Journal of Administrative and Business Studies JABS

2016, 2(5): 248-263

PRIMARY RESEARCH

The effects of high performance work system on

employee attitudes: A study of international
organization
Yousif El-Ghalayini *

Australian College of Kuwait City, Kuwait

Index Terms Abstract. In the last three decades, a growing body of research has suggested that using a mix or system of Human
High performance Resources Management (HRM) practices would lead to superior organizational performance. These practices (such
Work system as selective recruitment and hiring procedures, performance-based compensation systems, employee participation,
Employee attitudes and training and development) have been referred to as High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) and originated from
International organization the study of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM), where researchers have examined the effects of adopting
HPWS on organizational performance. Although there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the effects of HPWS
on organizational performance, there is less evidence evaluating the effects of adopting HPWS in international organi-
Received: 12 May 2016 zation and particularly Intergovernmental Organization (IGO). IGOs, such as United Nations (UN), World Bank (WB),
Accepted: 21 August 2016 and International Monetary Fund (IMF), are international bodies that serve different mandates and aim at maintain-
Published: 27 October 2016 ing global socioeconomic stability between member states’ governments. Despite the increasing interest among IGOs’
managers in adopting HPWS, research in this unique organizational context lags behind which reveals signi icant gap in
HRM literature. This mixed methods-research study seeks to address this gap by reporting the results of a staff survey
and follow-up interviews conducted on a cross-section of one of the largest IGOs in the region. The results have shown
different effects of the bundles of HPWS practices on organizational performance. The results are discussed in light of
HRM theory to explore the importance of organizational context on the link between human resource management and
organizational performance. The results raise issues about the universal applicability of HRM-performance research
and have implications for the standardization of HRM policies and practices within intergovernmental organization.

©2016 TAF Publishing. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION management (SHRM), where researchers have examined

In the last three decades, a growing body of research has the effects of adopting HPWS on organizational perfor-
suggested that using a mix or system of human resources mance (Appelbaum, Bailey, Berg & Kalleberg, 2000; Boxall,
management practices would lead to superior organiza- Ang & Bartram, 2011). Much of this research has shown a
tional performance (Datta, Guthrie & Wright, 2005; Zhang, positive link between adopting HPWS practices and organi-
Zhu, Dowling & Bartram, 2013). These practices (such as zational performance (Mahdi, Liao, Muhammad & Nader,
selective recruitment and hiring procedures, performance- 2014; Macky & Boxall, 2007; Datta et al., 2005; Guest,
based compensation systems, employee participation, and 2002). However, most empirical analysis applied by re-
training and development) have been referred to as (HPWS) searchers addressing the HPWS–performance relationship
and originated from the study of strategic human resource has been based on a narrow view of performance measure-

* Corresponding author: Yousif El-Ghalayini

† Email: y.ghalayini@ack.edu.kw
249 J. Admin. Bus. Stud. 2016

ment, focusing primarily on inancial indicators within pri- performance work systems (HPWSs) are conceptualized as
vate sector (Cafferkey & Dundon, 2015; Kalleberg, Marsden, a set of distinct but interrelated HRM practices with a par-
Reynolds & Knoke, 2006). Although many scholars have ticular con iguration, or architecture, designed to optimize
referred to worker attitudes as the intermediate variable organizational performance through promoting employee
between HPWS practices and organizational performance, skills development, work reorganization, and enhanced
current research provides no insight into the impacts of worker attitudes (Beaupré & Cloutier, 2007; Guthrie, 2001;
HPWS on individual worker attitudes (Gould-Williams, Ingvaldsen, Johansen & Aarlott, 2014). The key idea is that
2004). As such, there is very little evidence concerning there is a synergistic effect with a cluster of HRM practices,
the effects of HPWS in other organizational contexts and with the potential to bring about improved organizational
whether these practices lead to desirable individual out- performance through providing more lexibility of work
comes. It is the aim of this paper to provide such evidence structures, extensive worker participation, and more co-
from intergovernmental organization (IGO). operative relationships between managers and employees
IGOs, such as United Nations (UN), World Bank (WB), (Appelbaum et al., 2000). Accordingly, HPWS represents
and International Monetary Fund (IMF), are multilateral in- a combination of several HRM practices into a bundle that
stitutions serving different mandates and aim at maintain- has systematic and synergistic effects aimed at selecting,
ing global socioeconomic stability between member states’ developing, retaining, and motivating employees with bet-
governments. As public service providers, IGOs operate ter abilities in work-related activities, leading to improved
across national boundaries, hire expatriates, deal with cul- organizational performance (Boxall, 2012).
tural diversity, and rely on donations from the governments This new concept of managerial focus that embraces
of member states to fund their programs. This paper seeks people management through HPWS, can be traced back
to examine the effects of adopting HPWS practices in this to Huselid (1995) seminal work, The Impact of Human
unique organizational context using data from staff-survey Resource Management Practices on Turnover, Productiv-
and follow-up interviews from cross section of one of the ity, and Corporate Financial Performance. In this work,
largest UN headquarters. The irst part of the paper pro- Huselid (1995) surveyed senior human resource profes-
vides an overview of the main theoretical and methodolog- sionals in 968 publicly held organizations in the US. His
ical issues within existing HPWS research. Then a descrip- indings show a positive correlation between HPWS and
tion is provided of the research context and methodology the economic pro it per employee. Since then, the topic
used to collect data and test the research hypotheses. The became very popular and an abundance of research at-
results of statistical analysis are provided along with sum- tempted to replicate Huselid (1995) indings on the rela-
maries of interview statements collected from interviews tionship between deploying HPWS in the workplace and
with randomly selected IGO workers. Finally, the conclud- organizational performance. The HRM–Performance rela-
ing section highlights the implications of the research ind- tionship has been researched from different perspectives
ings with reference to the extent to which HPWS practices rooted in organizational behaviour, sociology, economics,
lead to positive worker attitudes and recommendation to industrial relations, and organizational psychology, with a
IGOs’ managers. particular emphasis on the impact of various combinations
of HPWS practices on a range of performance outcomes,
LITERATURE REVIEW such as employee skills, behaviours, and attitudes (Paauwe,
What is High Performance Work System 2009). For instance, MacDuf ie (1995) proposed one of the
Within management literature, the basic thesis underly- earliest and most comprehensive studies on HPWS. He ar-
ing the majority of HRM studies is that people are the most gued that HPWS practices affect performance not individu-
valuable asset that organizations can develop to achieve and ally but as interrelated elements in an internally consistent
sustain high levels of organizational performance (Becker “bundle” or “system” that “shapes the pattern of interac-
& Huselid, 2006; Sourchi & Liao, 2015. Due to the increas- tions between and among managers and employees” (p.
ing interest within management studies in HRM practices, a 200). In a similar study, Appelbaum et al., (2000) and her
new notion of “best practices” has emerged. Sometimes this colleagues investigated the effects of HPWSs on organiza-
is referred to as “high-performance work systems” (Appel- tional performance in the US steel, apparel, and medical
baum et al., 2000), “high commitment” HRM (Guest 2001, imaging industries. The authors reported that adopting
2002), or “high involvement” HRM (Wood, 1999). High- HPWS has positive effects on employee measures of trust,
ISSN: 2414-309X
DOI: 10.20474/jabs-2.5.5
2016 Y. El-Ghalayini – The effects of high performance . . . . 250

organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and lower job highlighting some of the main problems in HRM research,
stress. Furthermore, empirical evidence supporting these arguing that In part this re lects the eclectic approach taken
views on HPWS has emerged in other organizational con- by researchers in evaluating the effects of a range of HRM
texts. For instance, in a recent empirical study on MNEs practices… the research to date is limited in several ways.
operating in Russia, the US, and Finland, Fey, Bjö rkman First, early studies adopted a very narrow view of perfor-
& Pavlovskaya (2000) examined the HPWS–performance mance, focusing primarily on inancial indicators. Second,
linkage to understand how contextual factors may affect the research evidence is based on views of single organi-
this relationship. The authors’ indings have shown that zational representatives, namely senior persons who are
the contextual factors led to mixed HRM outcomes due to more likely to provide biased reports of the extent and ef-
variations in national culture, market, and competitive con- fects of HRM practices. Third, although several studies have
text. For instance, training was more important and moti- sought to use a variety of performance outcomes, such as
vating in Russia, a country that shifted from communism productivity and inancial measures, few have considered
to a market economy, where many people were trained in the effects of HRM practices on workers.
areas not related to their current job. This raises one of the Therefore, HPWSs are broadly de ined and no speci ic
key discussions within HRM literature examining whether list of practices constitutes these systems. However, close
HPWSs are universally applicable or may not be optimal in reading of the HRM literature indicates that the most ac-
different settings (Sackmann, Phillips, Kleinberg & Boyacig- ceptable and widely used bundles of HPWS practices are
iller,1997). proposed by Boselie et al., (2005:73). In their study, the
authors reviewed every empirical research article into the
Limitations, Contradictions and Inconsistencies linkages between HPWS practices and performance pub-
Despite the substantial research on HPWS and the growing lished for a decade. They conclude that the top four HRM
empirical data on its link to organizational performance, practices in the HPWS list have been training and devel-
there are some real criticisms of this approach to HRM. A opment, contingent pay and reward schemes, performance
brief overview of HRM literature demonstrates con lict- management and appraisal, and recruitment and selection
ing views on major issues related to HPWS. Some schol- processes. The authors justify their indings claiming that
ars questioned whether these systems actually work and if these practices re lect the main functions of HRM, “namely
so, how they lead to enhanced organizational performance to identify and recruit strong performers, provide them
(Boselie, Dietz & Boon, 2005; Guest, 2001). Another criti- with the abilities and con idence to work effectively, mon-
cism of HPWS is whether these practices have negative ef- itor their progress towards the required performance tar-
fects on employees, such as job stress and work intensi ica- gets, and reward them well for meeting or exceeding them”.
tion (Stanton & Manning, 2013; Macky & Boxall, 2007). For Furthermore, current research provides no insight into
instance, there is no agreement among HRM scholars on the the impacts of HPWS on individual worker attitudes (Gould-
precise mix of HRM practices that constitute HPWS. Boselie Williams, 2004). The majority of research examining the
et al., (2005;72), in their article entitled “Commonalities implications of adopting HPWS on organizational perfor-
and contradictions in HRM and performance research,” an- mance originates in American and European private sector
alyzed 104 articles addressing HPWS that have been pub- irms utilizing inancial outcomes as the only indicator of
lished over a decade. They argue that “no consensus has organizational performance. There is very little evidence
emerged on what employee management activities should concerning the impacts of HPWS on individual worker at-
be in a comprehensive HRM checklist”. Studies de ined dif- titudes, which makes it unclear whether these practices
ferent bundles of HPWS practices without an agreement on lead to desirable individual outcomes.Finally, the majority
a coherent and ixed list of practices that constitute HPWS of research addressing the relationship between organiza-
(Boselie et al., 2005). Many scholars have been attempt- tional performance and HPWS practices has been tested
ing to explain the contradictions and inconsistencies on in private sector organizations, with only minimal research
the structure of HPWS within HRM–performance litera- evaluating the effects of these systems in different organiza-
ture, proposing different methodological and theoretical tional contexts. Despite the substantial empirical evidence
concerns. Gould-Williams (2004:66), in his empirical anal- that HPWS practices are positively related to organizational
ysis of HPWS in public sector organizations, attempted to performance in the private sector, there is a great need to in-
summarize major reasons that explain these differences by vestigate this relationship in other organizational contexts
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251 J. Admin. Bus. Stud. 2016

(Katou & Budhwar, 2007). Only recently, scholars began fundamentally dissimilar in all important respects” (Boyne
considering the context as an important contingency factor, 2002:118). Therefore, contemporary HRM research does
arguing that understanding the effects of HPWS practices not clearly indicate signi icant differences between private
in different organizational settings is essential to the the- and public organizations but rather “disregard[s] or give[s]
oretical development of the ield of HRM (Teo & Crawford, only cursory acknowledgement” of HRM within the public
2005; Skaggs & Youndt, 2004; Daley & Vasu, 2005). HRM sector (Brown, 2004:304). However, the agreement among
researchers began investigating the distinctions between scholars is that the adoption of New Public Management
different organizations, such as manufacturing and service (NPM) has resulted in a dramatic change in HRM within
organizations, public, non-pro it, and private organizations, public sector organizations. The introduction of NPM has
examining the effects of the organizational context on HRM resulted in a strategic approach to HRM within the public
outcomes. sector. Several authors have argued that within the tra-
In summary, the researches addressing HPWS have ditional model of public administration, personnel man-
few limitations. First, it is still unclear whether HPWSs agement was subject to bureaucratization under which all
are universally applicable on one hand, and what speci i- activities were formalized by prede ined, systemized rules
cally constitutes this speci ic list of HRM practices on the and procedures, and was characterized by rational-legal bu-
other hand. Second, most empirical analysis applied by re- reaucracy based on specialization, prevention of arbitrary
searchers addressing the HPWS–performance relationship dismissal, reliance on authority of work position, and merit
has been based on a narrow view of performance mea- selection (Schroeder, 1992). For instance, within that old
surement, focusing primarily on inancial indicators (Kalle- system, staf ing and recruitment were centralized and em-
berg et al., 2006). Although many scholars have referred ployment based on the notion of lifelong employment with
to worker attitudes as the intermediate variable between narrow, speci ic, task-based and highly routinized jobs and
HPWS practices and organizational performance, current strict seniority based on length of service (Brown, 2004).
research provides no insight into the impacts of HPWS on The changing structure and operations of governments,
individual worker attitudes (Gould-Williams, 2004). Fi- paralleled with the adoption of NPM, have replaced this tra-
nally, the majority of research addressing the relationship ditional Weberian model of centralized and bureaucratic
between organizational performance and HPWS practices practices with private-sector HRM systems (Colley, Mc-
focuses on private sector organizations, with only minimal Court, & Waterhouse, 2012). However, there were no clear
research evaluating the effects of these systems in differ- distinctions between the adoption of HPWS in public and
ent organizational contexts. Therefore, there is very little private organizations.
evidence concerning the impacts of HPWS in public organi- Gould-Williams (2004) in his study examining the ef-
zations and particularly IGOs. fects of HPWS practices on public sector employees in the
Government of Wales found that some speci ic HRM prac-
HRM in Public Sector Organizations tices might have different outcomes within public organi-
The literature on HRM has focused on private sector or- zations. For instance, results have shown that training pro-
ganizations and there has been very limited research on visions had the most signi icant and positive effects on em-
public sector organizations. Despite the substantial differ- ployee commitment and job satisfaction in public sector or-
ences between public and private organizations, there is ganizations. However, the effects of other HPWS practices
no clear distinction within HRM literature addressing how were similar across public and private-sector organizations.
these differences may impact the practice of HRM in these Similarly, Leggat, Bartram & Stanton (2011) in their study
different work environments (Beadles, Aston, Lowery & on public health organizations in Australia, reported a posi-
Johns, 2015; Mostafa & Gould-Williams, 2014; Rainey & tive correlation between certain aspects of HPWS practices
Bozeman, 2000). Some scholars stated that HRM literature and improved care delivery and patient outcome. Their
“disregards or gives only some acknowledgement of HRM indings reported a signi icant gap between HPWS policies
within the public sector, relying instead on appropriating and actual practices. They reported that public healthcare
a business model of irms as the general context for HRM organizations in Australia generally do not have the nec-
scholarship” (Brown, 2004:305). Others disagree, arguing essary aspects of HPWS in place, which necessitates more
that the “available evidence does not provide clear sup- effective implementation for the newly adopted policies.
port for the view that public and private management are Beaupré & Cloutier (2007) conducted one of the irst stud-
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2016 Y. El-Ghalayini – The effects of high performance . . . . 252

ies of its kind to examine the adoption of HPWS in the public H2: There are positive effects of HPWS practices on em-
service sector, highlighting the uniqueness of public sector ployee job satisfaction.
organizations, where performance outcome is not linked to H3: There are positive effects of HPWS practices on em-
inancial indicators but rather to political costs. The study ployee motivation.
was an exploratory examination of the managerial reform H4: There are inverse effects of HPWS practices on em-
within the Government of Quebec in 1999, and the effects ployee intention to quit.
of creating Autonomous Service Units (ASUs) within the
government body. In their study, the main objectives were RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
to verify if the new management model of Autonomous Research Context
Service Units corresponded to a “high-performance” man- The research setting for this study is the United Nations Re-
agement model, and to examine the effects of establishing lief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The UNRWA is an interna-
these ASUs in several government departments. The au- tional relief and human development Agency with a quasi-
thors were able to organize group discussions and semi- governmental role, delivering essential public services to
structured interviews with personnel from four different over ive million registered refugees. UNRWA services in-
government departments. In their indings, the authors clude education, health care, social services, and emergency
reported that “results show that two of the four ASUs un- aid. In 2006, the UNRWA began a comprehensive reform
der study have the characteristics of a ‘high-performance’ program to strengthen its management capacity. Accord-
management model: the employees are committed and mo- ingly, one of the main achievements of the reform process
tivated, their level of satisfaction is very high … and the eco- is the deployment of new HRM systems that included re-
nomic performance of the ASU showed exceptional growth”. cruitment strategies, performance management systems,
Therefore, it appears that the public sector managers are training and development, and reward and recognition sys-
attempting to transfer HPWS practices to public organi- tems. The underlying message of the reform process has
zations. However, further research is needed to examine been adopting HPWS practices, which is the object of this
HPWS practices in speci ic types of public sector organiza- study (UNRWA, 2006a).
tions such as IGOs, to assess the effects of these practices The Agency drafted a “Mid-Term Plan” (MTP) for the re-
on workers. This analysis would contribute to further un- form process with an emphasis on HRM as the main area of
derstand the desirability among IGOs’ workers of adopting organizational change. According to the UNRWA’s MTP: The
HPWS practices. Agency’s workforce is its most valuable asset. Over recent
years, insuf icient attention to staff training and develop-
Research Hypotheses ment has been a factor in the deterioration of service stan-
Drawing from normative HRM theories, positing that HRM dards across the Agency. From this standpoint, renewed
practices lead to enhanced employee attitudinal outcomes, investment in building the capacity of UNRWA’s human re-
such as improving employee motivation, commitment, and sources is an independently worthy objective as well as a
satisfaction, this study hypothesizes that organizational HP- vital means by which strategic objectives can be realized
WSs would develop employee attitudes. Consistent with investing in staff capacity will ultimately bene it the Pales-
HRM theory: key individual worker attitudes satisfaction, tinian community, while also contributing to the quality
motivation, commitment, and intention to quit are the de- and impact of the Agency’s interventions. For these rea-
terminants of the effects of HPWS. HPWS practices are de- sons, the MTP incorporates multi-faceted capacity-building
ined as IGO activities related to staf ing and recruitment, components, embracing human resource and career devel-
performance appraisal, compensation and rewards, and opment needs, managing information skills and enhanc-
training and development. In this research, we set out to ing capacity for research and analysis. These components
test the effect of HPWS on four key attitudinal measures: could form the basis for a more comprehensive strategy for
motivation, commitment, satisfaction, and intention to quit. staff development (UNRWA, 2006b:5).The Agency, in fur-
These four measures are used as the dependent variables therance of the MTP, established a Human Resources Task
and determinants of the effects of HPWS. As such, the fol- Force (HRTF) with the goal of drafting a Human Resources
lowing hypotheses have been identi ied: Management Strategy for the Agency. The HRTF was estab-
HI: There are positive effects of HPWS practices on em- lished for consultation to elicit a range of views from within
ployee commitment. the Agency. The HRTF was guided by external consultants
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253 J. Admin. Bus. Stud. 2016

and advised by a technical team of internal specialists on Services 5.0 per cent; Community Services and Mental
HRM processes. Thus, the main task of the HRTF team was Health 2.0 per cent; Health 1.0 per cent.
to conduct a comprehensive review of HRM policies and
processes and identify any inef iciency in the old system. Measures
This review was the irst step towards creating a new HRM There are four independent variables and four dependent
system to deliver better human resourced programs, which variables for this study related to the four research hypothe-
appeared to be adopting high-performance work systems ses. The four independent variables are the measures of the
(UNRWA, 2006b). bundles of HPWS practices: staf ing and recruitment, per-
formance appraisal, compensation and rewards, and train-
Data Collection ing and development. In order to measure these variables,
To collect data, surveys were distributed and interviews the HRM Practices and Policies Pro ile (HRMPPP) question-
were conducted with program administrators, operations’ naire was used to investigate individual perceptions of HRM
directors, and ield staff representing employees from dif- practices. The questionnaire is based upon the typology of
ferent countries with varying lengths of service as well as HRM practices proposed by Schuler & Jackson (1987) and
an extensive range of levels of education and professional their empirical work in the U.S (Sparrow & Wu, 1998). The
backgrounds. items are presented as 23 pairs of self-explanatory alter-
A total of 505 questionnaires were distributed in seven native HRM practices representing four bundles of HPWS
service departments. Over a period of six weeks, respon- practices. Each bundle evaluates one major HRM function
dents returned their completed questionnaires directly to and participants were told that there are no right or wrong
the researcher by hand. A total of 234 usable responses answers, and they should indicate their choice by choos-
were obtained providing a response rate of 46.3 per cent. ing an appropriate number (ranged from 1 to 7) from the
In addition to questionnaires, a total of 10 face-to-face in- pairs of HRM choices. Higher score indicates the extent to
terviews were conducted to better understand the data ob- which the organization uses speci ic HPWS practice across
tained from questionnaires. These individual interviews the whole sample which identi ies the main characteristics
were conducted with the person responsible for human re- of the current HRM system.
sources in addition to line managers and staff members. The four dependent variables are employee commit-
The duration of each interview was between 30 and 120 ment, satisfaction, motivation and intention to quit. A set
minutes. of questionnaires grouped in one single questionnaire was
used to measure these variables. Organizational commit-
Sample ment was measured based on ifteen items using Porter,
The sample of 234 employees had the following character- Steers, Mowday & Boulian (1974) Organizational Commit-
istics: 67.8 per cent male; 15.3 per cent were between the ment Questionnaire (OCQ). Job Satisfaction was measured
ages of 18–30 years, 49.3 per cent between 31–45 years, based on the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) (Spector, 1997)
35.0 per cent between 46–60 years and 0.5 per cent were which is a 36-item questionnaire that uses nine facet scales
over 60 years. The average length of service was 13.08 to assess employee attitudes about the job and aspects of
years (standard deviation 7.92). For quali ications, 20.5 the job and the organization. Finally, Lindner (1998) orga-
per cent had diploma, 47.3 per cent had a university de- nizational motivation questionnaire was used to de ine the
gree, 21.8 per cent had postgraduate university degree, and degree of motivation within the work place using the main
10.5 per cent had no formal quali ications. Participants’ po- ten employee motivating factors. The questionnaire was
sitions varied as 61.4 per cent were frontline workers, 25.7 irst used in a study at The Ohio State University's Piketon
per cent supervisors, 12.4 per cent middle managers, and Research and Extension Center. The mean of the percep-
0.5 per cent program managers. tion scores for each of the items was calculated to give an
The sample were based in the following departments: overall attitude score. For Intention to quit: single item
Engineering, Infrastructure and Camp Development 21.0 measure was used for employees’ ‘intention to leave the or-
per cent; Education 29.0 per cent; Micro inance 10.0 per ganization’. Respondents were asked to indicate the degree
cent; Procurement 8.0 per cent; Financial Services 3.0 per to which they agreed with the statements: ‘I intend to leave
cent; Human Resources and Administration 8.0 per cent; this organization’. Surveys are in the public domain and no
Job Creation Program 5.0 per cent; Logistics and Support permission is required for its use.
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2016 Y. El-Ghalayini – The effects of high performance . . . . 254

RESULTS on results, which is crucial for the appraisal process; other

Table 1, below, provides the means, and standard devia- aspects of the HPWS are not fully adopted by the Agency.
tions based on a 7-point scale for the 23 items used as mea- For instance, results indicate that there is little attention to
sures of bundles of HPWS practices. The indings suggest employee development.
that there was an uptake of three HPWS practices. For the Previous research emphasized that the appraisal pro-
staf ing and recruitment bundle, the results suggest that the cess should capture areas for employee development based
organization relies heavily on internal resources, uses ixed on employee engagement and focus on group performance
and explicit job description, and an extensive socialization (Payne, Horner, Boswell, Schroeder & Stine-Cheyne, 2009).
process for new hires. Finally, results indicate that employees are neutral and have
However, there are limitations on the opportunities for mixed perceptions with regards to the performance ap-
advancement within the organization. These limitations praisal time frame whether it focused on long or short term
may be referred to the narrow career path for advancement criteria. As shown above, there was a little uptake of many
which is limited to speci ic area of practice or the same busi- HPWS practices especially in the area of compensation and
ness unit. For performance appraisal HPWS practices, ind- rewards.
ings show that the performance appraisal process focuses

TABLE 1 . Means and standard deviations

Items HR Practices Mean Std. Deviation
Staf ing and Recruitment Choices
1. New position staffed from internal resources 4.57*** 1.72
2. Job description is ixed and explicit 4.78*** 1.68
3. Organization career paths 3.50*** 1.46
4. Advancement within the organization 4.03 1.80
5. The socialization process of new employee is extensive 4.25* 1.90
Performance Appraisal
1. Performance appraisal tends to be Results-oriented 4.39*** 1.69
2. The primary purpose of the appraisal is Performance 3.60*** 1.86
3. Low level of employee participation in the process 3.80 1.82
4. Appraisal process emphasizes long-term criteria 3.99 1.67
5. Appraisal emphasizes individual performance 3.83** 1.94
Compensation and Rewards
1. The organization pays low salaries when compared with other organizations 3.34*** 1.64
2. Employees receive few perks 3.17*** 1.53
3. Bene its package is a Standard, ixed package 3.87 1.93
4. The pay system contains no incentives to reward productivity, quality or other desired results 2.92*** 1.48
5. The incentives tend to be short-term 3.29*** 1.65
6. Job security 3.84* 1.97
7. Our compensation system is hierarchical in nature 2.63*** 1.65
Training and Development
1. The emphasis of employee training program is long-term 4.22* 1.72
2. There is limited amount of training per employee 3.31*** 1.75
3. The training and development received is Task-speci ic 4.50*** 1.68
4. Training and development received is unplanned, and unsystematic 3.69** 1.83
5. Employee participation in formulating training and development needs is high 4.26** 1.74
6. Training and development is oriented toward individual 3.36*** 1.83
*Statistically signi icant at .05 level, **statistically signi icant at .01 level, ***statistically signi icant at .001 level

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For the attitude measures, as shown in table (2), respon- isfaction - have the strongest association with the four bun-
dents are very committed to the organization with Mean dles of HPWS practices. The strongest association reported
score of 4.76, but less satis ied with Mean = 4.36. How ever, between training and development, performance appraisal,
respondents demonstrate very low intention to leave the and rewards and recognition. Finally, it is clear that the ag-
Agency with Mean = 2.68. Results also show that they are gregate effects of HPWS have the highest association with
motivated with score 5.15 (based on a 7-point scale). The each of the dependent variables. This also indicates that
results show that the relationships are in the anticipated di- HPWS are mutually reinforcing, overlapping, and have syn-
rections. Two dependent variables - commitment and sat- ergistic effect on employee attitudes.

TABLE 2 . Means, standard deviations and t test of difference between mean and mid-point
Items N Mean Std. Deviation Cronbach’s Alpha
Organizational Commitment (Cronbach alpha .85) 231 4.76*** 1.01 0.85
Job Satisfaction (Cronbach alpha .92) 233 4.36*** 1.09 0.92
Motivation (Cronbach alpha .75) 229 5.15*** 0.51 0.65
Intention to Quit 224 2.68*** 1.91 --

TABLE 3 . Means, standard deviations and t test of difference between mean and mid-point
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1.Commitment Spearman's rho 1.000
Sig. (1-tailed) .
N 231
2.Satisfaction Spearman's rho .740** 1.000
Sig. (1-tailed) .000 .
N 231 233
3.Motivation Spearman's rho .258** .273** 1.000
Sig. (1-tailed) .000 .000 .
N 229 229 229
4.Intention to Quit Spearman's rho -.488** -.356** -.168** 1.000
Sig. (1-tailed) .000 .000 .006 .
N 224 224 223 224
5.Staf ing and Recruitment Spearman's rho .229** .361** .127* -.102 1.000
Sig. (1-tailed) .000 .000 .028 .064 .
N 231 233 229 224 234
6.Performance Appraisal Spearman's rho .454** .569** .051 -.263** .408** 1.000
Sig. (1-tailed) .000 .000 .221 .000 .000 .
N 231 233 229 224 233 233
7.Compensation and Rewards Spearman's rho .313** .506** .196** -.133* .297* .383** 1.000
Sig. (1-tailed) .000 .000 .001 .024 .000 .000 .
N 231 233 229 224 233 233 233
8.Training and Development Spearman's rho .469** .600** .197** -.248** .324** .398** .627** 1.000
Sig. (1-tailed) .000 .000 .001 .000 .000 .000 .000 .
N 230 231 228 223 231 231 231 231
9.HPWS Spearman's rho .506** .683** .193** -.247** .608** .674** .783** .823** 1.000
Sig. (1-tailed) .000 .000 .002 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .
N 231 233 229 224 234 233 233 231 234

The bivariate relationships between the dependent and mitment, the results indicate that employee commitment
independent variables are outlined in table 3. Results show has strongest association with the same independent vari-
that the highest association is between training and devel- able (training and development) with rs = 0.469 signi icant
opment and job satisfaction with rs = 0.600 signi icant at (ρ at (ρ < 0.01). The association between employee commit-
< 0.01). Job satisfaction has also relatively strong associa- ment and selection and recruitment practices is the lowest
tion with performance appraisal with rs = 0.569 signi icant compared to other practices with rs = 0.361 signi icant at (ρ
at (ρ < 0.01). Finally, there is moderate association between < 0.01). However, there is signi icant correlation between
job satisfaction and selection and recruitment practices motivation and the other bundles of HPWS practices. For
with rs = 0.361 signi icant at (ρ < 0.01). For employee com- instance positive correlation exists between training and
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2016 Y. El-Ghalayini – The effects of high performance . . . . 256

development and motivation with positive Spearman cor- practices) on the dependent variables (employee attitude).
relation of rs = 0.197 signi icant at (ρ < 0.01). The following Four models are presented in table (4) below, combining
section will now consider the relative impact of the inde- the independent variables to predict the dependent vari-
pendent variables on individual worker outcomes through able. Based on the regression equations, results reveal that
ordinary least squares multiple linear regression analyses. each of the independent variables signi icantly contributes
to explanation in variance in one or more of the attitude
OLS Regression Analyses measures. Detailed presentation of each of the four models
The four hypotheses identi ied were tested using hierarchal associated with the four dependent variables is discussed
multiple regression in an attempt to estimate the net effect below.
of each of the independent variables (bundles of HPWS

TABLE 4 . Means and standard deviations

Individual outcomes
Predictors Model 1: Commitment Model 2: Satisfaction Model 3: Motivation Model 4: Intention to Quit
β (t) β (t) β (t) β (t)
Staf ing and Recruitment -0.010 -0.168 .060 1.144 .065 .936 -.007 -.100
Performance Appraisal .309*** 5.701 .357*** 7.000 -.026 -.380 -.122 -1.719
Compensation and Rewards -0.036 -0.514 .204** 3.082 .103** 3.061 .088 1.064
Training and Development .305*** 5.719 .324*** 5.471 .098 1.201 -.349** -3.121
R² 0.319 0.493 0.040 .042
F & value 53.213*** 73.457*** 9.37** 9.739**
N 229 230 227 222
*Statistically signi icant at .05 level, **statistically signi icant at .01 level, ***statistically signi icant at .001 level

As shown in table (4), the irst model shows that two Employees perceive training and development opportuni-
bundles of HPWS are powerful and statistically signi icant ties in exchange for displayed organizational commitment
predictors of employee commitment. This indicates that (Bartlett, 2001). Similarly, for performance appraisal, pre-
both performance appraisal and training and development vious research has shown that performance appraisal pro-
have positive effects on employee commitment. For this de- cess is characterized with employee participation in setting
pendent variable, adjusted R2 = 0.319, which shows that the of goals and standards for performance, which also increase
model accounts for 31.9% of variance in employee commit- chances of employee commitment (Vasset, Marnburg,& Fu-
ment signi icant at (ρ < 0.001). Accordingly, both bundles: runes, 2011). In addition, performance appraisal helps or-
performance appraisal (β = 0.309, ρ< .001), and training ganization in clarifying employee roles and reduces any am-
and development (β = .305, ρ< .001) are statistically sig- biguities, which also leads to higher levels of commitment
ni icant predictors of employee commitment. The model (Pettijohn, Pettijohn & Taylor, 2001). The direction of the
also reveals that neither rewards and compensation, nor relationships was anticipated for two of the four bundles of
recruitment bundles are statistically signi icant predictors HPWS practices; the exception being staf ing and recruit-
of employee commitment. ment, where there is no signi icant effect from the regres-
Consistent with previous research on the relationship sion analysis. However, the agreement among HRM schol-
between training provision and employee commitment, ars is that staf ing and recruitment selection procedures
training provision leads to improvements in organizational have positive effects on employee commitment (Bowen &
commitment based on the social exchange theory (Bartlett, Ostroff, 2004, Dyer & Reda, 2010). This result may re lect
2001; Al-Emadi & Marquardt, 2007). Social exchange the- respondents’ experience of limited opportunities within the
ory posits that employees enter into a relationship with organization for other positions and promotions. One of the
the organization so as to maximize the bene its they obtain interviewees stated that “promotion opportunities within
(Blau, 1964). Researchers argue that employees’ training the organization are very limited”. However, this is per-
provision is part of the unwritten psychological contract ceived from senior management as more lexible recruit-
between the organization and employees (Newman, Thana- ment system that allows for external hiring which allows
coody, & Hui, 2011). the organization to select the best candidates.

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257 J. Admin. Bus. Stud. 2016

One Chief program of icer indicated that One of the main dictor for motivation and intention to quit. For employee
objectives of selection process is to ind the candidate who motivation dependent variable, adjusted R2 = 0.040, which
has the appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities to per- indicates very little effects of the independent variables on
form well on the job from a pool of applicants for a position. employee motivation. These effects account only for 4.0 %
We cannot assume that everyone who works for the organi- of the variance in employee motivation signi icant at ρ <
zation and apply for a job is quali ied to actually perform it. 0.01. Only compensation and rewards (β = .103, ρ < .01)
Therefore, now we can hire externals if we are not able to is statistically signi icant predictor of employee motivation
ind the internal quali ied person for the job. This situation and has positive statistically signi icant relationship with
illustrates the need for workers to understand manage- employee motivation. The model also reveals staf ing and
ment’s motives for recruitment and staf ing activities. Fail- recruitment, performance appraisal, and training provi-
ure to do so is likely to undermine the anticipated effects of sion are not statistically signi icant predictors of employee
lexible and comprehensive selection processes. The sec- motivation. Accordingly, there is an indication of positive
ond model shows that three bundles of HPWS practices are impacts of only one bundle of HPWS practices on employee
statistically signi icant predictors of employee’s job satis- motivation in IGOs. This could be referred to as what has
faction. These bundles are performance appraisal, com- been referred as Public Service Motivation (PSM), proposed
pensation and rewards, and training and development and by James Perry and Lois Recascino Wise in published essay
each of these bundles have positive effects on employee’s “The Motivational Bases of Public Service”. The authors
job satisfaction. For this model, adjusted R2 = 0.493, which proposed that motivation among public servants originates
indicates that the model accounts for 49.3% of variance in from unique motives and beliefs that are different from
job satisfaction measures signi icant at (ρ < 0.001). Three those of their private sector counterparts (Perry and Wise,
bundles of HPWS practices are powerful and statistically 1990). The authors de ined PSM as “an individual’s pre-
signi icant predictors of job satisfaction: performance ap- disposition to respond to motives grounded primarily or
praisal (β = .357, ρ< .001), compensation and rewards (β = uniquely in public institutions and organizations” (1990, p.
.204, ρ< .01), and training and development (β = .324, ρ< 368).
.001). The de inition clearly emphasizes motives, such as civic
Accordingly, there is an indication of statistically sig- duty and compassion that are commonly associated with
ni icant effects of three bundles of HPWS practices on em- public organizations. Finally, the fourth model shows that
ployee job satisfaction in IGOs. Results are consistent with only one of the four bundles of HPWS is statistically signi i-
previous studies on the effects of performance appraisal on cant predictor of employee’s intention to quit. For employee
employees’ job satisfaction. Many studies have shown pos- intention to quit dependent variable, adjusted R2 = 0.042,
itive signi icant relationship between job satisfaction and which indicates that the model accounts only for 4.2 % of
compensation (Beutell & Wittig-Berman, 1999), training variance in employee’s intention to quit signi icant at ρ <
and development (Jones, Jones, Latreille & Sloane, 2009), 0.01. Accordingly, there is a very little effect of only one
and performance appraisal (Pettijohn et al., 2001). For in- bundle of HPWS, namely training and development bun-
stance, studies have shown that performance appraisal pro- dle that has statistically signi icant relationship with (β =
cess establishes feedback system between employees and -.103, ρ < .01) on employee’s intention to quit. Therefore,
their managers which permits for managers to clearly de- results indicate that training and development is the only
ine subordinates’ roles within the workplace. The resulted statistically signi icant predictor of this dependent variable
feedback minimizes role ambiguity among employees in with inverse relationship. The model also reveals that the
different types of organizations which, in turn, negatively other three bundles of HPWS practices including staf ing
correlates with job satisfaction. Finally, the second model and recruitment, performance appraisal, and compensa-
also reveals that staf ing and recruitment is not statistically tion and rewards are not statistically signi icant predictors
signi icant predictor of employee satisfaction and has no of employee’s intention to quit. Accordingly, there is an
statistically signi icant effects on employee satisfaction. As indication of inverse relationship with negative impacts of
shown in the third model, only one of the four HPWSs is only one bundle of HPWS practices on employee’s inten-
statistically signi icant predictor of employee motivation. tion to quit in IGOs. The majority of research addressing
The results of the regression analysis reveal that none of what factors impact employee’s intention to quit suggests
the individual bundles of HPWS practices is powerful pre- that stress resulting from workloads and the relationships
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2016 Y. El-Ghalayini – The effects of high performance . . . . 258

between supervisors and subordinates are major causes demonstrate that out of 23 practices identi ied as HPWS
for employees’ intention to leave the organization (Firth, practices, only seven practices have been identi ied to be
Mellor, Moore, & Loquet, 2004). However, some previous adopted by the organization based on employees’ percep-
research addressing intention to quit among employees tion. This indicates that there are different perceptions
suggests that speci ic training, which focuses on building among IGOs’ employees with regards to the organization
employees’ skills related to the job, makes employees re- of HRM reform. This brings one of the main issues within
luctant to quit their jobs as workers believe that the bene- HRM literature which refers to the it between HRM prac-
its of training are lost if they leave to another organization tices, policies, and processes addressing the actual deploy-
(Sieben, 2007). ment of HRM systems and whether HRM policies match
HRM practices and business processes. Previous research
CONCLUSION has shown that for HPWS to be effective, policies should
This paper aimed at evaluating the effects of bundles of match both the actual HRM practices and processes applied
HPWS practices on IGOs’ worker attitudes. The study eval- within the organization. Mis it between the policy and the
uates four employee attitude measures, namely commit- practice could result into ineffective or counterproductive
ment, job satisfaction, motivation and intention to quit. The effects on employees’ attitude (Kepes & Delery, 2007). Em-
results were based on employee questionnaire and face-to- ployees’ attitudes and behaviors are affected by processes
face interviews collected from a cross-section of employ- more than policies so when policies and processes are not
ees working in humanitarian IGO with quasi-governmental aligned, employees may demonstrate negative behaviors
role providing education, health, infrastructure, relief and due to perceptions of injustice (Simons & Roberson, 2003).
social services. As such, this paper has contributed to the The results obtained from face-to-face interviews validated
current HRM-Performance debate by extending the analy- the results obtained from the closed-end questionnaire re-
sis to IGOs. The indings reported here are consistent with vealing that most employees did not feel that the policies
previous research demonstrating a link between bundles and procedures are particularly effective. Most employ-
of HPWS practices and enhanced worker attitudes (Guest, ees con ided that they perceived real intention for major
2001; Paawue, 2009). Of the four bundles of HPWS prac- changes in HRM policies and practices. The employees
tices used in this study, only training and development had a indicated that increased recognition, empowerment and
consistent effect on three measures of employee attitudes. open communication have positively in luenced workers’
Training and development has positive relationship with attitudes.
employee commitment, and satisfaction, and inverse rela- However, they believe that the organization did little to
tionship with employee’s intention to quit. attempt to implement additional and more tangible changes
Results have also shown that performance appraisal has in other areas such as internal promotion, new pay system,
strong positive relationship with employee commitment and training and development programs. The implication
and satisfaction. On the other hand, compensation and re- is that there should be considerations towards employ-
wards have positive relationship with employee satisfaction ees’ perceptions of HRM practices to avoid any contradic-
and motivation. Managers working in IGOs need to con- tions between the intended HRM policies and actual HRM
sider enhancing employee attitudes with increased focus practices experienced by employees. Previous research
on training and development activities along with ensur- examining employees’ perception towards HRM practices
ing that adequate consideration is given to incentives and showed that while managers describe the performance
pay structure. Findings demonstrate that HPWS is per- evaluation process as an open discussion between employ-
ceived differently by the individual workers which may ees and management, employees felt that employee-goals
contribute to explaining the different effects of HPWS in were set without consulting them (Kooij, Jansen, Dikkers,
IGO context. Additionally, previous research within HRM & De Lange, 2010). In a similar study, better communi-
literature emphasized that country differences and contex- cation between management and staff involving them in
tual factors may also impact the perceptions of individual decision-making activities was perceived as information
workers towards HPWS especially in IGO’s context (Fey et overload from staff leading to negative individual outcomes
al., 2000).One of the main conclusions of this study relates (Gould-Williams, 2004). Therefore, individual work-related
to employees’ perception towards the application of HPWS HRM outcomes are affected by employees’ perceptions of
and the effectiveness of adopting HPWS. The study results HRM practices, instead of by intended HRM policies (Edgar
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259 J. Admin. Bus. Stud. 2016

& Geare, 2005; Guest, 2002). In the same line of reason- restriction on organization plans had consolidated impacts
ing, there are some implications related to the process of on other areas of the HRM reform process. Thus it may
developing, implementing and administering the adopted be important to consider the other organizational factors
HPWS. Researchers argue that the possession of certain and resources and to further plan the reform process. Fur-
practices is not a suf icient condition but is a necessary ther research is needed to determine whether staf ing and
condition for attaining the desired HRM outcomes (Khilji recruitment strategies affect employees’ attitude in public
& Wang, 2006). Gerhart (2005) it is very important for organization.As with any study of this kind, the following
organization adopting HPWS to consider how to develop, limitations need to be considered when evaluating study
implement and administer HPWS practices to achieve high indings. One of the limitations of this study comes from
level of HRM outcomes on the organizational level (Ger- the nature of cross section research design which is com-
hart, Wright, Mahan, & Snell, 2000). Results demonstrated mon in HRM literature and has been previously discussed
variation in employees’ perception towards implemented from several academics. According to Paauwe (2004), the
bundles of HPWS practices. These results were validated cross-sectional data used in research examining the effects
from interview participants who reported that the orga- of HPWS on employees did not permit any tests of the
nization clearly announced new austerity measures which causal ordering between the effects of HPWS and perfor-
affected the deployment of HPWS especially with imple- mance. While the study results specify the effects of HPWS
menting new pay system. For instance, results indicate that on employee attitudes, testing the causal relationship with
the organization failed to sustain internal or external equity, performance outcomes requires longitudinal research ap-
provide incentives for quality of work and provide lots of proach which involves repeated observations of the same
bene its for employees. Previous research on international variables over long periods of time. However, data collec-
compensation has shown that the unique nature of multi- tion on management issues over long time period is dif icult
national enterprises including IGOs which rely on donors and expensive especially with traditional survey methods
for its operations, face funding challenges when it comes (Paauwe, 2004). Another limitation for this study is that
to compensation and rewards system (O’Sullivan, 2010). only single organization was included in this study due to
In many cases, donor countries’ budgets vary in terms of the lack of researcher resources.
salaries and in the exchange rates upon which salaries are Therefore, study indings are limited to the research
to be calculated. site and study participants. Although similarities may exist
Therefore, within the IGO context, salaries may vary between the indings in this study and other IGOs, cau-
according to the donor’s country funding which may in lu- tion should be taken in making generalizations about the
ence the internal compensation equity. On the other hand, indings of this study in relation to other comparable in-
external equity is also a challenge due to the complexity stitutions. However, limiting research to single organiza-
of determining suitable market rates and possible lack of tion assisted in isolating HPWS in an attempt to control
HRM expertise in using of salary surveys to determine the size, age, and technology besides other possible interde-
appropriate salary levels (Festing, Eidems, & Royer, 2007). pendencies for the effects of HPWS on the organizational
Finally, HPWSs are complementary systems with synergis- level. Finally, in real life there are many independent vari-
tic effects when combined into coherent HRM architecture. ables that may affect employee attitudes in addition to HRM
Appropriate compensation and rewards practices would practices. These variables may include work relationships,
enhance the effectiveness of staf ing and recruitment prac- organizational politics and organizational leadership (Allen
tices because compensation and rewards practices often Tammy & Eby, 2012; Walumbwa, Hartnell, & Oke, 2010;
serve to attract and maintain talented individuals who pos- Chang, Rosen, & Levy, 2009). However, this study was lim-
sess the highest levels of skills. The linking of compensation ited to examining HPWS practices as independent variables.
and rewards to performance appraisal and to feedback sys- Any other variables that may affect the dependent variables
tems would also enhance the effectiveness of training and were excluded from the study. Nevertheless, despite these
development, because dialogue between managers and em- limitations, the results presented here suggest that the bun-
ployees can inform employees about requisite skills and dles of HPWS practices have positive effects on employees’
knowledge identifying employees’ capacity building needs. attitude in IGO context and this supports similarities with
The implication seems to be that because of the austerity other types of organizations.
measures implemented within the organization, funding
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2016 Y. El-Ghalayini – The effects of high performance . . . . 260

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DOI: 10.20474/jabs-2.5.5