Integrating green human resource management with environmental performance and human capital sustainability in urban dark store ecosystems
نویسندگان
1 Department of Management, Mittal School of Business, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, Punjab, India
2 Department of Management, Mittal School of Business, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, Punjab, India
3 Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Krishnankoil 626126, Tamil Nadu, India
doi
10.22034/gjesm.2026.02.02چکیده
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Sustainable urban dark store ecosystems require human resource practices aligning employee behavior with environmental and operational goals. Green human resource management combines environmental responsibility with workforce operations like hiring, training, performance, communication, and culture. This study assesses green human resource management integration in dark stores and its effects on environmental performance and human capital sustainability. It provides contextual and empirical contributions to a growing retail sector, linking green human resource management practices to measurable environmental and human capital outcomes.METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 400 employees across eight Telangana districts, including pickers, packers, storekeepers, managers, operations leads, delivery executives, riders, and human resource personnel, evaluated five green human resource management dimensions: recruitment, training, performance management, internal communication, and sustainable culture using a 25-item Likert scale. Reliability and validity were confirmed via Cronbach’s alpha and content validity indices. Analysis included descriptive statistics, comparisons, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression to link green human resource management practices with environmental performance and human capital sustainability.RESULTS: Adoption of green human resource management practices varied across dark store ecosystems. In Hyderabad, employees reported strong agreement on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) for green recruitment and onboarding (3.96), green training (3.94), performance management and rewards (4.00), internal communication (4.02), and sustainable culture (4.06), while smaller districts showed lower adoption. Executives reported higher adoption than operational staff, though operational employees also showed strong engagement in internal communication (4.02) and sustainable culture (4.06), especially among those aged 25–35 years, female, and full-time. Regression analysis identified sustainable culture (β = 0.225) and internal communication (β = 0.205) as predictors, explaining 62% of the variance in environmental performance and human capital sustainability (R² = 0.62).CONCLUSION: Integration of sustainable culture and green communication strongly enhances environmental performance and the sustainability of human capital. Recruitment and training show high adoption (3.94–3.96), while performance-linked rewards remain limited (4.00). Strengthening incentives and embedding sustainability across workforce processes are recommended. Future research may examine retention outcomes and wider incorporation of green human resources management methods in dark store ecosystems.
