Building cooperative and high-performance organizations with high-performance work systems: the role of firm age and industry dynamism

Abstract

Although numerous empirical studies have linked human resource (HR) management systems, including systematic HR practices, such as high-performance work systems (HPWS), to superior organizational performance, our understanding of how these benefits vary among firms operating under different levels of environmental uncertainty is limited. By integrating insights from organizational theory, strategy, and strategic human resource management (SHRM), I theorize that an organization’s internal and external environments—specifically firm age and industry dynamism—modulate the benefits derived from HPWS. Utilizing longitudinal data encompassing 1,585 firm-year observations across five waves from 2009 to 2017, I demonstrate that the positive impact of HPWS on organizational performance is most pronounced for younger firms in highly dynamic industries. Conversely, for older firms, this positive effect weakens as industry dynamism increases. Additionally, I discovered that cooperative norms serve as a crucial mediating mechanism. My findings mark a significant advance in our understanding of when and how firms, amidst varying degrees of environmental uncertainty, reap differential benefits from HPWS—especially through the mediation of cooperative norms.