The Impact of High Performance Work System Practices on Small Manufacturer Performance (Manuscripts‪)‬

ABSTRACT This paper examines the effect of both quality operations and high performance work system (HPWS) practices on firm performance for 1200 small manufacturers wanting to market their products to a major mass merchandiser. All of these firms participated in a supplier evaluation program that assessed both their management and product characteristics. Performance for each firm in this study was categorized as either low, average, or high by comparing the stated or observed performance on each evaluation criteria to the minimum completion level. Our study found that both quality operations and HPWS practices significantly predicted performance among low, average, and high performing firms. We conclude that small firm managers should investigate and adopt the appropriate quality and human resources practices which will enable their firms to perform at higher levels.