Green human resource management practices to accomplish green competitive advantage: A moderated mediation model

In present high-tech era, firms need to possess a variety of capabilities and resources to attain and sustain a competitive position in the market. The motivation for this study was to understand green competitive advantage through the application of Ability-Motivation-Opportunity theory and Natural-Resource-Based view. In a time-lagging longitudinal online survey related to small-and-medium-sized manufacturing enterprises, 223 professionals provided data according to their opinions. The structural and measurement model were designed for analyses. The results supported the model and verify the Green human resource management practices’ influence on green competitive advantage, with partial mediation of green knowledge sharing and green innovation (green product innovation and green process innovation). The analyses revealed the positive highly significant moderation of green human capital, which is the novelty of the study. Green human capital is important to develop sustainable workforce who act as catalyst in achieving sustainable development goals. The report offers practical advice for small-medium manufacturing enterprises (SMMEs) aiming to attain a green competitive advantage. With the help of a green competitive advantage, the recommendations in this study can benefit SMMEs to develop a green human capital and to create innovative knowledge. As a result, it is a futuristic approach to dealing with the improved environmental conditions and developed a green human capital in this industrialized age.