Designing High Performance Organizations
High performance organizations are defined as those organizations designed while taking in consideration the business situation or external environment, the business results, and the business strategy of the organization (Farias and Varma 50). High performance work system and organizational design has gained tremendous support in recent years. The rationale for this was identified by Farias and Varma as follows:
Highly turbulent and constantly changing environments
have challenged organizations to respond with
organization designs that enable sustained levels of
high performanceà. We have witnessed an increasing
amount of literature prescribing the use of high
performance work systems (HPWS) design principles û
prescriptions that are often embedded in glowing stories
In essence, high performance work systems are a response to environmental uncertainty. Kirkman, Lowe, and Young (3) state that the various models subsumed within this general construct typically include both structural changes such as team organization and process changes such as flexible manufacturing systems in the pursuit of higher levels of organizational performance.
While known by only one name, there are a variety of definitions associated with the concept. For example, Kirkman, Lowe and Young offer the following:
Clearly, existing definitions and approaches to the HIPO share some common ideas. Companies organize their workflow around key business processes and often create work teams within those processes. HIPO systems often include a number of human resource policies such as hiring, training, performance management, and compensation intended to enhance employee skills, knowledge, motivation, and flexibility. HIPOs also involve fewer levels of management and require new roles for managers that remain such as coaching, integrating, and facilitating. In practice, it appea...