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.