The concept of sustainability has been gaining importance and influencing the development of an approach towards employees referred to as sustainable HRM (SHRM). HR development is one of the principles of SHRM that should be implemented consistently along with other SHRM principles, which means, e.g., that the development of employees should be carried out having a long-term perspective in mind. It is crucial to acquire the so-called competencies of the future as the basis for implementing the idea of Industry 4.0. The purpose of the article is to present the development of human potential in an organization against the background of other detailed sustainable HRM principles, to be followed by confronting the theory and the research results on the development of future competencies referring to industrial engineers in Poland as the professional group responsible for implementing the idea of cleaner production and Industry 4.0. The Author analyzed the results of three research projects based on the survey method and representative data from Eurostat and Statistics Poland. The conducted research shows that industrial companies in Poland have more of a short-sighted perspective when it comes to developing the potential of their engineers. The HR development practices focusing only on current needs are not in line with the SHRM principles of a long-term perspective and flexibility. There is also a visible lack of employee participation in the process of making training-related decisions, which is another principle of sustainable HRM. In addition, environmental sustainability remains a neglected area of knowledge in terms of training, and the cooperation with external educational institutions is low. It results in certain implications for HR managers and educational institutions. The article also presents directions for further research.

Purpose Considering the vital role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in accomplishing sustainable development goals, this study aims to examine how and when sustainable leadership (SL) influences sustainable performance by examining social innovation (SI) as a mediating mechanism and managerial discretion (MD) as a boundary condition based on upper echelon theory. Design/methodology/approach This study is cross-sectional in nature. The authors adopted a cluster-sampling approach to collect data from 500 employees of HEIs in Pakistan and China. The response rate for this study was 52.63%. As the proposed model is complex, the authors used structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the research hypothesis. Findings The empirical findings confirm the presence of SI as a competitive partial mediator between SL and sustainable performance. Nevertheless, the findings of this study do not suggest a higher positive effect of SL on SI in the presence of high MD. Research limitations/implications The study evaluated the role of SL and SI in fostering sustainable performance from the perspective of employees in HEIs in China and Pakistan. Before the empirical evidence can be generalized, there is a need to conduct similar studies in other parts of Asia and Western countries as well. Practical implications This study presents implications for higher education leaders and policymakers at the national level to foster the sustainable performance of their institutions. Social implications The current evidence reveals the effectiveness of SL in achieving the social goals of HEIs through SI. The recommendations presented in this study can have an impact on society, providing it with a sustainable future. Originality/value This study is the first of its kind to examine the mediating role of SI on the relationship between SL and sustainable performance. The present study also provides pioneering empirical evidence about the negative effects of MD in the context of HEIs.

The key to a successful implementation of the idea of sustainable development in organizations is competent, motivated employees. Therefore, Human Resource Management (HRM) is of particular interest to practitioners and researchers. New HRM concepts that address emerging problemssuch as sustainable HRMarise and develop. The aim of this article is to answer the following research questions: What kind of issues are presented in the most cited articles in the field of sustainable HRM, taking into account the following division of HRM functions: recruitment and selection, performance appraisal, compensation, training and development, and HR flow? Which HRM functions require further research in the context of sustainable HRM? This study applies H-Classics methodology and presents a hybrid literature review linking bibliometric characterization of the articles on sustainable HRM (including green HRM, socially responsible HRM, triple bottom line HRM, and common good HRM) with a manual review of those publications that made up the H-Core of this research field. The most discussed HRM function was HR training, while the least discussed was HR flow. Moreover, HRM is mainly presented in relation to the environmental bottom line. Most of the cited papers present general guidance on how to shape individual functions of sustainable HRM and indicators for measuring the extent to which organizational practices are green. Research directions in H-Core papers have been formulated toward all HRM functions, treated as a system and separately. The article also presents directions for additional research that were identified in the course of this study.

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Organizational culture is currently considered a critical factor in achieving success in any business activity, including the implementation of the idea of sustainability. Sustainability-driven organizations incorporate a triple bottom line approach, which promotes the collateral achievement of companies’ environmental, economic, and social goals. The first bottom line is related to environmental sustainability. This bottom line should be facilitated by a pro-environmental organizational culture (PE culture). A company should strive to bring this culture to the highest possible level. Although in the literature on the subject some research on the factors that influence employees’ pro-environmental behavior have been presented, environmental sustainability in the context of organizational culture has received comparatively little attention. So far, the concept of levels of PE culture and the corresponding measurement instrument have not been developed. The aim of this paper is to present the concept of a pro-environmental organizational culture and its operationalization to support the achievement of sustainability goals. Operationalization is the process of determining the extension of a concept, which in turn transforms the concept into a metric. This paper presents a four-level concept of PE culture and a research instrument developed for the purpose of measuring the cultural level in organizations. The instrument was tested in a manufacturing company.

PurposeOrganizational culture has an impact on various activities in organizations, including project management (PM). The aim of the study is to answer the following research questions: RQ1: what significance is attributed to organizational culture compared to the objective project characteristics when choosing the dominant PM methodology in organizations? RQ2: which type of organizational culture is preferred for successful implementation of different PM methodologies? RQ3: what kind (if any) of relationship exists between the dominant type of organizational culture in organizations and the dominant PM methodology?Design/methodology/approachThe author surveyed 100 project managers working in the financial industry in Poland with the use of personal structured interviews. The competing values framework (CVF) concept authored by Cameron and Quinn was used.FindingsProject managers find organizational culture more important than objective project characteristics when choosing the dominant PM methodology in an organization. Although statistical analysis revealed a significant relationship between the preferred type of organizational culture and PM methodology, there is no significant relationship between the existing type of organizational culture and the PM methodology which prevails in the company.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should investigate other industries and other typologies of organizational culture.Practical implicationsThe paper provides recommendations for management practice on how to shape organizational culture in the context of successful PM with the application of different PM methodologies.Originality/valueThis study fills a gap in the theory of PM by identifying and empirically verifying the theoretical linkage between the type of organizational culture and PM methodology.

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The aim of the article is to present the issue of project manager competencies and project leadership styles which occur in different types of project-oriented organizations, i.e., the strictly project-oriented organizations (implementing projects for external clients) and organizations that manage projects for internal purposes. The subject literature studies and empirical research results conducted in 100 enterprises were used to accomplish the above-defined goal. The authors discussed the specific nature of project-oriented work and the specificity of project team management. A literature review on project manager competencies and project leadership styles was conducted. Three important competencies were identified that differentiate project managers between those working in strictly project-oriented organizations and those working in organizations which perform project-based management for internal purposes, i.e., achievement orientation, sensitivity teamwork and cooperation. The analysis of applied and desired leadership styles indicated a preference by project team members for a democratic leadership style, in particular during the project implementation phase, in both types of project-oriented organizations.