Institutional Pressures, High-Performance Work Systems, and Marketability: The Moderating Role of Organizational Inertia

Abstract

This article constructs a conceptual model to explore the mechanism underlying the relationship between institutional pressures and perceived marketability through the perception of high-performance work systems (HPWSs) and tests organizational inertia as a moderator. Based on survey data from 73 senior HR managers and 291 grassroots employees of 73 manufacturing state-owned enterprises in Southwestern China, multilevel structural equation modeling shows that institutional pressures are positively related to perceived internal and external marketability. The perception of HPWSs fully mediates the relationship between institutional pressures and perceived internal marketability, and organizational inertia is a catalyst that strengthens the first stage of the indirect effect. However, the perception of HPWSs is found to have no mediation effect on the relationship between institutional pressures and external marketability. As such, this study provides theoretical and empirical insights into institutional pressures, HPWSs, and marketability.