The reality of flexible work systems in Britain

Abstract

Recent literature on human resource systems is predominantly focused on their links with performance. In contrast, this study steps back from this vogue and addresses the conceptualization and measurement of human resource systems and examines the nature of the collective use of human resource practices in Britain. Drawing on Bailey's (1993) three dimensions of ‘high performance work systems’, this paper uses data from Britain's Workplace Employee Relations Survey of 1998 on a full range of human resource practices to examine whether a managerial orientation underlies the triad, and any association that may exist between them and total quality management (TQM). Managerial orientations are unveiled via latent variable analyses and similarities in the adoption of human resource practices are addressed via cluster analyses. The results suggest the presence of managerial orientations that are centred on high involvement and are either integrated or associated with TQM. Although clusters suggest some similarity in the use of Bailey's motivational practices, this reflects neither managerial orientations nor high involvement management.

Keywords:

• Flexible work systems
• human resource management
• high involvement management
• total quality management
• latent variable analysis, cluster analysis

Acknowledgements

The United Kingdom's Economic and Social Research Council funded this research (Grant number R000238112). The empirical research is based on data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS98), a survey that is jointly sponsored by the UK's Department of Trade and Industry, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, the Economic and Social Research Council, and the Policy Studies Institute. The National Centre for Social Research was commissioned to conduct the survey fieldwork on behalf of the sponsors. WERS98 is deposited at the Data Archive at the University of Essex, UK. Neither the sponsors nor the Data Archive has any responsibility for the analysis or interpretation of the material contained in this paper. The authors thank Ana Lasaosa for her contribution to the initial analysis on which this paper is based.

Notes

1 A combined version, for smaller sample sizes, of TWOMISS and LATCLAS is used in Bartholomew et al. (2002). It can be obtained through the Chapman and Hall website at www.crc.press.com/us/ElectronicProducts/downandup.asp

2 We also checked whether the several training items in WERS98 would form a single factor, but results were unsatisfactory.