Human resource management and performance: a review and research agenda

There is a growing body of evidence supporting an association between what are termed high performance or high commitment human resource management (HRM) practices and various measures of organizational performance. However, it is not clear why this association exists. This paper argues that to provide a convincing explanation of this association we need to improve our theoretical and analytic frameworks in three key areas. These are the nature of HRM, and especially the rationale for the specific lists of HR practices; the nature of organizational performance; and the linkage between HRM and performance. A model is presented within which to explore these linkages. The existing literature on HRM and performance is reviewed in the light of this analysis to identify key gaps in knowledge and help to focus further the research priorities.