Research Report on Phase 4 of Cornell University/Gevity Institute Study Human Resource Management Practices and Firm Performance in Small Businesses: A Look at the Effects of HR Practices on Financial Performance and Turnover

In this study, we found evidence that groups of HR practices that represent different strategies for managing employees were significantly related to the financial performance of small companies. In particular, we found that an employee selection strategy based on person-organization fit, employee management strategy based on self-management, and employee motivation and retention strategy based on creating a family-like environment were all significantly related to firm performance in terms of revenue and profit growth. In addition, we found that the relationships between these HR strategies and firm performance were stronger in firms that face greater competition, are pursuing growth strategies, and are larger in size

A Qualitative Investigation of the Human Resource Management Practices in Small Businesses

This report provides a summary of our findings from the first phase of our study on human resource practices in small businesses based on qualitative interviews with top managers and owners of small businesses. Below we include a brief description of the sample and an explanation of the hurdle that we experienced when using the terms human resource management practices. On the following pages, we report the main findings of the qualitative phase of our study. The findings are organized into three main sections around the areas of management philosophies, employee management practices, and key employee outcomes that link management practices to firm performance. The overall findings from this first report are summarized in a research model depicted in Figure 1. Funding for this research was provided by the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies at Cornell University and Gevity, is a provider of comprehensive human capital management solutions to small and medium-sized businesses

A Qualitative Investigation of the Human Resources Management Practices in Small Businesses

This report provides a summary of our findings from the first phase of our study on human resource practices in small businesses based on qualitative interviews with top managers and owners of small businesses. Below we include a brief description of the sample and an explanation of the hurdle that we experienced when using the terms human resource management practices. On the following pages, we report the main findings of the qualitative phase of our study. The findings are organized into three main sections around the areas of management philosophies, employee management practices, and key employee outcomes that link management practices to firm performance. The overall findings from this first report are summarized in a research model depicted in Figure 1. Funding for this research was provided by the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies at Cornell University and Gevity, is a provider of comprehensive human capital management solutions to small and medium-sized businesses

Human Resource Management Practices, Workforce Alignment, and Firm Performance

Small business leaders are charged with delivering high levels of company performance. There is no shortage of potentially fruitful investments available for consideration; these include developing new products or services, improving product or service quality, and enhancing marketing and sales. Another possible investment - improving the way a company manages its people - tends to receive less attention. This is somewhat surprising, however, when one considers that the human resource management practices a company uses can dramatically impact the bottom-line. One study of large publicly traded firms, for example, found that companies using high performance human resource practices have market values that range from between $16,000 and$40,000 per employee higher than firms that do not use such practices. A study of high tech start-ups showed that for firms going public with a high level of human resource value, the probability of survival is .79; for firms going public with low levels of human resource value, however, the probability is only .60. So, what human resource management practices foster small business success? The problem in answering this question is that prior studies often disagree about which human resource management practices are effective and which ones aren\u27t. Furthermore, even if scholars could agree about which practices are best, there is no reason to believe that the practices used by large Fortune 500 firms or small high-tech start-ups would translate to many (if not most) small businesses. After all, small businesses (i.e., those with fewer than 200) employees, typically compete in areas other than high-tech, and are generally unlikely to go public any time soon. The Cornell University/Gevity study of human resource management practices in small businesses is the first study we know of to provide definitive answers to two critical questions facing small business leaders: (1) Do people contribute to the success of small businesses?, and (2) What human resource management strategies (and practices) can the leaders of small businesses employ to foster firm success? The results of the study are presented as follows. First, we provide a visual depiction of the study\u27s findings. Second, we show that workforce alignment is strongly related to small business success. Third, we demonstrate how various employee selection, management, and motivation strategies affect workforce alignment. Fourth, we present four key takeaways from the study. Finally, we provide a section that allows you to compare your company\u27s results on all study variables to those of the other 250 companies that participated in the study

Research Report On Phase 3 of the Cornell University/Gevity Institute Study – Employee Outcomes: Human Resource Management Practices and Firm Performance In Small Businesses

[Excerpt] Improving company performance is something of interest to all small business leaders. Small business leaders have many tools at their disposal — from finance to marketing to customer service — that could potentially improve the performance of their company. Among these tools is the way that small business leaders manage their people. As has been mentioned in previous reports, research has shown that people management does indeed impact company performance, even at the financial level. Studies show increases in value per employee of up to $40,000 and survival rates for IPO firms as much as 20% higher for companies that effectively manage their human resources. The Cornell University/Gevity Institute study of human resource management practices in small businesses is attempting to answer two important questions faced by small business leaders: 1. Do people contribute to the success of small businesses? 2. What human resource management strategies and practices can small business leaders employ to foster firm success? In phase two of the study, we found that employee management practices help small employers improve workforce alignment, which was defined as having the right people with the right skills in the right jobs. Firms with high levels of workforce alignment experience higher performance than firms with lower levels of workforce alignment. Building on these findings, the third phase of the study addresses the positive employee outcomes that can result from effective people management and seeks to understand which employee outcomes or behaviors tend to lead to different types of performance outcomes important to small business leaders. The results for this study were taken from a sample of 111 small companies where responses were received from both the top manager as well as the employees. Companies ranged in size from 10 to 165 employees with an average size of approximately 30 employees representing a broad range of industries. The results of the study will be presented as follows: First, we briefly discuss what is known about how human resource management impacts performance through employees. Second, we discuss the performance outcomes, and employee outcomes and behaviors that were studied as well as the specific employee behaviors and outcomes that seem to drive the different kinds of performance. Finally, we present some key takeaways from the results of this study

Entrepreneurial Human Resource Strategy

[Excerpt] Entrepreneurship is the process by which opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered, evaluated, and exploited (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000: 218). In other words, it is the process by which organizations and individuals convert new knowledge into new opportunities in the form of new products and services. Strategic human resource management (SHRM) has been defined as the system of organizational practices and policies used to manage employees in a manner that leads to higher organizational performance (Wright and McMahan, 1992). Further, one perspective suggests that sets of HR practices do not themselves create competitive advantage; instead, they foster the development of organizational capabilities which in turn create such advantages (Lado and Wilson, 1994; Wright, Dunford, and Snell, 2001). Specifically, this body of literature suggests that HR practices lead to firm performance when they are aligned to work together to create and support the employee-based capabilities that lead to competitive advantage (Wright and Snell, 2000; Wright, Dunford, and Snell, 2001). Thus, entrepreneurial human resource strategy is best defined as the set or sets of human resources practices that will increase the likelihood that new knowledge will be converted to new products or services

Employee Outcomes: Human Resource Management Practices and Firm Performance in Small Businesses

[Abstract] Improving company performance is something of interest to all small business leaders. Small business leaders have many tools at their disposal — from finance to marketing to customer service — that could potentially improve the performance of their company. Among these tools is the way that small business leaders manage their people. As has been mentioned in previous reports, research has shown that people management does indeed impact company performance, even at the financial level. Studies show increases in value per employee of up to $40,000 and survival rates for IPO firms as much as 20% higher for companies that effectively manage their human resources. The Cornell University/Gevity Institute study of human resource management practices in small businesses is attempting to answer two important questions faced by small business leaders: 1. Do people contribute to the success of small businesses? 2. What human resource management strategies and practices can small business leaders employ to foster firm success? In phase two of the study, we found that employee management practices help small employers improve workforce alignment, which was defined as having the right people with the right skills in the right jobs. Firms with high levels of workforce alignment experience higher performance than firms with lower levels of workforce alignment. Building on these findings, the third phase of the study addresses the positive employee outcomes that can result from effective people management and seeks to understand which employee outcomes or behaviors tend to lead to different types of performance outcomes important to small business leaders. The results for this study were taken from a sample of 111 small companies where responses were received from both the top manager as well as the employees. Companies ranged in size from 10 to 165 employees with an average size of approximately 30 employees representing a broad range of industries. The results of the study will be presented as follows: First, we briefly discuss what is known about how human resource management impacts performance through employees. Second, we discuss the performance outcomes, and employee outcomes and behaviors that were studied as well as the specific employee behaviors and outcomes that seem to drive the different kinds of performance. Finally, we present some key takeaways from the results of this study

The inverse solution of the atomic mixing equations by an operator-splitting method

The quantification problem of recovering the original material distribution from secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) data is considered in this paper. It is an inverse problem, is ill-posed and hence it requires a special technique for its solution. The quantification problem is essentially an inverse diffusion or (classically) a backward heat conduction problem. In this paper an operator-splitting method (that is proposed in a previous paper by the first author for the solution of inverse diffusion problems) is developed for the solution of the problem of recovering the original structure from the SIMS data. A detailed development of the quantification method is given and it is applied to typical data to demonstrate its effectiveness

Global diversity of inland water cnidarians

Global diversity of inland water cnidarians is low, containing <40 species belonging to phylogenetically distinct groups representing independent invasion events: the common and cosmopolitan hydras (12-15species); the sporadically occurring freshwater medusae (6-16sp.); the Cordylophorinae (2sp.); the parasitic Polypodium (1sp.); the medusae occurring in saline lakes (4sp.). Freshwater cnidarians inhabit nearly all types of freshwater on all continents (except Antarctica), but only a few species have cosmopolitan distributions. Due to uncertainty in species knowledge, fine scale regions of endemicity are not yet clea

Angular momentum exchange between coherent light and matter fields

Full, three dimensional, time-dependent simulations are presented demonstrating the quantized transfer of angular momentum to a Bose-Einstein condensate from a laser carrying orbital angular momentum in a Laguerre-Gaussian mode. The process is described in terms of coherent Bragg scattering of atoms from a chiral optical lattice. The transfer efficiency and the angular momentum content of the output coupled vortex state are analyzed and compared with a recent experiment.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure