Research Findings On Green Human Resource Management Practices in India – A Systematic Review

Abstract

Increasing importance towards adopting sustainable work practices in organizations led to a new area of specialization within the people management function – “Green HRM”. Many organizations in India have already incorporated green practices within their overall human resource management process, policies and practices. Because of the regulatory or competitive pressure, more and more organizations are learning to integrate green practices with their core HR functions, like staffing, employee development, performance management, reward management, employee engagement. In this proposed research, we will attempt to evaluate the status of Green HRM practices in corporate India, as depicted already in published research work.

To identify relevant research articles/papers, we will use Google Scholar as our source. We will use the key words/phrases “Green Human Resource Management”, “Sustainable Human Resource Management”, and “India” for our search. From the list of articles appearing from keyword search, we will select the articles in peer reviewed academic journals or papers presented in international conferences for our analysis. We will not limit the findings by year of publication/presentation. We will collect the full text of the articles and papers from Google Scholar, Ebsco, Emerald, and Proquest databases. We will then proceed with a systematic review of all the documents.  

After a critical review of the collected articles, we will present our findings classified into the following themes: a) Use of a theoretical model/concept/framework for the study, b) Implementation of practices in different areas within HR function, c) Possible outcome or consequence of the practices within the organization. We will also highlight any other important thread that might emerge from the review process (e.g. possible difference in application across organizations as per industry or sector, ownership pattern, size, etc.). We will identify the areas which require enhanced research focus in near future, in terms of theoretical foundation, use of sample, and methodology.  

India has the second largest population in the world and it is one of the most important emerging economies. At present, it is ranked as the fifth largest economy in the world and anticipated to grow at an impressive rate when the economy revives after the pandemic. At the same time, like most developed countries, India is framing and implementing policies on sustainable development in view of the concerns regarding climate change and its consequences. Our research will be important to evaluate the established findings on Green HRM from a critical point of view. We expect to present critical achievements as well as shortcomings in the Indian context and offer directions for future research in this area, in view of its growing importance.