| Customer Segmentation and High Performance Work Practices: Segment Strategies, Human Resource Practices, and Performance in Insurance |
| Presenter | Keltner, Brent | Rand Corporation | keltner@rand.org | (310) 393-0411 |
| | Drawing on studies of the insurance, banking, and telecommunications industries, this symposium offers empirical evidence of the performance effects of systematically linking business strategies to human resource strategies in service organizations. The three industry papers test universalistic versus contingency models and build on multi-year studies that include a rich combination of qualitative field research and empirical analysis of survey data matched to objective performance data at the establishment or employee-levels.
The first paper explores the performance outcomes of HR strategies in different customer segments within a single multi-unit insurance company. Based on a survey of 1,200 employees matched to objective data, the paper finds that better performance is contingent upon distinct HR practices which vary across customer segments. The second paper examines the effects of two high-involvement approaches to organizing work in 135 retail banking establishments: worker discretion and worker flexibility. While both discretion and flexibility have positive effects, their effects on performance in conjunction with one another are significant and negative, suggesting important trade-offs. The third paper analyses the performance outcomes of alternative approaches to work organization, information technology, and HR practices in residential call centers in telecommunications. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of 150 call centers, it finds that high involvement practices are contingent on business strategy: they reduce labor productivity in centers targeting simple service orders, but the interactive effect of service bundling and high involvement practices significantly raises sales growth.
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| | Keywords: Strategic HR management; High-performance systems; Service management |
| What Makes a High-Performance Workplace? Evidence from Retail Bank Branches |
| Presenter | Hunter, Larry W. | U. of Pennsylvania | hunterl@wharton.upenn.edu | 215-898-5739 |
| | Drawing on studies of the insurance, banking, and telecommunications industries, this symposium offers empirical evidence of the performance effects of systematically linking business strategies to human resource strategies in service organizations. The three industry papers test universalistic versus contingency models and build on multi-year studies that include a rich combination of qualitative field research and empirical analysis of survey data matched to objective performance data at the establishment or employee-levels.
The first paper explores the performance outcomes of HR strategies in different customer segments within a single multi-unit insurance company. Based on a survey of 1,200 employees matched to objective data, the paper finds that better performance is contingent upon distinct HR practices which vary across customer segments. The second paper examines the effects of two high-involvement approaches to organizing work in 135 retail banking establishments: worker discretion and worker flexibility. While both discretion and flexibility have positive effects, their effects on performance in conjunction with one another are significant and negative, suggesting important trade-offs. The third paper analyses the performance outcomes of alternative approaches to work organization, information technology, and HR practices in residential call centers in telecommunications. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of 150 call centers, it finds that high involvement practices are contingent on business strategy: they reduce labor productivity in centers targeting simple service orders, but the interactive effect of service bundling and high involvement practices significantly raises sales growth.
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| | Keywords: Strategic HR management; High-performance systems; Service management |
| Determinants of Performance in Telecommunications Customer Service and Sales |
| Presenter | Batt, Rosemary | Cornell U. | rb41@cornell.edu | (607)-254-4437 |
| | Drawing on studies of the insurance, banking, and telecommunications industries, this symposium offers empirical evidence of the performance effects of systematically linking business strategies to human resource strategies in service organizations. The three industry papers test universalistic versus contingency models and build on multi-year studies that include a rich combination of qualitative field research and empirical analysis of survey data matched to objective performance data at the establishment or employee-levels.
The first paper explores the performance outcomes of HR strategies in different customer segments within a single multi-unit insurance company. Based on a survey of 1,200 employees matched to objective data, the paper finds that better performance is contingent upon distinct HR practices which vary across customer segments. The second paper examines the effects of two high-involvement approaches to organizing work in 135 retail banking establishments: worker discretion and worker flexibility. While both discretion and flexibility have positive effects, their effects on performance in conjunction with one another are significant and negative, suggesting important trade-offs. The third paper analyses the performance outcomes of alternative approaches to work organization, information technology, and HR practices in residential call centers in telecommunications. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of 150 call centers, it finds that high involvement practices are contingent on business strategy: they reduce labor productivity in centers targeting simple service orders, but the interactive effect of service bundling and high involvement practices significantly raises sales growth.
|
| | Keywords: Strategic HR management; High-performance systems; Service management |