| Since the International Labor Organization(ILO)put forward the concept of decent work in 1999,emphasizing that job should meet the minimum rights and conditions of employees,job quality has aroused widespread concern in academic and practical circles.Job quality has a direct impact not only on the health and well-being of employees,but also on corporate efficiency and social health,welfare and tax systems.How to improve job quality is an urgent problem to be solved by enterprises and the whole society.Job quality is a multidimensional and complex concept,which contains a series of job characteristics that affect employee well-being.In order to study job quality,the first step is to define and develop a scale.But the existing research has not surmounted the definition and measurement problems.There are following shortcomings: firstly,the multidimensional construct type of job quality is not clear.Secondly,the measurement of job quality needs to be embedded in different countries and cultures.Most of the existing scales are developed in developed countries and are not suitable for developing countries.And job quality scale in China is mainly developed around migrant workers and college graduates.So the universality of the scale is worth discussing.Finally,there are some defects in the existing job quality scale,such as the lack of representation of indicators,the confusion of indicators and the poor operability at individual level.Based on the code program of the grounded theory,this study uses in-depth interview and group interview to obtain the text data about the compositions of good job and bad job,and constructs the conceptual model of job quality in China,which is composed of eight core categories: work compensation,work safety and health,workload,relationship between employee and organization,interpersonal relationship,personal development,work participation and work stability.On the basis of the conceptual model,this study developed a job quality prediction scale with 31 items of measurement.Using 612 valid questionnaires from 31 enterprises in an economic development zone in Changchun,we conducted exploratory factor analysis of the scale.Finally,a job quality scale was obtained,which included 28 items in 7 dimensions,including work compensation,work safety and health,workload,relationship between employee and organization,interpersonal relationship,personal development,and work participation.This study also identifies the dimensions of the employee-organization relationship that was not found in the existing scale.Based on the concept that the job is one of aggregate multidimensional constructs,seven dimensions are given the same weight from the theoretical point of view.Finally,confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the scale.Job quality is determined by the decisions related to working conditions made by enterprises.Effective human resource management strategies and actions can improve job quality.High performance work system(HPWS)comes from the exploration of human resource management best practices.It helps organizations achieve performance improvement and gain competitive advantage by improving staff skills,abilities,and knowledge(KSAS),which gives staff motivation and opportunities.This process implies the importance of employees.But little research has done on the impact of HPWS on job quality.Previous studies have shown that HPWS have a more significant impact on job quality in manufacturing enterprises.However,in the only studies on the relationship between HPWS and job quality,the conclusions are inconsistent,which suggest the existence of boundary conditions.The contingency view of HPWS also believes that human resource management practice must match with the organization.Unions,as organizations representing the interests of employees,not only affect the adoption and implementation of HPWS,but also affect job quality.However,there is little research on the moderating effect of the union on the relationship between HPWS and job quality.Scholars who hold the contingency view also point out that the pattern of HPWS in enterprises cannot be completely consistent.Some enterprises emphasize the high control of HPWS,while some enterprises emphasize the win-win aspect of HPWS.And there may be differences between the choice of HPWS models among manufacturing enterprises with different capital intensities.Previous studies have only explored the contingency effects of capital intensity on the adoption and implementation of HPWS,but few studies have explored whether it can enhance or weaken the relationship between HPWS and job quality.This study explores the relationship between HPWS and job quality,and the moderating effect of the union and capital intensity on the relationship.It is more effective to explore the relationship boundary conditions by considering the effect of two regulatory variables at thesame time.Therefore,this study further explores the joint moderating effect of the union and capital intensity on the relationship between HPWS and job quality.Using the paired data of employers,human resource managers and 1,631 employees of 44 enterprises in an economic and technological development zone in Suzhou,and using job quality scale developed in this study,we test the theoretical model and research hypothesis.After controlling individual level variables such as gender,age,educational background,household registration,job type and employment contract type,as well as firm level variables such as firm nature,firm size and firm history,the conclusions of this study are as follows:(1)in manufacturing enterprises,HPWS has a significant positive impact on job quality.(2)in manufacturing enterprises,the union plays a moderating role in the relationship between HPWS and job quality,and HPWS has a stronger positive relationship with job quality in the union(vs.non-union)enterprise.(3)in manufacturing enterprises,capital intensity plays a moderating role in the relationship between HPWS and job quality.The positive relationship between HPWS and job quality is stronger in high(vs.low)capital intensive enterprise.(4)in manufacturing enterprises,the union and capital intensity play a joint moderating role in the relationship between HPWS and job quality.HPWS has a stronger positive relationship with job quality in the non-union(vs.union)and high(vs.low)capital intensive enterprise.The theoretical contributions of this study are as follows:(1)confirming the multidimensional construct type of job quality,and clarifying the definition for follow-up studies.(2)developing the Chinese situation job quality scale,which lays the measurement foundation for the follow-up research.(3)identifying the special dimension "the relationship between the employee and the organization",which perfects the scale of job quality.(4)validating the influence of HPWS on job quality,and enriches the antecedent variables of job quality.(5)identifying the contingency effects of the union and capital intensity,and defining the functional boundary between HPWS and job quality.(6)identifying the joint moderating effect of the union and capital intensity on HPWS and job quality,which enriches the three interactive empirical studies.The management implications of this study are as follows:(1)providing reference for enterprises to improve job quality of employees.(2)advising the enterprise on the adoption and implementation of HPWS.When enterprises adopt and implement HPWS,they shouldcombine their own external and internal conditions,such as capital intensity,whether there being a trade union,etc. |
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