Managing human resource for competitive advantage: a study of companies in Singapore

We see two major streams of research in the strategic human resource management literature: (1) the link between strategy and human resource (HR) practices and (2) the link between HR practices and firm performance. There is a plethora of theoretical perspectives on the first link. Unfortunately, there is not much empirical work. The second link has seen a spate of empirical studies. However, most of them embrace the universal perspective and the role of strategy as a contingency has not been adequately addressed. This could potentially result in the underestimation of the impact of HR practices on organizational performance. This study addressed the above two weaknesses in previous research in the strategic HR management field. Using a sample of about 200 of the largest companies representing all major industries in Singapore, we found that organizational strategy affects HR practices. Moreover, findings suggest that the strategy-HR interaction accounts for more variation in firm performance than the main effect of HR. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

HRM and organizational performance in northern and southern Europe

This article aims to extend understanding of the firm-level impact of strategic HR practices on organizational performance. Adopting a contingency approach, it develops a structural model that considers direct and indirect influences of market growth, business strategy formalization and HRM centrality and practices on organizational performance in Europe. The study uses a comparative approach, revealing differences between northern and southern Europe. Clear differences appeared between the two clusters in the HR policies and practices correlated with higher performance, thus indicating that the link between HRM and performance may be different in different geographies.     

The Impact of Human Resource Practices on Actual and Perceived Organizational Performance in a Middle Eastern Emerging Market

This is a study centered on the impact of the specific set of HRM practices on organizational performance (OP) within an emerging‐market setting. It seeks to explore which HR practices are most closely associated with better OP within the financial services industry in Jordan based on a survey of managers and the annual reports of the companies encompassed by the study. It was found that the only HR practice seen to consistently impact on OP was training; in other words, we did not encounter any recognizable “bundle” of HR practices that optimized OP across the sector. We argue that this reflects the weaker and more partially coupled nature of institutions in many emerging markets, which makes it difficult to generate the type of complementarities associated between regulation and practice in mature markets. It also reflects the limited transferability of perceived best practice models in the context of emerging‐market settings. Although belied by objective firm performance data, many respondents believed that it was not only training but also the extensive usage of extrinsic incentives (pay and promotion) that would translate into superior results. This highlights the limitations of relying on managerial reported performance data in exploring the consequences of specific HR practices. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The importance of HR practices and workplace trust in achieving superior performance: A study of public-sector organizations

This paper assesses the impact of bundles of HR practices on workplace trust, job satisfaction, commitment, effort and perceived organizational performance. A theoretical model is developed and tested using data collected through a postal survey of UK local government employees. The results support the hypothesis that HR practices are powerful predictors of trust and organizational performance. These findings demonstrate the need for public organizations to re-evaluate their current battery of HR practices in an attempt to improve overall performance.     

Does alignment matter? The performance implications of HR roles connected to organizational strategy

For the HR function to have a positive impact on performance and thus strategically add value to the organization, it has been suggested to redefine its traditional operational role. However, to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between these HR roles and performance, their alignment with the organizational strategy should not be ignored. In this paper, we therefore focus not only on whether the operational and strategic HR roles are linked to performance, but also on the extent to which their alignment with the applied organizational strategy actually matters for performance. We carried out a survey study among 336 respondents either holding an HR function or being responsible for HR-related tasks in various organizations. We found a positive effect of the strategic role on performance, and also how it might substitute a lack of innovation strategy. Further, we found an alignment effect between a cost strategy and the operational HR role in relation to organizational performance. We discuss these findings based on the literature and provide some practical recommendations for further developing the role of HR.     

The linkage of HRM and knowledge-related performance in China's technology-intensive industries

This study examines the commitment-based and knowledge-based HR types to fully understand the role of HRM in China's technology-intensive industries. The relationships between the knowledge-based HR and commitment-based HR on firm performance were examined by using 156 firms in China's high technology industry in the Pearl River Delta area. The effects of innovation capability and workforce retention between HR and performance were also explored. The firm's innovation capability has been found to be an important determinant of firm performance. Retention has no significant impact on performance outcomes. HR plays a more important role in the growth stage of organizational life cycle. Implications for research and managerial practices are provided.     

High performance work systems and organizational performance: an empirical study of Taiwan's semiconductor design firms

This paper presents a study examining the relationship between high performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational performance in Taiwan's semiconductor design industry. The hypotheses are tested by matching and analysing data collected from field interviews with 21 HR managers and surveys of 21 senior operations managers and 1,129 employees. The results of the statistical analysis demonstrate that the effective use of employee empowerment practices is positively related to organizational performance.     

Performance implications for the relationships among top management leadership,organizational culture,and appraisal practice: testing two theory-based models of organizational learning theory in Japan

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships among top management leadership, organizational culture and human resource (HR) practices, and their associative effects on organizational performance. Based on the theory of organizational learning, we developed and tested two different causal models: (1) a feed-forward learning flow model in which supportive leadership by top management would create a community culture and HR practices within organizations; and (2) a feedback learning flow model in which a community culture would support the practice of supportive leadership by top management and HR practices within a firm. Our structural equation modelling (SEM) results for a sample of 225 Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan supported the second model, in which the dominance of a community culture within the firm is an antecedent of top management's supportive leadership, which in turn necessitates a performance-based appraisal practice and eventually leads to better organizational performance in terms of objective indicators of turnover and absenteeism rates and workforce productivity. The findings are used to discuss the role of top management leadership in a particular organizational culture from the organizational learning perspective. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.     

A meta-analysis on employee perceptions of human resource strength: Examining the mediating versus moderating hypotheses

Human resource (HR) strength research has substantially informed an understanding of the relationship between HR practices and employee-level outcomes. However, a key unresolved issue is whether employee perceptions of HR strength act as a mediator or a moderator in the relationship between HR practices and these outcomes. A meta-analysis of 42 studies (comprising 65 samples and 29,444 unique participants) was conducted to address this issue. Results support the mediating hypothesis for all five employee outcomes: employee reactions, proactive behavior, burnout, performance, and perceived organizational effectiveness. Conversely, the moderating hypothesis was only supported for employee performance. In addition, we examined five study characteristics (the operationalization of perceived HR strength, research study design, industry, sampling strategy, and publication status) as moderators. Using this analysis, we test the robustness of our main results and identify sources of heterogeneity in the results across studies. The results show that the mediating hypothesis still holds under different study designs and contexts. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

Outsourcing HR as a competitive strategy? A literature review and an assessment of implications

HR outsourcing as an organizational strategy has increased substantially over the last decade. However, this trend has attracted little academic attention regarding how outsourcing decisions are made, the manner in which these decisions are implemented, how outsourcing effectiveness is measured, and its impact on organizational performance. In this article, we provide a critical review of the reasons for, the processes involved in, and the perceived effectiveness of HR outsourcing.We investigate the implications of HR outsourcing for the role of the HR function and for the various groups of people affected by this strategy. We argue that organizations should apply both the resource‐based view and institutional theory when making outsourcing decisions. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Configurations of human resource practices and battlefield performance: A comparison of two armies

A prominent theme in the HRM literature is the organizational impact of configurations or “bundles” of human resource practices, mostly researched in business firms. A recurrent empirical finding here is that configurations of high performance HR practices generally have a more positive effect on employee attitudes and behavior and on organizational performance than configurations of traditional HR practices. In this paper this research is extended beyond business firms to include army organizations. Specifically it is argued, first, that these two configurations are exemplified in respectively the German Army and the US Army in World War II and second, that these configurations can be reasonably related to a relatively more effective battlefield performance of the German versus the US Army, even in spite of final defeat.     

Environmental dynamism,human resource flexibility,and firm performance: analysis of a multi-level causal model

While strategic HRM scholars have conceptualized HR flexibility as an important source of sustainable superior firm performance in dynamic environments, the process through which HR flexibility creates value for the firm has not been empirically investigated. Based on a study of 98 manufacturing and 103 service firms from a wide array of industries in India, this paper attempts to illuminate the black box of causal linkages between environmental dynamism, flexibility of human assets, and firm level human-, operational-, and financial-outcomes by developing and testing a multi-level causal model. Evidence indicates that HR flexibility mediates the influence of environmental dynamism on firm performance and that irrespective of the nature of the industry and the degree of environmental turbulence, superior firm performance ensues when HR flexibility as actually possessed by the firm matches the environmental demands for such flexibility as perceived by the firm managers. The results also support the notion of HR value chain that postulates that HR system has direct impact on firm-level HR outcomes which are most proximal, and its effects on increasingly more distal operational- and financial-outcomes are mediated by HR outcomes. The findings of the study suggest that HR practices as a system have both direct and indirect (mediated by behavioral flexibility) effects on firm-level HR outcomes. Existence of significant direct effects signifies that HR practices play an important role as a structural mechanism in achieving superior firm performance.     

The diffusion of HR practices in unions

Unions, like other service industry and/or nonprofit employers, are uniquely dependent upon the performance of their human resources to ensure organizational success. Consequently, unions have much to gain from adopting a more strategic focus in the management of their vital human talent. While some unions are moving toward greater sophistication in their internal HR practices (Clark and Gray, 2005), as a whole unions have been slow to embrace a strategic outlook on human resources and adopt HR practices that could improve union effectiveness and rejuvenate the union movement. In this paper, I identify and discuss internal organizational characteristics and external environmental factors that may influence the adoption of more sophisticated HR practices by labor unions. It is hoped that the framework that is suggested here can be used to launch research directed at understanding and improving the diffusion of good HR practices among unions that could subsequently improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of unions as institutions.     

HR managers in five countries: what do they do and why does it matter?

The 1980s saw the need for change in the organizational role of human resource (HR) professionals, from the traditional employee champion and administrative expert to strategic business partner and change agent. The argument posited was that a more challenging environment compels organizations to turn to managing their HRs as a source of competitive advantage and that means an increasing business partnership for HR professionals. However, very few studies examine the execution of these multiple, sometimes contradictory roles, despite the risk that neglecting traditional roles endanger organizational performance in the long term. This five-country comparative study finds that multiple roles are at least moderately executed, and that these HR roles have different impact depending on the aspect of organizational performance. As well, a more challenging environment, defined here as legal constraints and industry challenges, generally does not have a significant moderating effect on the impact of the different HR roles on organizational performance.     

Commitment-based HR practices,different types of innovation activities and firm innovation performance

Research on human resource (HR) practices and innovation has increased in the strategic HR management literature over the last decades. Scholars suggest that commitment-based HR practices contribute to innovation performance of the firm. However, prior research puts little emphasis on the causal linkages among commitment-based HR practices, different types of innovation activities and firm innovation performance. This article opens the black box of the relationship between HR management and firm performance by examining the causal relationships among a bundle of commitment-based HR practices (i.e. a commitment-based HR system), different types of innovation activities and firm innovation performance. On the basis of a survey of 103 Turkish firms, empirical results show that a commitment-based HR system has a positive effect on process, organizational and marketing innovation activities. Furthermore, a commitment-based HR system mainly affects organizational innovation activities and shows that these innovation activities are the core drivers of process and marketing innovation activities, leading to higher rate of product innovation activities. Subsequently, product innovation activities enhance firm innovation performance, emphasizing their determinant role.     

High-performance human resource practices in Australian family businesses: Preliminary evidence from the wine industry

Using quantitative and qualitative approaches, this paper examines the prevalence of high-performance human resource (HR) systems in Australian family businesses. Focusing on the wine industry, we found that establishing formal HR systems, particularly related to employee involvement and motivation, was positively related to perceived effectiveness of a company’s HR function, leadership, strategic alignment and profitability. Results indicated that formalizing HR systems occurs slowly in the industry, and is largely a function of organizational size. This exploratory study shows the need for more in-depth studies of HR in family-run organizations and supports the notion that increased emphasis on people practices is important to operational and financial success of the family business.     

Strategy,core competence,and HR involvement as determinants of HR effectiveness and refinery performance

This study examines the impact of strategy, core competence, and involvement of HR executives in strategic decision making on the refinery managers' evaluation of the effectiveness of HR and on refinery performance among 86 U.S. petrochemical refineries. Survey results indicated that higher involvement of HR in organizational strategy was strongly related to perceptions of HR effectiveness, and that the relationship was strongest to the extent that refineries pursued a product innovation strategy and viewed skilled employees as their core competence. HR involvement was unrelated to refinery performance but was actually negatively related when refineries emphasized efficient production as their core competence. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The relationship between trust,HRM practices and firm performance

Numerous researchers have begun to examine organizational trust and its influence on the workforce. However, little empirical research has focused on the conditions that engender organizational trust – those that make managers more willing to accept the vulnerability inherent in certain managerial actions that are part of human resource management. This study evaluates the trust mechanism and the way HRM practices mediate its impact on improving organizational performance. One hundred and four HR managers from the leading companies in the Israeli industrial, service and trade sectors, based on sales and operating revenue, completed questionnaires. Overall, we found that HR managers are more likely to offer training and shape the internal promotion system when trust is high. In addition, we found that firms exhibited higher organizational performance when trust is high. The paper also presents some of the model's implications.     

Exploration,exploitation and human resource management practices in cooperative and entrepreneurial HR configurations

Human resource (HR) practices for selection, performance appraisal, performance–compensation linkage and training are found to be less formalized in entrepreneurial HR configurations (exploratory) than in cooperative HR configurations (exploitative). Although less formalization may support more flexibility and improvisation, it was found to have the disadvantage of reducing process transparency, developmental feedback, performance–compensation linkage strength and the amount of training available. These findings are consistent with theories of exploration and exploitation, with their extensions to human resource management and leadership, and the view that HR systems and practice should be varied in light of the organizational processes to which they are being applied.