The Impact of High Involvement Work Processes on Organizational Effectiveness

Using a second-order latent variable approach with 3,570 participants across 49 organizations, the current study examined the impact of high involvement work processes upon organizational effectiveness. Using a structural model of higher order influences, and taking into consideration mixed-level effects, the analyses supported a model in which a collection of organizational practices positively influenced high involvement work processes. In turn, the high involvement processes influenced organizational effectiveness (defined through return on equity ROE and turnover) both directly and indirectly through positive influence on employee morale. The implications of these findings for expanding this perspective of high involvement are presented as well as issues needing immediate attention in the research literature.