Stakeholder pressure and the adoption of proactive environmental strategies in healthcare: The mediating effect of “green” HRM

Healthcare managers have become progressively accountable for the environmental impact of healthcare processes because of the growing societal pressure. Their responsibility cannot be limited to the delivery of high quality, low-cost and safe care, but it should be extended to include environmental protection. Despite the numerous environmentally-friendly initiatives, results fell far short of expectations. Our study offers original evidence about the role that “green” Human Resource Management (HRM) plays in mediating the effect of the pressure exerted by stakeholders on the adoption of Proactive Environmental Strategies (PES). To test our conceptual framework, we collected data through a survey on healthcare organizations. We found that stakeholder pressure is positively related to PES, and that “green” HRM system partially mediates the relationship between stakeholder pressure and PES. Our new evidence (i) shows that stakeholder demand for environmental protection triggers healthcare organizations to develop and implement PES; (ii) shows that establishing a “green” HRM system, which enhances hospital professionals’ motivation, ability and opportunity to behave in such a way that will protect the environment, sustains the adoption of PES; and (iii) sheds light on the development and implementation of PES in organizational contexts, such as hospitals, that have been largely overlooked so far.