Hpwp
PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY
2006, 59, 501–528
HOW MUCH DO HIGH-PERFORMANCE WORK
PRACTICES MATTER? A META-ANALYSIS OF THEIR
EFFECTS ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE
JAMES COMBS, YONGMEI LIU
Department of Management
Florida State University
ANGELA HALL
Department of Risk Management and Insurance,
Real Estate, and Business Law
Florida State University
DAVID KETCHEN
Department of Management
Auburn University
Although there is growing evidence that high performance work practices (HPWPs) affect organizational performance, varying sample characteristics, research designs, practices examined, and organizational performance measures used has led extant findings to vary dramatically, making the size of the overall effect difficult to estimate. We use metaanalysis to estimate the effect size and test whether effects are larger for
(a) HPWP systems versus individual practices, (b) operational versus financial performance measures, and (c) manufacturing versus service organizations. Statistical aggregation of 92 studies reveals an overall correlation that we estimate at .20. Also, the relationship is stronger when researchers examine systems of HPWPs and among manufacturers, but it appears invariant across performance measures. We use our findings as a basis to offer 4 suggestions intended to shape research practices such that future meta-analyses might answer today’s emerging questions.
Human resources can be an organization’s largest and most difficultto-control expense, but it can also be central ingredients affecting organizational performance (Pfeffer, 1998). Thus, a key task for researchers has been to understand how human resources can be managed to maximize productivity and enhance creativity while controlling costs. Rising to this challenge is a body of research labeled strategic human resource management (SHRM), which is devoted to understanding how human reWe are grateful to John Delery, Jerry Ferris, Jack Fiorito, Mark Huselid, and Micki
Kacmar
2006, 59, 501–528
HOW MUCH DO HIGH-PERFORMANCE WORK
PRACTICES MATTER? A META-ANALYSIS OF THEIR
EFFECTS ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE
JAMES COMBS, YONGMEI LIU
Department of Management
Florida State University
ANGELA HALL
Department of Risk Management and Insurance,
Real Estate, and Business Law
Florida State University
DAVID KETCHEN
Department of Management
Auburn University
Although there is growing evidence that high performance work practices (HPWPs) affect organizational performance, varying sample characteristics, research designs, practices examined, and organizational performance measures used has led extant findings to vary dramatically, making the size of the overall effect difficult to estimate. We use metaanalysis to estimate the effect size and test whether effects are larger for
(a) HPWP systems versus individual practices, (b) operational versus financial performance measures, and (c) manufacturing versus service organizations. Statistical aggregation of 92 studies reveals an overall correlation that we estimate at .20. Also, the relationship is stronger when researchers examine systems of HPWPs and among manufacturers, but it appears invariant across performance measures. We use our findings as a basis to offer 4 suggestions intended to shape research practices such that future meta-analyses might answer today’s emerging questions.
Human resources can be an organization’s largest and most difficultto-control expense, but it can also be central ingredients affecting organizational performance (Pfeffer, 1998). Thus, a key task for researchers has been to understand how human resources can be managed to maximize productivity and enhance creativity while controlling costs. Rising to this challenge is a body of research labeled strategic human resource management (SHRM), which is devoted to understanding how human reWe are grateful to John Delery, Jerry Ferris, Jack Fiorito, Mark Huselid, and Micki
Kacmar