2.1. Theoretical Perspective
Employee participation is vital for the successful implementation of environmental strategies [
3]. Acknowledging employees’ participation is not merely essential for their satisfaction and well-being, but it is also a smart approach on the part of the organization for improving the working environment, open innovation, and creativity in the hospitality sector.
Open innovation is perceived as a fundamental factor for strategy maintenance that ensures affluence, sustainability, and the market advantage of any organization [
16,
17] and, most importantly, for the hospitality sector too. Open innovation imports novel values [
16] and understanding from the external stakeholders which promotes in-house open innovation [
18]. Knowledge conceived by external stakeholders usually spreads over several actors (chef, waiter, attendant, supervisor, and administrative staff) and it is often extended from an individual employee to the whole industry [
19]. Empirical studies on innovation disclose that employees holding multiple skills and wide experiences, participate in effective innovation development [
20]. Additionally, employees who contribute to innovation processes face the above mentioned challenges along with their household chores. However, it is significant to understand that the open innovation process is associated with a mindset stimulated by open innovation culture. This type of working environment is promoted through openness because employees with diversified knowledge and skills respond to the changing market [
21], particularly for greening the hospitality sector. Therefore, executive management of the hospitality sector encourages and acknowledges the contribution of its employees for the effective execution of environmental management systems.
This study explores the impact of employee job attitudes in developing employee EB for greening the hospitality sector. In the context of greening the hospitality sector, TPB assists in predicting the employee EB. Employees’ intend to demonstrate a specific behavior effects the overall behavior and conduct. Therefore, for the execution of environmental proposals, the hotel staff is required to perform extra job activities for the protection of the environment and enhancement of organizational performance [
22]. For instance, office staff may use double-sided printing or photocopying and housekeepers may be directed to adjust guest room temperatures and sort garbage for recyclable items, such as plastic bottles [
23]. Cooks may be advised to turn on cooking tools when required, and not keep them on at the end of the shift. The literature suggests that around 15% of the entire electricity and fuel consumption in the hospitality industry is consumed by the kitchen [
24]. Laundry staff is instructed to run full loads and cut linens into small bits for other purposes. Procurement staff may have to invest extra time to explore and procure products and tools which are environmentally friendly [
25]. A planned environmental management system (EMS) may require better record keeping which requires the responsible supervisory staff to exert honest and extra effort to find ways to manage proper documentation. To address the less investigated gap, this study proposes important triggers, ranging from employee environmental intent (EI) to customer-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), organizational commitment (OC), and employee satisfaction (ES), that could encourage employee EB for the implementation of green practices in the hotel industry.
2.2. EI, Customer-Oriented OCB, OC and EB
Environmental intent (EI) refers to the willingness of the employee to use energy-saving or environmentally friendly materials with the aim of protecting the environment [
23]. Previous studies have associated the concept of EI with environmental attitudes, i.e., environmental awareness, environmental knowledge, and environmental concern. They have recommended that employees’ environmental attitudes should be congruent with the employee intent to implement environmental green practices [
3]. Employee intent in the execution of green practices also relates to the work environment of the hotel firm, such as extra workload, the participation of supervisors and leadership, and communication systems that would influence employee EB [
26]. An environmental management system (EMS) improves employees’ EB when the organization is willing to implement environmental green practices [
27]. Attitude of an individual employee serving in the hospitality sector plays a significant role in implementing environmentally green practices [
4]. Environmental intent has largely been focused on environmental attitudes and its relationships with employee behaviors, i.e., citizenship behavior, organizational commitment (OC), and employee satisfaction (ES). Scholarly attention has been given to the individual pro-environmental behaviors in the hospitality sector as employees are agents to enact organizational green practices [
28]. The paradigm shifts in research, from organizational green behavior to individual green behavior, assists in understanding the contribution of organizational citizenship behavior for environmental performance [
29]. An employee engaged in environmental practices helps other colleagues to realize the significance of green practices for the sustainability of both the hospitality sector and the community [
30].
However, an employee demonstrating customer-oriented discretionary behavior serves as a magnifier in predicting the employee EB in connection with employee intention for implementing green practices [
29]. Still, there is scarce knowledge on the relationship between EI and EB. This literature guides us to further explore the relationship between employee extra-role behavior and EB. Researchers agree that employee pro-environmental behavior is associated with willingness to practice pro-environmental activities [
31]. This discussion anticipates that the extra-role behavior promotes pro-environmental attitudes and could be an effective force for implementing green practices. Furthermore, engaging employees in addressing environmental issues is a useful strategy to be an environmentally responsible organization and to improve environmental performance [
31]. Discussion on the relationship between customer-oriented OCB and EB requires further deliberation, therefore, this study opted to empirically explore the affiliation between the employee customer-oriented OCB and EB.
A review of the association between OC and EB with respect to EI reveals that employees’ EI is an important factor for implementing environmental management systems. Two dimensions of OC, continuance (determination to remain with the organization and not to leave due to potential loss of organization) and normative commitment (feeling an obligation to remain with the organization on ethical grounds) strengthen the employee relationship with the organization and stimulate their EB [
32], OC, and its connection with several work domains and related outcomes, including employee participation [
33], service quality [
34], and turnover [
35]. However, the impact of OC and its effect on employee environmental attitude (i.e., EB) in the hospitality sector requires further investigation.
Employees’ EB and their impact on the natural environment are matters of public interest, and have been the subject of choice for scholars of psychological research [
36]. Numerous studies have discussed the antecedents of individual EB, and also elucidate how these antecedents can be measured [
37]. For instance, [
38] referred to TPB to define the causes of EB that arise from behavior intention, looking at two factors: attitude towards behavior and subjective norms. Previous studies also support the notion that a connection to nature is linked with employees’ pro-environmental behavior that provokes them to mitigate negative actions towards nature and promote green practices at workplace [
39]. Scholars also noticed that both local and social (subjective) norms influence EB [
40]. In this context, the impact of environmental attitudes on EB was also positive [
3].
The adoption of green practices by the business organization provides a sustainable market advantage by significantly contributing to forming a positive brand image, and satisfying customers’ demands and expectations [
41]. Previous studies have investigated the impact of environmental green practices on environmental improvement and customers [
42]. However, very few studies have examined the antecedents of employees’ EB [
12]. Exploring the existing gap in theoretical knowledge, this study empirically examines how environmental attitudes (EI) influence the execution of green practices, with the assistance of customer-oriented discretionary behavior and OC, which are expected to predict employee EB. The research recommends that green human resource practices in the hospitality sector raise organizational performance and influence EB [
43]. Thus, the literature review suggests that customer-oriented OCB and OC signify the relationship between environmental attitudes and EB.
Hypothesis 1 (H1). Customer-oriented OCB mediates the relationship between EI and EB.
Hypothesis 2 (H2). OC mediates the relationship between EI and EB.
Hypothesis 3 (H3). Customer-oriented OCB and OC indirectly mediate the relationship between EI and EB.
2.3. ES, EI, Customer-Oriented OCB, and OC
The review of the previous literature associates employee satisfaction with employees’ attitude and feelings towards the job, and other job-related aspects, such as interaction with colleagues, acknowledgment, benefits, and working environment and situation [
44]. In the hospitality sector, employee satisfaction is identified as one of the key factors contributing towards organizational success [
45]. Profit and growth of the organization are stimulated by customer loyalty which is won by customer satisfaction. However, the loyalty of the customer is characterized by the fulfillment of their expectations and satisfaction, earned by the quality services offered by the loyal and satisfied employees [
46]. It is because of high labor intensity, constant human interactions, and reliance on other coworkers that consistency in the employee satisfaction of the hospitality sector has become a challenging task in hotel management [
47]. Several empirical studies have also connected employee satisfaction with organizational performance, and this relationship has been termed as the “Holy Grail” by industrial psychologists [
48]. This view is recommended by social exchange theory that suggests that relationships are promoted by mutual trust [
49], and trust is developed when an individual or group does something good for another and, in reciprocation, the beneficiary develops a sense of obligation which instigates the need to do something positive for the kind partner [
50].
Employee EI, being a global attitude based on the principals of TPB, stimulates employee customer-oriented OCB to instigate feelings of contentment with the organizational initiatives in the hospitality sector. Previous literature has focused on the relationships of EI and employee satisfaction with environmental attitudes, such as environmental concern [
3], environmental awareness [
51], environmental knowledge [
52], and employee EB [
3]. However, the existing literature has discussed the direct relationships of EI and employee satisfaction less. Researchers agree that job attitudes promote employee intent, awareness, and commitment for the implementation of green practices, which shows that an employee holding EI demonstrates satisfaction with the organization [
53].
Scholars have evinced that an environmental management system promotes an ethical climate and employees feel good about themselves. This motivates them to demonstrate effective commitment [
54]. Social identity theory also explores the relationship between environmental management and OC: individuals pursue their social identity to improve self-esteem [
55]. Consequently, the employees feel pride in being part of a socially responsible organization and demonstrate positive work behavior (i.e., OC). Debate on the relationship between OC and employee satisfaction proposes that employee EI is linked with OC and employee satisfaction. Affective and normative commitment has a significant positive influence on employee satisfaction [
56]. In this perspective, social identity theory discusses the impact of an ethical environment on employee attitude, and subsequently proposes a theoretical justification for the relationships between environmental management systems and OC, and argues that a positive perception of social identity causes a positive impact on employee attitude and stimulates OC [
57].
OC and ES are interlinked, and play a significant role in the execution of environmental green practices. The mediating roles of OC in human resource studies have been explored in different contexts, i.e., leadership and turnover intention [
58], organizational support, and employee retention [
59]. The collaborative effect of both constructs, customer-oriented OCB and OC, at an organizational level, has been investigated much less in previous studies [
60]. A highly committed employee demonstrates volunteer discretionary behavior in the workplace [
61] and, conversely, an employee engaged in OCB, representing volunteer devotion, conscientiousness, and job commitment, may demonstrate OC that includes actions pertaining to green behavior with the ultimate objective to draw the attention of customers [
11]. Therefore, employee EI and customer-oriented discretionary behavior represent volunteer attitudes and behavior, with the perception to win the customer sustainability in the long run and also endeavor to explicitly support organizational objectives, such as showing willingness and approving behavior to outsiders and also accepting the organizational policies for new change. The understanding of environmental initiatives in the employees is significant for the effective implementation of environmental practices [
52]. The indirect impact of customer-oriented OCB and OC has been addressed in depth, in the context of human resource management, however, scarce research studies exist deliberating the mediating roles of employee customer-oriented discretionary behavior and work attitude. This study empirically examines the interactive effects of customer-oriented OCB and organizational commitment in the relationship of EI with employee satisfaction.
Hypothesis 4 (H4). Customer-oriented OCB mediates the relationship between EI and ES.
Hypothesis 5 (H5). OC mediates the relationship between EI and ES.
Hypothesis 6 (H6). Customer-oriented OCB and OC mediate the relationship between EI and ES.