2000) “Scale of Operations, Human Resource Systems and Firm

Small and medium-sized firms are attracting considerable attention in East and Southeast Asia as they seem to be quite flexible and adaptive in seemingly ever more turbulent environments. The 1997 Asian financial crisis seemed to affect particular countries characterized by larger scale firms. Downsizing and restructuring is now underway in companies in many parts of Asia. Another mechanism by which firms might achieve greater flexibility is through the introduction of high performance work systems (HPWSs). This study assesses the impact of HPWSs on firm financial performance, examining in particular if smaller scale operations might be an alternative to HPWSs. Data used were collected in Thailand, Taiwan, and Korea. Results suggest HPWSs enhance firm performance regardless of firm size. The rapid economic growth that had been enjoyed throughout much of eastern Asian for twenty years or more was seen by many to be sustainable for years to come. But 1997 brought economic crisis from Korea to Indonesia. Those who questioned the long-term viability of the “Asian miracle ” (Krugman, 1994) seemed justified. What had been lauded as a fundamental cultural strength-a complex network of social relationships often rooted in Confucian values-was ruefully dismissed, at least in the West, as “crony capitalism. ” Although the financial crisis was widespread, there were pockets of resistance-economies that experienced reduced growth but continued to prosper. Taiwan and Singapore are two places that certainly fall into this category. There are many reasons forwarded to explain the resistance of these two economies to regional problems. Neither country suffered from current account deficits associated with massive debt elsewhere in the region. Taiwan’s huge cash reserves, for example, made it virtually immune from the speculative maneuvers of foreign exchange trader