The Effects of High Performance Work Systems on International Governmental Organizations: A Study of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Headquarters

ii In the last three decades, a growing body of research has suggested that using a mix or system of human resources management (HRM) practices can lead to superior organizational performance. These practices (such as selective recruitment and hiring procedures, performance-based compensation systems, employee participation, and training and development) have been referred to as high performance work systems (HPWS) and originated from the study of strategic human resource management (SHRM), where researchers have examined the impact of these systems on organizational performance outcomes. The relationship between HRM and organizational performance has received increasing interest from scholars and practitioners in the field of public administration. Scholars strive to identify the effects of HRM practices on organizational performance based on the notion that these practices will lead to enhanced attitudinal outcomes, such as organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and motivation, which will have positive impacts on organizational performance. This study contributes to further our understanding of the impact of management on performance in public organizations through empirical evidence drawn from theories of HRM. The growing interest among scholars in understanding the effects of management on performance presumes that the adoption of best practices will lead to improvements in organizational performance. The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to examine the effects of HPWS practices on individual worker attitudes in international governmental organizations (IGOs) by reporting the results of a staff survey and follow-up interviews conducted on a cross