IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v30y2021i7p3145-3159.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does a sense of calling facilitate sustainability? Research on the influence of calling on employee green behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Zhe Zhang
  • Yun Zhang
  • Ming Jia

Abstract

Organizations recently attach growing importance to sustainable development and green human resource management (GHRM), raising research interest in predicting employee green behavior (EGB). However, the potential linkage between a sense of calling and EGB is neglected. This research fills the void by examining whether, how, and when calling predicts EGB. Drawing upon self‐determination theory, we argue that by satisfying three basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness), a sense of calling enhances employees' prosocial motivation, which in turn promotes EGB. We further propose that calling predicts EGB more effectively for less conscientious employees. We conducted two field surveys to test the hypotheses. Both Study 1 (N = 280) and Study 2 (N = 295) confirm that calling positively affects EGB through partial mediation of prosocial motivation and that conscientiousness negatively moderates the relationship between calling and prosocial motivation as well as the indirect effect. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhe Zhang & Yun Zhang & Ming Jia, 2021. "Does a sense of calling facilitate sustainability? Research on the influence of calling on employee green behavior," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3145-3159, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:30:y:2021:i:7:p:3145-3159
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2795
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2795
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.2795?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William Young & Matthew Davis & Ilona M. McNeill & Bindu Malhotra & Sally Russell & Kerrie Unsworth & Chris W. Clegg, 2015. "Changing Behaviour: Successful Environmental Programmes in the Workplace," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 689-703, December.
    2. Samuel Roscoe & Nachiappan Subramanian & Charbel J.C. Jabbour & Tao Chong, 2019. "Green human resource management and the enablers of green organisational culture: Enhancing a firm's environmental performance for sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 737-749, July.
    3. Muzammel Shah, 2019. "Green human resource management: Development of a valid measurement scale," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 771-785, July.
    4. Matthew C. Davis & Kerrie L. Unsworth & Sally V. Russell & Jennifer J. Galvan, 2020. "Can green behaviors really be increased for all employees? Trade‐offs for “deep greens” in a goal‐oriented green human resource management intervention," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 335-346, February.
    5. Grant, Adam M. & Sonnentag, Sabine, 2010. "Doing good buffers against feeling bad: Prosocial impact compensates for negative task and self-evaluations," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 111(1), pages 13-22, January.
    6. Kjell Mårtensson & Karin Westerberg, 2016. "Corporate Environmental Strategies Towards Sustainable Development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 1-9, January.
    7. Julia Wolf, 2013. "Improving the Sustainable Development of Firms: The Role of Employees," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 92-108, February.
    8. Shuang Ren & Guiyao Tang & Susan Jackson, 2018. "Green human resource management research in emergence: A review and future directions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 769-803, September.
    9. Michelle Man Suet Law & Peter Hills & Billy Chi Hang Hau, 2017. "Engaging Employees in Sustainable Development – a Case Study of Environmental Education and Awareness Training in Hong Kong," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 84-97, January.
    10. Bari L. Bendell, 2017. "I don't Want to be Green: Prosocial Motivation Effects on Firm Environmental Innovation Rejection Decisions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(2), pages 277-288, June.
    11. Jing Yi Yong & Mohd‐Yusoff Yusliza & Thurasamy Ramayah & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour & Simone Sehnem & Venkatesh Mani, 2020. "Pathways towards sustainability in manufacturing organizations: Empirical evidence on the role of green human resource management," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 212-228, January.
    12. Catherine A. Ramus & Annette B. C. Killmer, 2007. "Corporate greening through prosocial extrarole behaviours – a conceptual framework for employee motivation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(8), pages 554-570, December.
    13. Mehdi Amini & Carol C. Bienstock & John A. Narcum, 2018. "Status of corporate sustainability: a content analysis of Fortune 500 companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1450-1461, December.
    14. Elisha Temminck & Kathryn Mearns & Laura Fruhen, 2015. "Motivating Employees towards Sustainable Behaviour," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 402-412, September.
    15. Andrea Kim & Youngsang Kim & Kyongji Han, 2019. "A Cross Level Investigation on the Linkage Between Job Satisfaction and Voluntary Workplace Green Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(4), pages 1199-1214, November.
    16. Chiara Pellegrini & Francesco Rizzi & Marco Frey, 2018. "The role of sustainable human resource practices in influencing employee behavior for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1221-1232, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Matthew C. Davis & Kerrie L. Unsworth & Sally V. Russell & Jennifer J. Galvan, 2020. "Can green behaviors really be increased for all employees? Trade‐offs for “deep greens” in a goal‐oriented green human resource management intervention," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 335-346, February.
    2. Fatimah Mahdy & Mohammad Alqahtani & Faiz Binzafrah, 2023. "Imperatives, Benefits, and Initiatives of Green Human Resource Management (GHRM): A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-31, March.
    3. Chiara Pellegrini & Francesco Rizzi & Marco Frey, 2018. "The role of sustainable human resource practices in influencing employee behavior for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1221-1232, December.
    4. Mercedes Úbeda‐García & Bartolome Marco‐Lajara & Patrocinio C. Zaragoza‐Sáez & Encarnación Manresa‐Marhuenda & Esther Poveda‐Pareja, 2022. "Green ambidexterity and environmental performance: The role of green human resources," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 32-45, January.
    5. Subhadarsini Parida & Christopher Chan & Subramaniam Ananthram & Kerry Brown, 2023. "In the search for greener buildings: The role of green human resource management," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5952-5968, December.
    6. Paula Benevene & Ilaria Buonomo, 2020. "Green Human Resource Management: An Evidence-Based Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-25, July.
    7. Dewi Tri Hastuti & Muafi Muafi, 2022. "The influence of organizational environmental culture on employee performance mediated by green human resource management (GHRM) and job satisfaction," International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293), Bussecon International Academy, vol. 4(1), pages 24-36, January.
    8. Taiwen Feng & Hongyan Sheng, 2023. "Identifying the equifinal configurations of prompting green supply chain integration and subsequent performance outcome," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5234-5251, December.
    9. Mónica Santana & Rafael Morales-Sánchez & Susana Pasamar, 2020. "Mapping the Link between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Human Resource Management (HRM): How Is This Relationship Measured?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-28, February.
    10. Paillé, Pascal & Francoeur, Virginie, 2022. "Enabling employees to perform the required green tasks through support and empowerment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 420-429.
    11. Leonie Decrinis & Wolfgang Freibichler & Micha Kaiser & Cass R. Sunstein & Lucia A. Reisch, 2023. "Sustainable behaviour at work: How message framing encourages employees to choose electric vehicles," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5650-5668, December.
    12. Olawole Fawehinmi & M. Y. Yusliza & Wan Zulkifli Wan Kasim & Zaleha Mohamad & Muhammad Abi Sofian Abdul Halim, 2020. "Exploring the Interplay of Green Human Resource Management, Employee Green Behavior, and Personal Moral Norms," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, December.
    13. Yanlin Ma & Yuting Liu & Andrea Appolloni & Junqi Liu, 2021. "Does green public procurement encourage firm's environmental certification practice? The mediation role of top management support," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(3), pages 1002-1017, May.
    14. Nabeel Younus Ansari & Muhammad Farrukh & Ali Raza, 2021. "Green human resource management and employees pro‐environmental behaviours: Examining the underlying mechanism," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 229-238, January.
    15. Adriana Burlea-Schiopoiu & Muhammad Haroon Shoukat & Syed Asim Shah & Muhammad Shakil Ahmad & Mirela Mazilu, 2022. "The Sustainability of the Tobacco Industry in the Framework of Green Human Resources Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, May.
    16. Tai-Wei Chang, 2020. "Corporate Sustainable Development Strategy: Effect of Green Shared Vision on Organization Members’ Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-20, April.
    17. Shetu Ranjan Biswas & Md. Aftab Uddin & Swadip Bhattacharjee & Mouri Dey & Tarek Rana, 2022. "Ecocentric leadership and voluntary environmental behavior for promoting sustainability strategy: The role of psychological green climate," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1705-1718, May.
    18. Yujing Zhang & Yilin Luo & Xinjing Zhang & Jing Zhao, 2019. "How Green Human Resource Management Can Promote Green Employee Behavior in China: A Technology Acceptance Model Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-19, September.
    19. Vidyadhar V. Gedam & Rakesh D. Raut & Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour & Balkrishna E. Narkhede & Oksana Grebinevych, 2021. "Sustainable manufacturing and green human resources: Critical success factors in the automotive sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1296-1313, February.
    20. Ya-Chin Kang & Hsien-Sheng Hsiao & Jia-Yi Ni, 2022. "The Role of Sustainable Training and Reward in Influencing Employee Accountability Perception and Behavior for Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-24, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:30:y:2021:i:7:p:3145-3159. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.