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Can We Speak Of A High Commitment Management On The Shop Floor?

Author

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  • Stephen Wood
  • Maria Teresa Albanese

Abstract

The Commitment model à la Walton has been a key element in conceptions of human resource management (HRM). Is there though any evidence of its application to production workers? Drawing on the HRM literature the authors first develop some measures of practices which might be thought to contribute to high commitment management (HCM). Having acquired data on the extent to which organizations adopt these practices the authors then, using latent variable analysis, assess whether there is a common structure underlying it which represents some kind of HCM‐type approach to labour. In so doing they develop a construct to measure HCM relevant to manual workers. Basing the analysis on data from a representative sample of manufacturing plants in the UK, they conclude that HCM is being practised, albeit to a very varying degree. The research also reveals a growth in the use of HCM practices between 1986 and 1990, and that this has been mainly in practices already popular in 1986; hence the increased use of HCM has been more in plants for whom it was relatively insignificant in 1986, rather than a further heightening of its significance in plants for which it was important before. Using multiple regression analysis, the authors are also able to show that organizational factors rather than factors exogenous to the organization are significantly related to both the level of HCM, and its rate of change between 1986 and 1990. of overwhelming importance is the extent of the strategic integration of personnel management. the authors draw out the relevance of the study for the wider debate about HRM. In particular the results add some support for Walton's and Guest's universalistic theories of HCM, as opposed to what have been called matching or contingency theories of HCM, according to which it is only likely to be found in specific contexts where, for example, high quality is important for competitive advantage.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Wood & Maria Teresa Albanese, 1995. "Can We Speak Of A High Commitment Management On The Shop Floor?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 215-247, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:32:y:1995:i:2:p:215-247
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.1995.tb00341.x
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Machin, Stephen & Wood, Stephen, 2004. "Looking for HRM/union substitution: evidence from British workplaces," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19999, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Bayo-Moriones, Alberto & Merino-Diaz de Cerio, Javier, 2001. "Quality management and high performance work practices: Do they coexist?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(3), pages 251-259, October.
    3. Latorre, Felisa & Guest, David & Ramos, José & Gracia, Francisco J., 2016. "High commitment HR practices, the employment relationship and job performance: A test of a mediation model," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 328-337.
    4. John Godard & John T. Delaney, 2000. "Reflections on the “High Performance†Paradigm's Implications for Industrial Relations as a Field," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(3), pages 482-502, April.
    5. Stephen Machin & Stephen Wood, 2005. "Human Resource Management as a Substitute for Trade Unions in British Workplaces," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 58(2), pages 201-218, January.
    6. Escrig-Tena, Ana B. & Segarra-Ciprés, Mercedes & García-Juan, Beatriz & Beltrán-Martín, Inmaculada, 2018. "The impact of hard and soft quality management and proactive behaviour in determining innovation performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 1-14.
    7. John Storey & Alan Harrison, 1999. "Coping with World Class Manufacturing," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 13(4), pages 643-664, December.
    8. Bill Harley, 1999. "The Myth of Empowerment: Work Organisation, Hierarchy and Employee Autonomy in Contemporary Australian Workplaces," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 13(1), pages 41-66, March.
    9. Pereira, Vijay & Giudice, Manlio Del & Malik, Ashish & Tarba, Shlomo & Temouri, Yama & Budhwar, Pawan & Patnaik, Swetketu, 2021. "A longitudinal investigation into multilevel agile & ambidextrous strategic dualities in an information technology high performing EMNE," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    10. repec:bla:scotjp:v:47:y:2000:i:3:p:251-72 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Alex Bryson & Stephen J Wood, 2008. "The Rise of High Involvement Management in Britain," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 321, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    12. Slawomir Jarka & Maciej Rucinski, 2015. "Culture as a Moderator in High Commitment Management: Affective Commitment Link," Management, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 10(3), pages 235-254.
    13. Bruining, J. & Boselie, J.P.P.E.F. & Wright, D.M. & Bacon, N., 2004. "The Impact of Business Ownership Change on Employee Relations: Buy-outs in the UK and the Netherlands," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2004-021-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    14. Fernando Mart¡n Alc zar & Pedro Miguel Romero Fern ndez & Gonzalo S nchez Gardey, 2005. "Researching on SHRM: An Analysis of the Debate over the Role Played by Human Resources in Firm Success," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 16(2), pages 213-241.

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