Advancing the sustainability agenda through strategic human resource management: Insights and suggestions for future research

• Published in: Human resource management Vol. 62; no. 3; pp. 251 - 265
• Main Authors: Ren, Shuang, Cooke, Fang Lee, Stahl, Günter K., Fan, Di, Timming, Andrew R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA Wiley Periodicals, Inc 01-05-2023; Wiley Periodicals Inc
• Subjects: corporate social responsibility; ethics; green HRM; Human resource management; Social responsibility; strategic HRM; Sustainability; sustainable HRM
• ISSN: 0090-4848; 1099-050X
• DOI: 10.1002/hrm.22169

How can human resource management (HRM), as both a scholarly discourse and a corporate strategic function, advance the sustainability agenda? We endeavor to answer this question by drawing together insights gleamed from the emerging sustainable HRM literature. First, we synthesize various conceptualizations and theoretical perspectives on the topic, including frames of reference from strategic HRM, institutional theory and institutional logics, stakeholder theory, and sustainable careers/life cycle theory. Second, we unpack and contextualize the sustainable HRM literature through the lens of international HRM. Third, we consolidate the extant literature and present an agenda for future research, calling for further exploration of topics that are likely to hit the next high wave of generating new strategic HRM insights and sustainable HRM knowledge.