Green transformation in management: A bibliometric analysis on green leadership and sustainability

Abstract

This study provides a systematic examination of the concepts of green leadership and sustainability, which represent two key pillars of green transformation in management, by employing a bibliometric approach. A dataset consisting of 469 publications obtained from the Web of Science (WoS) database was analyzed using VOSviewer, including co-authorship, citation, and keyword co-occurrence analyses. The results show a notable increase in publication activity, particularly after 2020. Concepts such as sustainability, ethical leadership, and responsible leadership appear as central themes within the literature. In addition, the findings suggest that authors with the highest citation counts are not always located at the core of collaboration networks, indicating different structural patterns within the research field. From the perspective of the Resource-Based View, green leadership can be interpreted as a strategic organizational capability that supports the development of competitive advantage. Overall, the study indicates that research on green leadership and sustainability has become increasingly interdisciplinary and has experienced considerable growth in recent years.