Digitalizing Sustainability: The Role of E-HRM and Green Employee Behaviors in Corporate Carbon Neutrality

This study examines the role of Electronic Human Resource Management (E-HRM) in driving Corporate Carbon Neutrality through the mediating mechanism of Green Employee Behaviors (GEB). Positioned within the volatile, infrastructure-constrained manufacturing sector of Southeast Nigeria, the research investigates how digital workflows promote sustainable industrial outcomes. Utilizing a total enumeration sampling technique, primary data was gathered via a hybrid distribution approach from 294 full-time employees across four major firms in the Awka, Nnewi, and Onitsha clusters: Juhel Pharmaceutical, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing, Chikason Group, and Millennium Plastics. Data analysis was executed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS v4. The empirical results reveal that E-HRM exerts a strong, direct, positive effect on GEB (β = 0.584$, t = 11.241), which in turn significantly influences Corporate Carbon Neutrality (β = 0.492, t = 8.653). Crucially, mediation analysis confirms that GEB significantly bridges the relationship between digital HR platforms and emission reductions (β = 0.287, t = 6.418). These findings demonstrate that cloud-based infrastructures do not achieve environmental targets automatically; rather, they serve as digital frameworks that support employee green behaviors that contribute toward organizational carbon reduction initiatives.