The impact of green transformational leadership on environmental performance in four-and five-star hotels in Hue City: the moderating role of local government environmental orientation
Vol. 135 No. 5C (2026), Original Article
Vol. 135 No. 5C (2026)

The impact of green transformational leadership on environmental performance in four-and five-star hotels in Hue City: the moderating role of local government environmental orientation

Original Article
https://doi.org/10.26459/hueunijed.v135i5C.8535
Published 2026-08-17
Le Thi Phuong Thao
University of Economics, Hue University, 99 Ho Dac Di St., Hue, Vietnam
Le Thi Phuong Thanh
University of Economics, Hue University, 99 Ho Dac Di St., Hue, Vietnam
Tong Viet Bao Hoang
University of Economics, Hue University, 99 Ho Dac Di St., Hue, Vietnam
Nguyen Anh Duong
University of Economics, Hue University, 99 Ho Dac Di St., Hue, Vietnam
PDF (Vietnamese)

Keywords

green transformational leadership
organizational citizenship behavior for the environment
environmental performance
local government environmental orientation
hotels
Hue City lãnh đạo chuyển đổi xanh
hành vi công dân hướng đến môi trường
kết quả thực hiện môi trường
định hướng môi trường của chính quyền địa phương
khách sạn
Huế

Abstract

This study examines the impact of green transformational leadership on environmental performance in four-and five-star hotels in Hue City, Vietnam, while also investigating the moderating role of local government environmental orientation. Data were collected from 218 employees working in 22 four- and five-star hotels in Hue City and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results indicate that green transformational leadership has a positive effect on organizational citizenship behavior for the environment and environmental performance. In addition, local government environmental orientation was found to positively moderate the relationship between green transformational leadership and environmental performance, strengthening the positive effect of green transformational leadership on environmental outcomes. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms through which green transformational leadership influences environmental performance in the hospitality industry. Furthermore, the study provides important managerial implications for enhancing environmental performance through the integration of leadership practices, employee environmental behavior, and the local institutional context. 

https://doi.org/10.26459/hueunijed.v135i5C.8535
PDF (Vietnamese)

References

  1. Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall.
  2. Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700108
  3. Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. Free Press.
  4. Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. Wiley.
  5. Boiral, O. (2009). Greening the corporation through organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 87(2), 221–236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9881-2
  6. Boiral, O., & Paillé, P. (2012). Organizational citizenship behaviour for the environment: Measurement and validation. Journal of Business Ethics, 109(4), 431–445. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1138-9
  7. Chan, E. S. W. (2011). Implementing environmental management systems in small- and medium-sized hotels: Obstacles. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 35(1), 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348009344237
  8. Chen, Y. S., & Chang, C. H. (2013). The determinants of green product development performance: Green dynamic capabilities, green transformational leadership, and green creativity. Journal of Business Ethics, 116(1), 107–119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1452-x
  9. Chou, C. J. (2014). Hotels’ environmental policies and employee personal environmental beliefs: Interactions and outcomes. Tourism Management, 40, 436–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2013.08.001
  10. Delmas, M. A., & Toffel, M. W. (2004). Stakeholders and environmental management practices: An institutional framework. Business Strategy and the Environment, 13(4), 209–222. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.409
  11. DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147–160. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101
  12. Elshaer, I. A., Sobaih, A. E. E., Aliedan, M., & Azzaz, A. M. S. (2022). The effect of green human resource management on environmental performance in the hotel industry: The mediating role of green work engagement and the moderating role of green transformational leadership. Sustainability, 14(18), 11056. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811056
  13. Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
  14. Graves, L. M., Sarkis, J., & Zhu, Q. (2013). How transformational leadership and employee motivation combine to predict employee proenvironmental behaviors in China. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 35, 81–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2013.05.002
  15. Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Pearson Education.
  16. Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2018). Multivariate data analysis (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.
  17. Kim, Y. J., Kim, W. G., Choi, H. M., & Phetvaroon, K. (2019). The effect of green human resource management on hotel employees’ eco-friendly behavior and environmental performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 76, 83–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.04.007
  18. Klassen, R. D., & McLaughlin, C. P. (1996). The impact of environmental management on firm performance. Management Science, 42(8), 1199–1214. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.42.8.1199
  19. Mensah, I. (2006). Environmental management practices among hotels in the Greater Accra Region. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 25(3), 414–431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2005.02.003
  20. Nguyen, B. (2022). Does local environmental governance improve tourism companies' performance? Evidence from Vietnam. Journal of Travel Research, 61(4), 748–762. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211002653
  21. Obeidat, S. M., Al Bakri, A. A., & Elbanna, S. (2020). Leveraging “green” human resource practices to enable environmental and organizational performance: Evidence from the Qatari oil and gas industry. Journal of Business Ethics, 164(2), 371–388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-4075-z
  22. Paillé, P., Chen, Y., Boiral, O., & Jin, J. (2014). The impact of human resource management on environmental performance: An employee-level study. Journal of Business Ethics, 121(3), 451–466. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1732-0
  23. Pham, N. T., Tučková, Z., Jabbour, C. J. C., & Chiappetta Jabbour, A. B. L. S. (2019). Greening the hospitality industry: How do green human resource management practices influence organizational citizenship behavior in hotels? Tourism Management Perspectives, 31, 391–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2019.05.008
  24. Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
  25. Robertson, J. L., & Barling, J. (2013). Greening organizations through leaders’ influence on employees’ pro-environmental behaviors. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(2), 176–194. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1820
  26. Robertson, J. L., & Barling, J. (2017). Toward a new measure of organizational environmental citizenship behavior. Journal of Business Research, 75, 57–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.02.007
  27. Sheikh, A. A., Shan, A., Hassan, N. M., Khan, S. N., & AbdAlatti, A. (2024). Impact of green human resource management practices on hotels environmental performance: A mediation and moderation analysis. Sustainable Futures, 8, 100409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2024.100409
  28. Suliman, M. A., Abdou, A. H., Ibrahim, M. F., Al-Khaldy, D. A. W., Anas, A. M., Alrefae, W. M., & Salama, W. (2023). Impact of green transformational leadership on employees’ environmental performance in the hotel industry context: Does green work engagement matter? Sustainability, 15(3), 2690. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032690
  29. Sun, X., El Askary, A., Meo, M. S., Zafar, N. U. A., & Hussain, B. (2022). Green transformational leadership and environmental performance in small and medium enterprises. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 35(1), 5273–5291. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2021.2025127
  30. Ủy ban nhân dân tỉnh Thừa Thiên Huế. (2021). Chiến lược phát triển du lịch Thừa Thiên Huế đến năm 2030, tầm nhìn đến năm 2045. https://hue.gov.vn
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2026 Array