Skip to main content
Frontiers of Business Research in China
Download PDF

In search of the best human resource practices in chain stores in China

Frontiers of Business Research in China volume 1, pages 155–166 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

This paper is based on a recent survey of human resources (HR) practices from 83 chain stores in China. It differentiated managerial staff and operating employees according to different types of HR configurations. It also identified high and low adoption based on bundling of HR practices using cluster analysis. The impact of HR practices alignment on enhancing firm performance was evaluated using high adoption cluster. The findings advance our knowledge in the High Performance Work Systems literature and offer important insights for executives in formulating effective HR management strategies.

References

  • Appelbaum E, Bailey T, Berg P, Kalleberg A L (2000). Manufacturing Advantage: Why High Performance Work Systems Pay Off. New York: Cornell University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Bae J, Lawler J J (2000). Organizational and HRM strategies in Korea: impact on firm performance in an emerging economy. Academy of Management Journal, 43(3): 5002–5017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batt R (2002). Managing customer services: human resource practices, quit rates and sales growth. Academy of Management Journal, 45(3): 587–597

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berg P (1999). The effects of high performance work practices on job satisfaction in the United States steel industry. Relations Industrielles, 54(1): 111–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Cappelli P, Neumark D (2001). Do high performance work practices improve establishment-level outcomes? Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 54(4): 737–775

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delaney J M, Huselid M A (1996). The impact of human resource management practices on perceptions of organizational performance. Academy of Management Journal, 39(4): 949–969

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delery J E (1998). Issues of fit in strategic human resource management: implications for research. Human Resource Management Review, (8): 289–309

  • Edwards A M T, Platt T, Wright D G (2001). Biologically induced circulation at fronts. Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, 106(C4): 7081–7095

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerard F F, Varma A (1998). Research update: high performance work systems: what we know and what we need to know. Human Resource Planning, 21(2): 50–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodall K, Warner M (1997). Human resources in Sinoelectronic-foreign joint ventures: selected case studies in Shanghai compared with Beijing. International Journal of Human Resource Management, (8)5: 569–594

    Google Scholar 

  • Guthrie J P (2001). High involvement work practices, turnover and productivity: evidence from New Zealand. Academy of Management Journal, 44(1): 180–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huselid M A (1995). The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 38(3): 635–672

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huselid M, Jackson S E, Schuler R S (1997). Technical and strategic human resource management effectiveness as determinants of firm performance. Academy of Management Journal, 40(1): 171–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ichniowski C K, Shaw K, Prennushi G (1997). The effects of human management practices on productivity: a study of steel finishing lines. American Economic Review, 87(3): 291–312

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones G R, Wright P M (1992). An economic approach to conceptualizing the utility of human resource management practices. In: K Rowland, G Ferris, eds. Research in personnel and human resources management. Greenwich: JAI Press, (10): 271–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Kravetz D (1988). The Human Resources Revolution. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawler E E, Mohrman S A, Ledford Jr G E (1995). Creating High Performance Organisations: Practices and Results of Employee Involvement and Total Quality Management in Fortune 1000 Companies. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

    Google Scholar 

  • Levering R, Moskowitz M (1993). The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. New York: Doubleday

    Google Scholar 

  • MacMuffie J P (1995). Human resource bundles and manufacturing performance: organisational logic and flexible production systems in the world auto industry. Industrial and Labor Relations Reviews, (48): 197–221

  • Pil F K, MacDuffie J P (1996). The adoption of high-involvement work practice. Industrial Relations, 35(3): 423–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Buren M E, Werner J M (1996). High performance work systems. Business and Economic Review, 43(1): 15–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Varma A, Beatty R W, Schneier C E, Ulrich D O (1999). High performance work systems: exciting discovery or passing fad? Human Resource Planning, 22(1): 26–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Youndt MA, Snell S A, Dean J W Jr, Lepak D P (1996). Human resource management, manufacturing strategy, and firm performance. Academy of Management Journal, 39(4): 836–866

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business Management, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Liu Shanshi & Chao Gang

  2. Department of Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Irene Hau-siu Chow

Authors
  1. Liu Shanshi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chao Gang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Irene Hau-siu Chow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Liu Shanshi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Liu, S., Chao, G. & Irene Hau-siu, C. In search of the best human resource practices in chain stores in China. Front. Bus. Res. China 1, 155–166 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11782-007-0010-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11782-007-0010-3

Keywords

  • high performance work systems
  • human resource practices
  • chain stores