The Diffusion of High Performance Work Systems in Unions

Abstract

Unions, like other service industry employers, are uniquely dependent on the performance of their human resources to ensure organizational success. Unions have much to gain from adopting a more strategic focus in managing their vital human talent. In this paper, I examine both internal characteristics and external environmental factors and formulate propositions to predict their impact on the adoption of high performance work systems (HPWS) by labor unions.With regard to the external environment, I hypothesized that industry complexity and munificence would be positively related to HPWS while industry dynamism would be negatively related to HPWS. Unions representing organizations that utilize HPWS and that have nonadversarial relationships are expected to be more likely to adopt HPWS. With regard to the internal environment, general organizational characteristics of union size, professionalism of the workforce, and staff unionism are expected to be positively related to HPWS. Characteristics unique to unions including public sector membership, professional membership, union financial health, stability of the revenue stream, and decentralization of authority are expected to be positively related to HPWS. Unions with a business unionism philosophy are expected to have higher levels of HPWS than other forms of unionism. Finally, certain characteristics of union leadership were proposed to be of importance in determining HPWS, with union leadership valuing human resources and organizational goal attainment, staff experience outside the union movement, and education and training levels all leading to greater levels of HPWS.