In order to improve our understanding of the relationships between high-performance work systems and firm performance, several studies have analysed the mediating effects of motivation-related or human capital-related variables. However, most of these have concentrated on single aspects and are US-focused. We extend previous human resource management research by simultaneously analysing the relevance of four general mediating mechanisms: human capital, employee attitudes, employee performance and operational performance. We apply structural equation modelling with formative constructs to data of 1099 German firms. While our findings support the assumption of positive relationships between high-performance work practices, the four mediating mechanisms and firm performance, they also reveal some peculiarities attributable to the German context. Using formative constructs, we were also able to show that single high-performance work practices have different effects on firm performance.
AmableB (2003) The Diversity of Modern Capitalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2.
AppelbaumEBaileyTBergPKallebergAL (2000) Manufacturing Advantage: Why High Performance Work Systems Pay Off. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
3.
BakkerABDemeroutiE (2007) The job demands–resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology22(3): 309–328.
4.
BaluchAMSalgeTOPieningEP (2013) Untangling the relationship between HRM and hospital performance: The mediating role of attitudinal and behavioural HR outcomes. The International Journal of Human Resource Management24(16): 3038–3061.
5.
BarneyJ (1991) Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management17(1): 99–120.
6.
BattR (2002) Managing customer services: Human resource practices, quit rates, and sales growth. Academy of Management Journal45(3): 587–597.
7.
BattRColvinAJS (2011) An employment systems approach to turnover: Human resources practices, quits, dismissals, and performance. Academy of Management Journal54(4): 695–717.
8.
BeerM (2015) HRM at a crossroads: Comments on ‘Evolution of Strategic HRM Through Two Founding Books: A 30th Anniversary Perspective on Development of the Field’. Human Resource Management54(3): 417–421.
9.
BergkvistLRossiterJR (2007) The predictive validity of multiple-item versus single-item measures of the same constructs. Journal of Marketing Research44(2): 175–184.
10.
BlauPM (1964) Exchange and Power in Social Life. New York: Wiley.
11.
BoxallPFPurcellJ (2016) Strategy and Human Resource Management. London; New York: Palgrave Mamillan.
12.
BrewsterC (1999) Strategic human resource management: The value of different paradigms. Management International Review39(3): 45–64.
13.
BrewsterCMayrhoferW (2009) Comparative HRM: The debates and the evidence. In: CollingsDGWoodG (eds) Human Resource Management: A Critical Approach. London; New York: Routledge, pp. 278–295.
14.
CeylanC (2013) Commitment-based HR practices, different types of innovation activities and firm innovation performance. The International Journal of Human Resource Management24(1): 208–226.
15.
CoffRKryscynskiD (2011) Invited editorial: Drilling for micro-foundations of human capital-based competitive advantages. Journal of Management37(5): 1429–1443.
16.
ColtmanTDevinneeyTMMidgleyDFVenaikS (2008) Formative versus reflective measurement models: Two applications of formative measurement. Journal of Business Research61(12): 1250–1262.
17.
CombsJLuiYHallAKetchenD (2006) How much do high-performance work practices matter? A meta-analysis of their effects on organizational performance. Personnel Psychology59(3): 501–528.
DebusMEProbstTMKonigCJKleinmannM (2012) Catch me if I fall! Enacted uncertainty avoidance and the social safety net as country-level moderators in the job insecurity–job attitudes link. The Journal of Applied Psychology97(3): 690–698.
20.
DelaneyJTHuselidMA (1996) The impact of human resource management practices on perceptions of organizational performance. Academy of Management Journal39(4): 949–969.
21.
DeleryJEDotyDH (1996) Modes of theorizing in strategic human resource management: Tests of universalistic, contingency, and configurational performance predictions. Academy of Management Journal39(4): 802–835.
22.
DotyDHGlickWHHuberGP (1993) Fit, equifinality, and organizational effectiveness: A test of two configurational theories. Academy of Management Journal36(6): 1196–1250.
23.
DrabeDHauffSRichterNF (2014) Job satisfaction in aging workforces: An analysis of the USA, Japan and Germany. The International Journal of Human Resource Management26(6): 783–805.
24.
DyerLReevesT (1995) Human resource strategies and firm performance: What do we know and where do we need to go?The International Journal of Human Resource Management6(3): 656–670.
25.
FestingM (2012) Strategic human resource management in Germany: Evidence of convergence to the U.S. model, the European model, or a distinctive national model?Academy of Management Perspectives26(2): 37–54.
26.
GallieD (2007) Employment Regimes and the Quality of Work. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
27.
GittellJHSeidnerRWimbushJ (2010) A relational model of how high-performance work systems work. Organization Science21(2): 490–506.
28.
GodardJ (2004) A critical assessment of the high-performance paradigm. British Journal of Industrial Relations42(2): 349–378.
29.
GouldnerAW (1960) The norm of reciprocity: A preliminary statement. American Sociological Review25: 161–178.
30.
GuestDE (2011) Human resource management and performance: Still searching for some answers. Human Resource Management Journal21(1): 3–13.
31.
HairJFHultGTMRingleCMSarstedtM (2017) A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
32.
HallPASoskiceDW (2001) Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
33.
HansenGSWernerfeltB (1989) Determinants of firm performance: The relative importance of economic and organizational factors. Strategic Management Journal10(5): 399–411.
34.
HauffSRichterN (2015) Power distance and its moderating role in the relationship between situational job characteristics and job satisfaction. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal22(1): 68–89.
35.
HauffSAlewellDHansenNK (2014) HRM systems between control and commitment: Occurrence, characteristics and effects on HRM outcomes and firm performance. Human Resource Management Journal24(4): 424–441.
36.
HuselidMA (1995) The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. The Academy of Management Journal38(3): 635–672.
37.
HuselidMABeckerBE (2000) Comment on ‘Measurement error in research on human resources and firm performance: How much error is there and how does it influence effect size estimates?’ by Gerhard, Wright, McMahan and Snell. Personnel Psychology53(4): 835–854.
38.
JacksonSESchulerRSJiangK (2014) An aspirational framework for strategic human resource management. The Academy of Management Annals8(1): 1–56.
39.
JayawardanaAKO’DonnellMJayakodyJ (2013) Job involvement and performance among middle managers in Sri Lanka. The International Journal of Human Resource Management24(21): 4008–4025.
40.
JiangKLepakDPHanKet al. (2012a) Clarifying the construct of human resource systems: Relating human resource management to employee performance. Human Resource Management Review22(2): 73–85.
41.
JiangKLepakDPHuJBaerJC (2012b) How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms. Academy of Management Journal55(6): 1264–1294.
42.
JiangKTakeuchiRLepakDP (2013) Where do we go from here? New perspectives on the black box in strategic human resource management research. Journal of Management Studies50(8): 1448–1480.
43.
KatzDKahnRL (1978) The Social Psychology of Organizations. New York: Wiley.
44.
KaufmanBE (2015) Evolution of strategic HRM as seen through two founding books: A 30th anniversary perspective on development of the field. Human Resource Management54(3): 389–407.
45.
LepakDPLiaoHChungYHardenEE (2006) A conceptual review of human resource management systems in strategic human resource management research. Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management25: 217–271.
46.
LiaoHToyaKLepakDPHongY (2009) Do they see eye to eye? Management and employee perspectives of high-performance work systems and influence processes on service quality. Journal of Applied Psychology94(2): 371–391.
47.
LindellMKWhitneyDJ (2001) Accounting for common method variance in cross-sectional research designs. Journal of Applied Psychology86(1): 114–121.
48.
NitzlCRoldanJLCepedaG (2016) Mediation analysis in partial least squares path modeling. Industrial Management & Data Systems116(9): 1849–1864.
49.
OstermanP (1987) Choice of employment systems in internal labor markets. Industrial Relations26(1): 46–67.
50.
PaauweJ (2009) HRM and performance: Achievements, methodological issues and prospects. Journal of Management Studies46(1): 129–142.
51.
PodsakoffPMMacKenzieSBLeeJ-YPodsakoffNP (2003) Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology88(5): 879–903.
52.
PosthumaRACampionMCMasimovaMCampionMA (2013) A high performance work practices taxonomy: Integrating the literature and directing future research. Journal of Management39(5): 1184–1220.
53.
PreacherKJHayesAF (2008) Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods40(3): 879–891.
54.
RingleCMSarstedtM (2016) Gain more insight from your PLS-SEM results. Industrial Management & Data Systems116(9): 1865–1886.
SaridakisGLaiYCooperCL (2017) Exploring the relationship between HRM and firm performance: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Human Resource Management Review27(1): 87–96.
57.
SchallerTKPatilAMalhotraNK (2015) Alternative techniques for assessing common method variance: An analysis of the theory of planned behavior research. Organizational Research Methods18(2): 177–206.
58.
SuZ-XWrightPM (2012) The effective human resource management system in transitional China: A hybrid of commitment and control practices. The International Journal of Human Resource Management23(10): 2065–2086.
59.
SubramonyM (2009) A meta-analytic investigation of the relationship between HRM bundles and firm performance. Human Resource Management48(5): 745–768.
60.
TakeuchiRLepakDPWangHTakeuchiK (2007) An empirical examination of the mechanisms mediating between high-performance work systems and the performance of Japanese organizations. Journal of Applied Psychology92(4): 1069–1083.
61.
WallTDMichieJPattersonMet al. (2004) On the validity of subjective measures of firm performance. Personnel Psychology57(1): 95–118.
62.
WhitleyR (2003) The institutional structuring of organizational capabilities: The role of authority sharing and organizational careers. Organization Studies24: 667–695.
