Linking Top Management Commitment and Circular Practice Through Human Resource Perspective: Do Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Make a Difference in Sustainability?

Based on the natural, social resource-based view, stakeholder theory, and complementary principles of justice, this study aimed to reveal the influence mechanism between top management circular commitment (TMCC) and circular economy practices (CEPs) through the perspective of human resource management (HRM) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). We have highlighted the role of the interplay between circular economy human resource management (CE-HRM) and DEI culture for the implementation of CEPs. We collected questionnaire data through surveys in Sichuan and Chongqing, China, and analyzed the hypotheses and conceptual model using structural equation modeling. We found that: (1). TMCC can positively influence CEPs. (2). TMCC can indirectly influence CEPs through CE-HRM, in which CE-HRM acts as partial mediation. (3). Diversity and inclusion culture, including labor law protection groups and the rainbow (LGBTQ+) group, shows significant moderating effects between TMCC and CE-HRM. Equity culture demonstrates significant moderating effects between CE-HRM and CEPs. This study not only delved into CE-HRM; it also incorporated DEI in CEPs for the first time. It provides new insights, supports complementary principles of justice for the interdependence between social and environmental sustainability, and breaks through the dearth of the Chinese context for DEI and LGBTQ+ research.