ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews empirical research exploring alternative explanations for the HR strategy-performance link and seeking to identify key moderators of the relationship. Human Resource (HR) researchers have long had an interest in elucidating the impact of specific HR practices on individual-level outcomes such as turnover and job satisfaction. Key early studies include those of McEvoy and Cascio, who demonstrated that job enrichment and realistic job previews be effective in reducing turnover, and Hackman and Oldham, who showed that redesigned work systems can enhance job satisfaction and employee motivation. The resource-based theory of the firm explains the impact of HR strategy on performance on the basis of human capital. Building on the critical mediating role of turnover and human capital, Nyberg and Ployhart proposed the Context-Emergent Turnover (CET) theory, suggesting that HR policies and practices interact with surrounding organizational conditions to influence the timing and nature of knowledge/skill/ability depletion at the unit or organizational levels.
