The relationships between Human Resource Management practices and perceptions of organizational performance based on 1996--1997 National Organizations Survey (NOS) data

The purpose of this research was to enhance understanding of different Human Resource Management (HRM) aspects and the impact of HRM on organizational performance. This study evaluated the relationship between selected HRM practices and perceptual measures of organizational performance, and tested the effect of synergies among HRM practices on perceived performance. The data from the National Organizational Survey (NOS), 1996–1997 were utilized for the multiple regression analysis. Seven HRM practices: staffing, training, job enrichment, group incentive, grievance procedure, internal labor market and vertical hierarchy were structured from the data. The synergy of HRM practices was tested by the interactions of training and staffing as well as the interaction of job enrichment and staffing. The universalistic and configurational perspectives were utilized as conceptual framework for this study and the research hypotheses were formed from the two perspectives.; The results of this study provided relatively strong support for a universalistic perspective and some support for the configurational perspective. Job enrichment and vertical hierarchy had relatively strong universalistic relationships with perceived organizational performance, while staffing and training had strong universalistic relationships with perceived market performance. The interaction of job enrichment and staffing had a positive impact on perceived organizational performance, while the interaction of training and staffing had a positive impact on perceived market performance. The positive results of the impact of interactions on performance provided preliminary empirical evidence that the synergy of HRM influences performance, supporting the configurational perspective.; The results of this study have several important implications for performance improvement in organizations. Since staffing is a critical HRM practice, organizations should concentrate on perfecting staffing practices. Also, organizations should provide more training programs, job rotations, and cross-functional training opportunities to enhance employees' skills and abilities. The organization structure should be designed in line with the characteristics of the organization's strategy, product and market. While providing internal labor market for existing employees, organizations should consider hiring new employees with fresh ideas, new skills and new perspectives from outside of the company, the industry, or even the business domain.