Sustainable Human Resource Management Nurtures Change-Oriented Employees: Relationship between High-Commitment Work Systems and Employees’ Taking Charge Behaviors

Shao-Long Li, Fang Sun and Mingze Li
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Shao-Long Li: Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Fang Sun: Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Mingze Li: School of Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 13, 1-15

Abstract: In today’s business world, the environment is changing rapidly. Employers need to rely upon their employees in order to produce long-term competitive advantage and sustainable performance. However, little research has investigated whether sustainable human resource management could prompt change-oriented behaviors in employees. By integrating the job demands–resources (JD-R) model and the proactive motivation model with the existing literature on sustainable human resource management, we explored the relationship between high-commitment work systems (HCWS) and the employees’ taking charge behaviors. Data from 352 employees of 96 organizations provided support for the positive effect of HCWS on the employees’ taking charge behaviors. The results of this study showed that HCWS affect the employees’ taking charge behaviors through their work engagement only when they felt a high level of impact. Based on these results, we not only provide several theoretical contributions to the literature on HCWS and taking charge, but also provide some practical suggestions for how to nurture change-oriented employees using sustainable human resource management within the organizations.

Keywords: sustainable human resource management; high-commitment work systems; taking charge; work engagement; impact; change-oriented behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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