Section Fivebenefits from the implementation of work teams while it retains
a compensation system that reinforces individual performance.
SYSTEMS OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE HUMAN
RESOURCE PRACTICES
A practical implication of the limitations of individual practices
and their high intercorrelation is that it is unusual to find a firm
that employs only one or two such practices. The more
common situation is one in which the firm employs several such
practices or systems of these practices. For example, practices
such as highly selective recruiting practices, heavy investment
in training, team-based compensation, and dual technical and
managerial career tracks are compatible with each other and
constitute systems that are critical for implementation of a
business strategy that emphasizes innovation through research
and development. Thus, the literature has asserted that such
strategic human resource systems should produce superior
performance because of such compatibilities or synergies.^96
Because of the potential synergies that are possible when
firms employ systems of complementary human resource
practices, the question has arisen as to whether systems of
such practices have a greater impact on firm performance than