Intertwining HR Practices and Sustainability

A Cross‐Systematization of the Current Literature

Bibliographic Data

ID22418508
AuthorsSilvia Barghini (0000-0002-4109-5021, Department of Economics and Management (DEM) University of Pisa Pisa Pisa Italy, corresponding author), Mariacristina Bonti (Department of Economics and Management (DEM) University of Pisa Pisa Pisa Italy), Sara Sassetti (0000-0003-2845-1105, Department of Economics and Management (DEM) University of Pisa Pisa Pisa Italy)
Year2026
Publication date2026-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBusiness Strategy and the Environment (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0964-4733 • E-ISSN: 1099-0836
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/bse.71002
OpenAlexW7163071336
LanguageEN
References cited137

Nowadays, organizations are experiencing a reorientation of their corporate strategies to pursue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Here, not only can the concept of sustainability be interpreted in several ways but even each human resource (HR) practice seems to contribute to sustainable business performance differently. Despite that, most literature conceptualizes human resource management (HRM) as a system and does not focus on the specific contribution of each individual HR practice to the different sustainability dimensions. As a result, there seems to be a lack of a comprehensive overview simultaneously considering and then intertwining all HR practices and all the different conceptualizations of sustainability. Our study seeks to shed light on these crucial aspects by carrying out a systematic literature review (SLR), supported by bibliometric analyses through Bibliometrix. We studied 94 papers. Thus, HRM literature has been cross‐referenced with sustainability in all its forms. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are offered.

Human resource management · Human resources · Resource use · Sustainability · Sustainable development · Environmental Sustainability in Business · Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior · Sustainability in Higher Education

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