Abstract The 21st century globalization and liberalization pose distinctive human resource management challenges to businesses especially those operating across national boundaries as multinational or global enterprises (Huselid, 1995). According to Huselid (1995), strategic human resource management primary should be emphasized to ensure that managers and employees are adjusting and accepting their organizational human resource practices in their daily work, thus, the human resource management practices appear to be more essential. The study attempted to gain a better understanding of the human resource management practices in hairdressing salon service industry in Taiwan by analyzing the relationships between employee¡¦s technical skill and organizational commitment on work performance. The data was collected by the researcher using mailing and delivering questionnaires. The sample size included 500 hair stylists from north, central, and south of Taiwan. There were 307 questionnaires and the return rate was 61.4%. The data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, Pearson correction analysis, and Structure equation modeling. The results of this study were as follows: 1. The perception of hair stylists on the human resource management practices showed high in employment security, then in decrease status distinction, training, contingent and compensation. 2. The organizational commitment and technical ability showed positive corrections on human resource system. In addition, the influence on the organizational commitment is greater than on the technical ability. 3. There was a negative relationship between organizational commitment and turnover intention. 4. There was a positive relationship between technical skill and work performance. 5. The work performance could be improved by using the intermediary result of technical ability from the human resource management practices. 6. There was a negative relationship between turnover intention and human resource management practices.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- La Trobe University, 2004. / Research. "A thesis submitted in total fulfill ment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy [to the] School of Human Biosciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Victoria". Includes bibliographical references (p. 366-400). Also available via the World Wide Web.

The current volume of research in the field of High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) is focused on identifying the factors, which influence their effectiveness. The realisation that there is a need to move forwards from the structural aspects of HPWS towards understanding their implementation has led to two new sectors of research. The first sector is investigating the role of actors in implementation using aspects such as cross functionality, shared responsibility and interaction. Another sector is investigating the impact of contextual factors on the implementation of HPWS. This research has combined the two sectors and looks at the implementation of HPWS from the perspectives of both the actors and the environment. This research investigates how the interaction between actors affects the implementation of HPWS. Also how internal and external institutional factors affect this interaction as well as the implementation. This research is qualitatively based on an interpretivist paradigm. Case study research design was used to conduct the research. Two Saudi Arabian banks were selected as case studies. Data was collected using 54 semi-structured interviews and 61 focus group interviews. Data about implementation and the impact of institutional factors was obtained through semi-structured interviews with human resource managers, line managers and senior managers. Data about employee outcomes was obtained using focus group interviews with the employees. This research finds evidence of conflict between the intended and actual outcomes of HPWS in the Saudi banking sector due to institutional pressures. This research contributes and extends the growing body of research on HPWS implementation by including the interaction of actors and accounting for institutional pressures. The finding highlights that the combination of these two factors are contextual institutional conductors and contribute to diversity in the implementation of HPWS practices. The managerial benefit of this research is that its model can help practitioners to improve their social interaction conditions for better performance.

The Master´s Thesis deals with the issue of motivation, work satisfaction and engagement of employees as determinants of work performance. The aim of this Thesis is to analyse the level of motivation, work satisfaction and engagement of employees in a particular insurance-brokerage company, asses the influence of these variables on the work performance and devise recommendations for the company how to optimize the motivation, work satisfaction and engagement of their employees. The first part of the Thesis deals with the terminology of this issue, the second part deals with the analysis of motivation, work satisfaction and engagement of employees based on a survey among the employees. There is also an analysis of dependence of work performance on these variables. At the end of the Thesis there are recommendations that can increase the level of motivation, work satisfaction and engagement of employees of this company.

No description available.

One issue that has been neglected and is gaining currency in the organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) literature is the extent to which individuals consider OCB to be part of the job (OCB role definition). A recent meta-analytic review reveals that employees are more likely to perform OCB when they define OCB as in-role rather than as extra-role. However, little attention has been paid to the influences of organizational practices on employee OCB role definition. This neglect is of particular relevance because researchers have argued that how employees view their role obligations are likely to be subject to some purposeful organizational practices. Thus, this paper focuses on the effects of high-performance work systems (HPWS) on employee OCB role definition. This paper adopts multiple theoretical perspectives (e.g., social exchange, organizational identification, ability-motivation-opportunity, and trust) to understand how, why, and when HPWS cause employees to expand their job requirements to include OCBs like helping and voice. Using a multisource data collected at 4 waves from 208 supervisor-employee dyads in Taiwan, I examined the following: (a) the direct effect of employee-experienced HPWS on employee helping and voice role definitions, (b) the mediating roles of employee helping and voice role definitions in the employee-experienced HPWS and actual employee helping and voice relationships, (c) the mediating roles of employee social exchange and organizational identification perceptions toward the organization, as well as employee efficacy, instrumentality, and autonomy perceptions toward helping and voice in the relationships between employee-experienced HPWS and OCB role definitions, (d) the direct effect of employee trust in supervisor on employee helping and voice role definitions, and (e) the moderating role of employee trust in supervisor in the relationships between employee-experienced HPWS and employee helping and voice role definitions. The results confirm the direct effects of employee-experienced HPWS and trust in supervisor, the mediating effects of employee helping and voice role definition, and employee efficacy, instrumentality, and autonomy perceptions toward helping and voice, as well as the moderating effects of employee trust in supervisor, such that employee trust in supervisor strengthened the effects of employee-experienced HPWS on employee helping and voice role definitions when trust in supervisor was high than when it was low. Implications for research and practice are discussed. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Business researchers have shown that servant leaders empower, provide long-term vision, and serve their workers and followers better than do nonservant leaders. High performance work practices (HPWPs) and corporate social performance (CSP) can enhance employee and firm productivity. However, when overused or poorly managed, HPWPs and CSP can lead to the business problems of employee disengagement, overload, or anxiety. Scholars noted a gap in human resource management research regarding whether leadership styles affect HPWPs and CSP use. This study examined the relationship between leadership style and the use of HPWPs and CSP, by using a quantitative, nonexperimental design. U.S. business leaders (N = 287) completed a survey consisting of 3 previously published scales. A chi-square analysis calculated the servant to nonservant leader ratio in the population, finding a disproportionate ratio (1:40) of servant (n = 7) to nonservant (n = 280) leaders. Two t tests showed that no significant difference existed in how servant and nonservant leaders use HPWPs or CSP. However, a multiple linear regression model showed that a leader's self-reported characteristics of empowerment, vision, or service positively predicted CSP use; empowerment positively predicted HPWPs use; service negatively predicted HPWPs use; and vision had no effect on HPWPs use. Findings may help human resource practitioners identify leaders who use HPWPs or CSP differently. Positive social change may occur by hiring more visionary, empowering, or service-oriented leaders who can support overwhelmed or anxious workers, potentially leading to more engaged and productive workers, and an increase in the use of positive CSP.

Employee attrition is a critical issue for organizations as retaining the best professional talent and controlling the costs linked to losing and employing new employees is a costly process. This is especially true for small and medium-sized enterprises that have limited resources and where every individual employee is a big part of the collective effort of the company. It has been argued that in most organizations the utility of human resources is not maximized and that investments in the right human resource practices would provide returns that exceed the costs. The unclear relationship between human resource practices and performance is commonly referred to as ‘the black box' of human resource management. Human resource practices are conceptualized differently in the literature and one of the most popular views states that practices should support and synergize with each other and that a combined implementation of practices leads to better results. This concept is often referred to as high performance work systems (HPWS) which is designed to enhance employee effectiveness. Based on the research of HPWS, the AMO-framework was introduced to better explain the linkage between human resources management and organizational performance. The framework is based on the idea that employees will perform better when they are able to do so (Ability), when they possess the motivation to do so (Motivation), and when their work environment provides the necessary support (Opportunity). Due to the lack of research of the AMO-framework in Scandinavian countries, the purpose of this quantitative study is to tests the relationship between the AMO-framework, intention to leave and the two constructs of organizational commitment and work engagement. Based on the purpose, a research question for this study is addressed as follows: What is the impact of Ability, Motivation and Opportunity HR-practices on organizational commitment, work engagement and employees' intention to leave? The sample consisted of a total of 95 employees from various small and medium-sized enterprises in Sweden. The empirical findings suggest that even though the AMO-framework does not impact employees' intention to leave directly, the individual dimensions of Ability and Motivation might do so indirectly through the constructs of organizational commitment and work engagement. These findings highlight the importance of the impact of the AMO framework on the above-mentioned constructs. Furthermore, this study contributes to the studies on human resource management in SMEs by providing more insight for the owner-managers on how to wisely invest in human resources in order to decrease employee attrition.

Organisations can create a competitive advantage through the way they design their human resource systems. High involvement work systems are considered to be a way to increase organisational performance and decrease employee turnover. However, the components involved are difficult and complex to define, and the synergy amongst the different components hard to evaluate. The literature suggests that the research is not uniform in its approach, and most research does not clearly define the variables involved or agree on the expected results of such systems. This research looks at high involvement work systems in the New Zealand organisational context, and relating these systems to employee turnover and organisational performance. The results of the study suggest that there does not appears to be a relationship between high involvement work systems, and employee turnover and organisational performance; but high involvement systems may contribute to increased labour productivity in New Zealand organisations.

Take service employees of financial industries for example, the purpose of this study is to discuss the effects of human resource systems on service employees¡¦ organizational commitment and role performance. Moreover, the result of this study will be the reference for service industries to make their human resource management policies. The questionnaire survey was adopted for the study. The samples are the front-line service employees of financial industries of Taiwan. There were totally 480 questionnaires were released, and 401 of them are valid samples. Through statistics analysis, the main results of the study are: 1. Except profit sharing, other practices of high performance work system have positively influential effect on value and effort commitment, effort commitment or both of value and effort commitment and effort commitment. Moreover, except profit sharing, other practices of high performance work system have positively influential effect on commitment of service employees. 2. Job descriptions have positively influential effect on in-role behavior. Therefore, Job descriptions could make service employees easy to follow the code of conduct and operation processes. One of this research result is one practice of high performance work system has positively influential effect on in-role behavior. 3. Job descriptions have positively influential effect on OCBI-behaviors that immediately benefit specific individuals and indirectly through this means contribute to the organization. On the other hand, job descriptions could make service employees easy to achieve the requests of organization. Moreover, it could make service employees get positive attitude and free-will to help colleagues. One of this research result is one practice of high performance work system has positively influential effect on organizational citizenship behavior. Based on the above conclusions, this study offers some suggestions as the references for the service industry.