Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide 20-year bibliometric and systematic review of green human resource management (GHRM) research (2002–2024) to map the intellectual structure, thematic dynamics and the developmental patterns of the field and provide researchers and practitioners with an overall conceptualization of the field development. Design/methodology/approach Dual-method design using bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review was used to analyze 446 documents in Scopus and Web of Science. The methodology combined performance analysis (publication trends, productivity indices and citation impact), science mapping (bibliographic coupling, co-citation analysis and six slice thematic evolution) and network analysis (keyword co-occurrence and collaboration patterns). The thematic content analysis was rigorously conducted in accordance with the four-step framework suggested by Braun and Clarke (2006) on 16 key studies to outline thematic streams and gaps in this research. Findings GHRM studies show remarkable 11.41% annual growth in the three stages of development nascent (2002–2015), acceleration (2016–2019) and exponential growth (2020–2024). Geographic analysis indicates that there is great concentration on Asian and developing economies with China (87 publications) and India (45) and Malaysia (21) contributing to herald the Western hegemony in sustainability research. The Journal of Cleaner Production proves to be the most successful one (43 articles, 5,914 citations), and Jabbour and de Sousa Jabbour (2016) can be considered the most influential author. Thematic evolution The field of six slices of thematic evolution is followed through conceptualization (2002–2017), operationalization (2018–2020) and external integration (2020–2022) to strategic consolidation (2023–2024). Keyword co-occurrence analysis depicts four conceptual clusters, including Core GHRM Practices, Sustainability Outcomes, Environmental Integration and Innovation with Human Capital that elucidates a causal pathway in which GHRM practice generates green human capital, which leads to innovation and circular economy implications that culminate into sustainability performance. Research limitations/implications The limitation to peer-reviewed articles in Scopus and Web of Science (in English) could be not the most relevant grammar of the grey literature and non-English articles. Practical implications This paper offers context-specific advice regarding designing culturally congruent GHRM systems based on the global eco-efficiency, regulatory and international sustainability norms. Originality/value This study provides unparalleled longitudinal information by providing six time-slices of granular time which capture thematic emergence, convergence, divergence and decline never documented in the GHRM literature. The emerging combination of Theory, Context, Characteristics and Methodology framework and bibliometric results as well as the multi-dimensional gap analysis (theoretical, contextual, methodological, content, outcome and practice) offers intellectual history as well as the theoretically grounded future research directions at an unprecedented level of sophistication.
Kumari et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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