High performance work systems in the U.S. context

Abstract

In the 1990s, a dominant consensus has been established among industrial relations scholars in the United States regarding the effects of high performance work systems on productivity and firm performance. High performance work systems result in economically meaningful improvements in efficiency and profitability, particularly when they are implemented in an integrated fashion that gives workers significant responsibility and authority to make decisions, provides the needed skills to those workers, and simultaneously gives them appropriate incentives for solving problems. The article reviews the research base for this view, along with challenges to and criticisms of it. One conclusion is that more focus on the effect of these systems on employees is needed. While some recent studies find positive effects on compensation and job security, others are less sanguine, particularly for certain types of employees. The article ends with an overview of how U.S. union policy debates have evolved with increased experience with these work systems.