Green human resource management and green innovation as drivers of environmental performance in readymade garment firms

This study examines how green human resource management (GHRM) influences environmental performance (EP) through green innovation (GI) in Bangladesh’s ready-made garment (RMG) industry. Using survey data from 349 employees across 10 Savar EPZ firms and PLS-SEM (SmartPLS 4), the findings indicate that GHRM is positively associated with both EP and GI, and that GI partially mediates the GHRM-EP relationship. The model explains 66% of the variance in GI and 55% of the variance in EP, with acceptable global fit indices (SRMR = 0.078; NFI = 0.891). While the cross-sectional design supports associations rather than causal claims, the findings align with RBV and AMO, indicating that HR-enabled capabilities can advance environmental outcomes through innovation. The study contributes by integrating RBV-AMO perspective in a labour-intensive manufacturing context and provides practical guidance for RMG managers on embedding environmental goals into HR systems through KPI-linked appraisals, training, and reward mechanisms.