Hrm and Workplace Environment

The HRM-performance linkage often invokes an assumption of increased employee commitment to the organization and other positive effects of a motivational type. We present a theoretical framework in which motivational effects of HRM are conditional on its intensity, utilizing especially the idea of HRM ‘bundling’. We then analyse the association between HRM practices and employees’ organisational commitment (OC) and intrinsic job satisfaction (IJS). HRM practices have significantly positive relationships with OC and IJS chiefly at high levels of implementation, but with important distinctions between the domainlevel analysis (comprising groups of practices for specific domains such as employee development) and the across-domain or HRM-system level. Findings support a threshold interpretation of the link between HRM domains and employee motivation, but at the systemlevel both incremental and threshold models receive some support. JEL Classifications: J28; L23; M12; M54 Keywords: Human resource management; high performance; organizational commitment This paper was produced as part of the Centre’s Labour Markets Programme. The Centre for Economic Performance is financed by the Economic and Social Research Council. Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the Department of Trade and Industry, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service and the Policy Studies Institute as the originators of the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey data, and the Data Archive at the University of Essex as the distributor of the data. The National Centre for Social Research was commissioned to conduct the survey fieldwork on behalf of the sponsors. We thank participants at an LSE seminar for comments on an earlier version of this paper. The usual disclaimers apply. Michael White is an Emeritus Fellow in the Employment Group at the Policy Studies Institute. Alex Bryson is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic...