IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v54y2001i4p776-805.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

High Performance and the Transformation of Work? The Implications of Alternative Work Practices for the Experience and Outcomes of Work

Author

Listed:
  • John Godard

Abstract

Using data from a 1997 telephone survey of 508 employed Canadians, the author explores the implications for workers of alternative work practices (AWPs) associated with the high-performance model. There are three main findings. First, moderate levels of AWP adoption were associated with increased “belongingness,†empowerment, task involvement, and ultimately job satisfaction, esteem, commitment, and citizenship behavior. At higher levels of adoption, however, these associations declined in magnitude and even became negative. AWP adoption was also associated with more stressful work. Second, whereas traditional (that is, supervised) group or team systems represented a substantial improvement over individualized work arrangements, “lean†and “team†forms of work organization associated with the high-performance model did not. Third, although team-based work and information sharing had positive effects, team autonomy and responsibility for a good or service—both associated with the high-performance model—had negative effects, as did “Just-in-Time†(JIT) systems and re-engineering programs.

Suggested Citation

  • John Godard, 2001. "High Performance and the Transformation of Work? The Implications of Alternative Work Practices for the Experience and Outcomes of Work," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(4), pages 776-805, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:54:y:2001:i:4:p:776-805
    DOI: 10.1177/001979390105400402
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001979390105400402
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/001979390105400402?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maury Gittleman & Michael Horrigan & Mary Joyce, 1998. "“Flexible†Workplace Practices: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Survey," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 52(1), pages 99-115, October.
    2. Rosemary Batt & Eileen Appelbaum, 1995. "Worker Participation in Diverse Settings: Does the Form Affect the Outcome, and If So, Who Benefits?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 353-378, September.
    3. Batt, R. & Applebaum, E., 1995. "Worker Participation in Diverse Settings: Does the Form Affect the Outcome, and If So, Who Benefits?," Papers 95-06, Cornell - Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies.
    4. Ichniowski, Casey & Shaw, Kathryn & Prennushi, Giovanna, 1997. "The Effects of Human Resource Management Practices on Productivity: A Study of Steel Finishing Lines," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 291-313, June.
    5. Richard B. Freeman, 2000. "Single Peaked Vs. Diversified Capitalism: The Relation Between Economic Institutions and Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 7556, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jed Devaro & Fidan Ana Kurtulus, 2011. "What types of organizations benefit from teams, and how do they benefit?," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2011-16, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    2. Heywood, John S. & Jirjahn, Uwe & Wei, Xiangdong, 2008. "Teamwork, monitoring and absence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(3-4), pages 676-690, December.
    3. 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.
    4. Cabrera, Elizabeth F., 2001. "La participación de los empleados en España: ¿cuánto, cómo y en qué participan?," DEE - Documentos de Trabajo. Economía de la Empresa. DB db010302, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.
    5. repec:cte:wbrepe:6523 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Paul Osterman, 2000. "Work Reorganization in an Era of Restructuring: Trends in Diffusion and Effects on Employee Welfare," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(2), pages 179-196, January.
    7. Jaime Ortega, 2001. "Job Rotation as a Learning Mechanism," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(10), pages 1361-1370, October.
    8. Michael J. Handel & Maury Gittleman, 1999. "Is There a Wage Payoff to Innovative Work Practices?," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_288, Levy Economics Institute.
    9. Lin, Meizhen & Wu, Xiaoyi & Ling, Qian, 2017. "Assessing the effectiveness of empowerment on service quality: A multi-level study of Chinese tourism firms," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 411-425.
    10. Michael Waldman, 2012. "Theory and Evidence in Internal LaborMarkets [The Handbook of Organizational Economics]," Introductory Chapters,, Princeton University Press.
    11. Patel, Charmi & Budhwar, Pawan & Varma, Arup, 2012. "Overall justice, work group identification and work outcomes: Test of moderated mediation process," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 213-222.
    12. Bill Harley, 2001. "Team Membership and the Experience of Work in Britain: An Analysis of the WERS98 Data," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 15(4), pages 721-742, December.
    13. Richard Anderson-Connolly & Leon Grunberg & Edward S. Greenberg & Sarah Moore, 2002. "Is Lean Mean?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 16(3), pages 389-413, September.
    14. Teodora V. FĂRCAȘ & Adriana TIRON-TUDOR, 2014. "Intercultural Partnership For Sustainable Development In Enterprises From Romania," SEA - Practical Application of Science, Romanian Foundation for Business Intelligence, Editorial Department, issue 3, pages 192-197, April.
    15. repec:lan:wpaper:3619 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. George Kandathil & Jerome Joseph, 2019. "Normative Underpinnings of Direct Employee Participation Studies and Implications for Developing Ethical Reflexivity: A Multidisciplinary Review," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 685-697, July.
    17. Zwick, Thomas & Wolf, Elke, 2002. "Reassessing the Impact of High Performance Workplaces," ZEW Discussion Papers 02-07, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    18. Bauer, Thomas K. & Bender, Stefan, 2001. "Flexible Work Systems and the Structure of Wages: Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data," IZA Discussion Papers 353, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. José Alberto Bayo Moriones & Pedro Javier Gailea Salvatierra & Javier Merino Díaz de Cerio, 2002. "Participation, Cooperatives And Performance: An Analysis Of Spanish Manufacturing Firms," Documentos de Trabajo - Lan Gaiak Departamento de Economía - Universidad Pública de Navarra 0201, Departamento de Economía - Universidad Pública de Navarra.
    20. Jaren Haber, 2016. "Institutionalized Involvement: Teams and Stress in 1990s U.S. Steel," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 632-661, October.
    21. Jeffrey B. Arthur, 2011. "Do HR System Characteristics Affect the Frequency of Interpersonal Deviance in Organizations? The Role of Team Autonomy and Internal Labor Market Practices," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 30-56, January.
    22. Eileen Appelbaum & Larry W. Hunter, 2004. "Union Participation in Strategic Decisions of Corporations," NBER Chapters, in: Emerging Labor Market Institutions for the Twenty-First Century, pages 265-291, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:54:y:2001:i:4:p:776-805. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.