TY - JOUR
T1 - How does CEO ethical leadership transform Saudi SMEs into green firms? A moderated mediation model
AU - Hameed, Zahid
AU - Naeem, Rana Muhammad
AU - Islam, Tahir
AU - Alshibani, Safiya Mukhtar
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2024/9/6
Y1 - 2024/9/6
N2 - In the aftermath of global warming, companies face huge pressure to minimize waste, reduce carbon emissions, and generally become more responsible in their operations. Against this backdrop, researchers argue that top management can significantly shape a firm's environmental performance (EP). This research aims to investigate the impact of CEO ethical leadership style on Saudi firms' EP in the presence of green human resource management (GHRM) practices as a mediator and stakeholder pressure as a moderator. We utilize the resource-based view and stakeholder theory to develop hypotheses on these relationships. Multisourced data were collected from 272 small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia. Our findings revealed that CEO ethical leadership positively influences firm EP via GHRM practices. The results also indicated that stakeholder pressure moderates the direct relationship between CEO ethical leadership and GHRM practices. Moreover, the stakeholder pressure moderates the indirect effect of CEO ethical leadership on firms' EP via GHRM. This study suggests that stakeholder pressure and GHRM practices are important mechanisms between CEO ethical leadership and firms' EP. Our research highlights essential theoretical and empirical contributions and provides insights for HR practitioners when and why SMEs engage in environment-friendly practices.
AB - In the aftermath of global warming, companies face huge pressure to minimize waste, reduce carbon emissions, and generally become more responsible in their operations. Against this backdrop, researchers argue that top management can significantly shape a firm's environmental performance (EP). This research aims to investigate the impact of CEO ethical leadership style on Saudi firms' EP in the presence of green human resource management (GHRM) practices as a mediator and stakeholder pressure as a moderator. We utilize the resource-based view and stakeholder theory to develop hypotheses on these relationships. Multisourced data were collected from 272 small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia. Our findings revealed that CEO ethical leadership positively influences firm EP via GHRM practices. The results also indicated that stakeholder pressure moderates the direct relationship between CEO ethical leadership and GHRM practices. Moreover, the stakeholder pressure moderates the indirect effect of CEO ethical leadership on firms' EP via GHRM. This study suggests that stakeholder pressure and GHRM practices are important mechanisms between CEO ethical leadership and firms' EP. Our research highlights essential theoretical and empirical contributions and provides insights for HR practitioners when and why SMEs engage in environment-friendly practices.
KW - CEO ethical leadership
KW - environmental performance
KW - GHRM
KW - resource-based view
KW - stakeholder pressure
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85188611919
U2 - 10.1002/csr.2769
DO - 10.1002/csr.2769
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85188611919
SN - 1535-3958
VL - 31
SP - 3855
EP - 3868
JO - Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management
JF - Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management
IS - 5
ER -