High Performance Work Systems, Person-Organization Fit and Organizational Outcomes

Abstract

Previous studies on human resource management have emphasized the relationship between high performance work systems (HPWSs) and organizational performance in strategic human resource management. The extant literature on the intermediate linkage between HPWSs and performance has yield only limited insights into the influence of the use of HPWSs on performance at the organizational level. Also, little attention has been paid to conceptual constructs such as person-organization (P-O) fit as a mediator between the HPWSs and organizational outcomes. Thus, this paper attempts to explore how the linkage of the HPWSs to P-O fit as a mediating variable leads to organizational outcomes. From the literature review, it is proposed that the congruence of workers with their organization positively affects organizational outcomes when it is linked to specific systems. The paper suggests that an organization can improve P-O fit not through control-oriented systems but through high commitment work systems. It concludes with a presentation of three principal propositions associated with HPWSs, P-O fit and organizational outcomes.