HR practitioners as executor-mediators: implementing green HRM in Taiwanese and Korean MNEs

Abstract This study explores the roles and challenges of Human Resource (HR) practitioners in implementing Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) within Taiwanese and Korean multinational enterprises (MNEs), focusing on the interplay between individual perceptions, organizational dynamics, and external pressures. While prior research has highlighted the strategic importance of GHRM for organizational sustainability, little is known about the everyday challenges faced by practitioners responsible for translating sustainability goals into HR practices. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with HR professionals across industries, this study investigates how practitioners navigate the interplay between external expectations, organizational priorities, and internal resource constraints. Findings reveal that HR practitioners occupy a sandwiched executor mediator role: they are committed to advancing environmental initiatives yet constrained by limited resources, ambiguous strategic direction, and weak cross-departmental collaboration. Moreover, national institutional contexts in Taiwan and Korea reinforce structural and cultural barriers that hinder the full integration of sustainability into HR functions. The study contributes to GHRM scholarship by uncovering the micro-level dynamics of practice implementation and theorizing HR’s evolving intermediary role between sustainability strategy and operational reality. It also offers practical implications for strengthening organizational support, cross-functional collaboration, and contextual adaptability in advancing GHRM.