The influence of the fit between strategic human resource management and CEO strategic leadership behaviours on organizational effectiveness in China

ABSTRACT

Strategic human resource management and strategic leadership are both important factors affecting organizational effectiveness. However, few studies have organically integrated their influences on organizational outcomes. Drawing on social information process theory, this study proposed a variety of relationships between high performance work system (HPWS) and CEO relationship-focused leadership behaviours on organizational outcomes including firm performance, organizational-level affective commitment and employee overall turnover rate (e.g. strengthening effect, weakening effect, and substitution effect). Based on a matched data from vice presidents, human resource managers and employees in 182 Chinese firms, this study found the above three relationships between HPWS and CEO relationship-focused leadership behaviours on organizational outcomes. Specifically, when HPWS and CEO relationship-focused leadership behaviours were both high, firm performance and organizational-level affective commitment were higher, and employee overall turnover rate was lower; the effects of HPWS on organizational outcomes would not be significant when CEO relationship-focused leadership behaviours was low; when HPWS was low but CEO relationship-focused leadership behaviours was high, employee overall turnover rate was highest. This study contributed to the understanding of the relationship between ‘system’ and ‘renqing’ in the context of Chinese enterprises, integrated the research on strategic leadership and strategic human resource management, and had important inferences for management practice.

KEYWORDS:

• High performance work system
• CEO relationship-focused leadership behaviours
• organizational effectiveness
• strategic fit

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge that the National Natural Science Foundation of China supported this study (71802106, 71832007, and 72132003).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yueyue Liu

Yueyue Liu is an Assistant Professor at Business School, Hohai University, P. R. China. She received her Ph.D. in Management from Nanjing University. Her primary research interests focus on strategic human resource management and corporate entrepreneurship. Her work has been appeared in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practices, Chinese Management Studies, and Frontiers in Psychology, among others.

Meng Xi

Meng Xi is an Assistant Professor at School of Business, Nanjing University, P.R. China. He received his Ph.D. in Management from Nanjing University, China. His primary research interests focus on strategic leadership, strategic human resource management, career success, corporate entrepreneurship. His work has been appeared in Journal of Organizational Behavior, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practices, ILR Review, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, Chinese Management Studies, among others.

Xu Zhang

Xu Zhang is a PhD student at School of Business, Nanjing University, P. R. China. Her primary research interests focus on consumer behavior and corporate entrepreneurship. Her work has been appeared in Chinese Management Studies, Frontiers in Psychology, among others.