ISSN: 2222-6990
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Environmental sustainability has become an important concern in organisational management, particularly in manufacturing contexts where organisational activities are closely associated with resource consumption, waste generation, and environmental impacts. This literature review examines the relationships among internal environmental management (IEM), green employee involvement (GEI), and environmental performance (EP) by bringing together insights from environmental management, green supply chain management, and green human resource management research. The review first clarifies the conceptual boundaries of the three constructs, distinguishing IEM as the formal organisational foundation for environmental management, GEI as an employee participation mechanism, and EP as an outcome-oriented dimension of environmental improvement. It then synthesises existing research concerning the relationships among these constructs. The literature generally indicates that IEM is associated with environmental performance, while employee participation can contribute to the implementation and improvement of environmental practices. However, the three research streams remain relatively fragmented, and the specific role of GEI in connecting organisational environmental management with environmental outcomes remains insufficiently integrated. Key research gaps concern conceptual integration, employee implementation mechanisms, contextual differences, measurement consistency, and levels of analysis. The review proposes future research directions including longitudinal and multilevel designs, cross-industry and cross-country comparisons, and more precise measurement of GEI. Overall, the review provides a literature-based perspective for understanding how organisational environmental management and employee participation can be considered together in relation to environmental performance.
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