Antecedents of high performance work practices in SMEs: an attention-based view

Abstract

Relative to the large body of work in the broader strategic HRM (SHRM) literature, knowledge about determinants of SMEs’ approaches to HRM remains limited. We argue that heterogeneity in the use of high performance work practices (HPWPs) is influenced by top managers’ exposure and attention to information obtained via environmental scanning. Invoking an attention-based view (ABV), we develop hypotheses suggesting that competition tracking, participation in trade associations, and social network embeddedness will be associated with greater use of HPWPs. We also propose direct and moderating roles for top managers’ perceptions of competitive intensity. We test our hypotheses using a database comprised of a combination of archival data and mail survey responses from 260 agricultural SMEs located in geographical clusters. Our results broadly support this study’s hypotheses and contribute to a better understanding of the role of top managers’ environmental scanning in the shaping of HPWPs in SMEs.

Keywords:

• HPWPs
• SMEs
• HRM systems
• antecedents
• competition
• attention-based view

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Brian Harney and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments during the review process. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Agencia Nacional de Investigación-AEI, and the European Regional Development Fund - ERDF/FEDER-UE: Projects PID2020-119663GB-I00 and UAL2020-SEJ-D1872.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, JMR, upon reasonable request.