Abstract
Using a unique international data set from a 1989–90 survey of 62 automotive assembly plants, the author tests two hypotheses: that innovative HR practices affect performance not individually but as interrelated elements in an internally consistent HR “bundle” or system; and that these HR bundles contribute most to assembly plant productivity and quality when they are integrated with manufacturing policies under the “organizational logic” of a flexible production system. Analysis of the survey data, which tests three indices representing distinct bundles of human resource and manufacturing practices, supports both hypotheses. Flexible production plants with team-based work systems, “high-commitment” HR practices (such as contingent compensation and extensive training), and low inventory and repair buffers consistently outperformed mass production plants. Variables capturing two-way and three-way interactions among the bundles of practices are even better predictors of performance, supporting the integration hypothesis.
Keywords
Automotive industryProduction (economics)ProductivityBundleOrganizational structureBusinessSurvey data collectionSet (abstract data type)Computer scienceOperations managementKnowledge managementManufacturing engineeringProcess managementEngineeringMathematicsManagementEconomics
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1995
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 197-221
- Citations
- 3692
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
John Paul MacDuffie
(1995).
Human Resource Bundles and Manufacturing Performance: Organizational Logic and Flexible Production Systems in the World Auto Industry.
Industrial and Labor Relations Review
, 48
(2)
, 197-221.
https://doi.org/10.1177/001979399504800201
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1177/001979399504800201