High-involvement work systems and performance outcomes: the strength of variable, contingent and context-bound relationships

Abstract

Whether high-involvement work systems (HIWSs) contribute to the performance of firms has been a major issue in debates on workplace reform and economic outcomes. Discussion has been polarized between those identifying strong effects of HIWSs and critics. These debates are placed in the context of an analysis of the social relations of production which draws on earlier studies of industrial relations and productivity. It is argued that (1) the HIWS-performance connections are less strong than is often implied, but this does not destroy the underlying theme that how employees are managed affects productivity; (2) HIWSs have several outcomes which need to be considered together, not subsumed under the positive-sounding label of 'performance'; (3) HIWSs may be the 1990s equivalent of other mechanisms, and thus be simply the current delivery vehicle rather than being causal in a strong sense; and (4) reciprocal causation and reinforcement remain important, that is that 'performance' sustains an HIWS as much as the reverse.