High Performance Work Systems

Research, summarized and classified in the work of Delery and Doty (1996), Guest (1997), Paauwe and Richardson (1997) and Boselie et al. (2001), suggests significant impact of Human Resources Management (HRM) on the competitive advantage of organizations. The mainstream research on this topic reveals encouraging results on organizational level. Also in relation to Total Quality Management (TQM) there is research evidence that 'best practices' and/or 'high performance work systems' (HPWS) can be identified having positive impact on the performance of an organization (Waldman, 1994; Hendricks and Singhal, 1997 and 2001; Blackburn and Rosen, 1993). Delery and Shaw (forthcoming in 2002) allege a need for "research on research" in the area of HPWS and performance, more precisely research on organizational-level research methods. We argue that further "research on research" on the perception of the individual employee may also reveal new (methodological) insights in the effects of HRM and/or TQM practices on performances in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to (1) review methodological problems in empirical literature on HRM/TQM and performance and to (2) test the stability of HRM/TQM factors (or constructs) over time. We have the opportunity to analyze longitudinal data (1998 and 2000) of individual employee perceptions from the Ernst & Young company in the Netherlands. The HRM/TQM constructs appear to be relatively stable over time, just like the relationship between these constructs and performance.employee morale;total quality management (TQM);employee satisfaction;high performance work systems (HPWS);human resource management (HRM)

Subsea approach to work systems development

Self-contained undersea working environments with applications to space station EVA environments are discussed. Physiological limitations include decompression, inert gas narcosis, high-pressure nervous system, gas toxicity, and thermal limitations. Work task requirements include drilling support, construction, inspection, and repair. Work systems include hyperbaric diving, atmospheric work systems, tele-operated work systems, and hybrid systems. Each type of work system is outlined in terms of work capabilities, special interface requirements, and limitations. Various operational philosophies are discussed. The evolution of work systems in the subsea industry has been the result of direct operational experience in a competitive market

The fragility of functional work systems in steel

The I/N case offers insight into the interrelationship between work systems, living standards and performance. It demonstrates that a high road approach and functional work systems positively impact stakeholders’ lives, improve production efficiency and benefit the local and macro-level economies and societies in which they are embedded. It also shows that such work systems can be implemented in contexts with a history of adversarial labor-management relations. However, broader external forces can conspire to make it very difficult for firms to sustain functional work systems despite initial successes in specific contexts. Financial markets in particular make long term commitment to stakeholder groups other than shareholders (i.e. employees, suppliers and communities) conditional on profit maximization and share price appreciation. Yet the logic of profit maximization for the benefit of shareholders leads to short termist decisions that undermine the very commitments that were so necessary for creating a new work system: security is threatened, training is put on the back burner; trust is irreparably undermined. Indeed, because of the inherent contradiction between strategic approaches to maximizing stock market and long term product market success, these high road systems are fragile in national frameworks that subject them to low road pressures without a forum for resolving the difficulties that arise from opposing market pressures and responses

Employee Perception on Commitment Oriented Work Systems

Human resource management (HRM) does matter! Prior empirical research, summarized and classified in the work of Delery and Doty (1996), Guest (1997) and Boselie et al. (2000), suggests significant impact of HRM on the competitive advantage of organizations. The mainstream research on this topic reveals encouraging results on organizational level. Further research on the perception of the individual employee may reveal new insights in the effectiveness of HRM in organizations. Now we have the opportunity to study recent empirical data of a Dutch employment agency. These data on individual employee level provide us new insights in the perception of commitment oriented HR systems and their relationship with perceived job security and employee trust. High scores on employee participation, payment system, training and development, information sharing, and support of the direct supervisor result in employee trust and high scores on perceived job security.human resource management;performance;commitment (versus control) systems;employee trust;perceived job security

Partnership, high performance work systems and quality of working life

The paper measures the effects of workplace partnership and selected high performance work practices on four different dimensions of employee experience. Whilst the partnership-high performance work systems nexus seems to have little impact on employees' job satisfaction or sense of attachment, it does, however, have a negative impact on both workplace stress and employee evaluations of union performance. The analysis thus questions common assumptions about the inevitability of 'mutual gain' and the necessity of employer/unionpartnership. Introduction and researc

High Performance Work Systems

Research, summarized and classified in the work of Delery and Doty (1996), Guest (1997), Paauwe and Richardson (1997) and Boselie et al. (2001), suggests significant impact of Human Resources Management (HRM) on the competitive advantage of organizations. The mainstream research on this topic reveals encouraging results on organizational level. Also in relation to Total Quality Management (TQM) there is research evidence that 'best practices' and/or 'high performance work systems' (HPWS) can be identified having positive impact on the performance of an organization (Waldman, 1994; Hendricks and Singhal, 1997 and 2001; Blackburn and Rosen, 1993). Delery and Shaw (forthcoming in 2002) allege a need for "research on research" in the area of HPWS and performance, more precisely research on organizational-level research methods. We argue that further "research on research" on the perception of the individual employee may also reveal new (methodological) insights in the effects of HRM and/or TQM practices on performances in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to (1) review methodological problems in empirical literature on HRM/TQM and performance and to (2) test the stability of HRM/TQM factors (or constructs) over time. We have the opportunity to analyze longitudinal data (1998 and 2000) of individual employee perceptions from the Ernst & Young company in the Netherlands. The HRM/TQM constructs appear to be relatively stable over time, just like the relationship between these constructs and performance

THE RELATION OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE WORK SYSTEMS WITH EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

The basic aim of high performance work systems is to enable employees to exercise decision making, leading to flexibility, innovation, improvement and skill sharing. By facilitating the development of high performance work systems we help organizations make continuous improvement a way of life.The notion of a high-performance work system (HPWS) constitutes a claim that there exists a system of work practices for core workers in an organisation that leads in some way to superior performance. This article will discuss the relation that HPWS has with the improvement of firms’ performance and high involvement of the employees.human resources management, employee involvement, work performance

Walking the Talk: The Impact of High Commitment Values and Practices on Technology Start-ups

We examine the impact of high commitment work systems (HCWS) on high-technology start-ups. We differentiate two components of a HCWS: the human resource practices and the espoused values of the firm\u27s leadership and demonstrate that both are associated with an increased likelihood of IPO and a decreased likelihood of firm failure. Importantly, there are interactions between practices and values such that the benefit of one tends to amplify the other. Implications of these interactions for future research on high commitment work systems are discussed

Accounting Mechanisms for Distributed Work Systems

In distributed work systems, individual users perform work for other users. A significant challenge in these systems is to provide proper incentives for users to contribute as much work as they consume, even when monitoring is not possible. We formalize the problem of designing incentive-compatible accounting mechanisms that measure the net contributions of users, despite relying on voluntary reports. We introduce the Drop-Edge Mechanism that removes any incentive for a user to manipulate via misreports about work contributed or consumed. We prove that Drop-Edge provides a good approximation to a user’s net contribution, and is accurate in the limit as the number of users grows. We demonstrate very good welfare properties in simulation compared to an existing, manipulable mechanism. In closing, we discuss our ongoing work, including a real-world implementation and evaluation of the DropEdge Mechanism in a BitTorrent client.Engineering and Applied Science

Benefits from CRM Based Work Systems

This paper explores the benefits of CRM-based work systems, and how these benefits are achieved, based on the content analysis of five case study organisations using CRM packaged software. Four main categories of benefits from CRM-based work systems are identified and discussed: improved customer-facing processes; improved management decisions; improved customer service; and increased business growth. These categories are contrasted to benefits frameworks developed by other researchers for ERP-based work systems. The most frequently mentioned benefits identified in this study are (a) access and capture customer information; (b) increased productivity from headcount reductions and other process efficiencies;(c) integration of processes, data and technology;(d) increased sales activities; and (e) more personalised and responsive service to customers. Though benefits (b) and (c) are similar to those for ERP systems, benefit categories (a), (d) and (e) are unique to CRM-based systems