The increased attention to corporate greening in MNCs has raised an important question of how MNCs build their competitive human capital for greening management. By integrating RBV and institutional theory, this research was conducted in an attempt to offering theoretical framework of MNCs’ greening human capital management (HCM). Firstly, RBV asserts that green leadership and green HCM can result in an environmental competitive advantage. Secondary, according to institutional theory, MNCs need to realign subsidiary’s greening HCM to different responding strategies to host country’s institutional context. Conducting the results of preliminary qualitative studies of 8 MNC’s cases in China market, this research finds out that: (1) HCM will mediate the relationship between green entrepreneurial leadership and green competitive HC. (2) Institutional response strategies will moderate the relationship between leadership, HCM and green competitive HC. That is to say, if the leader is possessed of higher level of green entrepreneurial leadership, with more proactive response strategy to institutional context, this firm will focus more on both leveraging and investing HC, and in turn, the high level of green competitive HC will be shaped. This study is expected to make contribution to theoretical development of greening HCM in MNCs.
