Critically evaluate the claim that “research to date confirms that high involvement management is the best way of managing in all circumstances”?

Critically evaluate the claim that “research to date confirms that high involvement management is the best way of managing in all circumstances”?

Further Guidance:
This assignment question should be answered in standard essay format, using the Introduction – Main text – Conclusion format.
For good overviews of the High involvement management-Performance link, see:
T. Wall and S. Wood, ‘The Romance of Human Resource Management and Business Performance and the case for big science’, Human Relations¸ 2005, Vol., 58, No. 4, pp. 429-462.
S.Wood and T. Wall, ‘Work Enrichment and employee voice in human resource Management-Performance Studies’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2007, Vol. 18, No. 7, pp. 1335–1372.
S. Wood, M. van Veldhoven, M. Croon and L. M. de Menezes, Enriched job design, high involvement management and organizational performance: The mediating roles of job satisfaction and well-being, Human Relations, 2012, April, Vol. 65, No. 4, pp. 419–446.
However, there are studies since then and especially from outside the US and UK, including China.
The student should avoid getting bogged down in definitions of high involvement management and broader terms like HRM, though establishing their meaning is important. High involvement management is best treated as a specific form of HRM.
The student should distinguish between best in all circumstances (a universalistic argument) or best in certain circumstances (contingency theory).
The student should make it clear what the criteria for defining best are and also make it clear which performance and employee outcome measures one would most expect to be linked to high involvement management and which can be used to assess optimality.
The student should Identify the studies that constitute the research area which may help them answer the question, and make explicit how they can help answer the question and that this involves more than simply studies of the HRM – performance link as other criteria may be important.
Whilst most of the studies of the HRM-performance link either concentrate on high involvement management or treat as a core part of HRM, the student should be mindful that some of these are not measuring high involvement management or are rather tangential to it.
The growing number of studies looking at high involvement management and well-being should be covered (see Wood and de Menezes, 2011 High involvement management, high performance work systems and well-being’, International Human Resource Management, 22(7): 1585–1608.
The student should show some awareness of the methodological issues involved in the studies.
Assessment Criteria:
In addition to the criteria outlined above and in the Programme Handbook, students are expected to demonstrate:
1. That they understand what high involvement management (HIM) is and the arguments about best practice HRM versus e.g. contingency arguments and how one judges it i.e.: the criterion problems.
2. Comments on which performance measures one would most expect to be linked to HIM.
3. Identifies the studies that constitute the research area and how they can help answer the question and that this involves more than simply studies of the HRM – performance link as other criteria may be important.
4. Shows an awareness that not all studies of HRM are focused on HIM or even include it. (see e.g. S. Wood, ‘High Involvement Management and Performance’, in A. Wilkinson, P. Gollan, M. Marchington, and D. Lewin (Eds), The Oxford Handbook of Participation in Organizations, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
5. Addresses the issue of what are the mediators between HIM and performance and what evidence we have on its effects on other criteria, e.g well-being.see e.g. S. Wood, M. van Veldhoven, M. Croon and L. M. de Menezes, Enriched job design, high involvement management and organizational performance: The mediating roles of job satisfaction and well-being, Human Relations, 2012, April, Vol. 65, No. 4, pp. 419–446.
6. An ability to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of research studies particularly in their methodologies and the robustness of their results.
7. An ability to draw out the significance of the studies for the question and connect them to what is good management practice
8. The ability to arrive at a balanced overall conclusion and articulate justifications for this in a succinct convincing way,
9. The ability to go beyond the coverage and discussion in the SHRM module book in the evaluation they present.
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