Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of high-performance work systems (HPWS) on organizational performance through the mediating role of human resources (HR) flexibility (expressed by functional flexibility, skills malleability and behavioural flexibility).

Design/methodology/approach

The study examines theoretical relationships in the Greek context, which reflects changing economic and financial crisis, based on multilevel structural equation modelling estimation, using three waves of sample data collected in years 2014, 2016 and 2018 from organizations operating in the private sector.

Findings

The study finds that although HPWS positively influences all three HR flexibility dimensions, this positive effect is not transferred equally to organizational performance. The dominant effect on organizational performance is attributed to skills malleability, a smaller effect to behavioural flexibility and a negligible effect to functional flexibility.

Research limitations/implications

Although the data collected refer to three different years, most of the companies and individuals responded to sampling were different. As such, the study does not allow for dynamic causal inferences due to its quasi-longitudinal nature.

Practical implications

The findings of this study may influence managerial decisions in developing bundles of HPWS policies and practices in relation to HR flexibility attributes.

Originality/value

Since most studies consider HR flexibility as an aggregated construct, this study is possibly one of the very few studies that is examining the differential impact of the HR flexibility dimensions on organizational performance in turbulent times.

中文翻译：

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人力资源灵活性作为高绩效工作系统与组织绩效之间的中介机制：多层次准纵向研究

目的

本研究的目的是通过人力资源 (HR) 灵活性（由功能灵活性、技能延展性和行为灵活性表示）的中介作用来研究高绩效工作系统 (HPWS) 对组织绩效的影响。

设计/方法/方法

该研究使用在 2014 年、2016 年和 2018 年从私营部门运营的组织收集的三波样本数据，基于多层次结构方程模型估计，检验了反映不断变化的经济和金融危机的希腊背景下的理论关系。

发现

研究发现，尽管 HPWS 对所有三个 HR 灵活性维度都有积极影响，但这种积极影响并没有平等地转移到组织绩效上。对组织绩效的主要影响归因于技能的延展性，对行为灵活性的影响较小，对功能灵活性的影响可以忽略不计。

研究限制/影响

尽管收集的数据涉及三个不同的年份，但大多数公司和个人对抽样的反应是不同的。因此，由于其准纵向性质，该研究不允许动态因果推断。

实际影响

本研究的结果可能会影响制定与 HR 灵活性属性相关的 HPWS 政策和实践捆绑包的管理决策。

原创性/价值

由于大多数研究都将人力资源灵活性视为一个综合结构，因此本研究可能是极少数研究动荡时期人力资源灵活性维度对组织绩效的不同影响的研究之一。