PRODUCTIVITY, QUALITY AND HUMAN-RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE AUSTRALIANINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY

The broad aim of this paper is to examine the factors associated with quality and productivity for information technology (IT) companies in Australia. The analyses of our survey data found that high productivit y companies were characterized by particular human resource management (HRM) practices such as use of performance-related pay, success with performance appraisal for all employees and a policy of employment sec urity. The more efficient companies also subcontracted non-core activi ties to a greater extent and benefited from the successful use a quali ty techniques such as just-in-time and statistical process control. Th e second series of analyses found that high quality companies were cha racterized by HRM practices such as successful performance appraisal, performance-related pay and explicit employee welfare schemes. These c ompanies also used teams and linking or integration mechanisms more ex tensively, and their middle managers worked longer hours.