Modelling the impact of performance management practices on firm performance: interaction with human resource management practices

The paper draws on resource orchestration theory to investigate whether and how performance management (PM) practices interact with human resource management (HRM) practices in organisations as well as how this interaction affects firm performance. The proposed theoretical model was tested through a survey of 192 UK firms using Partial Least Squares approach for structural equations modelling. The findings show that the effect of PM practices on firm performance is better explained when the interaction between these practices and other organisational practices is considered. In particular, we examine the extent to which the interaction between PM practices and commitment-based HRM practices affects performance. We find that when HRM practices and PM practices are misaligned, their effect on performance can be negative. This is the first paper in the PM literature that establishes the relationship between PM and HRM practices in organisations and demonstrates the effect of this relationship on firm performance.     

A note on defining organisational systems for contingency theory in OM

Abstract

This paper aims to improve the applicability and relevance of contingency theory research in the field of Operations Management. Based on the results of previous studies, we have identified a systems-based single definition of organisation types that could describe the fit between organisational environment and organisational structure. This definition of organisation type, which we call an ‘organisational system’, regards the organisation as an integrated whole instead of as a sum of its parts and can help to better classify organisations in order to identify fits between organisation types and emerging practices in Operations Management.     

A contingency view on the impact of supplier development on design and conformance quality performance

This study extends contingency theory’s account of organisational size and culture by exploring the relationship between supplier development and internal quality performance. Drawing on supplier development research, the study aims to examine the moderating impact of organisational size and culture on the relationship between supplier development and design and conformance quality dimensions. Using survey data of 518 UK manufacturing organisations, we found that larger organisations with greater access to resources and a strong supply chain orientation culture tend to place the most weight on supplier development programmes which in turn yield higher internal quality performance. These findings contribute to ‘Operations Management Practice Contingency Research (OM PCR)’ and will raise awareness among operations managers of their future sourcing decisions.     

Performance management practices in lean manufacturing organizations: a systematic review of research evidence

This paper provides the first systematic look into the existing research on performance management (PM) practices employed in lean manufacturing organisations (LMOs). It adopts a systematic review method to examine the evidence generated in the period 2004 – 2015 and uses a comprehensive PM framework to synthesise the findings. The results suggest that PM practices that have the most prominent role in LMOs are those that, firstly, are located closest to front-line actions and, secondly, explicitly address operational realities. This calls into question the primacy of accounting-driven controls in LMOs, suggesting that operational controls may be more effective than top-down accounting-based PM practices. The results also confirm the bias towards operational-level issues but suggest that LMOs may integrate the operational and the strategic levels by using PM practices that drive organisational learning through employee involvement and engagement.     

The role of organisational drivers of exploration and exploitation – Market dynamism as a contingency factor

Simultaneously engaging in exploration and exploitation is crucial to firms' short- and long-term survival. Therefore, it is remarkable that many open questions remain regarding organisational contextual factors which support these distinct and complementary practices. Consequently, this study analyses the relations of three knowledge-related organisational contextual factors, namely customer involvement, knowledge sharing, and data-driven decision-making, with exploratory and exploitative practices. We further propose that these relationships are contingent on the degree of market dynamism, which we identify as a pivotal environmental contingency factor. To test our hypotheses, we create and compare two structural equation models based on a sample of 779 German firms, which we split at the median value of market dynamism. The relationships of knowledge sharing and data-driven decision-making with exploitation are positive, stable, and contingent on the degree of market dynamism, while the relations between the organisational factors and exploration tend to be less systematic. These findings foster a nuanced understanding of knowledge-related organisational contextual factors facilitating organisations’ simultaneous pursuit of exploration and exploitation in dependence on the market environment, which has not been extensively researched yet. Moreover, we illuminate links between the research on exploration and exploitation, ambidexterity, open innovation, information systems, and strategic management.     

Intelligent Public Organisations

The article explores the nature of the intelligence and organisational learning of public sector organisations with regard to both individual organisations and multiple organisational ecosystems. The main ideas behind modern systems theory (MST) and the logic developed by the MST theorists in the domain of organisational intelligence are pinpointed in the paper. The article presupposes that the basic structure of the organisational features of intelligence consists of leadership, strategy and foresight, people, partnerships and resources, and organisational processes, and the intelligence builds on these features. The article concludes with an explicit definition of the organisational activities that generate organisational intelligence, putting forward best practice examples with regard to these activities while also presenting scientific evidence to back up these claims.     

Strategic change and organisational restructuring: How managers negotiate change initiatives

This study examines the organizational changes and varied response amongst managers to those changes in seven subsidiaries of multinational apparel firms. Because of intensified competition from low wage economies, such firms have been forced to restructure production processes to heighten both their productive efficiency and attain greater flexibility at the plant level. Much of this change has involved the introduction of high performance work practices (HPWP), a central focus of much recent scholarship on post-Fordism. Drawing from several qualitative strategies, this paper focuses on the role of managers as agents of strategy implementation and discusses how they negotiate, accept or resist such changes. We describe the failure to implement HPWP as some firms seek efficiency gains from work restructuring rather than broader effectiveness goals that would have deepened employee participation. In doing so we theorise about structural impediments to organisational innovation, the operational constraints that render some managers change recipients rather than change agents, and what this might tell us about micro-political strategies within large organisations as key actors negotiate a new organisational reality.     

Revisiting the outsourcing debate: two sides of the same story

Although outsourcing of organisational functions has become a popular practice amongst organisations, the literature provides a myopic and simplistic view of the phenomenon by focusing on either single functions or taking monadic views of a single party. The design of our study overcomes these weaknesses by including the following features: a range of organisational functions were included; the unit of analysis was the outsourcing contract; the level of analysis was at the dyadic level where both service providers and receivers presented their views and the approach was a qualitative one. In practice, this involved interviews with managers in service receiving and providing organisations that were in charge of 10 separate outsourcing arrangements. Using agency theory as a theoretical anchor, we contribute to the outsourcing debate by highlighting its complexity and areas of convergence and divergence between service receivers and providers, thereby suggesting a contingent approach towards implementation of outsourcing arrangements.     

The influence of top management support for ICTs on organisational performance through knowledge acquisition,transfer, and utilisation

This research analyses, first, whether top management support for information and communications technologies has positive consequences for knowledge management by analysing the specific influence of top management support for ICTs on each of the knowledge management processes (knowledge acquisition, transfer, and utilisation). Second, it analyses the influence of each knowledge management process on organisational performance. The theoretical model is tested using data collected from March to May 2010 from 201 CEOs in Spanish technology organisations. The results indicate that the stage-based disaggregation of the knowledge management process into knowledge acquisition, transfer, and utilisation, and the three-stage management process are the mediating mechanisms in the relationship between top management support for ICTs and organisational performance. CEOs should thus support the information and communication technologies necessary to improve all of the interrelated stages of knowledge management as a mechanism for achieving better organisational performance. Various strategic actions should be stimulated within the organisation to intensify the interrelation between these stages of acquisition, transfer, and utilisation of knowledge.     

Reconciling autonomy and community: the paradoxical role of HRD

This paper examines the competing discourses of autonomy and community, so long a concern to social theorists but which we argue have been under-theorised by researchers of HRD. We argue that it is this tension, embedded in the assumptions and behaviours of those working within organisations, which has informed a growing concern by HRD practitioners to balance the needs of the individual with those of organisations, a preoccupation which dates at least to the appropriation by organisations of the socio-psychological theories of the human relations movement. The paper examines the most recent attempts to reconcile autonomy and community through the emergence of the new managerial discourses of spirituality and organisational citizenship. We conclude that this quest is inevitably elusive, based as it is on assumptions of trust within organisation relationships which are increasingly challenged by the short term nature of our post-bureaucratic organisational relationships and the fragmentation, instability and the blurring of boundaries. We conclude with a call for HRD to take on the mantle of critical educator and moral conscience raiser to encourage a deeper engagement with social, existential and philosophical questions that lie at the heart of organisational life.     

Unravelling the organization

The application of a computer package for drawing cause maps (NETGRAPH) to a cause map originally given by Hall as part of a study of the ‘Saturday Evening Post’ is described. It is shown how the cause map produced by the computer reveals a number of subsystems. The way in which these can be more clearly revealed by manually redrawing the computer cause map is demonstrated. The subsystems thus obtained are shown to be identical to those given by Hall, except in one case where one of Hall's subsystems is split into two. It is suggested that this split is sensible from an organisational analysis standpoint. The organisational system is analysed in terms of a number of insights derived from the computer-produced cause map including its apparent lack of a formal model of the impact of the Magazine's decisions on the environment. Such a model is claimed by Beer to be indispensable, from a systems theory standpoint, to any ‘viable’ organisational system. The conclusions derived from this analysis are similar to those drawn by Hall, though they do extend his analysis in several respects. It is argued that the results show that the package is of potential use in analysing cause maps of organisations.     

Small Actions Can Make a Big Difference: Voluntary Employee Green Behaviour at Work and Affective Commitment to the Organization

In the workplace, discretionary pro-environmental actions made by employees are referred to as voluntary employee green behaviour (VEGB). This is increasingly recognised as a contribution to both the environmental and the financial sustainability of the organisation. However, the implications of VEGB beyond its original environmental domain largely remain underspecified, thus constraining the theoretical development of the field and advocacy for organisations in practice. This study thus investigates how VEGB associates with the employee outcome of affective commitment, which especially impacts the psychological relationships that employees develop with their organisations. Drawing on two studies, we found that VEGB was positively associated with affective commitment, as enabled by three mediating mechanisms that enhanced the sense of warm glow and moral credit for employees while protecting them against emotional exhaustion. Moreover, we found that perceived organisational support for the environment served as a boundary condition for VEGB and its mediation by moral credit and emotional exhaustion. Implications for theory and practice are discussed in the paper.     

QoS in the internal supply chain: the next lever of competitive advantage and organisational performance

This article presents a research that examines the relationship of quality of service (QoS) and organisational performance in a manufacturing setting. There are few empirical studies that measure QoS in the manufacturing supply chain. A model linking QoS with organisational performance through intermediate variables of satisfaction, loyalty and competitive advantage is introduced and tested in the internal supply chain of three automotive organisations. The research design for this article includes a combination of literature review, exploratory interviews with scholars and practitioners, and a survey of 156 practitioners in three automotive companies in North India. Structural equation modelling has been used for data analysis. This research comes out with four factor scale for internal service quality and six-factor scale for external service quality. The research revealed that employee-driven QoS is a source of value addition that is positively linked with the organisational performance. This study would be of interest to manufacturing industry practitioners interested in internal and external service quality improvements. Future researchers could validate this scale, and empirically test the proposed model.     

Collective corruption–How to live with it: Towards a projection theory of post-crisis corruption perpetuation

This article draws on social psychology to explore the unconscious cognitive processes allowing for perpetuation of collective corruption in organisations in the aftermath of crises. In particular, we argue that, when faced with the cognitive dissonance produced by exposed collective corruption, and having to choose between changing behaviour or changing cognition, projection theory provides support for the latter. Thus, we identify the role of projection theory in overcoming cognitive dissonance in groups by projecting blame on to their leaders while continuing practices of corruption. These insights contribute to our understanding of perpetuation of collective corruption in organisations as well as at a societal level.     

Expectations and the performance of governance functions between a board,management and other stakeholders: the case of Robotdalen

Previous research has called for an enhanced understanding of the dynamic and interactional aspects of board work in public sector governance. Using a longitudinal case study of Robotdalen, this paper attempts to meet this call through a processual and qualitative study of board work in public organisations. The aim of the paper is to enhance our understanding of the human side of governance and the interactions between a board, the management in the governed organisation and other stakeholders. We do this by addressing the theoretical concept of an expectations gap. The results demonstrated how funding regimes influence governance functions, structures and practices at the organisational level, and how internal actors such as managers also carry out governance functions. Moreover, the results show how an expectations gap shifts and changes over time. In this way we have contributed a more nuanced theoretical understanding of how the governance function is co-produced and the importance of understanding the expectations gap to further understand the dynamics of public sector board work.     

Digital internal communication: An interplay of socio-technical elements

Digital transformation has become a research focus in recent years. Likewise, internal communication (IC) is one of the fastest-growing specialisations in public relations and communication management. This research explores digital internal communication (DIC) at the nexus between digital transformation and IC. We provide an integrative review of the literature; our thematic analysis of selected journal articles and other scholarly texts is guided by the concept of organisations as socio-technical systems. Furthermore, we create a template using NVivo software to organise the emerging themes and clusters following the logic of communication levels. This template allows us to explain the phenomenon of DIC in a socio-technical organisational system and discuss how the emerging themes are interrelated, people-focused, and linked to competency development and trust-building. As a contribution to theory, we offer a conceptual model which illustrates the dynamics of DIC as an interplay of socio-technical elements on three communication levels. This conceptual model can be further developed in scholarly discussions on DIC and by organisations reflecting on their IC use in a digital workplace environment.     

The impact of human resource management on organisational performance: Theory and research

This article by Jean-Marie Hiltrop, considers some of the models which have studied the link between HRM and organisational performance. As yet, there is little real evidence, but it is growing and indicates that corporate HRM policies and practices - including ‘best’ practices - are associated with high (financial) performance, and can encourage employee behaviour and attitudes towards strengthening the competitive strategy of an organisation. But such ‘best’ practices can vary widely and even contradict each other. Questions are raised in the article about these ‘best’ practices.The first part of the article looks at the relevant theoretical models, and the second part reviews the findings of recent empirical studies which have evaluated the effects of distinctive HR practices on organisational outcomes.     

Workplace resources to improve both employee well-being and performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of employees in gaining and maintaining competitive advantage. The happy worker–productive worker thesis suggests that workers who experience high levels of well-being also perform well and vice versa; however, organisations need to know how to ensure such happy and productive workers. The present review and meta-analysis identifies workplace resources at the individual, the group, the leader, and the organisational levels that are related to both employee well-being and organisational performance. We examine which types of resources are most important in predicting both employee well-being and performance. We identified 84 quantitative studies published in print and online from 2003 to November 2015. Resources at either of the four levels were related to both employee well-being and performance. We found no significant differences in employee well-being and organisational performance between the four levels of workplace resources, suggesting that interventions may focus on any of these levels. Cross-sectional studies showed stronger relationships with well-being and performance than longitudinal studies. Studies using objective performance ratings provided weaker relationships between resources and performance than self-rated and leader/third-party-rated studies.     

Prioritizing lean supply chain management initiatives in healthcare service operations: a fuzzy AHP approach

The objective of this study is to investigate the perceptions of practitioners/experts about the prioritisation of healthcare performance measures and their relationship with lean supply chain management (LSCM) practices. The study will also prioritise the drivers and resources required to implement LSCM in a healthcare operations context. The prioritisation is based on the relative weights of various initiatives on a range of performance measures. Twenty-four LSCM initiatives were identified using a comprehensive literature review. Q-sort method was used to divide those initiatives into four categories. Fuzzy AHP was then used to prioritise the four categories based on relative weight of importance of each category on three different performance dimensions. The result shows that continuous improvement is a dominating LSCM initiative in increasing operational and financial performance, while enterprise alignment/integration is a dominating initiative in enhancing organisational image and operational performance. However, lack of homogeneity among LSCM initiatives suggests that there is a need for careful consideration when implementing them in healthcare organisations. Furthermore, customer needs and the influence of competitor’s actions are the most important drivers to encourage hospitals to adopt an LSCM strategy. This is one of the first studies to examine the prioritisation and ranking of LSCM constructs on performance within the context of the healthcare industry.     

Support for diversity practices in Norway: Depends on who you are and whom you have met

An increasingly diverse workforce is a reality for today's organisations in Norway, and a variety of human resource practices are being introduced in order to manage this diversity effectively. However, little is known about what leads to the successful implementation of these diversity practices. Thus, we need to find out more about what affects the willingness to implement that is held by those responsible for the process. In this study we examine how contact with minority groups, values, orientation, and individual differences relate to their perceptions and support for diversity practices. In a survey conducted with 385 Norwegian individuals employed in different organisations and business sectors across the country, we observed a relationship between positive contact experiences with individuals from immigrant backgrounds, diversity values, other-orientation, age, and gender on the extent to which the respondents were willing to support a diversity practice. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.