Stakeholders in high-performance work systems

Recent research investigating human resource management (HRM) in organizations has used the systems approach which views HRM as a coherent set of practices. In particular, the notion of high-performance work system identifies a set of HRM practices that are presumed to be more responsive to the environmental challenges currently faced by organizations. Empirical studies have confirmed the system notion, particularly of what has been referred to as the high-performance work system, and its impact on organizations. Explaining its existence in organizations, which will help address the question of limited adoption, is only beginning, with one study each done in Great Britain and Canada. The present study extends the notion of competing interest groups to explain the existence of an HRM system, using more active influence measures. A sample of 222 business organizations in the United States reveals that, of four likely interest groups examined, unions and HRM departments prove to have competing interests in a high-performance work system.     

HRM professionals and their perceptions of HRM and firm performance in the Philippines

This paper reports the findings of a study conducted in the Philippines that examines the extent of adoption of human capital-enhancing human resource (HR) and industrial relations (IR) practices. Differences between locally owned and other organizations in these practices and their relationship to firm performance were also investigated. Questionnaire responses were obtained from managers and union representatives from 128 organizations located in the Philippines. The results indicated that there was, on average, a fairly high level of adoption of practices consistent with a strategic approach to human resource management (HRM), with foreign-owned firms tending to show a slightly higher level of adoption of such practices. A scale representing the adoption of a more conciliatory and union-friendly IR approach was found to be a significant predictor of perceived firm performance. Surprisingly, the level of strategic integration between HRM and business planning and most human capital-enhancing HR practices were not significant predictors of perceived firm performance. Research and practical implications in relation to the role of HRM in enhancing firm performance are discussed.     

Competition

This article examines the adoption of strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) by for-profit and non-profit knowledge-intensive health services (HS) organizations in the Australian context. Survey data collected from senior executives are used to test the relationships between a strategic HRM model and firm performance. Path analysis found that for HS firms, irrespective of whether for-profit or non-profit, adopting strategic HRM could increase organizational performance. Strategic HRM could be achieved through the cultivation of an external orientation to customers' demands and a commitment to employees. Building an external orientation with internal structural dimensions such as commitment to employees, allows HS organizations to develop a strategic HRM approach with human capital-enhancing HRM practices. Public and non-profit organizations in the HS industry facing or undergoing health sector reform need to be aware of both of these orientations in order to adopt strategic HRM and improve their performance.     

The influence of strategic HRM and sector on perceived performance in health services organizations

In this study, we examine a variety of management characteristics of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations in the health services (HS) industry. Data collected from Australian senior executives are used to test the relationships between managerial constructs such as employee commitment, customer demandingness, strategic HRM orientation and the adoption of human capital-enhancing human resource (HR) practices and perceived overall performance. Data analysis conducted using the Partial Least Square Modeling show a statistically significant path from commitment to employees, customer demandingness and strategic HRM orientation to the adoption of human capital-enhancing HR practices (such as selective staffing, comprehensive training, and performance appraisal) to perceived organizational performance. The results also show that private sector health service organizations have a higher level of perceived performance.     

Assessing the adoption of HRM by small and medium-sized manufacturing organizations

This paper reports on exploratory research which uses a comparative case-study approach with sixteen organizations to study the extent to which HRM has been adopted in traditional brownfield-site, small and medium-sized UK manufacturing organizations. The paper begins with a comparison of HRM practices across the sixteen organizations. It is argued that the most common HRM practices in these firms appeared to relate more to a traditional small firm approach than to any proactive attempt to adopt HRM. The analysis shows that very few of the organizations adopted a strategic approach towards HRM with an integrated set of policies related to corporate strategy being put forward. Instead, the dominant approach seemed to be one of reactive, opportunistic pragmatism, showing little development from the standard modern approach identified as most common in the early 1980s. On the other hand, three organizations are shown to approximate quite closely to the model of strategic HRM and contextual analysis is undertaken to attempt to differentiate these from the other organizations. A comparison is also made between the findings of this research and a telephone survey that was conducted to assess the use of HRM in Leicestershire. The results of this show that a certain degree of caution should be exercised when accepting reports of organizational practices which do not involve researchers actually entering the organizations. Finally, the paper concludes that in order to get a better understanding of the situation facing these and other organizations we need to broaden our scope and consider the impact of changing economic, social and political conditions on management worker relations.     

HRM practices used to promote pro-environmental behavior: a UK survey

To date, the extent to which UK organizations use human resource management (HRM) practices to promote pro-environmental behavior through workplace HRM policies and initiatives is under-researched within the literature. Therefore, this paper presents results of a survey investigating current HRM practices used to promote pro-environmental behavior in a sample of 214 UK organizations representing different sizes and industry sectors. Overall, findings indicated that HRM practices are not used to a great extent to encourage employees to become more pro-environmental. The most prevalent practices used within organizations incorporated elements of management involvement supporting the idea that managers are the gatekeepers to environmental performance. Although organizations indicated that some HRM practices were more effective than others at encouraging pro-environmental behavior in their staff, only a very small percentage of organizations actually conducted any form of evaluation; organizations consequently lack clear evidence as to whether their HRM practices actually result in employee behavior change. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Human resource function strategic role and trade unions: exploring their impact on human resource management practices in Uruguayan firms

Organizations worldwide are confronted with different contextual constraints. Jackson and Schuler [1995, ‘Understanding Human Resource Management in the Context of Organizations and their Environments,' Annual Review of Psychology, 46, 237–264], in their classical review, highlight the importance of the impact of the internal and external organizational context on human resource management (HRM) practices. This paper uses data collected through a survey of firms located in Uruguay, in a context where HR function and trade unions have gone through significant changes, to determine their impact on the adoption of different HRM practices. The authors find that organizations with an HR function strategically involved and with higher degree of union presence have more person-centred HRM practices, while performance-centred HRM practices were positively influenced by HR function strategic role. However, the findings do not support the moderating role of trade union presence on the relationship between the HR function strategic role and HRM practices.     

HRM in the SME sector: valuable employees and coercive networks

Although the productivity and survival of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may be enhanced if they adopt human resource management (HRM) practices, there is a far greater degree of informality in employment practices in SMEs than in larger workplaces. The aim of this paper is to assess the extent to which a range of factors both internal and external to the workplace predict the extent to which HRM practices have been adopted in SMEs. Using data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey, the analysis reveals that differences in workforce skill-mix, unionization and the customer base are important influences, with the first of these influences being particularly strong. As such, we suggest SMEs may lack the capability to develop HRM practices, but they are more likely to adopt such practices if they employ highly skilled employees and are networked to other organizations     

Innovative human resource management and corporate performance in the context of economic liberalization in India

The Indian economy was forced to adopt a structural adjustment programme at the beginning of 1991. The structural adjustment programme or liberalization initiated the process of the opening up of an otherwise closed economy of India. Liberalization created a hyper-competitive environment and to respond to this turbulence, Indian organizations adopted innovative changes in their HRM practices. Current research shows that HRM practices are important for enhanced corporate performance but little has been reported on the effect of HRM practices and corporate performance in the context of economic liberalization of India. This study tries to understand the role of innovative HRM practices and specifically questions how HRM practices, such as the role of HR department, recruitment, retraining and redeployment, performance appraisal and compensation, enhance corporate performance during the change process. A multiple-respondent survey of 69 Indian organizations was undertaken to study the impact of innovative HRM practices on firm performance. The survey found that the innovative recruitment and compensation practices have a positive significant relationship with firm performance. It was observed that recruitment, the role of the HR department and compensation practices seem to be significantly changing within the Indian firms in the context of India's economic liberalization. The synergy between innovative HRM practices was not significant in enhancing corporate performance during the liberalization process.     

Managerial perceptions of the role of the human resource function in Sri Lanka: a comparative study of local,foreign-owned and joint-venture companies

As debates on HRM continue, we contend that a number of important issues have not been given the adequate attention they deserve. One of the neglected issues, which we seek to explore in this paper, is the question of whether HRM models are being practised in developing countries. The specific context for the research is Sri Lanka. Therefore, the central objective of this paper is to explore one main research question, which is: To what extent does HRM play a significant role in organizational strategy processes in Sri Lankan organizations? The research is guided by four hypotheses. The hypotheses are based on the assumption that local Sri Lankan organizations will differ from MNCs in the way they deal with and practice HRM. The findings from the investigation reveal no significant differences between MNCs and local companies in relation to the research questions. The implications of the findings are discussed within the context of diffusion and convergence of management practices and the role of drivers of globalization.     

Effects of HRM practices,lean production practices and lean duration on performance

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the structural relationships between HRM practices, lean production practices, operational performance and firm performance of manufacturing firms that have implemented lean production. The data were collected from the firms operating in Sri Lanka, which fulfilled the selection criteria set for the study. Statistical techniques were used to test the hypothesized relationships. It was found that lean production practices and operational performance mediate the relationship between HRM practices and firm performance; lean duration moderates the relationship between HRM practices and lean production practices in such a way that the longer the duration, the greater would be the adoption of lean production practices. The essential contribution of the findings lie in presenting empirical data valuable for the advancement of research in HRM as well as for making decisions on people management when implementing advanced manufacturing technologies.     

The relationship between HRM practices and service behaviour in South African service organizations

This paper reports on findings from research conducted in South African service organizations that frontline employees' perceptions of HRM practices have a direct influence on their service behaviour. Specific HRM practices have more impact than others and this was attributed to the influence of external factors such as the socio-political situation and national culture and to internal factors linked to the way managers implemented the HRM practices in the organization. Organizational commitment was found to play a mediating role in the relationship between frontline employees' perceptions of HRM and their service behaviour.     

Testing alternative models of human resource policy effects on trade union recognition in the Republic of Ireland

This paper tests two alternative models of human resource policy effects on the incidence of union non-recognition in a sample of over 150 organizations in the Republic of Ireland. A series of scales of human resource policy sophistication is developed, guided by the broad body of theory in the area of HRM. A conceptual model linking HRM policies to union recognition/non-recognition is also elaborated. Two alternative theoretical models of HRM policy effects are developed and estimated using logistic regression. The first of these models, the 'simple additive model', tests for the discrete effects of various areas of human resource policy on the incidence of union non-recognition. Only the management of reward systems along HRM lines is significantly associated with the incidence of non-recognition. A second model, called the 'threshold-fit model' tests for a decisive overall HRM effect on union non-recognition in organizations which implement relatively sophisticated and internally consistent sets of HRM policies. A series of policy cross-dependencies or interaction effects is also allowed for in this model. Contrary to the predictions of the theoretical literature, no empirical support is found that such HRM policy combinations prove particularly impenetrable to trade unions. Line management dominance of HRM policy is found to be a significant factor in predicting non-recognition. The possibility that this factor is indicative of sophisticated human resource management is however discounted. The apparent failure of most areas of human resource policy to depress the likelihood of union recognition in Ireland is accounted for in terms of the wider framework and traditions of industrial relations practice in that country.     

Change and development in pluralistic settings: an exploration of HR practices in Chinese township and village enterprises

Very few systematic studies have been conducted on the managerial practices of Chinese Township and Village Enterprises (TVEs) despite their increasing contributions to China's economic development. Focusing on the HRM practices in ten different TVE organizations in a new city in Southeastern China, this study aims at filling a gap in the literature by exploring the general HRM practices in those organizations. Results show that HRM practices in TVEs, although still relatively primitive compared to those in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), have been much more formalized recently. Employees are now mostly selected rather than referred by existing employees or ' guanxi ' as they were previously. New employees in many large TVEs are now trained through formal procedures rather than through apprenticeships, and pay is tightly linked to performance and skill levels. However, in smaller TVEs, HR practices are less formalized. The study points out that the firm size may be an institutional factor affecting the implementation of formal HRM practices. Yet, regardless of the form of personnel management, HRM practices are shown to be a very important factor in the economic success of TVE firms. Further studies are necessary to understand HRM and other managerial practices in TVEs and to test the relationships between HRM practices and firm performance among the TVEs.     

An empirical study of high performance HRM practices in Chinese SMEs

This paper explores the performance effects of human resource management (HRM) practices in 74 Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Four high performance HRM practices are identified: performance-based pay, participatory decision-making, free market selection, and performance evaluation. Regression analysis results support the conventional idea that the adoption of HRM practices generates better HRM outcomes and, in turn, better HRM outcomes contribute positively to firm performance. However, not all HRM practices, and their effects, led to improved SME performance. Among the Chinese SMEs investigated, a high level of employee commitment was identified as being the key HRM outcome for enhancing performance.     

Introducing the impact of technology: a ‘neo-contingency’ HRM Anglo-French comparison

The paper analyses the impact of technological and national-culture factors on certain HRM policies and practices in Britain and France. This perspective supports the neo-contingency approach, which does not claim primacy for either the technological or the national-cultural factors shaping HRM policies and practices. HR managers in each country in high-, mid- and low-tech firms were surveyed. The relevance in the diffusion of certain patterns of HRM policies and practices advocates that employees working in intensive technology firms need a creative and adaptive HR management approach. The differences found in the application of the HRM practices studied between the two countries are illustrated through the educational system, which is different in France and Britain.     

Sustainable HRM strategies and employment relationships as drivers of the triple bottom line

This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework capable of analysing the contributions made by strategic human resources management (SHRM) to firm sustainability and competitiveness. Specifically, we identify different sustainable corporate strategies and the way in which they are supported by coherent sustainable HRM strategies. We propose different sustainable employment relationships considering two dimensions: inducements offered by an organisation and expected employee behaviours in order to comply with sustainable HRM strategies. All the above also necessitates a system of HRM practices (content of the employment relationship) that should be well defined and oriented towards sustainability. Accordingly, we suggest associations of specific systems of HRM practices, depending on the type of employment relationship and sustainable HRM strategy, in order to promote the expected ‘Triple Bottom Line’, and which also improve firm competitiveness.     

HRM practices for human and social capital development: effects on innovation capabilities

This paper analyzes the effect of systems of human resource management (HRM) practices on a company's innovation capabilities. To date, few studies have analyzed the way a firm may be more innovative by using specific sets of high-performance HRM practices from an intellectual capital-based view of the firm. From an extensive literature review, a model was established and tested through structural equation modelling, using the statistical technique of partial least squares. The study was applied to a sample of technological firms in Spain and the results show that high-profile personal HRM practices positively influence human capital while collaborative HRM practices influence social capital, which, in turn, affect innovation capabilities by means of, respectively, total and partial mediating effects. Managerial and HRM implications of these results are drawn by the authors, highlighting the idea of paying increased attention to managing firms with a focus on strategic intangible assets in order to gain competitive advantages based on innovation.     

The interactions between person–organization fit and leadership styles in Asian firms,an empirical testing

This paper presents a study that examines the use of human resource management (HRM) practices and factors influencing the adoption of HRM practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using a multiple-case study method, HRM in SMEs was explored by comparing 12 small and medium-sized and 12 large semiconductor design firms. The findings show that there is considerable homogeneity across the firms in relation to their use of human resources (HR) practices providing support for the insights based on the new institutionalism. The factors leading to the homogeneity HRM are discussed. It is argued that theory-based empirical research on HRM in SMEs within the same industry enable us move towards a systematic understanding and explanation of HRM in SMEs.