High-commitment management

The founders or transformational chief executives design high-commitment management firms to achieve sustained high levels of commitment from employees. The application of high-commitment management in firms today originated from an alignment of the employees and the firm's missions.{{cite book|last=Beer|first=Michael|title=High Commitment, High Performance|year=2009|publisher=Jossey-Bass|location=San Francisco}}

Certain sociologists attribute this congruence as a product of performance and psychological collaboration between the firm and its employees. Since its initial development, high-commitment management has been driven by self-regulated behavior and performance-driven group dynamics.Foote, Nathaniel. "High Commitment, High-Performance Management" HBS Working Knowledge. Harvard Business School, 10 August 2009. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. . Contrary to top-down leadership practices, high-commitment management took form as leaders engaged and listened to people, allowing ideas from different levels of the organization to push the firm forward.

In a study of workplace illumination at the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company, Elton Mayo, a sociologist from Harvard Business School, concluded that when the organization established experimental work groups, "the individuals became a team, and the team gave itself wholeheartedly and spontaneously to cooperation."Mayo, Elton 1984 [1949]. ― Hawthorne and the Western Electric Company.‖ Pp. 279-292 in Organization Theory: Selected Readings. Second Edition. Edited by D.S. Pugh. New York: Penguin. Through a natural system{{Cite journal |last=Assbeihat |first=Jamal |title=The Impact of Collaboration among Members on Team's Performance |journal=Management and Administrative Science Review}} of collaboration, the teams became responsible for their work and managing their group. Mayo's research uncovered that teams, under their direction, developed a capacity for self-motivated learning and change.Mayo, Elton 1984 [1949]. ―Hawthorne and the Western Electric Company.‖ Pp. 279-292 in Organization Theory: Selected Readings. Second Edition. Edited by D.S. Pugh. New York: Penguin. This concept of designing the work system with full employee participation was a breakthrough for organizations during the 1990s. During this time, employees closest to the product and customer began to acquire greater decision-making power and capabilities.Hunter, Larry W., and Lorin M. Hitt. "What Makes a Committed Workplace?" Wharton Business School. University of Pennsylvania, 24 July 2002. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. .

The Hawthorne Experiments sought to determine a correlation between light levels and productivity. Researchers divided employees into teams of six and interviewed individuals to assess the effect of lighting. Mayo discovered that the interview program established by the study naturally instilled a sense of higher purpose in the employees. Exposure of employee thoughts and concerns to managers was a fundamental aspect of the relationship between managers and employees. Evidently, by having the ability to speak with their managers, employees at Western Electric exhibited a dramatic improvement in their attitudes toward work.Mifflin, Jeffrey. "Western Electric Company. Hawthorne Studies Collection, 1924-1961 (inclusive): A Finding Aid." Western Electric Company. Hawthorne Studies Collection, 1924-1961 (inclusive): A Finding Aid. Harvard Business School, 04 Jan. 1998. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. . Essential to a highly committed workforce, the interview program was formally developed, and cooperation with management was sustained.

The Hawthorne experiment further highlighted that teams working without coercion from higher-ups or limitations from below could exceed even their expectations. Sociologist Fritz Roethlisberger argued that this informal organization left the team responsible for addressing the myriad problems that continuously arise. Roethlisberger observed that studying the dynamics of informal groups, human interactions, and collaboration has the potential to determine how teams face problems on their own.Roethlisberger, Fritz J. and William J. Dickson. 1981 [1939]. ―Human Relations.‖ Pp. 67-83 in The Sociology of Organizations: Basic Studies. Second Edition. Edited by O. Grusky and G. A. Miller. New York: Free Press. Together, the individuals in the team strive to improve processes by adapting to different demands and learning from each other.

In the 1970s, modern Japanese management in the automobile industry began to place significant emphasis on cross-training. Sociologists studied how Japanese automobile firms implemented company-wide orientation and training programs to cross-train their employees.

As Japanese firms trained employees in various aspects of the production process, sociologists discovered that the training fostered a sense of unity among employees, with all becoming dedicated to the company's mission.Graham, Laurie 1993. ―Inside a Japanese Transplant: A Critical Perspective.‖ Work and Occupations. 20(2):147-173. These established connections appeared to promote cooperation among the workforce. The Japanese auto plants demonstrated that flexibility within production teams allowed employees to focus on their tasks while maintaining the productivity of others. Cross-training is still used today to improve employee skills, increase flexibility, and foster teamwork.

High-commitment practices are spin-offs of the natural system of management,E. Mayo.'Hawthorne and the Western Electric Company'.The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilization. Routledge, 1949. chapter 4. pp. 60-76. like other management strategies within this system. High-commitment practices assume natural theories of motivation, rather than the considerably different rational theories of motivation.Frank Dobbin, "From Incentives to Teamwork: Rational and Natural Management Systems" (Sociology 25, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, 1 October 2012).

File:Rational and Natural Theories of Motivation.jpg Because most management strategies before high-commitment practices assumed rational theories of motivation, high-commitment practices differ from these strategies in three primary aspects.

In terms of methods for motivating workers, there are key differences between high-commitment practices and the standard rational system. The rational system of management focuses on either punishments or incentives. For example, the earliest form of rational management, direct control, encourages employee productivity by having supervisors oversee the production process and punishing workers who fail to produce enough output.Frank Dobbin, "Managing the Workforce" (Sociology 25, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, 17 September 2012). Another form of rational management, bureaucratic control, encourages productivity through career incentives such as bonuses and promotions. However, high-commitment practices, unlike any form of rational management, aim to stimulate productivity by fostering employee commitment to the organization.Frank Dobbin, "High Commitment Practices" (Sociology 25, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, 10 October 2012). For example, Data General, a corporation that advocates high-commitment practices, has managed to make employees love their tasks and become so attached to the corporation that many choose to work twelve hours, four hours more than the company prescribes.Tracy Kidder, The Soul of a New Machine, 1981 Contrary to rational management, high-commitment practices aim to create environments where employees aspire to deliver their best efforts.

High-commitment practices also differ from practices in the rational management system in terms of employee control. The rational system of management discourages job autonomy, believing that such freedom will lower productivity because employees may choose not to work. For example, in scientific management and Fordism,Taylor, Federick W. "Scientific Management." CLASSICAL THEORETICAL PERSPECTlVES : 54-66. Print. employees are given specific instructions on how to perform certain tasks. While the rational system of management seeks to provide very specific direction to employees, high-commitment practices strongly encourage independence.

Institutions employing rational management and those employing high-commitment practices also differ in their corporate structure. Institutions with rational management tend to have a steep hierarchy, with many ranks separating floor workers from executives.Frank Dobbin, "Internal Labor Market" (Sociology 25, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, 14 September 2012). For example, institutions employing bureaucratic control often have one entry-level position at the bottom of the hierarchy, from which recruits work their way up the corporate ladder. Because these institutions have a steep hierarchy, those near the bottom of the chain are often alienated from higher-ups.Frank Dobbin, "Alienation" (Sociology 25, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, 19 September 2012). Consequently, relationships between executives and workers are minimal. In contrast, institutions that employ high-commitment practices typically have a flatter hierarchy, and intra-firm networking is easier. As a result, most employees readily develop attachments to their on-the-job peers, bosses, and the institution, which increases their commitment.

While high-commitment practices are similar to other strategies in the Human Relations School, both aim to increase job satisfaction and make employees feel valued. High-commitment practices seek to foster attachment to the institution, whereas the Human Relations School aims to encourage employees to work based on the satisfaction gained from contributing outputs.

Google follows a high-commitment management model and has a distinctive corporate culture. {{Cite journal |last=Tran |first=Sang Kim |date=2017-12-19 |title=GOOGLE: a reflection of culture, leader, and management |journal=International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=10 |doi=10.1186/s40991-017-0021-0 |s2cid=32488653 |issn=2366-0074|doi-access=free |hdl=10419/217407 |hdl-access=free }} Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the company was established to create a positive and engaging work environment. Google's stated philosophies include principles such as "work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun" and "you can be serious without a suit.""Ten Things We Know to Be True." Google Company. Google, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. .

In terms of organization, Google aims to provide "a casual and democratic atmosphere, resulting in its distinction as a 'Flat' company."Johansson, Greg. "Google: The World's Most Successful Corporate Culture." Weblog post.Suite 101. N.p., 29 May 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2012. In its earlier years, Google had a fairly informal product-development system. Ideas moved upwards from "Googlers" without any formal review process from senior managers, and teams working on innovative projects were kept small. However, with the continuing expansion of the company, Google now holds weekly, all-hands ('TGIF') meetings at which employees ask questions directly to executives about company issues. This is consistent with the idea that high-commitment work systems "typically involve practices that enhance communication across organizational levels."Burton, M. Diane, and Charles O'Reilly. Walking the Talk: The Impact of High Commitment Values and Practices on Technology Start-ups. Rep. N.p.: n.p., 2004. Print. In addition, employees are encouraged to propose ambitious ideas, and supervisors are assigned small teams to test if these ideas will work. Teams are made up of members with equal authority—"there is no top-down hierarchy"—and nearly everyone at Google carries a generic job title, such as "product manager."

Google hires those who are "smart and determined," while favoring "ability over experience.""Our Culture." Google Company. Google, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. In an interview on the company's corporate culture and hiring, Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, expressed the idea of evaluating potential hires' passions and commitments in addition to their technical qualifications. He said that "people are going to do what they're going to do, and you (company, leader) just assist them."Schmidt, Eric. "Corporate Culture Example: Google's Eric Schmidt On Culture & Hiring." Interview. Weblog post. Culture Matters: Corporate Culture Pros Blog. Corporate Culture Pros, 6 July 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2012. . Google does not believe that its job is to manage the company; instead, it believes that its greatest task is to hire the right people, and in turn, "will see a building of 'self-initiative' behavior"—a characteristic of people working in high-commitment workplaces.Schmidt, Eric. "Corporate Culture Example: Google's Eric Schmidt On Culture & Hiring." Interview. Weblog post. Culture Matters: Corporate Culture Pros Blog. Corporate Culture Pros, 6 July 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2012. .). As a result, engineers at Google are allotted 20 percent of their time to work on their ideas, some of which yield public offerings, such as Google News and Orkut, a social networking website.{{Cite web |title=Failure Is An Option (Or Should Be!) |url=https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/failure-option-or-should-be |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=Social Media Today |language=en-US}}

While there is evidence that high-commitment management practices provide benefits to the efficiency of the workplace, there are some disadvantages and difficulties associated with the system.

Much of the research presenting strong evidence of success with high-commitment management practices may be due to confounding variables. An example of this can be seen in research by Burton and O'Reilly,Burton, Diane O'Reilly, Charles. "Walking the Talk: The Impact of High Commitment Values and Practices on Technology Start-ups", 14 August 2004. who suggested that the benefits seen from high-commitment practices may not be due to the practices themselves, but may result from an overarching system architecture or organizational logic. They also suggested that good managers pick this form of managing practice, and, therefore, good managers may be a confounding variable. Thus, the relative success of these practices may be, in fact, a result of reasons other than the practices themselves.

The process of transitioning a workplace to use high-commitment management practices can be difficult,Walton, Richard. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zuZ3HEi4dXIC&dq=difficulty+implementing+high+commitment+management+practices&pg=PA114 "From Control to Commitment in the Workplace"], Chapter 10. September 19, 2002. and to gain the full benefits of such practices, full implementation is required.Hutchinson, Sue Purcell, John Kinnie, Nick. [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1748-8583.2000.tb00014.x/asset/j.1748-8583.2000.tb00014.x.pdf?v=1&t=h9pzmzba&s=229f7c2b19333a8c5ffdde32dceee06d1cdb9cf2 "Evolving High Commitment Management and Experience of the RAC Calling Centre"], Human Resource Management Journal, January 2000. All companies must go through a transitioning stage from their earlier management style to high-commitment practices; however, not all of the changes can be made at once. This transition can often be difficult for managers to find the right balance between enough and too much worker influence, and change the management philosophy along with the practices.Guest, David. [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1748-8583.1999.tb00200.x/asset/j.1748-8583.1999.tb00200.x.pdf?v=1&t=h9onltqr&s=2c3caa172d412fdfb8492d663f574f38ff2bd31c "Human Resource Management – The Workers' Verdict"], Human Resource Management Journal, July 1999. Full implementation of high-commitment management practices is required to receive the full benefits of the system.Hutchinson, Sue Purcell, John Kinnie, Nick. [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1748-8583.2000.tb00014.x/asset/j.1748-8583.2000.tb00014.x.pdf?v=1&t=h9pzmzba&s=229f7c2b19333a8c5ffdde32dceee06d1cdb9cf2 "Evolving High Commitment Management and Experience of the RAC Calling Centre"], Human Resource Management Journal, January 2000. Therefore, during the transition period, firms may not experience positive changes right away, which may provide disincentives for continuing the transition. This may explain why many firms in the US lack comprehensive commitment practices.

High-commitment management practices are currently considered a universal approach,Kinnie, Nicholas et al. [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1748-8583.2005.tb00293.x/asset/j.1748-8583.2005.tb00293.x.pdf?v=1&t=h9oopqht&s=1ecc68cf20ac62f41211644da8d74baa49492042 "Satisfaction with HR Practices and Commitment to the Organisation: Why one size does not fit all"], Human Resource Management Journal. November 2005. considered to be effective across all firms. However, the best form of management for a firm in a price-sensitive, high-volume commodity market differs from that for a firm in a high-quality, low-volume market. This distinction has been observed in both the private and public sectors, where only some high-commitment management practices in the private sector provide the same benefits in the public sector, and the entire program cannot be easily transferred.Gould-Williams, Julian. [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.0033-3298.2004.00383.x/asset/j.0033-3298.2004.00383.x.pdf?v=1&t=h9ookh58&s=3a667459d7c3ef22f27834e079cc4538fd9e470f "The Effects of 'High Commitment' HRM Practices on Employee Attitude: The Views of Public Sector Workers"], Public Administration, March 2004 Managers may also face difficulties when implementing high-commitment management practices, as they must balance a consistent approach—using the same practices throughout the entire workforce—against adjusting practices to meet the specific needs of different groups. As the workforce becomes more diverse, this tension may become more pronounced.

While some workers feel positive towards high-commitment management practices, it is also admitted that these practices portray workers as a resource or commodity, to be utilized by the organization.Grant, David Shields, John. [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/1472-9296.00052/asset/1472-9296.00052.pdf?v=1&t=h9oo3t4y&s=f9138b30fb74c34e15f4600805a88b424433ea8d "In Search of the Subject: Researching Employee Reactions to Human Resource Management"], The Journal of Industrial Relations, September 2002. Therefore, even though positive effects have been shown, these practices are also seen as another management initiative, aimed at gaining greater control and efficiency from employees. Therefore, these practices are still exploiting the worker. Workers do express excessive pressure and high insecurityLowe, Jim Oliver, Nick [http://wes.sagepub.com/content/5/3/437 "The High Commitment Workplace: Two Cases from a High-Tech Industry"], Work, Employment and Society, September 1, 1991. when high-commitment management practices are implemented. However, even though companies may have high-commitment practices, which in themselves mean companies will have little employee flexibility if the nature of the company is such that they embrace change, then these can coexist.

• Flat management
• Hierarchical organization
• Holacracy
• Sociocracy (dynamic governance)
• Workers' self-management

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Category:Management systems