Environmental human resource management and competitive advantage

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the moderating effect of environmental human resource management on the relationship between firms' environmental management practices and competitive advantages of cost and differentiation. Design/methodology/approach CEOs of Spanish chemical firms were asked to respond to a questionnaire containing the measures of the study variables. The final sample consists of 94 firms and the hypotheses were tested using partial least square methodology. Findings Empirical evidence showed that companies with a high level of human resource environmental practices can benefit from the advantages in costs and differentiation derived from the implementation of pollution prevention technologies. Originality/value From a theoretical standpoint, the paper discusses the moderating role of environmental human resource management practices in the relationship between pollution prevention technologies and economic performance. Empirically, it provides evidence of the role of human resource management practices and proactive environmental management practices in supporting competitive advantages of cost and differentiation.