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

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.