Use Of High-performance Work Practices Research Articles

High-performance work practices and entrepreneurial firm performance: the moderating role of firm size and industry type

PurposeThis paper examines the moderating role of firm size (FS) and industry type in the relationship between high-performance work practices (HPWPs) and entrepreneurial firm performance.Design/methodology/approachA descriptive research design involving a five-year dataset from firms in the retail and services industries of Nigeria was used in the analyses.FindingsThe use of HPWPs is widespread among entrepreneurial firms, with ability- and motivation-enhancing practices being dominant. Country context influences the types of HPWPs implemented by entrepreneurial firms. FS and industry type do not have significant moderating effects on the relationship between HPWPs and the performance of entrepreneurial firms. The positive effect of HPWPs on performance is consistent with findings made in prior studies.Research limitations/implicationsFS plays a neutral role in the relationship between HPWPs and entrepreneurial firm performance. Within the broader retail and services industries, this relationship is weaker in capital-intensive firms compared to less capital-intensive ones. The restricted focus on only retail and service industries may limit the universal applicability of the findings.Practical implicationsFindings indicate that the efficacy of HPWPs is neither influenced by FS nor industry type. Entrepreneurial firms with higher capital intensity benefit relatively more from the use of HPWPs.Originality/valueUnlike other research efforts focusing on a single moderating influence, this study combines two important contextual factors, FS and industry type, to provide a better understanding of HPWPs. The study spotlights the effects of country context in the implementation of HPWPs in a way that prior studies have not done.

Antecedents of high performance work practices in SMEs: an attention-based view

Relative to the large body of work in the broader strategic HRM (SHRM) literature, knowledge about determinants of SMEs’ approaches to HRM remains limited. We argue that heterogeneity in the use of high performance work practices (HPWPs) is influenced by top managers’ exposure and attention to information obtained via environmental scanning. Invoking an attention-based view (ABV), we develop hypotheses suggesting that competition tracking, participation in trade associations, and social network embeddedness will be associated with greater use of HPWPs. We also propose direct and moderating roles for top managers’ perceptions of competitive intensity. We test our hypotheses using a database comprised of a combination of archival data and mail survey responses from 260 agricultural SMEs located in geographical clusters. Our results broadly support this study’s hypotheses and contribute to a better understanding of the role of top managers’ environmental scanning in the shaping of HPWPs in SMEs.

Human resource professionals’ human and social capital in SMEs: small firm, big impact

HR professionals have been widely ignored in the Human Resource (HR) management literature pertaining to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). Given that entrepreneurs may be reluctant to hire HR professionals, it is important to investigate the value that HR people may bring to an SME. Addressing this literature gap, our research draws on resource orchestration theory (ROT) to link the interaction between HR professionals’ human and social capital to firm performance via the use of high-performance work practices (HPWPs). Further, this relationship depends on the SME’s size: in small firms, the link is strengthened because HR professionals’ human and social capital is more likely to create a competitive advantage in a context of resource poverty. We test the research model among a sample of 174 Canadian SMEs with fewer than 250 employees. Our results show that HR professionals’ human and social capital is more closely related to firm performance through the adoption of HPWPs in small SMEs than in large ones. Overall, our study highlights the value that HR professionals bring to small SMEs and advocates for a greater presence of HR professionals in SMEs.

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Skills at Work in Denmark

Based on a unique dataset on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) among employees in Denmark, we investigate within-job relationships between AI use and skill requirements. We show that the effects of AI are varied and depend on providing orders to humans versus providing information for further human handling and in which occupation it is used. AI may enhance or augment skills through, for example, the increased use of high-performance work practices, or it may simply increase work pace constraints and reduce employee autonomy. The results imply that the diffusion of AI can increase inequalities in the labour market by augmenting skills used in high-skill jobs while having relatively more adverse impacts on other jobs. We use additive noise modelling to establish the likely direction of causality in our results and find that the direction of causality is from AI use to skill requirements.

DO HIGH-PERFORMANCE WORK PRACTICES INDUCE INNOVATIVE WORK BEHAVIOUR? THE CASE OF THE QATARI BANKING SECTOR

Purpose: This paper presents results from an empirical study in the banking sector in Qatar on the impact of high-performance work practices (HPWPs) on employee’s innovative work behaviour (IWB). In particular, the study seeks to examine the impact of HPWP on employees work attitudes of job satisfaction and organisational commitment, and of the possible mediating link of employees’ attitudes (i.e., satisfaction and commitment) on HPWPs and IWB link.Methodology: Data were collected from employees about their perception of the use of HPWPs in their banks and about their level of satisfaction at work, their perceived commitment, and their innovative work behaviour. The sample included 150 employees working in different banks at Qatar.Findings: The findings suggest that HPWPs are positively related to job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and IWB. Also, the study provides support for the mediating effect of organisational commitment on the HPWPs and IWB link.Practical implications: When trying to inspire employees IWB through managerial practices (like HPWPs) in Qatari banks, management needs to pay attention to employees work related attitudes such as job satisfaction and organisational commitment.Limitations: The unique characteristics of the Qatari banks limits the generalizability of the study findings.Originality: This is the first study that explores the mediating role of job satisfaction and organisational commitment on HPWPs-IWB link after conducting a comprehensive PLS analysis. Moreover, the study provides evidence of this possible link in what is believed to be unique study setting.

Toward a high-performance management system in health care, Part 5: How high-performance work practices facilitate speaking up in health care organizations

Employees' reluctance to speak up about problems and/or make suggestions for improvement is a noted barrier to quality and patient safety improvement in health care organizations. High-performance work practices (HPWPs) offer a framework for considering how management practices can encourage speaking up in these organizations. We aimed to explore how implementation of HPWPs in U.S. health care organizations could facilitate or remove barriers to speaking up. We were interested in improving understanding of how HPWPs could influence manager behavior and organizational policies and practices to encourage, support, and foster speaking up among employees. We examined case study data from five health care organizations purposely selected for their use of HPWPs. Interview transcripts from 67 key informants were inductively and deductively analyzed to explore how speaking up was characterized. We found that speaking up was recognized as an important factor impacting quality improvement and/or patient safety initiatives across all five organizations. Management efforts to facilitate speaking up included both direct practices, such as using structured communication processes and reporting systems, and complementary practices that supported speaking up. Both direct and complementary practices were aligned with the HPWP model, with sites showing evidence of supporting the frontline, engaging staff, developing talent, and having effective leaders fostering efforts to encourage employees to speak up. Both conceptual evidence and qualitative evidence supporting the applicability of HPWPs as a management model for systematically facilitating speaking up in health care organizations were presented in this study. Application of an evidence-based framework enabled consideration of an organizational rather than employee perspective and provided examples of specific management practices that have been successfully implemented to facilitate speaking up. This research furthers the growing body of evidence supporting the applicability of HPWP implementation as a valuable strategy for impacting quality and safety in health care organizations.

A study on management practices and manufacturing performance in India and Malaysia

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between management practices and manufacturing performance, based on evidence from India and Malaysia – two countries from the cultural area of Southern Asia.Design/methodology/approachThe authors theorized by drawing not only on the strategic human resource management (SHRM) literature but also on cross-cultural research. A total of 233 leaders constituted this study’s sample: 96 production leaders from 16 Indian companies and 137 production leaders from 16 Malaysian companies participated in the survey.FindingsSome of the high-performance work practices (HPWPs) were effective across India and Malaysia. The use of HPWPs in Indian culture led to better manufacturing performance than the use of HPWPs in Malaysian culture.Research limitations/implicationsThis study did not measure national culture itself but instead used a dummy-coded variable of country as its proxy. Not only can national culture explain varieties in management practices including HPWPs, but it can also interact with these practices to affect performance.Practical implicationsIndian and Malaysian managers can learn about their management practices from this, and they can learn about benefits they might bring to their workplaces if they manage through the use of HPWPs.Originality/valueThe authors’ research provides insight into the capability of national culture to moderate the relationship between HPWPs and manufacturing performance, even among two countries situated in the same region of Southern Asia.

Frontline health care workers and perceived career mobility

The use of high-performance work practices (HPWPs) related to career development (e.g., tuition remission, career ladders) is becoming more common in health care organizations, where skill shortages and concerns about quality of care have led to increasing investment in the frontline health care workforce. However, few studies have examined the effectiveness of these policies in shaping the career trajectories of health care workers. The aim of this study is to examine how HPWPs that focus on career development are related to an individuals' perceived mobility with their current employer. We will also examine the relationships between perceived mobility, job satisfaction, and turnover intent. We use confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to examine the relationships between HPWPs and perceived mobility in a sample of 947 frontline health care workers in 22 health care organizations across the United States. The findings suggest that tuition remission and educational release time positively predict perceived mobility. Measures of perceived organizational support in one's current position (e.g., financial rewards, workload, and autonomy) and perceived supervisor support for career development are also significant predictors of perceived mobility. Finally, perceived mobility is a significant predictor of job satisfaction and intent to stay with current employer. Our findings suggest that HPWPs related to career development may be effective tools in improving workers' assessments of their own career potential and improving overall job satisfaction of frontline health care workers. Consequently, HPWPs related to career development may help employers both retain valuable workers and fill worker shortages.

High performance work systems, cultures and gender demography

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to develop and test hypotheses about the independent relationships between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and high-performance work cultures (HPWC) and employee turnover. Given the growth of women in the workforce, the authors also develop competing predictions about how organizational gender demography (i.e. a higher percentage of women) may either strengthen or weaken the relationship of HPWSs to turnover.Design/methodology/approach– A survey of 171 human resource (HR) executives across organizations of various sizes and industries in the Chicago metropolitan area in the USA was conducted.Findings– The authors found that HPWS and HPWC are associated with lower turnover, though the relationship between HPWC and turnover was stronger. Results also indicate that HPWS are more strongly related to lower turnover among organizations that employ relatively more women.Research limitations/implications– The results indicates that HPWS may not be universalistic in terms of their effectiveness specifically as related to turnover. This was a cross-sectional study; it would be useful for future research to use a longitudinal research design.Practical implications– The findings suggest that organizations should consider how their cultures, use of high-performance work practices, and gender demography are related to important HR metrics such as turnover.Social implications– This paper represents an important contribution to understanding the importance and implications of changes in the workforce demographic characteristics.Originality/value– This is the first study to integrate an organizational demography perspective with HPWS.

Using High-Performance Work Practices in Health Care Organizations

Studies suggest that the use of high-performance work practices (HPWPs) may help improve quality in health care. We interviewed 67 administrators and clinicians across 5 health care organizations and found that the use of HPWPs was valued and salient for nurses. Communication appeared particularly important to facilitate HPWP use. Enhancing our understanding of HPWP use may help improve the work environment for nurses while also increasing care quality.

Implementing High-Performance Work Practices in Healthcare Organizations: Qualitative and Conceptual Evidence

Studies across industries suggest that the systematic use of high-performance work practices (HPWPs) may be an effective but underused strategy to improve quality of care in healthcare organizations. Optimal use of HPWPs depends on how they are implemented, yet we know little about their implementation in healthcare. We conducted 67 key informant interviews in five healthcare organizations, each considered to have exemplary work practices in place and to deliver high-quality care, as part of an extensive study of HPWP use in healthcare. We analyzed interview transcripts inductively and deductively to examine why and how organizations implement HPWPs. We used an evidence-based model of complex innovation adoption to guide our exploration of factors that facilitate HPWP implementation. We found considerable variability in interviewees' reasons for implementing HPWPs, including macro-organizational (strategic level) and micro-organizational (individual level) reasons. This variability highlighted the complex context for HPWP implementation in many organizations. We also found that our application of an innovation implementation model helped clarify and categorize facilitators of HPWP implementation, thus providing insight on how these factors can contribute to implementation effectiveness. Focusing efforts on clarifying definitions, building commitment, and ensuring consistency in the application of work practices may be particularly important elements of successful implementation.

The adoption of high performance work practices in small businesses: the influence of markets, business characteristics and HR expertise

This paper explores the extent to which the adoption of high performance work practices (HPWPs) in UK small businesses with less than 50 employees is associated with the nature of the market in which the business operates, its business characteristics and its access to HR expertise. Drawing on data from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey, the analysis suggests that, where market-related factors are concerned, the uptake of HPWPs is higher in small businesses that require a highly skilled workforce but is unrelated to either the degree of market competition or the presence of large dominant customers. In terms of access to HR expertise, the analysis finds greater use of HPWPs in small businesses that have contact with external sources of HR advice via membership of business advisory networks or Investors in People (IiP) recognition. However, uptake is unrelated to the presence of personnel/HR specialists. Overall, the findings suggest that rather than depicting employment practices in small businesses as the inevitable consequence of market circumstances, encouraging greater small business involvement with business advisory networks and IiP may have the potential to increase the adoption of HPWPs in the sector.

The Impact of Private Equity on Management Practices in European Buy‐outs: Short‐termism, Anglo‐Saxon, or Host Country Effects?

This article explores the impact of private equity (PE) firms on human resource management practices in buy‐outs using data drawn from the first representative pan‐European survey into this issue. The findings suggest the overall impact of PE on high‐performance work practices (HPWP) is affected more by length of the investment relationship than the countries where PE is going to or is coming from. PE investment results in the increased use of HPWP in buy‐outs the longer the anticipated time to exit. With respect to the PE firms’ country of origin, buy‐outs backed by Anglo‐Saxon PE firms are as likely to introduce new HPWP (and are specifically more likely to extend performance‐related pay schemes) as those backed by non‐Anglo‐Saxon PE firms, suggesting some adaptation to the local host country contexts of buy‐outs.

High-performance work systems in health care, Part 3

Growing evidence suggests the systematic use of high-performance work practices (HPWPs), or evidence-based management practices, holds promise to improve organizational performance, including improved quality and efficiency, in health care organizations. However, little is understood about the investment required for HPWP implementation, nor the business case for HPWP investment. The aim of this study is to enhance our understanding about organizations' perspectives of the business case for HPWP investment, including reasons for and approaches to evaluating that investment. We used a multicase study approach to explore the business case for HPWPs in U.S. health care organizations. We conducted semistructured interviews with 67 key informants across five sites. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and subjected to qualitative analysis using both deductive and inductive methods. The organizations in our study did not appear to have explicit financial return expectations for investments in HPWPs. Instead, the HPWP investment was viewed as an important factor contributing to successful execution of the organization's strategic priorities and a means for competitive differentiation in the market. Informants' characterizations of the HPWP investment did not involve financial terms; rather, descriptions of these investments as redeployment of existing resources or a shift of managerial time redirected attention from cost considerations. Evaluation efforts were rare, with organizations using broad organizational metrics to justify HPWP investment or avoiding formal evaluation altogether. Our findings are consistent with prior studies that have found that health care organizations have not systematically evaluated the financial outcomes of their quality-related initiatives or tend to forget formal business case analysis for investments they may perceive as "inevitable." In the absence of a clearly described association between HPWPs and outcomes or some other external imperative, ongoing HPWP investment may be at risk relative to other quality-related initiatives, particularly if organizational resources are constrained.

High Performance Work Practices and Employee Voice: A Comparison of Japanese and Korean Workers

Using a unique new cross-national survey of Japanese and Korean workers, we report the first systematic evidence on the effects on employee voice of High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs) from the two economies which are noted for the wide use of HPWPs. We find for both nations that: (i) workers in firms with HPWPs aimed at creating opportunities for employees to get involved (such as shopfloor committees and small group activities) are indeed more likely to have stronger senses of influence and voice on shopfloor decision making than other workers; (ii) workers whose pay is tied to firm performance are more likely to have a stake in firm performance and hence demand such influence and voice; and (iii) consequently workers in firms with HPWPs are more likely to make frequent suggestions for productivity increase and quality improvement. As such, this paper contributes to a small yet growing new empirical literature which tries to understand the actual process and mechanism through which HPWPs lead to better enterprise performance.

High Performance Work Practices and Employee Voice: A Comparison of Japanese and Korean Workers

Using a unique new cross-national survey of Japanese and Korean workers, we report the first systematic evidence on the effects on employee voice of High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs) from the two economies which are noted for the wide use of HPWPs. We find for both nations that: (i) workers in firms with HPWPs aimed at creating opportunities for employees to get involved (such as shopfloor committees and small group activities) are indeed more likely to have stronger senses of influence and voice on shopfloor decision making than other workers; (ii) workers whose pay is tied to firm performance are more likely to have a stake in firm performance and hence demand such influence and voice; and (iii) consequently workers in firms with HPWPs are more likely to make frequent suggestions for productivity increase and quality improvement. As such, this paper contributes to a small yet growing new empirical literature which tries to understand the actual process and mechanism through which HPWPs lead to better enterprise performance.

High-performance work practices and knowledge creation in organisations

The use of High-Performance Work Practices (HPWP) was found to be positively associated with firm performance. However, the mechanisms through which HPWP affect firm performance have not been studied in much detail. In this paper we argue that HPWP lead to higher levels of knowledge creation within the firm, and that knowledge creation is positively associated with value creation, which in turn affects firm performance. The main contribution of this paper is the delineation of two aspects of knowledge creation that are influenced by HPWP: coordination of knowledge-creating activities and motivation of employees to create knowledge. We adopt Nonaka's typology of knowledge creation modes to study how HPWP affect each of the four integral modes of knowledge creation: socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation. We also examine how HPWP influence intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for knowledge creation. Testable propositions are developed and possible areas of future research are outlined.

HRM and Performance: Achievements, Methodological Issues and Prospects

Twenty years ago Guest (1987) published his normative framework describing the essence of HRM. He presented HRM as a new approach to personnel management, emphasizing its strategic contribution, its closer alignment to business, the involvement of line management, and focusing on HRM outcomes like commitment, flexibility and quality. The achievement of these human resource outcomes was, in turn, expected to contribute to a range of positive organizational outcomes, including high job performance, low turnover, low absence and high cost-effectiveness through the full utilization of employees, now relabelled as human resources. Put this way, it is not difficult to understand the wide appeal that the notion of HRM had (and still has) to academics and practitioners alike. It led to the renaming of chairs/departments within universities and to changed job titles in the business community. The attractiveness of the concept of HRM increased considerably when Huselid, in 1995, published a ground-breaking paper in the Academy of Management Journal in which he demonstrated a correlation between the degree of sophistication of HR-systems and the market value per employee among a range of publicly quoted companies in the USA. The paper generated admiration, criticism and an abundance of 'me too' research, trying to replicate the proclaimed relationship between HRM and Performance (Delery and Doty, 1996; Guthrie, 2001; Koch and McGrath, 1996; Wright et al., 2003). Since then many academics on both sides of the Atlantic have become active in this field, with a special focus on the relationship between HRM and Performance. Within this rapidly expanding field of study, the HRM–Performance relationship has been approached from a variety of perspectives rooted in organizational behaviour, sociology, economics, industrial relations and organizational psychology, with a particular emphasis placed on the impact of various combinations of human resource practices on a range of performance outcomes at the individual and organizational level of analysis.

Unravelling the HRM–Performance Link: Value‐Creating and Cost‐Increasing Effects of Small Business HRM*

abstract The majority of empirical studies on the HRM–performance link report a positive story. The costs associated with the productivity rise due to high performance work practices (HPWP) have been largely neglected. The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual framework that maps both the value‐enhancing and cost‐raising impact of HPWP. In addition, we want to pronounce upon their overall effect on financial performance. To test our model, we rely on a sample of small businesses. Understanding both performance and cost‐related effects of the implementation of HPWP is particularly valuable for small businesses since they often lack financial resources to implement HPWP and benefit less from economies of scale compared to their larger counterparts. Study results indicate that although greater use of HPWP is associated with increased productivity, this effect is offset by increased labour costs. However, we find an overall positive effect of HPWP on firm profitability.