Evidence from Chinese and Irish professional service firms Exploring the mediating role of coordination in HPWS and firm performance link: Evidence from Chinese and Irish professional service firms Dr Na Fu na.fu@nuim.ie Prof. Qinhai Ma Northeastern University China

Professional Service Firms Definition “those whose primary assets are a highly educated (professional) workforce and whose outputs are intangible services encoded with complex knowledge” (Greenwood, Li, Prakash, & Deephouse, 2005: 661). Examples Accounting, architecture, consulting, and law firms etc. (von Nordenflycht, 2007, 2010 ) Characteristics Knowledge intensive Customized solution Depend on its people – highly HR dependent

Quality of communication Relational coordination Relationships shape the communication through which coordination occurs Role relationships Shared goals Shared knowledge Mutual respect Quality of communication Frequent communication Timely communication Accurate communication Problem-solving communication http://rcanalytic.com

Why PSFs need RC? PSFs are knowledge intensive Consultants – generate new knowledge/innovation to provide solutions Project-team based – knowledge exchange Good work relationships Communication process Challenges: time pressure, role ambiguity

Relational coordination RC study in PSFs – model HPWS Relational coordination Firm performance

Research method Study 1 (Chinese PSFs) Study 2 (Irish PSFs) 98 accounting firms based in Liaoning province in China (82%) Single respondent Cross-sectional Study 2 (Irish PSFs) 120 accounting firms based in Ireland at Time 1 93 accounting firms based in Ireland at Time 2 Some firms have two respondents

Results in Study 1 (Chinese PSFs)

Results in Study 2 (Irish PSFs)

Findings The HPWS-RC-Performance model was fully supported In more collective country, the link between RC and performance is stronger

Scholarly implication Better understanding the indirect link between HPWS and firm performance Extend Gittell et al.’s (2010) study to PSFs Contribute to PSF research by introducing RC

Implications for managers How do I motivating my people to achieve high performance? -needs to have a system of high performance HRM practices How do I know if we have high quality of communication? -Check relational coordination: Frequent, timely, accurate, and problem-solving based communication? Cross-cultural management or internationalization? More collective countries needs more relational coordination Managers

Limitations and future research Single industry More PSFs such as law firms Only two countries Need more countries’ samples Cross-sectional or time-lagged design Need longitudinal data

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