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High-involvement work processes (HIWPs) are associated with high levels of employee influence over the work process, such as high levels of control over how to handle individual job tasks or a high level of involvement at team or workplace level in designing work procedures. When implementations of HIWPs are accompanied by companion investments in human capital – for example, in better information and training, higher pay and stronger employee voice – it is appropriate to talk not only of HIWPs but of “high-involvement work systems” (HIWSs). This chapter reviews the theory and practice of HIWPs and HIWSs. Across a range of academic perspectives and societies, it has regularly been argued that steps to enhance employee involvement in decision-making create better opportunities to perform, better utilization of skill and human potential, and better employee motivation, leading, in turn, to various improvements in organizational and employee outcomes.

However, there are also costs to increased employee involvement and the authors review the important economic and sociopolitical contingencies that help to explain the incidence or distribution of HIWPs and HIWSs. The authors also review the research on the outcomes of higher employee involvement for firms and workers, discuss the quality of the research methods used, and consider the tensions with which the model is associated. This chapter concludes with an outline of the research agenda, envisaging an ongoing role for both quantitative and qualitative studies. Without ignoring the difficulties involved, the authors argue, from the societal perspective, that the high-involvement pathway should be considered one of the most important vectors available to improve the quality of work and employee well-being.

In the knowledge‐based environment business firms face today, “high performance” organization is in popular demand. This paper aims to identify dimensions of organizational culture that are relevant in creating and maintaining a high performance organization within and across cultures.

The hypotheses are tested using the 62‐society Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness data on organizational and societal cultures. The impact of uncertainty avoidance, future orientation, power distance, gender egalitarianism, and humane orientation values and practices, at the organizational and societal level, is evaluated using hierarchical linear model methodology.

Several strategic facets may help develop high performing organizations. First, invest in the societies where such organizations are common. Second, invest in the societies that have uncertainty absorbing technological infrastructure and that are culturally sensitive (humane oriented). Third, invest in one or more of the five techniques that support the practice of high performing organizations. Fourth, invest in the societal contexts that value gender diversity, as they are more likely to value a shift towards high performing organizations. Fifth, invest in forming alliances with the organizations that value gender diversity, future‐oriented workforce strategies, and uncertainty absorbing technological infrastructure, as they are more likely to positively reinforce partner efforts to become high performing.

A multi‐faceted (five strategic facets), multi‐dimensional (five cultural techniques), and multi‐level (organizational and societal) approach to the development of high performing systems will help organizations foster and sustain an open culture, where cultural sensitivities are addressable through a climate of exchange and mutual give and take.

The paper uses a cross‐cultural database to identify the cultural dimensions of high performance organizational design.

Studies of high‐performing organisations have consistently reported a positive relationship between high performance work systems (HPWS) and performance outcomes. Although many of these studies have been conducted in manufacturing, similar findings of a positive correlation between aspects of HPWS and improved care delivery and patient outcomes have been reported in international health care studies. The purpose of this paper is to bring together the results from a series of studies conducted within Australian health care organisations. First, the authors seek to demonstrate the link found between high performance work systems and organisational performance, including the perceived quality of patient care. Second, the paper aims to show that the hospitals studied do not have the necessary aspects of HPWS in place and that there has been little consideration of HPWS in health system reform.

The paper draws on a series of correlation studies using survey data from hospitals in Australia, supplemented by qualitative data collection and analysis. To demonstrate the link between HPWS and perceived quality of care delivery the authors conducted regression analysis with tests of mediation and moderation to analyse survey responses of 201 nurses in a large regional Australian health service and explored HRM and HPWS in detail in three case study organisations. To achieve the second aim, the authors surveyed human resource and other senior managers in all Victorian health sector organisations and reviewed policy documents related to health system reform planned for Australia.

The findings suggest that there is a relationship between HPWS and the perceived quality of care that is mediated by human resource management (HRM) outcomes, such as psychological empowerment. It is also found that health care organisations in Australia generally do not have the necessary aspects of HPWS in place, creating a policy and practice gap. Although the chief executive officers of health service organisations reported high levels of strategic HRM, the human resource and other managers reported a distinct lack of HPWS from their perspectives. The authors discuss why health care organisations may have difficulty in achieving HPWS.

Leaders in health care organisations should focus on ensuring human resource management systems, structures and processes that support HPWS. Policy makers need to consider HPWS as a necessary component of health system reform. There is a strong need to reorient organisational human resource management policies and procedures in public health care organisations towards high performing work systems.

This paper aims to present an empirical study of the effect of high performance work practices on commitment and citizenship behaviour in the health care sector. The theory suggests that individual employees are willing “to go the extra mile” when they are given the opportunity to develop their abilities and to participate, and when they are motivated.

The data were gathered in a Dutch general hospital using employee questionnaires. Medical specialists were not included in the study.

The results of the study suggest that employee development (e.g. skills training, general training, and task enrichment) and employee involvement (e.g. job autonomy, participation in decision making) are important HR practices in creating a high performance work climate in a health care organisation.

The data come from one hospital and the analysis is cross‐sectional. However, the importance of the study lies in its focus on the individual employee perspective rather than the organisational level analyses which currently predominate in the HRM and performance debate.

The training and development of health care employees can increase their affective commitment. Increasing employee involvement can also help stimulate citizenship behaviour.

The paper looks at the non‐profit sector, whereas the majority of previous HR research has focused on multinational companies.

This paper aims to examine the implications of high performance work system (HPWS) strength from a managerial perspective and the impact of economic, cultural, political, legal and technological factors on the operationalization of HPWSs in the banking industry in Sri Lanka.

The data for this study were collected from three licensed commercial banks in Sri Lanka. This research used a case study approach for data collection with archival analysis of records and semi-structured interviews with the CEO, head of HR, two board members and three focus groups (top, middle and lower level managers across various functional areas) in each bank which altogether covers 66 key informants.

The findings supported the research proposition that to gain positive outcomes on organizational effectiveness, there should be a strong HPWS, resulting in a positive attitudinal climate among employees. Further, the findings provide evidence of the global applicability of HPWSs, although more research is needed to clearly specify the contextual boundaries of HPWS effectiveness.

Contemporary research provides ample evidence to endorse the contribution of high performance work systems toward organizational effectiveness. However, there is a dearth of literature on how high performance work systems are operationalized across the management hierarchy and support the achievement of organizational effectiveness. Few studies have been conducted on high performance work system strength and organizational effectiveness in emerging economies.

The ongoing debate about the effects of bonuses on managers’ performance and the role of reward systems in organizations has still not led to a unanimous conclusion among academics and practitioners. Those in favor of bonuses state that applying bonuses and putting emphasis on monetary rewards increases productivity and organizational performance, while those against bonuses claim that use of bonuses and monetary rewards leads to counterproductive results. A key question often overlooked in the discussion is: How important is handing out bonuses for an organization to become and stay successful for a longer period of time? This paper seeks to address these issues.

This paper describes the results of research into the characteristics of “high performance organizations” (HPOs) and the role of bonuses and reward systems in creating and maintaining HPOs.

The research results show that use of bonuses or implementation of certain types of reward systems have neither a positive nor a negative effect on organizational performance. This may be explained by the fact that reward systems are a hygiene factor for an organization. If an organization does not have an appropriate reward system (whether or not including bonuses), it will run into trouble with its employees and have difficulty improving its performance. If it does – a situation which employees expect and consider to be normal – it can start working on becoming an HPO.

The results of this study further the discussion about the role of bonuses.

This paper aims to review and synthesize notable literature on high-performance organization (HPO), from which future research directions can be recommended.

This narrative literature review analyzes major HPO literature in popular books and peer-reviewed articles published in English in the period between 1982 and 2019.

The review revealed that HPO literature has evolved multiple times, illustrating the complex and multifaceted nature of this phenomenon. In particular, literature on HPO has evolved in four phases: (1) definitions and conceptual development of HPO; (2) exploration of approaches to achieve HPO; (3) empirical validation of HPO framework; and (4) complicated research models and designs on HPO. Several research gaps were identified, which definitely hold varying research value and can be seen as potential opportunities for future research.

The focus of this review is on HPO literature published in English rather than cover all existing literature.

It is among the first studies to review the HPO literature and its evolution. This review also recommends constructive areas for future research on HPO to focus on.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a moderated mediation model of innovative work behaviour enhancement. Perceived firm (organizational and market) performance was assumed to moderate the relationships between leader-member exchange (LMX) and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), on the one hand, and employability, on the other hand. In a preciously validated human resources management (HRM) model, employability appeared to be a full mediator in the relationship between LMX and OCB, and innovative work behaviour, being the outcome measure.

Data were collected from a sample of 487 pairs of employees and their immediate supervisors working in 151 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to confirm the factor structure of the baseline model variables, including LMX, OCB, employability, and innovative work behaviour. The moderating effect of firm performance was tested using multi-group SEM.

Results indicated that firm performance had a substantial influence on the baseline model's relationships. More specifically, firm performance appeared to moderate partially a mediation model wherein LMX was assumed to be associated with innovative work behaviour, through employability, being the mediator. Moreover, firm performance also appeared to moderate conclusively a model with employability as a mediator in the relationship between OCB and innovative work behaviour.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the very first study that investigates a mediation model of innovative work behaviour enhancement moderated by firm performance. It appears that high- vs low-performance firms present very different organizational environments for an employee to work in. Obviously, these situational factors affect workers’ employability. This study adds particular knowledge to the scholarly literature in this field since not much is known about the science and practice of HRM within SMEs.

A number of studies and writings have presented ideas about new working practices that might be embraced in the twenty‐first century. Moreover, that, employers would seek to gain their commitment by adopting the high working practices of high performance working (HPW) for organisations to become successful through their strategic approach to the human resource (HR). It is against Watson's model that this paper seeks, in order to gain insights, to explore the perceptions of current HR professionals of their organisations post‐2000.

A survey design is used for the study to collect data over a four‐week period in February 2006 from 100 HR professionals. Using a seven‐point Likert scale questionnaire, adapted from Watson's model, the study is conducted in two phases. The first initial pilot study that surveys 30 HR professionals and after modification, this is extended to a further 70 HR professionals as Phase 2. The respondents are primarily drawn from organisations in the South East of England and they are employed in both public and private sector large organisations and SMEs.

The findings show that Watson's model for HPW was inconsistent with the choices selected by the respondents within the survey. Rather than choose descriptors from the model that solely reflect traditional (mechanistic) organisations or high performance organisations (organic), respondents chose descriptors with many combinations to reflect where they perceive their organisation's practices fell, e.g. organic or rigid/bureaucratic.

This paper demonstrates a need for an appreciation of the potential gap between employer's aspirations and employee's perceptions of organisational actions. In so noting, it recognises that the psychological contract depends upon the perceptions of both parties. Whilst the high level commitment sought by employers from employees, through HPW, may rely totally upon these very perceptions of employees (employability contract vs psychological contract). If not, perceptions of the “reality” within the organisation may not reflect rhetoric of, or aspiration towards, HPW. As a result, this research adds to the understanding of the dynamics and results from the management of change towards HPW. Therefore, it provides also early indications to further research needed when considering the importance of investigating such dynamics to successful implementation of HPW.

Whilst these results are early indications into working practices post‐2000, what they suggest is that HR professionals generally perceive a move towards HPW practices being adopted by other organisations, rather than within their own working environment. It appears to be the most compelling feature of the study to date, is that most of the participants do not report their review of the current practices of their company as generally falling towards Watson's HPW model practices.

In the past decades, there has been much research into ways organizations can become high-performing. Research into ways organizations can stay high-performing, especially in challenging times, is much less prevalent. The purpose of this study is to look at ways that high-performance organizations (HPOs) use in practice to stay high-performing.

The approach of this study consisted of a qualitative matching of the theoretical ways organizations can foster organizational grit – strengthen stamina and resilience of employees to keep achieving results and to persevere in the face of setbacks – with the empirical ways three case organizations in practice used to stay high-performing.

The literature review yielded 9 ways to foster organizational grit, while the empirical research provided 12 ways HPOs used to stay high-performing. What the literature highlighted was matched in such a way that these practical ways to stay high-performing can be understood as solutions/alternatives with which to foster grit in the organization in a practical manner.

HPOs are quite rare and being able to follow them closely for a prolonged period of time is even more unique. Therefore, this study can be seen as adding a unique piece to the puzzle of how to stay HPO and how organizational grit can be fostered and strengthened.