Yanqing Lai

Human resource practices, employee attitudes and small firm performance

This article uses the matched employee–employer dataset from the Workplace Employment Relations Study of 2011 (WERS2011) in Britain to empirically examine the direct relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) performance in the United Kingdom, as well as the potential moderating effect of organisational commitment/job satisfaction on the HRM-performance linkage. We find a positive and direct relationship between the use of certain formalised human resource (HR) practices and SME performance, measured by financial performance and labour productivity. More importantly, we find that the positive relationship between HR practices and financial performance varies between SMEs with high job satisfaction and low job satisfaction, and that the relationship is weakened in SMEs with high job satisfaction. The results suggest that certain HR policies and practices may improve small firm performance, especially within firms with low levels of commitment and satisfaction.

Does workplace partnership deliver mutual gains at work

This article uses a large matched employer–employee dataset to assess the outcomes of workplace partnership for British firms and workers, and the HR practices associated with ‘mutual gains’. The findings suggest that HR practices which promote employee voice and participation can deliver mutual gains for both employees and employers, but that it is the combination of direct and indirect participation which appears to be most useful in generating superior outcomes for all stakeholders. However, some practices such as high levels of job flexibility and team briefing procedures are found to be negatively associated with work-related attitudes and/or organizational performance.

Exploring the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment : an instrumental variable approach

Abstract The possible role of job satisfaction (JS) on organizational commitment (OC) has been a very important and hotly debated topic among experts. However, existing studies have yielded mixed results potentially due to utilization of small datasets, different methodological designs, estimation techniques that do not control for potential endogeneity between the variables, or a combination of these issues. Using a large matched employer-employee data-set from Britain (WERS2011), we find that increases in employees’ JS positively influence OC. We also show that this relationship holds when an instrumental variable framework (IV ordered probit/IV probit) is adopted to take into account the potential endogeneity of JS. However, throughout the analysis, the IV estimates are smaller in magnitude in comparison to where JS is considered as an exogenous variable. Moreover, utilising a two-stage probit least square (2SPLS) estimator, we support our previous findings i.e. increased JS is likely to lead to enhanced OC, but we also show that greater OC leads to higher levels of JS suggesting that JS and OC are likely to be reciprocally related. Overall, the IV estimates confirm the importance of addressing the endogeneity issue in the analysis of the relationship between JS and OC.

Actual and Intended Growth in Family Firms and Non-Family Owned Firm: Are They Different?

Purpose Drawing on the motivation theory and family business literature, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of family effect in growth behaviour of small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK. Design/methodology/approach The authors first compare the actual and expected growth of family and non-family-owned SMEs. The authors then compare the growth behaviour of small family firms managed by owner-directors and small family businesses co-managed by family and non-family directors with the non-family-owned SMEs. Findings The authors find a negative effect of family ownership on actual and intended small business growth behaviours. In addition, the findings also suggest that small family firms co-managed by non-family and family directors are no different from non-family-owned firms, in terms of reporting past actual growth in employment size and turnover as well as expecting growth in workforce size and turnover. The authors also observe a significant difference in anticipating sales growth between family-controlled and non-family-controlled firms. However, this difference is not explained by the heterogeneity of a top management team. Practical implications The study has important implications for managerial practice to family firms and on policies that improve the growth of SMEs. Specifically, the competence of managers and decision makers matters considerably in evaluating the efficient operation of the business and maximising the economic growth in SMEs. Originality/value The study makes two important theoretical contributions to small business growth literature. First, the findings underline a negative family effect in the actual and expected growth behaviour of SMEs. Second, the mode of family ownership alone may not sufficiently capture family effect and offer a thorough understanding of growth behaviour in SMEs.

Employee attitudes, HR practices and organizational performance: what’s the evidence?

Employee attitude constitutes an important factor of the organizational performance process. In particular, organizational commitment and job satisfaction are the two important employee attitudes that have been commonly studied and empirically assessed in the organizational behaviour and labour economics literature. This literature suggests that positive employee attitudes, such as higher levels of organizational commitment and job satisfaction, are associated with higher levels of financial performance, labour productivity and other related organizational outcomes (e.g. Porter et al., 1974; Mathieu and Zajac, 1990; Ostroff, 1992; Hackett et al., 1994; Swailes, 2002; Schneider et al., 2003; Luchak and Gellatly, 2007; Brown et al., 2010; Suliman and Al-Junaibi, 2010). Hence, it is important to researchers, policy makers and business owners and managers to analyse and implement appropriate human resource (HR) strategies that enhance employee attitudes and workplace perceptions which in turn improve organizational performance. In this chapter we provide an analysis of this literature and highlight the key contributions and debates that emerge from studying the relationship between employee attitudes, HR practices and organizational performance (e.g. Becker et al., 1997; Purcell et al., 2003; Wright and Nishii, 2006). Looking at employee attitudes, organizational commitment is critical to organizational performance since it reflects employees’ supportive attitudes towards the organization (e.g. Baotham et al., 2010; Zeinabadi, 2010).