From Technology Leadership to Sustainability Commitment: Serial Mediation in Indonesia’s Corrugated Box Industry

Abstract

This study examined how technology leadership was converted into organizational commitment to sustainability through green human resource management (Green HRM) and circular economy capability, while testing green knowledge sharing as a boundary condition. A descriptive quantitative survey involved 250 permanent middle- and upper-level managers, ranging from supervisors to general managers, who had worked for more than five years in corrugated carton-box manufacturing firms in Tangerang Regency, Indonesia. Forty reflective indicators were analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling in SmartPLS 3 and 5,000 bootstrap subsamples. Technology leadership positively affected Green HRM (β = .479, p < .001) and sustainability commitment (β = .295, p < .001). Green HRM predicted circular economy capability (β = .556, p < .001) and sustainability commitment (β = .190, p = .001), whereas circular economy capability was the strongest direct predictor of commitment (β = .430, p < .001). The serial indirect effect through Green HRM and circular economy capability was significant (β = .115, p < .001). Green knowledge sharing strengthened the Green HRM–commitment relationship (β = .224, p < .001). The model explained 60.2% of the variance in sustainability commitment. The findings identify circular economy capability as the operational mechanism that connects technology-oriented leadership and people-management architecture with durable sustainability commitment in resource-intensive manufacturing.