High Performance Work Systems, Entrepreneurial Orientation And Entrepreneurial Performance Relationship Study

In recent years there have been regular appeals to scholars for more researches at the intersection of the human resource management and entrepreneurship fields. High-performance work system (HPWS) was a main concept in the field of strategic human resource management. The relationship among HPWS, entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and entrepreneurial performance (EP) in the entrepreneurship field was rarely discussed. So the main purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship among enterprise's HPWS, EO and EP in the context of China and to analyze the effect mechanism among the different factors included in these three variables. Meanwhile, the research implications for enterprise management in Chinese context were elaborated.The whole res(?)arch process included two stages: the first stage covered the semi-structural interview and case study, the purpose of which was to examine the HPWS and EO in different companies in a qualitative way, and then was to test the theoretical hypotheses and lay a foundation for the subsequent quantitative study. The second stage included a questionnaire survey and consequent statistic analysis. 186 enterprises operating in China were surveyed through research questionnaires, in a purpose of examining the relationship among HPWS, EO and EP. Most of the original hypotheses were supported with the details as follows:1. HPWS had a significantly positive effect on EO. The factors 'a focus on training', 'employee empowerment' and 'performance-base pay' of HPWS had significantly positive effects on the factors 'innovativeness' and 'proactiveness' of EO, but they did not have effects on 'risk-taking'. The factor 'selective staffing' did not have an effect on EO.2. The factors 'innovativeness' and 'proactiveness' of EO had significantly positive effects on EP, but the positive effect of the factor 'risk-taking' on EP was not supported.3. HPWS had a significantly positive effect on EP. As for the factors 'financial performance' and 'growth performance' of EP, the effect of HPWS on financial performance was fully through the factors 'innovativeness' and 'proactiveness' of EO, and the effect of HPWS on growth performance was partially through the factors 'innovativeness' and 'proactiveness' of EO.4. The moderating effect of environmental dynamism on the relationship between HPWS and EP was not supported.5. The 'selective staffing' and 'a focus on training' were different at different development stages of enterprises. Compare with the ones in the enterprises which did not have their own HR departments, the 'selective staffing', 'a focus on training' and 'employee empowerment' were different in the enterprises which had their own HR departments. The HPWS was not significantly different among the enterprises under different ownership and industry.6. The 'innovativeness' and 'proactiveness' were different at different development stages of enterprises. The EO was not significantly different among the enterprises under different ownership and industry.