Grounded in a novel integrated multi-theoretical framework synthesizing Institutional theory, signaling theory and social cognitive theory, this study aims to unravel how socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) strategically promotes employees’ environmental citizenship behavior (ECB) in an emerging market. It investigates moral reflectiveness (MR) as a crucial cognitive mechanism and critically analyzes SRHRM’s compensatory influence under varying levels of responsible leadership (RL) within a moderated mediation framework.
Using a rigorous three-wave time-lagged design, data from 327 Egyptian industrial employees were meticulously analyzed using PROCESS Model 8 with bootstrapping to robustly test conditional indirect effects.
Empirical results affirm SRHRM fosters ECB, primarily through MR’s cognitive mediation, establishing MR as a pivotal internal process translating HR practices into discretionary environmental actions. Crucially, a profound compensatory effect was identified: SRHRM’s positive influence on MR is markedly stronger when RL is less salient or inconsistent. This novel finding underscores that SRHRM’s indirect effect on ECB is most pronounced under lower RL, effectively becoming non-significant when strong leadership signals are prevalent. This highlights SRHRM’s capacity to act as an institutional substitute for leadership.
By integrating social cognitive, institutional and signaling theories, this study explains how socially responsible HRM drives employees’ ethical green behavior in emerging economies, introduces MR as a novel cognitive mechanism, demonstrates the substitution effect of formal HR systems in institutionalizing sustainability and positions SRHRM as a strategic capability for embedding ethics and environmental responsibility in emerging organizational contexts.
