Be Innovative or Ethical? Sustainable HRM, Trust in Organization, and (Un)Desired Employee Behaviors

Amid growing interest in integrating sustainability and corporate social responsibility strategy into the design of human resource management (HRM) practices, sustainable HRM practices based on the common good values (SHRM-CGV) have gained prominence in private firms to support organizations in reaching their sustainability goals. However, research on the effect of SHRM-CGV on desired employee behaviors remains scant. In particular, we know very little about whether SHRM-CGV play a similar or different role in entrepreneurial firms compared to established firms. Drawing upon social exchange theory, we address whether and how SHRM-CGV influence employee innovative behavior and whether SHRM-CGV function more or less effectively in entrepreneurial firms compared to established firms. We also examined whether and how SHRM-CGV lead to employee unethical behavior in entrepreneurial firms. Our findings based on two multi-wave field studies support our theoretical hypotheses and significantly contribute to literature and implications for practice.