research also shows
that environmental empowerment for employees is positively linked to organizational per-
formance which supports the novel concept of green employee empowerment (Daily and
Bishop 2012).
Moreover, the relationship between green employee empowerment and organizational
performance is more intricate and evokes a sense of teamwork. A literature review showed
a positive outcome in terms of an organization’s environmental performance with respect
to teamwork, because it successfully endorses collaboration and solves issues (Daily and
Huang 2001; Massoud et al. 2009; May and Flannery 1995). In several cases, employee
participation teams, or “green teams”, come into existence for environmental problem(Beard
and Rees 2000; May and Flannery 1995). Teamwork dictates green employee empowerment
in such a manner that positively affects environmental performance.
It can be concluded then that green employee empowerment (the mediator) has a posi-
tive influence on motivational levels, where this motivation relates to pursuing green tasks.
Furthermore, due to the increasing value of an organization’s social responsibility, nearly
all organizations incorporate green or at least environmentally friendly practices and soon
the term “Employee Empowerment” will be replaced by “Green Employee empowerment”.
“Table 5” shows articles published relevant to the outcomes relevant to the concept of “green
employee empowerment”. Although it is practiced more often, the term “environmentally
friendly” is rather outdated and only includes half of what the green concept of HRM incor-
porates. The other half is the human or employee aspect, which is newer and is now an area of
focus within organizations where employees have been proven to be an organization’s most
important asset. From an employee’s point of view, being an asset has gained momentum,
so this should be carefully treated by allowing enough space and participation within an
organization through green employee empowerment.
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262 S. Tariq et al.
Table 5 .
Relevant aspects of “Green Employee No. of articles
Empowerment” published
2010–2014
Employee psychological well-being (including 34

affective commitment, job satisfaction, work
engagement, job stress, strain, anxiety, emotional
exhaustion)
Social capital 48
Employee job performance and citizenship behavior 19
Organizational capabilities (including HR flexibility, 8
absorptive capacity, adaptive capability,
organizational ambidexterity, corporate
entrepreneurship, supply chain performance,
environmental proactivity)
Fairness and justice with employees 3
5 Methodology
The unit of analysis is “previous available research studies relevant to the topic”. The sys-
tematic synthesis and literature analysis of this descriptive research paper is based on the
following steps that are shown in Fig. 1 and are more elaborated in Fig. 2.
Step 1: Data collection phase → Location of most relevant and appropriate studies in
reputable academic databases
Step 2: Data screening phase → Extraction of knowledge and grounds for proof
Step3: Data integration phase → Integration and alignment of research findings
Step 4: Data analysis phase → Analysis of integrated knowledge base
Step 5: Data conclusion phase →Findings and results
5.1 Data sources
There was an exhaustive search of pertinent studies that involved published work as a sec-
ondary data source. A list of 313 studies relative to this topic were assessed, of which 167
showed more relevance to the scope of this research paper and thus, those findings were
included. Also, the assessment mostly focused on recent data that was available on this issue
to incorporate as recent knowledge. This eliminated more studies, so the research paper
only focused on the 104 most recent and most relevant studies. However, there were a few
exceptions in order to fill in data or knowledge gaps.
5.2 Inclusion and exclusion
The study utilized the following four strategies to trace the data of pertinent studies. First,
we searched the online database (Web of Knowledge–)- by adding “green employee empow-
erment” as a search term, along with “green HRM”. The employee empowerment search
terms were “employee involvement”, “employee participation”, “employee recognition”,
and “importance of organizational cultural support”. The GHRM search terms were “eco-
friendly practices”, “environmental concerns”, “environmental sustainability”, “corporate
social responsibility”, “proactive environmental practices”, “green HR practices” and “green
organizations”. Employee motivational level was also searched with “green HRM”. These
123
Fig. 1 Model for basic process

steps Process steps
1. Data collecon
phase
2. Data screening
phase
3. Data integraon
phase
4. Data analysis
phase
5. Data conclusion
phase
databases were searched up to January 25, 2014, and all unpublished work was filtered out
on January 26, 2014.
The second step included an “ancestor search” by inspecting the references of those
selected research articles and obtaining a field of former database searches that helped us reach
the foundation of the topic to gain a better understanding of the research being considered.
The third step included searching in a descending manner by looking for research citing
GHR practices and organizational outcomes by using the “Web of Knowledge”. Finally, any
unpublished and/or unreviewed work was excluded, and we were left with the 104 most
relevant articles, which were mostly published in the Journals of ISI “Web of Knowledge”.
5.3 Screening
For the next step, relevant information was extracted from these studies in order to find the
commonality to prove the focus of this research. The mediating variable was then separately
studied based on the knowledge available from the secondary data sources. After extracting
the knowledge, we then integrated and aligned it into a systematic order to transition to the
analysis phase for filling the gap that has been discussed in this study. This necessary data
management and careful text selection was done to establish a solid foundation for this study.
Lastly, the findings were concluded in order to incorporate the results of this study.
123
264 S. Tariq et al.
1. Data
Data sources collecon
phase
Research
Gap from Research Query (Objecve of the study)
previous
literature
2. Data
Inclusion of selected relevant data &
screening
exclusion of discarded least relevant data.
phase
Tabulated
Literature review-based definion and
descripon
evidences of employee movaonal level
required for green HR pracces.
Literature 3. Data
-based integraon 4. Data
construct phase Analysis
Literature review-based definion and phase
evidences for “green employee Tabulated
empowerment” as potenal mediator. descripon
Evidenal findings
5. Data
Inferenal Conclusion conclusion
phase
Fig. 2 Detailed step model of research design
5.4 Sample
“Previous literature available on both service and manufacturing firms” served as the sample
for this study because both sectors take into account the second perspective of GHR, which
is the preservation of knowledge assets of the company.
6 Evidential findings
The question that this study was able to answer is that there exists a potential mediating effect
of employee empowerment on employee motivational levels for pursuing GHR practices as
shown in Table 6. The literature supports the following findings:
7 Discussion
The term “Green management” is a new field induced in daily operations of any eco-friendly
business and “green employees” is the term given to workforce involved in green HR practices
in the organization. Previous literature supports that empowered workforce leads to motiva-
123
Table 6 Findings
Sr. Literature support Evident findings
1 Brio (2007), Conger and Kanungo Employee empowerment in terms of

(1988), Daily and Bishop (2012), Daily employee involvement (participation) will
and Huang (2001), Daily et al. (2007), be beneficial for motivating them in order
Denton (1999), Enander (1990), to pursue organizational environmental
Fernandez et al. (2003), Forman (2001), tasks
Govindarajulu and Daily (2004), Hanna et
al. (2000), Jabbour, Santos, F. C. A., and
Nagano, M. S., (2008), Kamalian et al.
(2010), Kitazawa (2000), Klassen (1993),
Laabs (1992), Mandip (2012), Massoud et
al. (2009), Matthews et al. (2003), Quinn
and Spreitzer (1997), Ramus
(1997), Ramus (2001),
Remmen (2000), Rothenberg (2003),
Sharma (1999), Shrivastava (1995),
Spreitzer (1997)
2 Argyris (1998) Empowering right people is necessary
3 Mishra and Spreitzer (1998) Empowerment influences required
eco-changes as it raises assessments
needed for dealing this
4 Banerjee (2001), Berry (1998), Fernandez et Proactive organizational environmental
al. (2003), Junquera (2012) management will give competitive
advantage to the company
5 Beugre (2001), Mallak and Kurstedt (1996) In strong culture, the shift to empowerment
is effectual step for organizational benefit
6 May and Flannery (1995), Randolph (1995) Employee recognition through proper
employee participation framework will
help execute environmental solutions
7 Ramus and Steger (2000) Employee motivational level influenced by
supervisory factors
8 Madsen and Ulhoi (2001), Smith (1997) Importance of eco-knowhow for the
employees
9 Ambec (2008), Goyal (2013), Haden (2009), Green HRM in management -It pays to be
Marcus (2009), Renwick (2013), green as empowered employees are more
Starkey (2003), Sudin (2011) motivated for environmental pursuits
10 Jabbour, Santos, Fonseca, and Green teams being essential for greening of
Nagano (2013) firms
11 Spreitzer (1995), Thomas and Velthouse Empowerment increases intrinsic task
(1990) motivation
tion for performing the organizational tasks in better manner and same can be observed when
green staff is given empowerment as termed as “Green employee empowerment” in current
research paper. Green employee empowerment is new term being introduced by this research
paper that open new door and provide future direction for studying the concept of green
workforce concepts. As shown in Table 5, there are articles already published on relevant
aspect of employee empowerment, but none of the article has yet introduced the term with
solid literature grounds as this paper. The relevant aspects pave the road for introduction
of this new concept in the dictionary of green management. As the term “green employee
empowerment” is relevant to CSR, the term is being used as social capital, social workforce
123
266 S. Tariq et al.
etc as also used in Table 5, but this research paper compiles the previous literature relevant to
the term in order to give it fully final shape as green employee empowerment. After defining
the term, this paper also examine the mediating effect of green employee empowerment on
employee motivational level for pursuing green organizational tasks and for this Tables 2, 3
and 4 provides ample evidences and support from previous literature. The literature supports
the mediating impact of green employee empowerment on employee motivational level for
pursuing green organizational tasks because green employee empowerment provide such
opportunities to the employees that allow them to get involved in problem solving stream,
taking part in decision making, design their own schedules and timelines, get support from
supervisor whenever needed, give suggestion for improvement, communicating with ease
and have option of information sharing (Polonsky et al. 1998). The literature depicts that
more the employees are involved and empowered, more they will be willing to undertake
organization’s tasks including green practices (the first element of green HRM definition
i.e. eco-friendly practices) as shown by the literary background. The empirical evidences
provided here can be used further for quantitative analysis.
8 Conclusion
Newly-born GHRM has become a core concept of functioning for organizations and has
proven to have deep-rooted effects on organization’s outcome (Wagner et al. 2001). Intro-
duction of novel concepts is worthwhile in the vast spectrum of green management and “Green
Employee Empowerment” is a new introduction in this field that comes under the umbrella
of green management. There are two elements of green HR definition; eco-friendliness for
the society and the other is protection of intellectual base of the firm itself. The current study
focuses on second element because little research efforts have been done on this topic in the
past. As far as the preservation of human asset is concerned firms are needed to get in involved
in such practices that will account for retention of knowledge capital within the organization.
The practices for employee retention basically focus on what benefits the employee because
if the employee is satisfied he will surely be committed to his work and ultimately to the
organization that brings forward introduction of a novel concept called “Green Employee
Empowerment” which can be ensured by giving voice to the employees and involving them in
decision making and problem solving as much as possible. According to literature, motivated
employees have shown to account for this organizational outcome in terms of both profitabil-
ity and productivity (Pirani and Secondi 2011; Wagner et al. 2001). This motivational level
is influenced by the “employee empowerment”. This is the fruitful outcome of this study,
because when second element of green HRM is focused and fulfilled, it will give back for the
first element of green HR definition further. So if empowered employees are more motivated
to do work in organization, they will surely be more practical in considering green tasks and
soon the term “Employee Empowerment” will be replaced by “Green Employee empower-
ment” because being a social citizen the organizations of today are taking step to incorporate
green management in their other daily core functions. It has been noted that money-related
benefits are not sole important element for employees and personal level treatment is needed
that includes green employee empowerment. That’s why the second element has considered
primarily in this study as it needs more emphasis for green HRM as the whole. Employee
empowerment (in terms of employees’ involvement, participation, recognition, supervisory
support, and organizational cultural support), is studied in various research studies but this
research paper has given it a nvel shape by incorporating the concept of green to it as “green
employee Empowerment” which can be discussed in more detail in future research agenda.
123
Tables 3 and 4 show findings of different studies from different aspects of green employee
empowerment, which supports importance of green employee empowerment for organi-
zational outcome. After integrating and aligning the data from this relevant literature, the
findings showed that there exists a potential mediating effect of employee empowerment on
employee motivational levels for pursuing GHR practices. Green employee empowerment
then is key to enhancing an organization’s outcome, where employees are motivated to pursue
green goals more effectively and efficiently. As employees are knowledge repositories and
innovation agents, and green management requires their technical and management expertise,
organizations are thus needed to be empowered. It really pays to be green, as empowered
employees are more motivated to perform environmental tasks.
This study has strong implications being a subject of keen interest. In developing countries,
it will play a vital role in improving the organizational conditions whereas in developed
countries, these practices will help to give competitive advantage. As per little research made
in this field, it is need of the hour to further explore different aspect of green HRM. The idea
is needed to be formulated and implemented in firms in order to pave the road for success.
There are many issues relating to green HRM and the findings of this research study will
help to gauge some of these issues that remained unaddressed till now. However, there exists
room for future exploration as well.
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Qual Quant (2016) 50:237–269

Green employee empowerment: a systematic literature

Sanober Tariq · Farzand Ali Jan ·

Published online: 14 December 2014

Keywords Green human resource management · Green employee empowerment ·

S. Tariq (B) · F. A. Jan · M. S. Ahmad

as taking care of knowledge capital from organization’s possessions (Dutta 2012). As a

3 Usefulness of the “empowerment concept”

Publicaons on"GHRM"used in SLR

1. The top-down approach (relational and mechanistic); and the

No. of arcles/Journal used in SLR

4 “Green Employee empowerment” as potential mediator

Identifying the mediating variable is important, as it influences the relationship between

Table 1 Abbreviations used for Journal names

Journal of quality and participation J. of Qual. & Par.

concerns Case analysis

workforce workforce employees for

environmental perceptions of linked t eco-performance

competitive advantage: giving competitive edge competitive edge to the

Spreitzer, G. M. empowerment: 7 antecedents, empowerment if taken in account risk, trust and

Massoud, J., Daily, x X

Employee psychological well-being (including 34

5.1 Data sources

5.2 Inclusion and exclusion

Fig. 1 Model for basic process

Fig. 2 Detailed step model of research design

Sr. Literature support Evident findings

1 Brio (2007), Conger and Kanungo Employee empowerment in terms of

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