High involvement work programs (HIWP) measurement model validation and its capacity to predict perceived performance

Abstract

Purpose: one of the objectives of the work is the validation of a measurement model of the HIWP (High Involvement Work programs) based on Lawler (1986) questionnaire. Our proposal presents a second order composite construct for HIWP, in which the four first-order constructs that characterize the model (Communication, Training, Compensation and Participation) are composite constructs. After addressing the validation of the measurement model, it is also checked the structure model to assess the predictive ability of HIWP on perceived performance in three different samples from different countries

Design/methodology/approach: To validate the model based on composites, partial least squares (PLS-SEM) was used. Data were obtained by researchers who developed the official versions of the questionnaire in English and Castilian

Findings: Overall, this study contributes to the debate on the relationship HIWP-results, pointing to a possible predictive capacity of Lawler’s HIWP model on perceived performance. Our study confirms significant (although low) relationship between the use of HIWP and performance. But nevertheless, part of measurement model has not been fully validated and should be confirmed in future research.

Research limitations/implications: First, our data come from studies of more than 15 years ago, but to test measurement models, the date of the data is not a significant limitation because we analyzed the relationship between the constructs and were not interested in describing the state of evolution of these practices, but how to measure this relationship. Moreover, we only have data from large companies in both countries so we can not generalize the findings to other contexts.

Originality/value: The findings are important for practitioners and researchers because quantifies the relationship between the use of HIWP and performance in two countries with important cultural differences, and also identifies practices that contribute most to this positive relationship.