HRM practices of Canadian and US manufacturing firms: An empirical investigation

This research investigates human resource management HRM practices of manufacturing firms in Ontario, Canada n = 141 , and midwestern United States n = 100 . Differences in sources of recruitment and selection instruments used by firms in the two countries are examined. The study also compares various training, compensation, and other HRM issues. We found major differences in HRM practices of manufacturing firms in the US and Canada.     

Collective voice mechanisms,HRM practices and organizational performance in Italian manufacturing firms

The literature on employee voice has grown enormously over the past decades. However, the relationships between different employee voice mechanisms and organizational performance are far from being fully understood, and the existing research shows mixed evidence. Moreover, the HRM literature tends to concentrate on individual voice mechanisms (e.g. employee involvement) and to underestimate the role that collective voice may have in the HRM performance relationship. This paper aims to analyze how collective employee voice mechanisms (i.e. union voice and team voice) affect organizational productivity and how these relationships vary when voice mechanisms are adopted in combination with other HRM practices (i.e. variable pay, training, performance appraisals and multitasking). The analysis of a sample of 223 Italian manufacturing firms matched with an external database (AIDA) containing balance sheet information found that union voice is positively related to labor productivity, while team voice does not show any significant relationship with labor productivity. Moreover, both union and team voice have important moderation effects in the HRM-performance relationship. Union voice moderates positively the relationship between variable pay and performance and negatively the relationship between training and performance. Team voice positively moderates the relationship between training and performance. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

组织支持对人力资源措施和员工绩效的影响

通过两项研究,对中国企业情境下员工感知到的组织支持、人力资源管理措施和个人绩效的关系进行了探讨.采用因子分析和回归分析等方法对来自合资,国有,私有等企业的员工及其主管的问卷调查结果进行了数据分析.结果表明:这些企业的人力资源管理措施可以分为保健措施和激励措施两大类.保健措施包括:员工福利、工作环境改善、工作保障、员工薪酬、员工关怀计划;激励措施包括员工培训、职业发展规划.保健措施和激励措施与感知到的组织支持存在交互作用,共同影响员工个人绩效.保健措施对员工绩效的正向影响作用在低水平感知到的组织支持下更显著,激励措施则在高水平感知到的组织支持下具有更显著的正向影响.     

High-involvement work practices and employee engagement

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between high involvement work practices (HIWPs) and employee engagement. HIWPs consist of four main attributes: (a) power – employees have the power to make decisions and/or to participate in decision-making; (b) information – information is shared among employees; (c) reward – employees are rewarded for their good performance; and (d) knowledge – employees are provided with the necessary training to do their work. This paper investigates the connections between engagement and each of these practices, and proposes a conceptual model that links these relationships. It starts by providing a brief overview of HIWPs, followed by a discussion on the connections between HIWPs and engagement, and a conclusion and discussion of implications for practice and research.     

Assessing the efficiency of HRD practices in knowledge-intensive firms

The article presents the results of a comparative study of human resource development (HRD) in two groups of knowledge-intensive firms: those working in the information technology (IT) field and in advertising/public relations (PR) field. One hundred Russian medium-sized enterprises participated in the study. The questionnaire was developed on the basis of the European quality standard ‘Investors in People’. The study findings suggested that the differences in HR practices aimed at personnel development between two groups of companies were statistically significant. Thus, in the advertising/PR companies, HRD practices were used more actively and effectively, with particular emphasis on providing timely feedback and involving employees in the decision-making process. In IT companies, formal assessment tools were used more often, while in advertising/PR companies, more informal and individualized approaches were more prevalent.     

Effect of best management practices on the performance and productivity of small firms

Abstract

Recent research on productivity finds that best management practices are a crucial but neglected element in explaining firm productivity. This stream of research also focuses on why a large number of firms may not implement best management practices despite their apparent benefits. In this paper, we examine the adoption of best management practices in small leveraged buyout (LBO) firms. Our choice of small LBO is motivated by the fact that these firms undergo extensive restructuring and, therefore, there is an opportunity to study the adoption process of best management practices. The findings show that buyout companies introduce best management practices (operations, monitoring, targets and incentive-related practices) at different stages of their development, and more importantly, these practices evolve in response to changes in various firm-level characteristics. For example, companies emphasizing cost leadership tend to follow targets and monitoring related practices while firms following a differentiation strategy are more likely to implement incentives and operations related management practices. Buyout sponsors’ board representatives and new CEO also play a critical role in the adoption of these best management practices which are linked to superior firm performance, measured as growth in revenues, productivity and return on assets.     

Manufacturing flexibility and advanced human resource management practices

This article analyses the connection between the use of advanced human resource management (HRM) practices, individually and as a system, with manufacturing flexibility. The results show a positive relationship between the implementation of advanced HRM practices and manufacturing flexibility. While most of the advanced HRM practices analysed show higher levels of implementation in flexible firms, no differences are observed in training efforts. Flexible firms are more prone to implement systems of advanced HRM practices.     

差序式人力资源管理实践:基于广州Z公司的扎根研究

基于扎根理论,探索了差序式人力资源管理实践的内涵.研究结果表明,中国传统文化和企业本质属性共同作用使企业基于“关系”和“价值”对员工进行归类,呈现出差序格局结构;在员工归类的基础上,企业人力资源管理实践呈现差序式特点,在员工能力来源、动机激励、参与机会3个方面均有体现.此外,差序式人力资源管理是组织制度型管理和关系型管理的混合状态,表现为对关系亲疏、远近程度不同的员工采用不同程度的关系型管理来替代制度型管理,这种替代在一定程度上有助于企业提高管理效率.     

Production planning in a MRP/JIT repetitive manufacturing environment

Some literature suggests that the best approach to production planning is a complete implementation of just-in-time. It has also been suggested that JIT replaces material requirements planning, and computerized procedures are an unnecessary complex burden on management especially in a highly repetitive environment. This article examines the JIT programme at the John Deere Engine factory. In 1985 the factory began a JIT programme with the belief that it would replace their MRP system. The results of the JIT programme are examined and management's conclusion that the best approach is a blend of JIT and MRP is explored.     

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.     

Optimizing lot size and setup time in a JIT environment: a multiple objective application

The just-in-time (JIT) system has been studied extensively and implemented by a number of US firms as an ell'ective production system. The core of JIT involves determination of lot size and setup time reduction so as to increase manufacturing flexibility while minimizing the inventory level. This decision problem usually involves multiple conflicting objectives and mixed-model production. In this paper, goal programming (GP) is applied to a real-world JIT problem involving fabrication of different automotive and industrial rubber composite belts. The model results provide new insights concerning the conflicting nature of several goals, especially between meeting demand and reducing setup or idle time. Also, the GP solution is superior to the current JIT practice of the company.     

The impact of critical success factors of JIT implementation on organizational performance

Much has been written and publicized about the virtues of JIT philosophies during the past decade. However, relatively limited empirical research has been reported con-cerningJIT implementation on organizational performance. This study presents the results of an empirical study which utilized both concrete financial accounting data and a broad cross-sectional survey as measures of organizational performance to determine the impact of each JIT implementation requirement factor to organizational performance. Communication between production and marketing departments was identified as a critical factor for increased inventory turnover and work-in-process inventory turnover, while employees' participation and the bottom-up management approach were determined as significant factors for improving quality and flexibility. The results of this study imply that in JTT environment personnel management practices, such as bottom-up management encouraging employees participation, and organization management such as a communications linking the production and marketing departments, are more important than JIT practices themselves.     

HRM and radical innovation: A dual approach with exploration as a mediator

Radical innovation is crucial for a firm’s success, and organisations should promote it. Prior research has argued that human capital is essential for a company’s innovation. However, the direct and indirect effects of Human Resource Management (HRM) on radical innovation have not yet been determined. Therefore, the present paper aims to explore the direct impact of HRM on radical innovation with a content approach and a process approach. It will also examine the mediating effect that learning through an exploration process has on HRM and radical innovation. Using data from 200 medium-sized Spanish industrial firms, our results demonstrate that Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) has a positive and direct effect on radical innovation. We also find that an HRM system directed toward change and creativity and SHRM positively support the process of exploration learning, and that competence exploration has a favourable impact on radical innovation. These results indicate that competence exploration mediates the effect HRM systems and SHRM have on radical innovation.     

人力资源管理实践与企业绩效:基于动态环境的实证研究

根据对中国大陆企业人力资源部的经理和有关管理人员进行调查的111份有效问卷,分析经济转型和企业国际化的动态环境下,人力资本、人力资源管理实践与企业绩效的关系。通过质量和数量、匹配性、互补性、异质性这4个指标来衡量企业的人力资本,并以层级回归和多层次理论对假设进行实证检验。研究结果表明,人力资源管理实践对企业绩效的影响是通过人力资本的部分中介作用来表现的;动态环境会减弱人力资源管理实践影响人力资本的直接作用关系,以及减弱人力资本的中介作用,即与稳定的环境相比,动态环境在人力资源管理实践与人力资本间具有调节效应。     

The relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment of knowledge workers. Facts obtained from Swiss SMEs

This paper explores the effects of human resource management (HRM) practices in Swiss small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). More specifically, the main objective of this study is to assess the impacts of HRM practices developed in Swiss SMEs upon the commitment of knowledge workers. Using data from a survey of over 198 knowledge workers, this study shows the importance of looking closer at HRM practices and, furthermore, to really investigate the impacts of the different HRM practices on employees' commitment. Results show, for example, that organizational support, procedural justice and the reputation of the organization may clearly influence knowledge workers' commitment, whereas other HRM practices such as involvement in decision-making, skills management or even the degree of satisfaction with pay do not have any impact on knowledge workers' commitment.     

HRM系统、竞争战略与企业绩效关系的实证研究

战略人力资源管理理论认为人力资源管理(HRM)系统和企业竞争战略之间的匹配关系会对企业绩效产生影响.通过类型学和分类学两条主线归纳并总结了关于 HRM 系统及其与企业绩效关系的研究,提出了 HRM 系统、竞争战略与企业绩效关系的假说,并以133家样本企业为研究对象,对理论假说进行了检验.研究发现,采取内部型 HRM 形态的企业的绩效高于采取市场型 HRM 形态的企业;环境特征(产业技术变革、劳动力市场竞争)对 HRM 系统形态与企业绩效关系的调节效应仅得到部分支持,而企业规模的调节效用没有得到支持;企业的竞争战略对人力资源战略选择的影响很小;HRM 系统与竞争战略匹配企业的绩效高于没有匹配企业的假说没有得到支持.最后,对研究结论进行了讨论,分析了其局限性和未来研究建议.     

基于动态环境构型分析的企业雇佣策略研究

在整合已有研究的基础上,通过构型分析来研究不同性质的环境动态性及其对企业战略性雇佣策略的复合性影响,并构建出基于动态环境的企业雇佣策略选择机制以促进该领域研究的发展.研究认为,环境的动态性是多维的,其中的知识扩散速度会影响企业的知识管理范式和雇佣策略,而竞争环境的波动决定了企业需要具备的人力资源柔性的程度,但对雇佣策略的影响则不明确.研究结果表明,处于知识慢速扩散环境的企业适宜采取长期雇佣,竞争环境的波动程度则会影响企业管理知识员工的方式;当环境中知识快速扩散但竞争环境波动较低时,企业适宜采用短期雇佣;当知识扩散速度和竞争环境波动都较高时,企业适宜采取多元雇佣.     

企业战略、人力资源管理系统与企业绩效的关系研究

有关战略人力资源管理的研究认为,企业通过人力资源实践活动之间的契合,及它们与企业目标之间的契合,可以获得高附加值、稀缺性、难以模仿和不可替代的竞争优势。本研究采用形态理论的方法探讨人力资源管理实践组合与企业战略之间的最佳契合模式.研究发现,不仅企业战略对人力资源实践组合有显著影响,而且人力资源管理系统与企业战略的交互作用对企业利润和销售额增长率也有显著影响。本研究的结论在一定程度上支持了人力资源管理系统与企业战略的交互作用有助于提升企业绩效的观点。     

人力资源管理实践对组织绩效影响的元分析

鉴于人力资源管理实践对组织绩效影响的研究结论不统一的研究现状,本文通过对国内外重要期刊的60篇文章的元分析发现,人力资源管理实践对组织绩效具有积极影响。同时,本文还对比了中国和西方在这一问题上的研究,发现人力资源管理实践的个别维度在两种社会环境下所起到的作用迥异。论文的研究结果增加了我们对人力资源管理实践的理解,同时也为企业人力资源管理工作者对人力资源管理系统的设计提供了有益的启示。     

Human capital practices of Russian enterprises

Abstract

The goal of this study was to explore current human capital (HC) management practices (including training and development, recruitment and selection, compensation, empowerment, diversity, and work/family balance) of Russian enterprises. The data were collected at 270 large, medium and small enterprises in Moscow and four representative regional centers. The study results suggest that Russian firms tended to emphasize current HC needs, not long-term HC development strategies. The firm size had an effect on differences in training, selection and compensation practices, with large firms being more long-term oriented. Correlation between elements of the HC management model provided some preliminary evidence that Russian firms tried to coordinate selection, compensation and training procedures. In addition, firms that empowered their employees were also putting more emphasis on long-term oriented training, selection and compensation practices. Finally, there were signs that diversity was gradually becoming an important issue for Russian enterprises of all sizes. However, compared to diversity, companies' emphasis on helping their employees to deal with the work/family balance issues was much stronger.