Opening the Black Box of HR Practices - Performance Relationship: Testing a Three Pathways AMO Model

Abstract

This study aims to go beyond the classical investigation of the black box of the relationship between HR practices and company performance. A common trend in Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is to develop black box investigations through the Ability – Motivation – Opportunity (AMO) perspective, considering that the company manages employees in a way that gives them the ability and the motivation to perform as well as giving them the opportunity to do so. While this perspective is strongly theoretically developed and has been frequently used in empirical studies, we point out that the AMO model has rarely been fully empirically tested. Given this gap, this study empirically investigates the theoretical AMO model and tests the sequential mediating effects of business unit-level employees’ AMO characteristics and collective human capital in the relationship between HR practices and business unit performance. Based on a survey of 341 employees and their supervisors in 46 business-units, we found a support for a path model linking HR skill-enhancing practices to business unit performance through employees’ ability and collective human capital. Yet, we found no support for the motivation and opportunity paths. Hence, we point out important integrative research perspectives to take black box investigations even further.