Mansoor Ahmad, Muhammad Mustafa Raziq, Wali ur Rehman and Matthew M.C. Allen
Research on the relationship between high-performance workplace practices (HPWPs) and organizational performance has largely focussed on western settings, limiting the knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on the relationship between high-performance workplace practices (HPWPs) and organizational performance has largely focussed on western settings, limiting the knowledge of how these systems influence performance in other countries, including Pakistan. Universalistic assumptions underpin the HPWP paradigm; to examine the validity of these assumptions, the purpose of this paper is to study the links between HPWP and performance in Pakistan, a country with different cultural norms and institutional settings to those in which most research has been conducted.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on a unique survey of 392 establishment managers in the banking, pharmaceutical and information technology sectors. The authors include managers of foreign-owned multinational subsidiaries and domestic firms to ensure the sample represents firms in Pakistan.
Findings
The authors find that some individual HPWPs (recruitment and training) are associated in a statistically significant way with lower labour turnover, higher productivity and higher financial performance. Employee involvement is associated with lower labour turnover and higher labour productivity. Compensation is associated with higher financial performance. None is linked to higher labour turnover, lower productivity or lower financial performance in a statistically significant way. Performance appraisal was not statistically significantly associated with any of the three outcome variables.
Originality/value
The results provide some relatively strong support for universalistic assumptions, but also highlight the need for future research to examine the variable links of some HPWPs and the lack of any association for the performance appraisal measure.
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Mohammad B. Rana and Matthew M. C. Allen
The changing roles of the United Nations (UN) and national institutions have made addressing climate change a critical concern for many multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) survival…
Abstract
The changing roles of the United Nations (UN) and national institutions have made addressing climate change a critical concern for many multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) survival and growth. This chapter discusses how such institutions, which vary in their nature and characteristics, shape firm strategies for climate change adaptation. Exploring different versions of institutional theory, the chapter demonstrates how and why institutional characteristics affect typical patterns of firm ownership, governance, and capabilities. These, in turn, influence companies’ internationalisation and climate-change strategies. Climate change poses challenges to how we understand firms’ strategic decisions from both an international business (IB) (HQ–subsidiary relations) and global value chains (GVC) (buyer–supplier relations) perspective. However, climate change also provides opportunities for companies to gain competitive advantages – if firms can reconfigure and adapt faster than their competitors. Existing IB and GVC research tends to downplay the importance of climate change strategies and the ways in which coherent or dysfunctional institutions affect firms’ reconfiguration and adaptation strategies in a globally dispersed network of value creation. This chapter presents a perspective on the institutional conditions that affect firms’ climate change strategies regarding ownership, location, and internalisation (OLI), and GVCs, with ‘investment’ and ‘emerging standards’ playing a significant role. The authors illustrate the discussion using several examples from the Global South (i.e. Bangladesh) and the Global North (i.e. Denmark, Sweden, and Germany) with a special emphasis on the garment industry. The aim is to encourage future research to examine how a ‘business systems’, or varieties of capitalism, institutional perspective can complement the analysis of sustainability and climate change strategies in IB and GVC studies.
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Naveed Iqbal, Mansoor Ahmad, Matthew M.C. Allen and Muhammad Mustafa Raziq
Drawing on data from a unique, large-scale survey, the purpose of this paper is to examine the links between e-HRM and perceived labour productivity both directly and through the…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on data from a unique, large-scale survey, the purpose of this paper is to examine the links between e-HRM and perceived labour productivity both directly and through the mediating role of HR service quality amongst commercial-bank workplaces in Pakistan, many of which have introduced e-HRM.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use partial least squares structural equation modelling to examine the direct links between e-HRM and productivity as well as the mediated links between e-HRM, perceived HR service quality and productivity.
Findings
The authors show that e-HRM practices have a statistically significant, positive effect on managers’ perceptions of labour productivity. The authors also reveal that e-HRM practices influence the quality of HR service, and that the quality of HR services fully mediates the relationship between e-HRM practices and managers’ perceptions of labour productivity.
Practical implications
The results highlight the importance of designing and implementing e-HRM systems so that they support organisation workflow and enable workers to carry out a range of HR and non-HR activities more efficiently. In particular, this study suggests that managers should focus on how e-HRM impacts on HR service quality in a holistic way, as this is the “route” via which e-HRM can improve labour productivity.
Originality/value
Existing research has demonstrated a link between e-HRM and the quality of HR services; however, these studies downplay the potential impact of e-HRM on labour productivity, a key organisational outcome and one that e-HRM aims to improve. This study contributes to the HRM literature by identifying how e-HRM can improve labour productivity by enhancing the perceived HR service quality. This study, therefore, provides the basis for future theory developments in this area.
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Mansoor Ahmad, Matthew M.C. Allen, Muhammad Mustafa Raziq and Wali ur Rehman
Existing work on convergence/divergence among HRM practices in MNCs and local firms mainly focuses on Europe and the USA. Limited research examines these organizations in…
Abstract
Purpose
Existing work on convergence/divergence among HRM practices in MNCs and local firms mainly focuses on Europe and the USA. Limited research examines these organizations in Pakistan, hindering our understanding of what policies MNCs are likely to adopt there as well as the extent of any differences between HRM in MNC subsidiaries and local firms. The purpose of this paper is to examine the similarities and differences between the HRM practices of MNC subsidiaries and domestic firms to assess if there is evidence for convergence or divergence.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors targeted MNC subsidiaries and domestically owned firms working in the banking, information technology and pharmaceutical sectors in Pakistan. These sectors have enjoyed a steady inflow of foreign direct investment and have a sizeable number of MNC subsidiaries. Out of 1,081 companies, some 392 participated in a face-to-face survey (response rate of 36.4 percent). The authors ran a series of binary logistic regression models to test the hypothesized relationships between HR practices and nationality of ownership.
Findings
The authors reveal that a small minority of both types of firm use some practices, such as high compensation contingent on performance and performance review, appraisal and career development. However, domestic firms use some practices, such as extensive training, performance appraisals and performance-related pay significantly less than their multinational counterparts. The authors argue that these differences reflect institutional influences in Pakistan as well as a potential opportunity for local firms to change their HRM practices. In other areas, such as recruitment and employee involvement, there are no differences between the two groups.
Originality/value
The authors deepen our understanding of the types of HR practices that local companies in an emerging economy are likely to adopt as well as those that they are unlikely to adopt. Existing research has tended to downplay HRM in Pakistan and the different use of individual HRM practices among MNC subsidiaries and local firms. This research reveals that some companies in Pakistan have sophisticated HRM practices in place in some areas; however, MNC subsidiaries make greater use of some HR practices, reflecting different cultural norms between the two groups.
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Naveed Iqbal, Mansoor Ahmad and Matthew M.C. Allen
This study draws upon social exchange theory to explore the role of impersonal trust as an intermediate value-creating factor between electronic human resource management (e-HRM…
Abstract
Purpose
This study draws upon social exchange theory to explore the role of impersonal trust as an intermediate value-creating factor between electronic human resource management (e-HRM) and productivity. The purpose of this paper is to seek the antecedents and consequences of impersonal trust within organisations to provide a holistic view of e-HRM and employee productivity. This is the first study to examine how impersonal trust mediates the relationship between e-HRM and employee productivity.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected through a large-scale survey of 700 line managers in Pakistani banks. The data were analysed using structure equation modelling.
Findings
The empirical results validate all of the study’s hypotheses, including the role of impersonal trust, which partially mediates the relationship between e-HRM and employee productivity. The results provide empirical evidence that technology-enabled HRM supports organisations by enhancing organisational trust and productivity outcomes.
Originality/value
Such findings contribute to the HRM literature: e-HRM and organisational trust are key predictors for improving employee productivity. The existing literature suggests that e-HRM has a positive impact on employees’ trust in the HRM department. The results provide valuable insights for HR practitioners allowing them to enhance employee productivity by using e-HRM to improve employees’ trust in the organisation.
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Matthew M.C. Allen and Maria L. Aldred
The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which institutional convergence has taken place in the new European Union (EU) member states. It does so by contrasting…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which institutional convergence has taken place in the new European Union (EU) member states. It does so by contrasting arguments that are inspired by transaction‐cost economics within the mainstream international‐business literature and contentions within the comparative‐capitalisms perspective. A corollary of arguments within the former is that those countries that have less transparent ways of doing business will post poorer economic growth records than those with more predictable and less costly regulations. By contrast, contentions within the comparative‐capitalisms literature lead to expectations that a broader set of institutional factors will shape economic growth.
Design/methodology/approach
The article adopts a fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis approach to examine the necessary and sufficient causal conditions for economic growth in the region.
Findings
There is a great deal of institutional diversity within the new EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe. There are no clusters of countries around a specific variety of capitalism or an economic model that has above‐average economic growth rates and that is characterized by institutions that lower the costs of market transacting. This, in turn, suggests that convergence pressures are not as great as the mainstream international‐business literature has argued.
Research limitations/implications
Future research could complement this study by adopting a cross‐country, comparative micro‐ or firm‐level approach to examine the ways in which different institutional factors, both individually and collectively, shape the growth of businesses and consequently, economies.
Originality/value
Mainstream international business tends to focus on regulation and market‐supporting institutions to explain growth in developing economies. This research has shown that a broader view of institutions needs to be adopted, as some countries have been able to post strong economic growth figures despite institutional environments that do not lower the costs of market‐based contracting.
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Matthew M.C. Allen and Maria L. Aldred
This paper aims to assess the extent to which convergence in institutional regimes is likely to occur, by examining all ten new EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assess the extent to which convergence in institutional regimes is likely to occur, by examining all ten new EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of their development of comparative advantages in high‐tech export markets either by drawing on foreign investors in the form of multinational companies or by making use of domestic institutional resources.
Design/methodology/approach
The article uses fuzzy sets and qualitative comparative analysis to examine both necessary and sufficient causes of success in high‐tech export markets. By doing so, it can address the important issue of institutional complementarity.
Findings
While it finds that countries that have stronger records in such markets share common features, there are also important differences between them – not least in the areas of employee relations. This, together with other evidence presented in the paper, suggests that convergence around a specific institutional model is unlikely to happen.
Originality/value
Analysing, unlike many previous studies, all ten new EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe enables conclusions to be drawn that apply to the whole region. The novel method used in this article means that the extent of any complementarity between different institutions can be addressed, and ensures that issues relating to convergence/divergence are explored. The article, therefore, contributes to a number of important debates on the convergence among types of capitalism, the dependency of the new EU member states on foreign investors, and the institutional foundations for success in high‐tech export markets.
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Matthew M.C. Allen, Heinz‐Josef Tüselmann, Hamed El‐Sa'id and Paul Windrum
This paper aims to map some of the diversity in employee relations in Germany that is overlooked, first, within assessments of the German labour market that focus on the national…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to map some of the diversity in employee relations in Germany that is overlooked, first, within assessments of the German labour market that focus on the national level and second, within separate studies in this area that emphasize attempts by employers to circumvent important institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts a quantitative approach to examine data for German manufacturing and service sectors on both the spread of industry‐wide collective agreements and the extent to which workers are paid wage rates that are higher than those set out in those agreements. It also assesses the prevalence of profit sharing and employee share ownership schemes.
Findings
Industry‐wide collective agreements are not the burden that they are often portrayed. Actual wage rates and the prevalence of profit sharing and ESOSs make German workplaces more heterogeneous than critics and advocates of the German economic model posit.
Research limitations/implications
The data are limited to Germany; however, Germany occupies a prominent position, not just within much of the employment relations literature, but also in terms of economic output. The research is also limited by an inability to provide evidence on workplaces that undercut sectoral collective agreements and to disaggregate the data further by sector and firm size/location.
Originality/value
The paper provides a counterpoint to the portrayals of employee relations in Germany that often present a homogeneous picture of those relations. For the first time, data on the spread of profit sharing and employee share ownership schemes in German workplaces at the sectoral level are provided.