Untangling the influence of green human capital on green supply chain management practices through environmental education and internal environmental management

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the impact of green human capital (GHC) on green supply chain management (GSCM) practices (environmental education and internal environmental management) and sustainable supply chain performance. Design/methodology/approach This study used a survey method to collect data from 350 randomly selected manufacturing firms in China, including supply chain and human resource professionals from the period of December 2021 to June 2022. Findings The partial least squares-structural equation modeling version 4 is applied to assess the data and test the hypotheses. Under the notion of resource-based view theory, the findings demonstrate that GHC has a positive and significant relationship with GSCM practices (environmental education and internal environmental management) and that GSCM practices are positively associated with the sustainable supply chain performance. Practical implications This study offers implications for Chinese manufacturing firms to use GHC on dimensions of GSCM implementations for achieving environmental, financial and social performance. Originality/value This study finds that GHC as a critical enabler for implementing GSCM practices, resulting in more robust and better sustainable supply chain performance (environmental, financial and social performance).