Green HRM and Environmental Performance in Qatar's Oil and Gas Sector

Introduction

Environmental management has been a concern for many companies today (Guerci et al., 2016). This has led companies to invest heavily in their environmental management systems (EMS) in order to improve their environmental performance and, eventually, enhance their reputation and overall performance (Wagner, 2013). With regard to such benefits, the literature suggests that the increased implementation of EMSs by companies — such as ISO 14001 certification — will lead to pollution prevention, waste minimization, and reduced environmental release (Paille et al., 2014), and hence may assist in enhancing the economic performance of companies (Abdel-Maksoud et al., 2016; Wehrmeyer, 1996).

From the environmental management perspective, scholars assert the close linkage between green Human Resource Management (HRM) and environmental performance (Paille et al., 2014; Renwick et al., 2013). Green HRM is generally defined as HRM work practices that facilitate proactive environmental management for the firm (O'Donohue and Torugsa, 2016). In their review on environmental management and HRM literature, Renwick et al. (2013) showed the need to integrate environmental management and HRM. Moreover, they identified a set of HRM practices that are emerging as one organizational response to environmental degradation. For example, in the selection process, companies concerned with environmental management often rely on green criteria to select job candidates and recruit employees who are environmentally aware. They also use green performance indicators in the performance appraisal process. The review finds considerable evidence that green HRM practices promote ability, motivation, and opportunity in addition to enhancing environmental performance. However, the authors noted that studies on the impact of a green HRM system — as a whole rather than as individual practices — on either environmental outcomes or broader organizational performance are rare.

Accordingly, considerable uncertainty remains regarding the role of green HRM in achieving environmental performance and improving organizational performance (Guerci et al., 2016). This suggests that this study is timely and has considerable empirical implications for green HRM practices. The study has three main purposes.

First, although contextual factors have been considered in previous research examining green practices, they have not been broadly considered in research about green HRM practices (e.g., Guerci et al., 2016). To address this gap, this study concentrates on two important organizational factors that serve as possible antecedents of adopting green HRM: support of top management and internal environmental orientation (hereafter referred to as environmental orientation). As argued by Daily and Huang (2001), top management support can encourage the adoption of green HRM practices. This is especially important since there is no empirically verifiable work confirming the validity of top management support as a factor that encourages the adoption of green-based HRM practices. Environmental orientation, which reflects the degree to which employees are committed to protecting the natural environment (Paille et al., 2014), was proposed as a second determinant of green HRM. Both factors complement each other by showing support for green-based HRM practices at different levels in the firm — employees and management. In particular, high levels of management support and environmental orientation are expected to lead to implementing effective green HRM within the company through, for example, placing greater importance on environmental issues and attracting, developing, and retaining employees who are environmentally aware.

Second, the study examines the mediating role of green HRM on the links between top management support and environmental orientation on one side, and environmental performance on the other. Although scholars have addressed the important role of HRM practices in improving environmental performance over the last three decades (e.g., Hart, 1995; Jabbour and Santos, 2008; Paille et al., 2014), there are still calls for more empirical work in this area (e.g., Renwick et al., 2013). Moreover, to date, few empirical works have addressed the extent to which management support and environmental orientation enable organizations to improve their environmental performance through enhanced green HRM. As a response to these calls, this study addresses a knowledge gap by examining the mediating role green HRM plays in the link between both management support and environmental orientation, and environmental performance. It is important to note that the current study focuses on "actual" rather than "intended" green HRM practices. Nishii and Wright (2008) identified intended HRM practices as practices formulated by the HRM department, whereas actual HRM practices are those implemented at all levels by managers and employees. As recommended by Khilji and Wang (2006), this study targets managers at all levels to provide their views about implemented green HRM practices.

Third, the study examines the link between environmental and organizational performance in the Qatari oil and gas sector, where studies on both the country and the sector are scarce. The oil and gas sector in Qatar constitutes the backbone of the Qatari economy, accounting for more than 50% of Qatar's GDP. The state-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP) controls all aspects of Qatar's upstream and downstream oil and natural gas sectors, including exploration, production, transport, storage, marketing, and sales activities. Companies operating in this sector have been exposed to increasing pressure to preserve the environment. Since one of the main four pillars of Qatar Vision 2030 is environmental development, all companies in the sector apply environmental management processes, mainly in the form of ISO 14001 certification. To the authors' knowledge, no studies examining the link between green HRM and environmental performance exist in the GCC region, which represents another clear contribution of this study.

Rationale for Green HRM and Study Significance

In the modern corporate world, there is a need to balance environmental, economic, and social performance as part of a responsibility to society. Moreover, with the growing concern for green strategies in an effort to combat global warming, increasing green awareness is forcing companies and firms to shift toward sustainability. As a result, practitioners, academics, and political decision makers are paying increasing attention to strategies and solutions adopted by firms for environmental management, with the goal of improving a wide range of environmental performance indicators (Wagner, 2013; Longoni, Luzzini, and Guerci, 2016). A review of the literature suggests that environmental management strategies should be deployed in a cross-functional approach, with a specific focus on independent functional systems.

For firms, the adoption and utilization of green strategies — including in their human resource management — is not only a way of promoting environmental responsibility across a broad spectrum of operations, but also an avenue for enhancing brand value and profitability. According to Nejati, Rabiei, and Jabbour (2017), the adoption of green environmental management systems in HRM promotes an environmentally conscious culture, particularly when the top management of the organization is involved. Research interviewing human resource managers in Italian companies concludes that green human resource management has an effect on both financial and environmental performance (Guerci and Carollo, 2016). These benefits are realized jointly once the organization begins implementing green HRM strategies.

Financially, green HRM helps an organization gain competitive advantage. Specific to the oil and gas industry, green HRM promotes the brand through environmental principles and values across production, processing, and supply chain management functions (Wagner, 2015). With increasing information sharing and environmental protection consciousness, consumers are keen to avoid oil companies that engage in environmentally unfriendly strategies. For example, an oil spill that leads to destruction of marine life damages the social image of an oil processing company. Conversely, green HRM will promote the social image of a company, thereby increasing its competitive advantage. In addition, green HRM increases human resource output. Increased competitive advantage and human resource output are both likely to boost organizational profits, making green HRM an attractive proposition.

Drilling technology is shifting toward cheaper, more efficient, and eco-friendly solutions. Directional drilling methods have enabled numerous deviated wells drilled from one site to reach widely dispersed hydrocarbon-carrying formations (Jabbour et al., 2013; Fayyazi et al., 2015). Technologies used in oil extraction can greatly diminish surface effects linked to drilling operations, allowing production from reservoirs not accessible through ordinary vertical drilling due to environmental constraints. A critical aspect of reducing environmental footprint is connected with cuttings and exhausted mud disposal generated as a result of drilling operations. In land-based drilling activities, waste may be accumulated in a sump dug for that purpose, which may be refilled upon drilling operation completion.

Fossil fuels, compared to other sources of energy such as solar and electric power, are environmentally unfriendly. This presents one of the challenges facing green HRM, as many people assume the green concept cannot be applied to oil and gas production and processing companies. However, the extraction and processing phases can be conducted using green strategies (Fayyazi et al., 2015; Nejati et al., 2017). Environmental management literature frequently cites the argument that, since firms represent the chief source of environmental degradation, they must also contribute the most to tackling environmental management issues. As a result, one can now witness the launch of a broad array of environmental initiatives by companies and their executives. With regard to corporate sustainability, this implies a need to perform well financially, environmentally, and socially.

This study is therefore of vital significance, as it not only demonstrates how oil and gas companies can be environmentally friendly, but also provides top management with a strategy for increasing competitive advantage, human resource output, and financial income simultaneously (Jabbour et al., 2013; Wagner, 2013). Green HRM is therefore a welcome development for the oil and gas industry which, despite being environmentally intensive, plays vital roles in running economies and has no equivalent substitute at the present time.

Research has put forward many organizational and environmental factors as determinants of green practices adoption. While these factors are both internal and external, top management holds the primary role through its support (Nejati et al., 2017; Longoni et al., 2016). The support of top management in green HRM is considered an important factor in the implementation of green practices in organizations. Specifically, the success of environmental management initiatives is largely dependent on executive support through promoting change and employee empowerment, developing disciplinary procedures, and communicating environmental information throughout the organization.