Showing papers in "International Journal of Human Resource Management in 2006"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated some of the psychological, organizational and system-related variables that may determine individual engagement in intra-organizational knowledge sharing, including self-efficacy, openness to experience, perceived support from colleagues and supervisors and, to a lesser...
Abstract: Knowledge management systems try to elicit and support the flow of ideas and experiences among groups of employees (sometimes referred to as knowledge communities). Whereas numerous information and communication systems have been developed to support such knowledge exchanges, practical applications have found that technology alone cannot ensure that knowledge will indeed be volunteered and exchanged, and whereas researchers and consultants alike have argued that culture and other human variables constitute key success factors, it is not clear what specific variables are at play, nor what management practices can affect those variables. This exploratory research investigates some of the psychological, organizational and system-related variables that may determine individual engagement in intra-organizational knowledge sharing. Results from a survey of 372 employees from a large multinational show that self-efficacy, openness to experience, perceived support from colleagues and supervisors and, to a lesser ...
1,018 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored alternative relationships between performance appraisal satisfaction and employee outcomes in the form of self-reported work performance, affective organizational commitment, and turnover intention in a cross-sectional survey of 593 employees from 64 Norwegian savings banks.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore alternative relationships between performance appraisal satisfaction and employee outcomes in the form of self-reported work performance, affective organizational commitment and turnover intention. A cross-sectional survey of 593 employees from 64 Norwegian savings banks showed that performance appraisal satisfaction was directly related to affective commitment and turnover intention. The relationship between performance appraisal satisfaction and work performance, however, was both mediated and moderated by employees' intrinsic work motivation. The form of the moderation revealed a negative relationship for employees with low intrinsic motivation and a positive relationship for those with high intrinsic motivation. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.
443 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared reports of both managers and non-managers from inside and outside HR departments to highlight differences between intended and implemented HRM, and found that consistent implementation increases employee satisfaction with HRM which is positively related to organizational performance.
Abstract: We argue that inconclusive findings in the SHRM literature regarding the relationship between HRM systems and organizational performance may result primarily from methodological weaknesses and a failure of researchers to distinguish between HR practices intended by the organizations and those actually implemented. Rather than relying upon a single respondent per organization as is the norm, we contrast reports of both managers and non-managers from inside and outside HR departments to highlight differences between intended and implemented HRM. The findings, arrived at with the help of 195 interviews, 508 questionnaire responses and several company documents, support our expectation: implemented HRM may be substantially different from intended HRM; consistent implementation increases employee satisfaction with HRM, which is positively related to organizational performance. The current study thus highlights new factors that require attention in developing HR–performance analyses and also suggests that a mer...
433 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined how, when and to what extent HR practices affect performance at the employee level in Eritrea and found that the Eritrean economic and political environment within which HR practices operate has not conducive in maximizing the impact of HR practices on performance.
Abstract: In this article, the authors examine how, when and to what extent HR practices affect performance at the employee level. As performance is a multi-faceted and complicated concept, HRM outcomes were used as mediating factors between HR practices and employee performance. The data were collected among civil servants in Eritrea, Africa's youngest and poorest country. Although the results generally are in line with previous studies using Western data, their implications in this particular country may be different. Therefore, the challenges and prospects of HR practices in Eritrean civil service organizations are critically analysed and discussed. In the authors' opinion, that the Eritrean economic and political environment within which HR practices operate has not been conducive in maximizing the impact of HR practices on performance. These findings highlight the situation of most developing countries.
340 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the relationship between systems of HRM policies and organizational performance, based on a sample of 178 organizations operating in the Greek manufacturing sector, and a mediation model was tested to examine the link between HRM and organisational performance.
Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between systems of HRM policies and organizational performance. The research is based on a sample of 178 organizations operating in the Greek manufacturing sector. A mediation model is tested to examine the link between HRM and organizational performance. The results of this study support the hypothesis that the relationship between the HRM systems of resourcing-development and reward-relations, and organizational performance, is mediated through the HRM outcomes of skills and attitudes. The paper not only supports the theory that HRM systems have a positive impact on organizational performance but also explains the mechanisms through which HRM systems improve organizational performance.
282 citations
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors explored the performance effects of human resource management (HRM) practices in 74 Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and identified four high performance HRM practices: performance-based pay, participatory decision-making, free market selection, and performance evaluation.
Abstract: This paper explores the performance effects of human resource management (HRM) practices in 74 Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Four high performance HRM practices are identified: performance-based pay, participatory decision-making, free market selection, and performance evaluation. Regression analysis results support the conventional idea that the adoption of HRM practices generates better HRM outcomes and, in turn, better HRM outcomes contribute positively to firm performance. However, not all HRM practices, and their effects, led to improved SME performance. Among the Chinese SMEs investigated, a high level of employee commitment was identified as being the key HRM outcome for enhancing performance.
223 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors highlight the existence of formal, structured and rationalized HRM systems in Indian organizations and highlight the reasons for the increasing levels of attrition in Indian call centres.
Abstract: This paper initially highlights the rapid growth in the call centre (CC) sector in developing countries like India. It then makes a case for the investigation of human resource management (HRM) systems of call centres in India. The analysis is based on a two-phase empirical study. Phase one examines the nature and pattern of HRM systems and phase two the emerging issue of attrition in Indian call centres. A mixed research approach comprising in-depth interviews and questionnaire survey was adopted to conduct the investigation. Against the established norms of Indian organizations, the findings highlight the existence of formal, structured and rationalized HRM systems. Core reasons for the increasing levels of attrition are highlighted. The analysis further provides useful information both for academics and practitioners and opens avenues for future research.
179 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined which factors affect organizational commitment among Dutch university employees in two faculties with different academic identities (separatist versus hegemonist, Stiles, 2004).
Abstract: This paper examines which factors affect organizational commitment among Dutch university employees in two faculties with different academic identities (separatist versus hegemonist, Stiles, 2004). The analyses of Web survey data reveal that in the separatist faculty decentralization, compensation, training/development, positional tenure and career mobility have significant effects. Age, organizational tenure, level of autonomy, working hours, social involvement and personal importance significantly affect the employees' organizational commitment in the hegemonist faculty. Participation, social interactions and job level are factors that are important in both faculties. The findings indicate that the set of factors affecting the organizational commitment of employees differs between the separatist and hegemonist faculties. The findings empirically support the argument that different configurations or ‘bundles’ of HRM practices (Delery and Doty, 1996; Guest, 1997) are suited for organizations with differen...
175 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the gains from the use of a bivariate probit approach in measuring the connections between job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and they make use of the bivariate approach in this context, and it improves our understanding of the connection between HR policy and these important employee attitudes.
Abstract: Links between employees' commitment to their organizations and satisfaction with their jobs have been the subject of a large amount of empirical research, and still there seems little agreement about the causal connections between these two important employee attitudes. Understanding these attitudes is important because they have an important effect on organizational performance, and these attitudes can be influenced by human resource policies and practices. This paper assesses the gains from the use of a bivariate probit approach in measuring the connections between job satisfaction and organizational commitment. This paper is the first to make use of the bivariate probit approach in this context, and it improves our understanding of the connections between HR policy and these important employee attitudes. The approach taken allows a direct test of the hypothesis that job satisfaction and organizational commitment are jointly determined by demographic and policy factors. The results are compared with the results from the more traditional binomial probit approach to illustrate the degree of bias corrected by the bivariate approach.
166 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a large proportion of the multinational enterprise (MNE) literature focuses on parent country national (PCN) expatriates, however, the high costs of managing and supporting PCNs on foreign assignments have made these assignments less attractive for MNEs and, as a result, MNE are more actively exploring ways to effectively utilize third country nationals and host country nationals (HCNs), as well as PCNs to satisfy international subsidiary staffing needs.
Abstract: A large proportion of the multinational enterprise (MNE) literature focuses on parent country national (PCN) expatriates The high costs of managing and supporting PCNs on foreign assignments, however, have made these assignments less attractive for MNEs and, as a result, MNEs are more actively exploring ways to effectively utilize third country nationals (TCNs) and host country nationals (HCNs), as well as PCNs to satisfy international subsidiary staffing needs Grounded in the person–environment (P–E) fit theory, we delineate three environmental dimensions (strategic, national and organizational) to offer some propositions that may serve to guide this exploration These propositions are based on an integrative model that examines the MNE subsidiary staffing composition under different combinations of strategic, national and organizational dimensions We conclude with suggestions for future research
158 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate employee "line of sight" to an organization's strategic objectives and find that line of sight is defined as an employee's understanding of the organization's objectives and how to contribute to those objectives.
Abstract: This research focuses on the strategic alignment of a firm's human resources. Specifically, I investigate employee ‘line of sight’ to an organization's strategic objectives. Line of sight is conceptualized as an employee's understanding of an organization's objectives and how to contribute to those objectives. Line of sight was expected to vary across individual characteristics (e.g. hierarchical level, tenure) and relate to important work outcomes (e.g. work attitudes, turnover). Results of a field study confirmed many of the hypotheses, supporting the importance of this construct to research and practice.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors shed some light on strategies and power resources of subsidiary managers and employee representatives involved in "charter changes" and the implementation of best practices developed elsewhere, and identified three key influences which restrain or empower local management and employees in their ability to make strategic choices and gain power within the MNC.
Abstract: This paper intends to shed some light on strategies and power resources of subsidiary managers and employee representatives involved in ‘charter changes’ and the implementation of ‘best practices’ developed elsewhere. Research shows that local managers face a dilemma in that they need both internal legitimacy (within the MNC itself) and external legitimacy (within the local context). It is argued that the power resources key actors draw on in the (internal) decision-making processes of ‘charter changes’ are intertwined with certain (external) national business system (NBS) characteristics, an aspect often neglected in North American research about MNCs. The authors identify three key influences, which restrain or empower local management and employees in their ability to make strategic choices and gain power within the MNC. They are (1) the overall strategic approach of the multinational group, (2) the strategic position and the economic performance of the subsidiary itself and (3) the degree of instituti...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship of three workaholism components with measures of workplace destructive and constructive deviance and found that the three components were significantly related to two measures of deviance.
Abstract: Given the significant social and economic costs and/or benefits associated with workplace deviance, researchers have been interested in examining the antecedents of deviant behaviour. Similarly, as the incidence of workaholism has increased, there has been a need to further understand the positive and negative consequences of workaholism in an organizational context. This exploratory study examined the relationship of three workaholism components with measures of workplace destructive and constructive deviance. Data were collected from 142 male and female employees working in six companies in Brazil using anonymously completed questionnaires. The results suggest that the workaholism components were significantly related to two measures of deviance. This provides partial support for the hypothesized relationship. Future research directions and practical implications are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the experiences and challenges encountered by ex-host country nationals upon their return home, after having lived abroad for an extensive period of time, were examined. And the findings of this exploratory study of 86 EHCNs, all recipients of prestigious scholarships to study abroad, have important implications, both theoretical and practical, for international human resource management, including governmental attempts to curb or reverse brain drain from their respective countries.
Abstract: To fuel further growth and development, many countries in Central and East Europe that have made the transition from socialist to market economies are anxious to reverse the brain drain by attracting their nationals who have studied and/or worked abroad to return. This study seeks to examine the experiences and challenges encountered by nationals upon their return home, after having lived abroad for an extensive period of time. These people are referred to as ‘ex-host country nationals’ (EHCNs). The findings of this exploratory study of 86 EHCNs, all recipients of prestigious scholarships to study abroad, have important implications, both theoretical and practical, for international human resource management, including governmental attempts to curb or reverse brain drain from their respective countries.
TL;DR: The relationship of mentoring and network resources, the two components of social capital, with career success was investigated in a sample of 113 Chinese white-collar workers as mentioned in this paper, and the findings suggested a limited relationship between social capital and career success.
Abstract: The relationship of mentoring and network resources, the two components of social capital, with career success was investigated in a sample of 113 Chinese white-collar workers. The findings suggested that the prevalence of mentoring in the Chinese workplace is substantially higher than in the Anglo-Saxon workplace, and that Chinese employees do not distinguish their network ties or Guanxi into expressive and instrumental. These results were in line with the presumption that mentoring is an integral part of the Chinese culture and with the view that network ties or Guanxi in the Chinese society cannot exist in a purely instrumental form. In contrast to hypotheses, however, the findings suggest a limited relationship between social capital and career success. In particular, the amount of mentoring, participants reported they had received, was related to their intrinsic career success but not to their extrinsic career success; and the amount of network resources or Guanxi was related neither to extrinsic nor...
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of strategic human resource management (SHRM) on organizational performance and individual performance, organizational commitment and job satisfaction levels of human resource professionals is investigated, and it is found that SHRM can directly and positively influence individual performance and organizational commitment.
Abstract: The impact of strategic human resource management (SHRM) on organizational performance is assessed. Additionally, the impact of a SHRM approach on the individual performance, organizational commitment and job satisfaction levels of human resource professionals is investigated. An organization exhibits SHRM when the human resources function is vertically aligned with the mission and objectives of the organization and horizontally integrated with other organizational functions. Data from a national sample of 269 human resource professionals from large US manufacturing firms were analyzed using structural equation modeling techniques. Results indicate that the direct impact of SHRM on organizational performance is positive and significant, as hypothesized. Further, SHRM was found to directly and positively influence individual performance, organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Top managers implementing a SHRM system can, therefore, expect improved organizational performance and improved levels of i...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors found that human resource management practices partially mediated the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and firm performance, and that HRM practices explained a significant level of additional variance (9 per cent) in firm performance.
Abstract: This paper outlines the important role of human resource management practices with a link between corporate entrepreneurship and firm performance. Data were collected from a survey of 124 firms operating in different industries in Turkey. The findings of this study indicated that human resource management (HRM) practices partially mediated the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and firm performance. In other words, corporate entrepreneurship affects firm performance, both directly and through its effects on HRM practices. In addition to corporate entrepreneurship, it is found that HRM practices explain a significant level of additional variance (9 per cent) in firm performance. The theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the role of employer-controlled accommodation in the management of human resources and argued that having labour supply "on tap" facilitates management extending the working day, responding rapidly to fluctuations in product demand and functions as a form of coercive control.
Abstract: The paper uses research into industrial dormitories in Southern China to examine the role performed by employer-controlled accommodation in the management of human resources. The current rapid industrialization in China has been fuelled by the over 100 million internal migrants who move around the country on an annual basis and are housed in industrial dormitories within or close to production facilities. The paper argues that having labour supply ‘on tap’ facilitates management extending the working day, responding rapidly to fluctuations in product demand and functions as a form of coercive control, whereby employers have power not only over employment but also the housing needs of employees. The paper examines the history and contemporary use of employer-controlled accommodation, and argues that in both scale and systematic application, the current Chinese case is unique in the history of human resource management. Drawing on a case study of a large factory and dormitory, ‘China Wonder Electronics’ bas...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the phenomenon of network product innovation and the holistic integration of distributed knowledge across organizational boundaries to foster production innovation, and find that knowledge integration serves as a mediator between the three antecedents and product innovation performance.
Abstract: The locus of innovation has shifted from single entrepreneurial firms to groups of networked firms. Inter-organizational cooperation rather than competition to exploit the value of knowledge through new product innovation lies at the heart of the knowledge-based economy. This paper focuses on the phenomenon of network product innovation and the holistic integration of distributed knowledge across organizational boundaries to foster production innovation. A new construct, knowledge integration, is found to have a strong positive impact on new product performance. Resource complementarity, market orientation, and information sharing are three antecedents that positively affect knowledge integration across organizational boundaries. Survey data also suggest that knowledge integration serves as a mediator between the three antecedents and product innovation performance. Managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, a study was conducted to enhance understanding of how MNCs staff international management positions using a sample of top Australian MNC managers across a range of industries and found that the rationales executives gave for their MNC's' staffing of international management supported selecting managers with higher competency levels for complex overseas assignments.
Abstract: MNCs need to use a range of options to manage their international operations. The aim of this study was to enhance understanding of how MNCs staff international management positions using a sample of top Australian MNCs across a range of industries. The rationales executives gave for their MNCs' staffing of international management supported selecting managers with higher competency levels for complex overseas assignments. Staffing options were chosen to reduce risks from cultural friction, divergent goals, and asymmetry in knowledge between the parent company and the host operation, chiefly through staffing by parent country nationals (i.e. long-term expatriates, Australians or Westerners already living in the host country or abroad, domestic international managers). Host country managers were used to reduce risks that arose from not being responsive to the host environment and to avoid costs, and when they were least risky to the firm. By contrast, the staffing options also served practical purposes, in...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors suggest that the rise of new career boundaries has left employers marginalized in unforeseen ways from the emerging new social structures that individuals are increasingly reliant upon to support the development of their skills and professional networks.
Abstract: Much has been written about the implications for employees in the post-corporate era of boundaryless careers. Much less has been written about the problems and challenges facing employers within a boundaryless career context. This paper contributes to both levels of analysis. At the level of the individual employee, focusing upon the middle of the organization, we suggest that there has been a differential impact upon individuals with some ‘losers’ and some ‘winners’. Skilled specialist employees and younger employees may welcome changing career boundaries, whereas those with more generic skills and older employees may be less enthusiastic. At the employer level, our research suggests that the rise of new career boundaries has left employers marginalized in unforeseen ways from the emerging new social structures that individuals are increasingly reliant upon to support the development of their skills and professional networks. We agree with Van Buren (2003) that the demise of the organization-career poses...
TL;DR: In this article, a mail survey was directed towards Western business expatriates in China and three sociocultural adjustment variables were examined: general, interaction and work adjustment, and results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that there was no significant association between them.
Abstract: Although seldom formally tested, the traditional assumption in the literature on expatriate management is that the greater the cultural novelty of the host country, the more difficult it would be for the expatriate to adjust. To be able to test this proposition, a mail survey was directed towards Western business expatriates in China. Three sociocultural adjustment variables were examined: general, interaction and work adjustment. Although a negative relationship was hypothesized between cultural novelty and the three adjustment variables, results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that there was no significant association between them. Although highly tentative, the suggestion that it is as difficult for business expatriates to adjust to a very similar culture as to a very dissimilar culture is fundamental. Implications of this potentially crucial finding are discussed in detail.
TL;DR: In this article, the importance of human resources in public service nonprofits was examined based on their strategic types. And the results of a survey of 79 nonprofits and 7 case studies suggest that strategic HRM was not evident in nonprofit organizations.
Abstract: Unlike other sectors, human resources (HR) of nonprofit organizations cannot be replaced with investment in physical capital. Moreover, the importance of HR has been further heightened by changes in the operating environment of the sector. Using the Miles and Snow (1978) strategic typology, this paper explores strategic HRM in public service nonprofits by examining the importance attached to HRM based on their strategic types. The results of a survey of 79 nonprofits and 7 case studies suggest that strategic HRM was not evident in nonprofit organizations. Defenders, analysers, and prospectors were not different from reactors in the importance they attach to recruitment, compensation and labour relations. However, training was found to be more important among defender than prospector nonprofits. The lack of alignment between HRM and strategy highlights the need for nonprofits to find a way to address their HR capacity challenges and enhance effectiveness of strategy.
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship of mentoring and expressive network resources with proteges' career success and emotional exhaustion was investigated in a sample of 104 Hellenes (Greek) bank employees performing frontline service jobs.
Abstract: Although mentoring has been identified as an important career resource for proteges in the Anglo-Saxon cultural cluster, pertinent research in other cultures is still scarce. The relationship of mentoring and expressive network resources with proteges' career success and emotional exhaustion was investigated in a sample of 104 Hellenes (Greek) bank employees performing frontline service jobs. The number of mentors that respondents reported they have had was related to their extrinsic career success. However, currently having a mentor was not related to intrinsic career success and was marginally related to emotional exhaustion. In contrast, the amount of expressive network resources was strongly related to both intrinsic career success and emotional exhaustion. The results are discussed with respect to extant research, the national cultural context of the study and the cross-cultural transferability of human resource systems. The general tentative conclusion is that relationships with mentors and expressi...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the moderating effect of technology on the potential impact of high-performance work systems (HPWS) on firms' operational performance and concluded that HPWS moderates the role of the technological intensity of the industry.
Abstract: This paper analyses the moderating effect of technology on the potential impact of high-performance work systems (HPWS) on firms' operational performance. The paper distinguishes between production technology and the technological intensity of the industry. This potential effect is analysed in a sample of 965 Spanish manufacturing firms. Results support the moderating role of the technological intensity of the industry, while qualifying the hypothesized moderating effect of production technology.
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between high performance work systems and organizational performance in Taiwan's semiconductor design industry was examined by matching and analysing data collected from field interviews with 21 HR managers and surveys of 21 senior operations managers and 1,129 employees.
Abstract: This paper presents a study examining the relationship between high performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational performance in Taiwan's semiconductor design industry. The hypotheses are tested by matching and analysing data collected from field interviews with 21 HR managers and surveys of 21 senior operations managers and 1,129 employees. The results of the statistical analysis demonstrate that the effective use of employee empowerment practices is positively related to organizational performance.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the impact of normative organizational commitment on an employee's turnover, rather than attitudes or perceptions, and found that the affective commitment was an important predicator for organizational satisfaction.
Abstract: While many researchers have shown that affective organizational commitment is the most valuable predicator for organizational outcomes, such as job satisfaction, the value of normative organizational commitment in predicting working behaviour needs to be clarified. Additionally, indices of organizational outcomes used in prior studies were almost always the employees' perceptions of and attitudes towards organizations, rather than actual behaviour. The current research aims to investigate the impact of normative organizational commitment on an employee's turnover, rather than attitudes or perceptions. A total of 242 employees completed questionnaires including the Organizational Commitment Scale, the Organizational Satisfaction Scale, and the Idiocentrism and Allocentrism Scale, and reported the number of organizations they had worked for. Regression analysis revealed that the affective commitment was an important predicator for organizational satisfaction (p < .01) whereas the normative commitment was th...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors attempted to verify empirically these assumptions from a managerial perspective by identifying the current employment values and beliefs of managerial workers and management and examining the extent to which these influence, or are influenced by, the adoption of high commitment practices in the workplace.
Abstract: HRM appears to both believe that unitarism already exists in employment relationships and, at the same time, sees itself as the means to achieving unitarism through the introduction of systems of ‘high commitment management’ (HCM) in the workplace. The primary goal of HCM is empirical unitarism, achieved by the implementation of a system of practices aimed at aligning the interests and objectives of managers and workers. Not surprisingly these taken-for-granted values and beliefs in HRM about employment relationships have stirred debate in the literature, with many suggesting this is a flawed view of organizational life (Hart, 1993; Keenoy, 1999). This study has attempted to verify empirically these assumptions from a managerial perspective by first identifying the current employment values and beliefs of managerial workers and management and second examining the extent to which these influence, or are influenced by, the adoption of high commitment practices in the workplace. It finds managers do consider...
TL;DR: In this article, a survey of the views of line managers and human resource specialists on devolving a range of human resource activities to line managers in a case organization, Hilton International's UK hotels, is presented.
Abstract: Although contextual factors act to encourage the devolvement of human resource management to line managers, recent research indicates that there is substantial potential for human resource specialists and line managers to share more effectively responsibility for their organization's human resource activities in business partnerships. The foundation for this is arguably commonality in opinions on the principles and practices of human resource activities. However, line managers and human resource specialists often have dissonant opinions on human resource management. This paper explores line manager and human resource specialists' perspectives on line manager involvement in human resource management, theoretically and empirically. The primary work comprises a survey of the views of line managers and human resource specialists on devolving a range of human resource activities to line managers in a case organization, Hilton International's UK hotels. Differences between line managers' and human resource spec...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors distinguish between three different processes resulting in complementarities: reinforcement, flanking and compensation, and examine whether the effect at the employee level can be traced to the complementary relationships among the five high performance HR dimensions.
Abstract: A central claim of strategic HRM is the notion that the way a firm manages its workforce affects its corporate performance. In particular, 'high performance human resource management', a systematic approach toward HR management consisting of internally consistent HR dimensions that develop the skill and motivation of the workforce, is considered to contribute to the 'bottom-line' of companies. The benefits are attributed generally to 'complementarities' among the constituent dimensions. In the theoretical part of this paper we distinguish between three different processes resulting in such complementarities: reinforcement, flanking and compensation. These different processes are exemplified for five areas of high performance human resource management, incentives systems, training, sharing arrangements, guidance and selective recruitment. In the empirical part of this paper we examine whether the effect at the employee level can be traced to the complementary relationships among the five high performance HR dimensions. The core hypothesis to be tested in this study is that the complementarity effect of the high performance HR management system enhances employee performance over and above the sum of the effects of the five practices. This complementarity hypothesis is tested using a methodology for the test of systems effects suggested by Ichniowski et al. (1997). The data come from a matched establishment survey in two European countries, Ireland and the Netherlands. These datasets comprise data from nearly 400 establishments. Key findings are that the complementarity hypothesis is fully supported by the Irish data but rejected by the Dutch data.