IMPROVING LABOR PRODUCTIVITY - HUMAN-RESOURCE MANAGEMENT POLICIES DO MATTER

Despite the consistency with which the theoretical and normative conne ctions between human resource management practices and firm-level perf ormance outcomes are made, empirical studies that link the two are spa rse. This paper presents results from a study of 319 business units th at addresses this gap. Hypotheses are derived from a resource-based pe rspective on strategy. Positive and significant effects on labor produ ctivity are found for organizations that utilize more sophisticated hu man resource planning, recruitment, and selection strategies. These ef fects are particularly pronounced in the case of capital-intensive org anizations.