Overview

Abstract (English)

The links between High Performance Work System (HPWS) practices and organizational performance have received considerable research attention as significant contributors to sustained competitive advantage. However, the processes that link HPWS practices and organizational performance are not fully understood. Using resource-based theory, this research focuses on training by separating it from other HPWS practices. The first purpose of my research is to examine the relationships between the HPWS practice of training, innovation, and organizational performance, and look at the mediating effect of innovation over time at the workplace level. The results indicate that the temporal pathway from training to innovation to organizational performance is positive and significant even after controlling for reverse-causality. Strategic activity is also explored and is found to be a significant moderator. This is an indication of the importance of aligning strategy with training, as well as other HPWS practices and innovation to achieve improved organizational performance outcomes. This study contributes to knowledge by identifying innovation as an important transmission mechanism between training (and other HPWS practices) and organizational performance, while allowing for business strategy contingencies. The second purpose of this research is to present an employee-level framework and to explore the factors that act to expand or limit the HPWS practice of training, with a focus on the outcomes of employers’ decisions to offer training, employees’ decisions to accept or decline training, and the job-related training received by employees. The results of this dissertation indicate that the employee-level factors: participating in HPWS practices, the use of technology, and using new iv technology are significant contributors to employers’ decisions to offer and employees’ receipt of training. Further, employees’ perception of the existence of a gap between the skills required for the job and their current skills contributes to employees accepting employer offers of training. The 2003-2006 Workplace and Employee Survey (WES) longitudinal dataset is used for the analyses.

Abstract (French)

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