Leadership and Human Resource Management in Economic Development

Dear Colleagues,

The devolution of human resource management (HRM) leadership to line managers and other parts of an organization has been discussed extensively in the existing literature (He et al., 2019; Kurdi‐Nakra et al., 2022; Podgorodnichenko et al., 2020). Despite its challenging and complicated process (Kainzbauer and Rungruang, 2019), HRM leadership has been viewed among the critical factors enabling and driving sustainable outcomes in contemporary organizations (Ambituuni et al., 2021).

Without underestimating the merits, outcomes, and importance of HRM leadership devolution for the proper contextualization, organization, and implementation of HRM actions, reactions, and operations, in this Special Issue, we will consider the necessity of HRM leadership evolution in the promotion of green HRM and the transition to a circular economy. Therefore, HRM leadership devolution and evolution should depart from discrepancies associated with concerns of ownership (e.g., Blayney et al., 2020) and bureaucratic processes (e.g., Ambituuni et al., 2021), as well as structural, contextual, and organizational issues (Ren and Jackson, 2020), and focus on organizational resilience and sustainability (Elshaer et al., 2024; Shafaei and Nejati, 2024).

Focus

To add to the emerging body of research on organizational sustainability and resilience, its antecedents, and critical factors, as well as outcomes at both employee and organizational levels, this Special Issue focuses on the active role of HRM leadership devolution and evolution in the transition to a more circular economy, as well as the establishment of green HRM within various national and international regions.

Scope

By reviewing the existing literature, we may acquire a solid and thorough understanding of the importance of the role HRM leadership plays in transitioning to a more circular economy (Subramanian and Suresh, 2022), as well as in achieving sustainable outcomes and resilience (Zihan and Makhbul, 2024). At the same time, we may consult both evidence-based research and conceptual models on the absolute necessity of sustainability and resilience, including within various national and international regions and contexts.

Despite such rich research outcomes and knowledge, there is still no solid discourse on the antecedents, peculiarities, variables, and factors affecting the relationship between HRM leadership devolution and evolution, the transition to a more circular economy, and the promotion of green HRM.

Therefore, we seek contributions, both empirical and conceptual, to expand economic sustainability by treating the evolution and devolution of HRM leadership not only as antecedents to and enablers of the move towards a more circular economy and green HRM, but also as critical factors in achieving sustainability and resilience.

Purpose

Thus, this Special Issue aims to explore how HRM leadership devolution and evolution enables the transition to a more circular economy and promotes green HRM, subsequently designing sustainable HRM operations and practices and achieving economic sustainability and organizational resilience. Focus is given on the various challenges to sustainability and resilience, with particular references to leadership styles, theories, and models.
Some research questions could include the following:

• Which leadership style is critical in enabling the transition to a more circular economy and promoting green HRM (e.g., in various multinational corporations, SMEs, and NGOs)?
• How and to what extent does HRM leadership affect economic sustainability and resilience?
• What are the required variables enabling HRM leadership to achieve the transition to a more circular economy outside of organizational regions?
• How and in what conditions does HRM devolution take place to promote green HRM?
• How and to what extent do different stakeholders affect HRM leadership contributions to the circular economy?
• How and to what extent do public policies affect HRM leadership’s ability to contribute to a more circular economy?
• Which skills and abilities are critical for HR leaders in addressing economic and other sustainability challenges?
• What is the impact of national stakeholders on HRM leadership’s contribution to green HRM and a circular economy?
• What HRM leadership practices achieve sustainability and resilience to various contemporary business contexts and environments?
• How and to what extent does training and development affect HRM evolution into green HRM, and to what extent could such evolution be sustainable?
• What are the new concepts of training and development that the transition to a more circular economy require?
• Which HRM strategies should organizations form to achieve sustainable outcomes and organizational resilience?

References

• Ambituuni, A., Azizsafaei, F., and Keegan, A. (2021). HRM operational models and practices to enable strategic agility in PBOs: Managing paradoxical tensions. Journal of Business Research, 133, 170-182.
• Blayney, C., Cormier-MacBurnie, P. and Young, J. D. (2020). The devolution of human resource management to line managers: A preliminary examination of the hotel industry in Halifax, Canada. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 19(4), 443-472.
• Elshaer, I.A., Azazz, A.M., Kooli, C., Alqasa, K.M., Afaneh, J., Fathy, E.A., Fouad, A.M. and Fayyad, S. (20240. Resilience for sustainability: The synergistic role of green Human Resources Management, circular Economy, and green organizational culture in the hotel industry. Administrative Sciences, 14, 297. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14110297.
• He, J., Morrison, A. M. and Zhang, H. (2019). Improving millennial employee well-being and task performance in the hospitality industry: The interactive effects of HRM and responsible leadership. Sustainability, 11(16), 4410.
• Kainzbauer, A. and Rungruang, P. (2019). Science mapping the knowledge base on sustainable human resource management, 1982–2019. Sustainability, 11(14), 3938.
• Kurdi‐Nakra, H., Kou, X. and Pak, J. (2022). The road taken and the path forward for HR devolution research: An evolutionary review. Human Resource Management, 61(2), 239-258.
• Podgorodnichenko, N., Edgar, F. and McAndrew, I. (2020). The role of HRM in developing sustainable organizations: Contemporary challenges and contradictions. Human Resource Management Review, 30(3), 100685.
• Ren, S. and Jackson, S. E. (2020). HRM institutional entrepreneurship for sustainable business organizations. Human Resource Management Review, 30(3), 100691.
• Shafaei, A. and Nejati, M. (2024). Green human resource management and employee innovative behaviour: does inclusive leadership play a role? Personnel Review, 53(1), 266-287. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-04-2021-0239
• Subramanian, N. and Suresh, M. (2022). The contribution of organizational learning and green human resource management practices to the circular economy: a relational analysis – evidence from manufacturing SMEs (part II). The Learning Organization, 29(5), 443-462. https://doi.org/10.1108/TLO-06-2022-0068
• Zihan, W. and Makhbul, Z.K. (2024). Green Human Resource Management as a catalyst for sustainable performance: Unveiling the role of green innovations. Sustainability, 16, 1453. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16041453

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Evangelia Siachou
Prof. Dr. Demetris Vrontis
Guest Editors

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• economic sustainability
• green HRM
• HRM devolution
• leadership
• circular economy