Socially responsible human resource management and employee behavior: A 1998–2025 bibliometric analysis

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Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Growing stakeholder expectations regarding ethical employment and sustainability have increased academic interest in socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) as a mechanism influencing employee behavior and organizational outcomes. This study performs a bibliometric analysis of 112 English-language publications indexed in the Scopus database from 1998 to 2025, using Bibliometrix and VOSviewer to assess publication performance, citation patterns, geographical distribution, and thematic relationships. The results show significant growth in SRHRM research since 2016, with publication output peaking in 2024, confirming SRHRM as a distinct research stream. Six key thematic clusters are identified. Sustainable and responsible HRM practices and employee citizenship outcomes cluster focuses on how HRM practices influence behaviors like organizational citizenship. Employee attitudes, ethical leadership, and workplace behavior cluster examines ethical leadership’s role in shaping employee attitudes. CSR-oriented HRM systems and organizational performance cluster explores CSR-driven HRM systems and their impact on performance and employee outcomes. Strategic sustainability, work engagement, and person–organization fit cluster investigates sustainability-oriented HR strategies and employee engagement. Leadership, organizational culture, and workforce context cluster explore how leadership and culture influence SRHRM practices. Responsible leadership in emerging economy contexts cluster focuses on leadership in emerging economies, especially Vietnam. The findings demonstrate increasing integration of SRHRM with sustainability and ESG perspectives, reflecting the global, interdisciplinary nature of this research. These results highlight the growing strategic importance of responsible HRM practices in shaping employee attitudes and provide a foundation for advancing future research in sustainable HRM.

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    • Figure 1. Research procedure
    • Figure 2. Number of documents and citations
    • Figure 3. Countries’ scientific production
    • Figure 4. Network visualization map of the co-authorship by countries
    • Figure 5. Statistics by the type of published documents
    • Figure 6. The network of co-occurring keywords
    • Figure 7. Keyword co-occurrence evolution
    • Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the bibliometric dataset
    • Table 2. Journals with the highest number of publications on SRHRM and employee behavior
    • Table 3. Top ten studies with the highest citations
    • Table 4. Keyword clusters and associated research themes
    • Conceptualization
      Hoai Bao Chau, Phan Thu Hang Nguyen, Binh Minh Nguyen Le
    • Data curation
      Hoai Bao Chau, Phan Thu Hang Nguyen, Binh Minh Nguyen Le
    • Formal Analysis
      Hoai Bao Chau, Phan Thu Hang Nguyen, Binh Minh Nguyen Le
    • Investigation
      Hoai Bao Chau
    • Methodology
      Hoai Bao Chau, Phan Thu Hang Nguyen, Binh Minh Nguyen Le
    • Project administration
      Hoai Bao Chau
    • Software
      Hoai Bao Chau
    • Supervision
      Hoai Bao Chau, Phan Thu Hang Nguyen, Binh Minh Nguyen Le
    • Validation
      Hoai Bao Chau, Binh Minh Nguyen Le
    • Visualization
      Hoai Bao Chau, Phan Thu Hang Nguyen, Binh Minh Nguyen Le
    • Writing – original draft
      Hoai Bao Chau, Phan Thu Hang Nguyen, Binh Minh Nguyen Le
    • Writing – review & editing
      Hoai Bao Chau, Phan Thu Hang Nguyen, Binh Minh Nguyen Le