Green human resource management, renewable energy adoption, and corporate sustainability in Saudi enterprises: Evidence from structural equation modeling

Abstract

Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractThis study investigates the impact of green human resource management (GHRM) practices on corporate sustainability (CS) and the mediating role of renewable energy adoption (REA) in Saudi enterprises progressing toward a sustainable economy. Data were collected in 2025 through a structured online questionnaire distributed to 386 employees and managers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to identify and validate the measurement structure, and structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS to test the proposed relationships. The findings indicate that GHRM practices have a positive and statistically significant total effect on CS (β = 0.166, p = 0.004) both directly and indirectly through REA, highlighting that REA partially mediates this relationship. The association between GHRM and REA is statistically significant yet relatively weak (β = 0.096, p = 0.049), suggesting the mediation should be interpreted as modest rather than substantial. However, REA demonstrated a strong positive effect on CS (β = 0.710, p <= 0.001). Although GHRM explains only 1.5% of the variance in REA, REA accounted for 53% of the variance in CS, indicating that REA supports meaningful but partial mediation between GHRM and CS. The study concludes that these findings reflect associations among respondents’ perceptions and should not be interpreted as evidence of objective organizational sustainability performance. However, the relatively weak association between GHRM and REA suggests that REA is driven by a wide range of organizational, technological, financial, and policy-related factors beyond HRM practices.AcknowledgmentThe authors extend their appreciation to Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University for funding this research work through the project number (PSAU/2025/02/34108).