High performance work organisations in theory and practice

There is a large amount of published research on work organisations that display the following traits: procedures for keeping employees informed, employee involvement in decision-making, flexible job structures, intensive training, and employment security. Most of that research tends to show that the presence of those traits is associated with better organisational performance. Most of the relevant research, however, has methodological flaws. For the purposes of this paper, the most important one is the fact that, because it is cross-sectional, it is impossible to identify the causal direction linking structure and performance. In this paper, I use a different methodological strategy. I re-examine the theory of so-called "high performance work organisations" using a set of firm and industry case studies. In light of this examination I suggest several theoretical modifications.