The Synergy of Green HRM and a Proactive Environmental Strategy in Cultivating Environmental and Financial Performance Through Green Innovation

This study examines how green human resource management (HRM) contributes to environmental and financial performance via green innovation. We develop and test a moderated mediation model in which green product and green process innovation act as parallel mediating mechanisms, while proactive environmental strategy moderates their effectiveness. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling combined with conditional process analysis on survey data and archival financial data from 244 Spanish textile firms, we find that both green product and green process innovation mediate the green HRM–performance relationship. However, proactive environmental strategy strengthens only the green HRM–green process innovation pathway and its indirect effects on performance. From a practical perspective, the findings indicate that aligning green HRM with proactive environmental strategy is particularly relevant for firms seeking to foster process-based green innovation. The main theoretical contribution lies in demonstrating the asymmetric role of proactive environmental strategy in linking green HRM to environmental and financial performance across distinct green innovation pathways.