최근 고성과 작업시스템 연구들을 살펴보면 크게 두 가지 현상이 두드러진다. 첫째, 고성과 작업시스템의 개념상의 모호성에 대한 지적에 따라 구체적인 전략적 방향성을 인사시스템에 접목시키려는 노력이다. 둘째, 동일하게 적용된 인사제도라 하더라도 실제 실행 패턴 혹은 강도가 팀 수준에서 상이할 가능성에 대한 인식이다. 이에 따라, 최근 다수의 연구들이 조직 내 수준(예: 팀, 유닛)에서 고성과 작업시스템을 측정하고 있다. 문헌 조사 결과, 이와 같은 연구 주제에 대해 구체적으로 논의하려는 국내 연구는 상대적으로 미흡했던 것으로 보인다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 고성과 작업시스템에 혁신 행동을 배태시킨 혁신유인형 인사시스템이라는 개념을 개발하고, 이를 팀 수준에서 적용하였다. 또한, 인사제도는 구성원의 역량과 동기 수준을 향상시켜 바람직한 역할 행동을 촉진하고 궁극적으로는 조직 성과에 유의미한 여향을 미친다는 행동주의적 관점을 채택하여, 혁신유인형 인사시스템은 팀의 혁신 성과에 긍정적인 영향을 미칠 것으로 보았다. 아울러, 팀 내 창의적 과정이 혁신유인형 인사시스템과 팀 혁신 성과 간의 관계를 매개할 것으로 예측하였다. 국내 준공기업에 근무하는 구성원으로부터 수집한 총 27개 팀 212건의 자료를 팀 수준에서 분석한 결과 혁신유인형 인사시스템은 창의적 과정 및 혁신 성과와 유의미한 정적 관계를 보였으며, 창의적 과정이 인사시스템-성과 간의 관계를 완전 매개함을 나타내었다. 추가적으로 본 연구에서는 개발한 혁신유인형 인사시스템과 일반적인 고성과 작업시스템의 효과성 크기를 비교하고자 하였다. 흥미롭게도, 고성과 작업시스템은 창의적 과정뿐만 아니라 혁신 성과와 어떠한 유의미한 관계를 보여주지 못했다. 이는 구체적인 전략적 방향성과 밀접하게 연계된 인사제도를 설계하는 것이 기업의 목표달성에 중요함을 제시한다고 보인다. 이와 같은 결과가 내포하는 이론적, 실무적 함의와 본 연구의 한계점 그리고 향후 연구방향을 논의하였다.
Innovation has increasingly been recognized as the quintessential element in the survival and success of an organization in today’s fast-paced business environment. In the pursuit of innovation, effective teamwork has been acknowledged to play a pivotal role. For this reason, organizing work around teams has been widely used by organizations to achieve their strategic goals. The advent of work groups within a company has two major avenues of inquiry in strategic human resource management (SHRM) research: 1) the possible existence of within-organization variability in the implementation of HR practices; and 2) the effects of HRM systems on team processes and subsequent team performance. In addition, the conceptual ambiguity of general HPWS has raised concern among SHRM researchers that the mechanisms through which HPWS leads to certain organization outcomes is at best unclear. Hence, we have witnessed several attempts to embed specific strategic direction in general HRM systems.
In response to the above issues, our current study intends to conceptualize a team-level HRM system by integrating the discussion on variability within an organization and the theory of a shared unit climate. We also attempt to develop an innovation-inducing HRM system that embeds innovative behaviors in an ability-motivation-opportunity model of HRM. We propose that an innovation-inducing HRM system would positively affect team innovation performance and that team creative processes would mediate the relationship between the two. We draw on behavioral perspectives as well as the input-process-outcome framework to provide the theoretical rationale. We argue that an innovation-inducing HRM system would be closely associated with team innovation performance because it not only promotes innovation-related role behaviors but also develops relevant skills and competencies in the employees. We also contend that policy intervention (i.e. HR practices) has a positive influence on innovation performance by engendering creative processes within a team. Therefore, the research questions to which we attempt to provide answers in this research are, “Is it empirically appropriate to conceptualize an innovation-inducing HRM system at the team level?” and, “If so, what impact does an innovation-inducing HRM system have for teams?” Additionally, we ask, “Is there any difference in effect size between general HPWS and an innovation-inducing HRM system?” We tested our hypotheses with a 27 team survey data gathered from a Korean public organization (n=212). First, we justified the innovation-inducing HRM system at the team level with ICC (1), ICC (2), and . We then found that the innovation-inducing HRM system had a significant positive relationship with both team innovation performance and team creative processes. As predicted, our results suggested that team creative processes fully mediate the relationship between an innovation-inducing HRM system and team innovation performance. Interestingly, the effects of general HPWS were found to be insignificant for both team innovation performance and team creative processes. This result indicates the importance of designing HR practices that align with a specific strategic direction in order to achieve organizational goals.
Our current study contributes to the existing SHRM literature in several ways. First, we have provided partial evidence of a team-level HRM system, which has been discussed conceptually in the literature. Second, we not only proposed an innovation-inducing HRM system but also clarified the mechanisms through which it affects team processes and outcomes. Third, we compared the effect size of the innovation-inducing HRM system and that of HPWS, finding that the innovation-inducing HRM system outperforms general HPWS in predicting team creative processes and innovation performance. We believe that our attempt is noteworthy in that prior studies investigating the effects of a specific HRM system have not offered comparative results. Considering the outcome of our current study, we suggest that practitioners design individual HR practices predicated upon organizational strategy and goals. For instance, practitioners should develop selection tools specifically focused on identifying creative, open-to-change job candidates in order to facilitate the pursuit of innovation. For incumbent employees, management should clearly explain why changes are necessary and where the company is heading while offering intensive training to equip these employees with necessary skills and competencies. It is also essential to develop relevant performance evaluation criteria and compensation schemes. In addition, change-related activities of teams should be sponsored from the top in the form of financial or other incentives. Finally, team leaders could create a climate of innovation by arranging regular meetings to discuss both new ways to complete work tasks and possible product or service improvements.