Green and Smart HRM for Eco-Innovation: Disruptive Technology, Organisational Digital Capability, and Boundary Conditions in Nigerian Manufacturing

Manufacturers once pursued dividends and competitive advantage with little regard for environmental harm, a legacy that now compounds global warming. Disruptive technology (DT) and digitalisation both intensify and complicate firms’ current eco-innovation agendas. Drawing on a three-wave survey of 485 managers in 192 Nigerian manufacturing firms, we examine how organisational digital capability (ODC) and smart HRM and its green counterparts shape ecoinnovation. The results show that ODC and DT are positive predictors of eco-innovation, whereas smart HRM on its own suppresses eco-innovation. Among green HRM practices, only green recruitment and selection (GRS) yields a direct positive contribution. Interaction effects reveal that GRS dampens the relationship between DT and eco-innovation yet strengthens the relationship between ODC and eco-innovation. Green training, inclusion and development (GTID) displays a similar pattern, amplifying ODC’s influence while muting DT’s. Smart HRM reverses the negative moderations of GRS and GTID on the relationship between DT and ecoinnovation and intensifies GTID’s positive moderation of the relationship between ODC and eco-innovation. These findings emphasize the importance of aligning specific green HRM functions with digital capability and judicious smart HRM policies to help firms navigate technological disruption while advancing environmental sustainability. Managerial and policy implications are discussed.