High commitment HR practices in Malaysian SMEs

Au, WC

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-98309-3_10#DOI

High commitment HR practices in Malaysian SMEs

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Wee Chan Au

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This is the authors' accepted manuscript of a book chapter that has been published in its final definitive form by Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.

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Abstract

Developing human resources practices to motivate and engage employees to perform at a high level is critical in organizational success, especially in competitive environments. This chapter examines how SMEs in Malaysia, a developing economy context, engenders high commitment through in-depth interviews with 48 SME owner-managers. The findings indicate that taking care of employees is essential for SMEs to garner employee commitment and engagement. However, unlike large firms with the institutional structure and financial resources to offer formal practices and support, Malaysian SMEs rely on informal HR mechanisms to develop a personalized approach to support provisions. The analysis also identifies performance-based and care-based social exchange mechanisms, as these are the primary approaches SMEs use to implement HR practices, configure their high performance work system, and support employees.