IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/buseth/v35y2026i1p231-253.html

Shaping a Sustainable Future Through Multilevel Environmental Behaviors Inside and Outside Organizations

Author

Listed:
  • Irfan Ullah
  • Bo Wang
  • Muhammad Fiaz
  • Yasir Hayat Mughal
  • Saif Ud Din
  • Shahzad Khan Durrani

Abstract

As the global urgency for environmental sustainability intensifies, leadership plays a pivotal role in shaping eco‐friendly behaviors within organizations and beyond. This study examines the role of green inclusive leadership (GIL) in fostering pro‐environmental behaviors within the hospitality industry, utilizing the ability, motivation, and opportunity (AMO) theory as a conceptual framework to explain how GIL influences sustainable behaviors. The study highlights AMO as a theoretical model that outlines how AMO can drive organizational success, while addressing motivation as a practical driver of employee behavior. Time‐lagged data were gathered from hotel employees and managers in Pakistan. The findings demonstrate that GIL positively affects employees' voluntary green behaviors both at work and in their personal lives. This relationship is mediated by a green work climate and environmental commitment, highlighting the spillover effect from workplace behaviors to daily life. The originality of this work lies in its novel application of AMO theory beyond the workplace, offering insights into how leadership can inspire sustainable actions that extend beyond organizational boundaries, especially in a high‐impact sector like hospitality.

Suggested Citation

  • Irfan Ullah & Bo Wang & Muhammad Fiaz & Yasir Hayat Mughal & Saif Ud Din & Shahzad Khan Durrani, 2026. "Shaping a Sustainable Future Through Multilevel Environmental Behaviors Inside and Outside Organizations," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(1), pages 231-253, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:buseth:v:35:y:2026:i:1:p:231-253
    DOI: 10.1111/beer.12791
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12791
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/beer.12791?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. Nicolas Raineri & Pascal Paillé, 2016. "Linking Corporate Policy and Supervisory Support with Environmental Citizenship Behaviors: The Role of Employee Environmental Beliefs and Commitment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 129-148, August.
    2. Richa Chaudhary, 2020. "Green Human Resource Management and Employee Green Behavior: An Empirical Analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 630-641, March.
    3. Tasneem Fatima & Mehwish Majeed & Imran Saeed, 2017. "Does Participative Leadership Promote Innovative Work Behavior: The Moderated Mediation Model," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 9(4), pages 139-156, December.
    4. Javed, Basharat & Naqvi, Sayyed Muhammad Mehdi Raza & Khan, Abdul Karim & Arjoon, Surendra & Tayyeb, Hafiz Habib, 2019. "Impact of inclusive leadership on innovative work behavior: The role of psychological safety," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(1), pages 117-136, January.
    5. Rubab Tahir & Muhammad Razzaq Athar & Aneela Afzal, 2020. "The impact of greenwashing practices on green employee behaviour: Mediating role of employee value orientation and green psychological climate," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 1781996-178, January.
    6. Nicolas Raineri & Pascal Paillé, 2016. "Linking Corporate Policy and Supervisory Support with Environmental Citizenship Behaviors: The Role of Employee Environmental Beliefs and Commitment," Post-Print hal-03795971, HAL.
    7. Frank Montabon & Mark Pagell & Zhaohui Wu, 2016. "Making Sustainability Sustainable," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 52(2), pages 11-27, April.
    8. Wael Mohammed Thabet & Kamal Badar & Mohammed Aboramadan & Ahmad Abualigah, 2023. "Does green inclusive leadership promote hospitality employees’ pro-environmental behaviors? The mediating role of climate for green initiative," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1-2), pages 43-63, January.
    9. Hu, Kexiang & Chen, Yanyu & Mu, Siying & Tan, Zhixiong, 2024. "Green inclusive leadership, green policy, and pursuit of sustainability in natural resources: A firm-level analysis in context of Ukraine-Russia war," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    10. Nicolas Raineri & Pascal Paillé, 2016. "Erratum to: Linking Corporate Policy and Supervisory Support with Environmental Citizenship Behaviors: The Role of Employee Environmental Beliefs and Commitment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 211-211, August.
    11. 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.
    12. Muntasir Murshed & Kashif Abbass & Seemran Rashid, 2021. "Modelling renewable energy adoption across south Asian economies: Empirical evidence from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 5425-5450, October.
    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. Yueru Ma & Yefan Teng & Bowen Yan, 2024. "Bring more than green? The impact of green human resource management on hospitality employees' organizational citizenship behaviors," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 2537-2556, May.
    2. Shaham Saleem & Yixiang Zhang & Hafsa Bashir & Muhammad Umair Rafiq, 2026. "Ethics in Action: Nurturing Green Behaviors in the Workplace Through Corporate Environmental Ethics and Supervisor Ethical Leadership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 203(2), pages 259-277, January.
    3. Junaid Aftab & Monica Veneziani, 2024. "How does green human resource management contribute to saving the environment? Evidence of emerging market manufacturing firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 529-545, February.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Tsung-Lin Wu & Hsiang-Te Liu, 2023. "Causal Model Analysis of the Effects of Civil Servants’ Perceived Formalism, Green Conscientiousness, and Moral Reflectiveness on Green Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-18, March.
    7. Hina Zafar & Feng Tian & Jo Ann Ho & Taewoo Roh & Badar Latif, 2025. "Understanding voluntary pro‐environmental behavior among colleagues: Roles of green crafting, psychological empowerment, and green organizational climate," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 468-482, January.
    8. Fatih Uslu & Ali Keles & Arif Aytekin & Ozgur Yayla & Huseyin Keles & Gozde Seval Ergun & Abdullah Tarinc, 2023. "Effect of Green Human Resource Management on Green Psychological Climate and Environmental Green Behavior of Hotel Employees: The Moderator Roles of Environmental Sensitivity and Altruism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, March.
    9. Khalid Mehmood & Fauzia Jabeen & Hina Rehman & Yaser Iftikhar & Naseer Abbas Khan, 2024. "Understanding the boosters of employees’ voluntary pro-environmental behavior: a time-lagged investigation," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 9847-9869, April.
    10. Wenhao Song & Yingying Ma & Xiucheng Fan & Xuerong Peng, 2023. "Corporate environmental ethics and employee's green creativity? The perspective of environmental commitment," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1856-1868, July.
    11. Sajjad Ahmad Afridi & Asad Shahjehan & Sania Zaheer & Wajid Khan & Ali Gohar, 2023. "Bridging Generative Leadership and Green Creativity: Unpacking the Role of Psychological Green Climate and Green Commitment in the Hospitality Industry," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, July.
    12. Nematollah Shiri & Vahid Jafari‐Sadeghi, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and green behaviour: Towards sustainable food‐business development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 605-620, March.
    13. Sania Khan & Wadi B. Alonazi & Azam Malik & Noor Raihani Zainol, 2023. "Does Corporate Social Responsibility Moderate the Nexus of Organizational Culture and Job Satisfaction?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-17, May.
    14. José F. Molina-Azorin & Maria D. López-Gamero & Juan José Tarí & Jorge Pereira-Moliner & Eva M. Pertusa-Ortega, 2021. "Environmental Management, Human Resource Management and Green Human Resource Management: A Literature Review," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-17, May.
    15. Ach Maulidi & Jake Ansell, 2025. "CSR Fraud, Employee Green Behaviour, Green Capability: The Mediating Role of Person‐Organisation Fit," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(5), pages 6159-6180, September.
    16. Huseyin Keles & Ozgur Yayla & Abdullah Tarinc & Ali Keles, 2023. "The Effect of Environmental Management Practices and Knowledge in Strengthening Responsible Behavior: The Moderator Role of Environmental Commitment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    17. Qi Nie & Jian Peng & Guangyu Yu, 2023. "Leader expectations facilitate employee pro‐environmental behavior," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 555-569, April.
    18. Farooq Ahmad & Md Billal Hossain & Khurram Mustafa & Faisal Ejaz & Kausar Fiaz Khawaja & Anna Dunay, 2023. "Green HRM Practices and Knowledge Sharing Improve Environmental Performance by Raising Employee Commitment to the Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-19, March.
    19. Serdar Cop & Uju Violet Alola & Andrew Adewale Alola, 2020. "Perceived behavioral control as a mediator of hotels' green training, environmental commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior: A sustainable environmental practice," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3495-3508, December.
    20. Nuraddeen Abubakar Nuhu & Kevin Baird & Sophia Su, 2023. "The impact of interactive and diagnostic levers of eco‐control on eco‐innovation: The mediating role of employee environmental citizenship behaviour," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 2245-2271, June.

    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:wly:buseth:v:35:y:2026:i:1:p:231-253. 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: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/26946424 .

    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.