"High Performance Work Systems, Teachers' Job Performance and Students' Quality of School Life"

Abstract

Research has established the link between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational performance in terms of profitability, growth, market and financial returns. Yet, it is unclear how HPWS impact on non-profit organizations such as public schools. In this paper, we investigate the adoption of HPWS in schools and the influence on teachers’ attitude and behavior and students’ quality of school life. We test a number of hypotheses using multilevel structural equation modeling with multi-source and multilevel data collected from more than 1,000 teachers and their supervisors and 5,000 students in 63 Chinese schools. Our study contributes to the HR literature in three ways. Firstly, we examine the HPWS-performance relationship in schools which has been seldom been explored in HR literature. Secondly, we adopt students’ quality of school life (QSL) as the school performance indicator which is more direct and proximal than financial performance indicators. Thirdly, we explore a comprehensive HRM-performance relationship by integrating HRM practices, teachers’ attitudes and behaviors, and organizational outcomes, namely students’ QSL. The results show that HPWS are positively related to teachers’ in-role behavior and organizational citizenship behaviors through perceived organizational support (POS), which further enhanced their students’ QSL.