Knowledge that Transforms

AbstractEmerging firms are the foundation for economic growth in today's business world. Yet relatively little is known about the factors that contribute to the success or failure of developing organizations. This research study addresses this broad question by examining the role that high performance work systems (HPWS) play in the performance of high‐tech new ventures. Using the resource‐based and dynamic capability perspectives, this research project examines the links between HPWS and firm performance. Results indicate that HPWS utilization is positively associated with sales growth and innovation; however, a hypothesized mediating role for employee voluntary turn over was not supported. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

AbstractStrategically managing workforce diversity is a value‐adding HR function that enhances organizational performance. Managing diversity is a complex and unique HR issue in India due to its religious and cultural diversity and the use of legislation by the Indian state to tackle societal inequities and complexities. This paper contributes to existing knowledge on diversity management and strategic HRM in the Indian context through an in‐depth case study of 24 firms of different ownership forms in a number of industries in India. The main method of data collection was semi‐structured interviews with 110 managers at various levels and 102 non‐managerial employees. Each interview was conducted individually. This paper takes the U.S.‐originated concept of diversity management in the HRM context as a starting point. It uses this as a guide to investigate how the concept is understood and operationalized in several leading business organizations across different ownership forms and industrial sectors in India. Results reveal the differences between Western MNCs and Eastern firms as well as the varying views of Indian managers and employees on issues related to diversity management. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

AbstractSupply chain integration constitutes the major thrust of supply chain management initiatives. In this study, we investigate the effects of organizational culture to determine the types of cultural characteristics that are strongly associated with efforts to integrate the supply chain and delivery performance. Previous researchers have theorized and demonstrated that organizational culture leads to adopting management practices consistent with the culture and that these practices are associated with firm performance. There has been a relative dearth of research, however, on the impact of organizational culture in operations management literature. Thus, this study investigates the effects of organizational culture, measured by the competing values framework (CVF), on two types of supply chain integration efforts: (1) internal integration and (2) external integration with key suppliers and key customers. Employing the CVF, we assess organizational culture along four dimensions—market, hierarchy, clan, and adhocracy. Results indicate that culture does influence firms to adopt internal and external integration practices. Our findings also provide evidence that a firm's adhocracy culture score is positively associated with external integration, while a firm's hierarchy culture score is negatively associated with both internal and external integration practices. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

AbstractThe process of managing a small firm differs from managing a large firm, because small firms face distinct forms of risk and organize their human resources differently, often informally (Kotey & Slade, 2005; Storey, 2002). This paper introduces and tests a new variable, self‐reported job quality (SRJQ), as a key link in the causal chain between HR practices and outcomes. In comparing small firms with large ones, we present three key findings: (1) employee reports of job quality are highest in small firms and decrease as firm size increases; (2) in workplaces owned by large firms, job quality is highest in the smallest workplaces; and (3) workers in small workplaces owned by large firms report lower job quality than workers in comparable sized workplaces owned by small firms. Our findings are partially explained by how formally HR practices are implemented. We show that formality increases with firm size and workplace size. Importantly, evidence suggests that employing an HR professional (a key indicator of HR formality) lowers SRJQ in single‐site SMEs. Implications for small business owners, HR professionals in large and small firms, and policy makers are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

AbstractOrganizations invest substantial resources in research and development (R&D) to increase long‐term performance. Despite these investments, contextual contingencies can impact innovation. Our findings show that Chinese manufacturers with cultures emphasizing innovation and teamwork more effectively use financial resources in the innovation process. Findings also demonstrate that the impact of education on innovation is greater with low stability and high teamwork and innovation orientations. Results also indicate that a culture emphasizing outcomes and stability leads to lower levels of innovation irrespective of financial and human resources invested. Finally, we found a negative curvilinear interaction between R&D spending and outcome orientation on innovation. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

AbstractPrevious research on call centers has demonstrated that human resource (HR) practices can be related to employee stress; however, these studies did not examine the linking mechanisms underlying these associations. Using the job demands–control (JD‐C) model as a theoretical framework, we examine perceived job demands (namely, emotional dissonance and quantitative demands) and autonomy as potential mediators in the relationship between HR systems and burnout (exhaustion and cynicism). We distinguish between HR control systems, which include performance monitoring practices, and HR involvement systems, which include training, participation, and performance‐related pay. This study samples 811 employees working in 11 call centers. Our findings support the idea that HR systems can help reduce burnout in call centers by verifying that HR control systems associated with more emotional dissonance and less autonomy increase burnout. On the other hand, an HR involvement system decreases workers' burnout because it alleviates the job demands of emotional dissonance and quantitative demands. This study fills a gap in the literature between HR systems and burnout by demonstrating the role job demands and autonomy play in explaining how HR systems improve or decrease workers' exhaustion and cynicism. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.