This paper proposes that Green HRM can meet its full potential only by considering employees in their twofold role as producers and consumers. Employees learn different kinds of behaviour not exclusively at the workplace, but also in private life. Since reciprocal interactions between working life and private life occur, a "green work-life balance concept" is suggested to facilitate environmentally friendly behaviour in both life domains. The concept offers chances not only for the environment, but also for the company and its employees by increasing, for example, work motivation and job retention. However, challenges like employees' reactance to allow corporate influence on private life need to be addressed. Green Work-Life-Balance: Eine neue Perspektive für umweltorientiertes Personalmanagement Dieser Beitrag geht davon aus, dass umweltorientiertes Personalmanagement (Green HRM) dann besonders wirkungsvoll sein kann, wenn es die Mitarbeiter in ihrer Doppelrolle als Produzenten und Konsumenten berücksichtigt. Mitarbeiter lernen unterschiedliche Verhaltensweisen nicht nur am Arbeitsplatz, sondern auch im Privatleben. Da Wechselwirkungen zwischen Arbeitsleben und Privatleben unvermeidlich sind, kann das Konzept einer "grünen Work-Life-Balance" umweltfreundliches Verhalten in beiden Lebensbereichen fördern. Positive Effekte für die Umwelt, für Unternehmen und Mitarbeiter sind denkbar, indem zum Beispiel Arbeitsmotivation und Mitarbeiterbindung verbessert werden. Doch auch mögliche Risiken müssen bedacht werden, wie beispielsweise die Reaktanz der Mitarbeiter gegenüber einem Eingriff des Arbeitgebers in ihr Privatleben.

No abstract

Workplace, Sustainable consumption, Employees, Private life,

Purpose Conspicuous consumption and sustainable consumption are commonly understood as being in contradiction with each other. Yet, scholars have recently become increasingly interested in examining positive relationships between these forms of consumption. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the synergies and contradictions between sustainable and luxury consumption and proposing whether and how conspicuous motives can foster a shift towards sustainable consumption in newly industrialized countries in general and Egypt in particular. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a conceptual note, intended as a starting point and acting as an eye-opener regarding the values inherent in both conspicuous and sustainable consumption and the potential influence that conspicuous motivations could have on the latter. Findings The paper discusses the possibilities for and limitations of conspicuous motives to foster sustainable consumption in newly industrialized countries in the Middle East. The adoption of westernized lifestyles, spreading in Middle Eastern countries, can represent a venue for motivating sustainable consumption behaviours as a means of status distinction. On the other hand, the trickle-down effect and the preconditions of visibility and exclusiveness pose risks on promoting sustainable consumption by addressing conspicuous motives. Practical implications The paper suggests that the synergistic interplay between conspicuous and sustainable consumption, as well as barriers and motivations underpinning both constructs, needs to be empirically researched, while factoring in the cultural specifics of the countries under study, as cultural nuances can influence the dynamics of interaction between conspicuous and sustainable behaviours. Originality/value Given the salience of the relationship between luxury and sustainable consumption and the focus of most studies on early-industrialized countries, insights regarding the possible influences of conspicuous motives on sustainable consumption in newly industrialized countries are warranted. With the scarcity of research examining the ambiguous relationship between conspicuous and sustainable consumption in newly industrialized countries, this paper contributes by providing insights about the conditions that can help conspicuous motives promote sustainable consumption in newly industrialized countries.

Summary Working life can have negative influences on sustainable consumption. In order to promote environmentally and socially friendly consumption patterns and a sustainable society, these negative influences need to be identified and prevented. Research on sustainable consumption has considered different positive and negative influences of working life on sustainable consumption. However, with regard to work‐life‐research and its gained insights into the work‐life relationship, it can be assumed that significant work interferences that restrain sustainable consumption have been ignored so far. Therefore, this article proposes an integrated approach. An overview on sustainable consumption research and work‐life‐research regarding their insights into work interferences is first presented. On this basis, the article then integrates both research perspectives and shows that additional work interferences need to be considered in order to prevent restraints of sustainable consumption.

Suffizienz als Schlüssel zu mehr Lebensglück und Umweltschutz AUTOREN + KONTAKT Christoph Harrach, Viola Muster und Laura Stanszus sind wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter/innen am Fachgebiet Arbeitslehre/Ökonomie

Corporate sustainability management usually relies on innovation experts ‐ that is, it relies on top-down and staff-unit approaches. Seeking out the involvement of employees from all company departments can substantially contribute to corporate greening. “Ordinary” employees are not trained as sustainability experts, yet it is precisely their experience within their own field and within the organisation that can give rise to knowledge that is essential for transforming the economy towards sustainability. Hence, employees need to be empowered by appropriate structures and organisational culture. Transferring practical experience to expertise can prove very helpful in assisting and stimulating sustainability transformations in various business fields.Although ordinary employees are typically regarded as an important stakeholder group for enhancing corporate sustainability, they are seldom seriously addressed in business or research practice. To learn from the practical experience of what takes place at workplaces, we analysed four transdisciplinary research projects all aimed at initiating, accompanying and analysing processes of sustainability transformation within companies, but which focused on different sectors and organisational contexts. Based on the assumption that ordinary employees can hold three different roles in processes of sustainability transformations (implementers, ambassadors and recipients of corporate sustainability practices), we compared the findings from practices of employee involvement within the four projects. Based on these findings, we examined the implications for companies and highlighted future research needs.

Popular literature and guidebooks on minimalism and decluttering have brought the idea of “less is more” into the mainstream. Although decluttering constitutes a central household chore in consumer societies, it is rarely communicated as work within the current popular minimalism discourse, but rather as an expression of self-care. Whether and to what extent this “lifestyle minimalism” can contribute to sustainable consumption has – with a few exceptions – not yet been studied in detail. In this article, decluttering is first conceptualized in between housework and self-care. Based on this work, potentials and limits for the promotion of sustainable consumption are outlined. Finally, initial insights from an ongoing citizen science project on decluttering in Germany are presented. The qualitative results from two workshops and two reflection exercises show that the main motivation for participants is the dissatisfaction with their multitude of possessions and the desire for fewer material possessions in the future. The decision to declutter can be understood as a window of opportunity in which individuals are willing to reflect on and realign their possessions and desires for goods. Thus, we argue that decluttering can be a relevant starting point for changing consumption behavior toward (more) sustainable consumption. At the same time, it remains unclear whether and to what extent the participants' willingness to change regarding possessions and consumption actually leads to more sustainable consumption behavior after decluttering. It is even conceivable that the newly gained space will stimulate additional consumption. Decluttering would then rather function as a catalyst for further consumption (and would have no or rather a negative contribution to sustainability goals). Further research is needed to shed light on this.