High performance work system (HPWS) and employee performance:Evidence from the Multinational subsidiaries in Bangladesh

Despite the growing body of research examining the impact of high-performance work system (HPWS) and organisational performance, it is still unclear how HPWS practices result in desirable individual level employee performance, especially in the South Asian context. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to fill the existing gap by empirically examining the relationship between high performance work system (HPWS) and employees’ performance, exploring the mediating role of employees’ attitudes and the moderating role of institutional context in a high-tech multinational corporation’s multinational corporations (MNCs) in Bangladesh. The study developed a conceptual model based on the knowledge gap in the existing literature. The study has adopted a mixed method research approach to answer the research question, where a quantitative phase was followed by a qualitative phase. In the quantitative phase of the study, the conceptual model is tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) with the help of the IBM SPSS software version 21. The survey was comprised of 320 employee-level data sets from three selected telecom organisations operating in Bangladesh. The qualitative phase of the study was used to verify quantitative findings and provide insights that were difficult to gain by surveys alone. The qualitative phase of the research examines the manager’s perception of HPWS in the studied organisation based on a sample size of 9 semistructured interviews. The interview data were analysed through thematic analysis. Consistent with the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) theory, the findings support that utilization of HPWS is related to enhanced levels of employee attitudes such as job satisfaction, affective commitment and trust in management. Furthermore, these attitudinal variables were positively linked to enhanced employees’ performance. The study also provides insights by demonstrating that the institutional contexts of a country negatively moderate the relationship between HPWS and employees’ performance. The findings suggest that high tech telecom organisations operating in Bangladesh need to devote substantial resources to adapt HPWS to enhance employees’ positive attitudes, which in turn will positively impact employees’ performance. Equal importance should be given to the institutional context of a country while executing HPWS because such processes encourage fair procedures and result in positive employees’ performance