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http://www.techlinks.net/community/articles/article/17140-research-reveals-impact-of-management-values-on-high-tech-organizations
TechLINKS

The manner in which managers define the values of an emerging organization and how they put these values into practice have a measurable impact on an organization’s performance. This is one of the key findings of nationwide market research conducted by Jake Messersmith, PhD, Assistant Professor of Management at George Washington University and recently presented to The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) Finance Society.

“My research analyzed the key factors that contribute to the success or failure of developing organizations,” said Dr. Messersmith. “We examined three key influences that impact the performance of an emerging firm: human resource policies and practices, the philosophy of partnership with employees and the entrepreneurial drive and orientation that are embedded in the organization’s makeup.”

“This research is particularly relevant to the many emerging high-tech companies throughout Georgia,” said Don Campbell, President and CEO of Virtual Management Technologies and moderator of the seminar. “Dr. Messersmith’s research validates that value-based management systems can yield measurable improvements in operations ranging from increases in sales and lower turnover to improvements in innovation.”

The research study titled “Transforming Caterpillars in Butterflies: A Study of Emergent Organizations” confirms that sales performance and levels of organizational innovation are positively impacted by a combination of high performance work systems and a partnership philosophy (with employees). Further, the combination of an entrepreneurial orientation in the organization and employee partnership will help drive a high performance work system.

The study was based on interviews with executives of emerging high-tech organizations across the country. The study highlights three areas of a management system:

Entrepreneurial Orientation – a firm-level value emphasizing continued innovation, risk-taking and pro-activity assessing market trends.
Partnership Philosophy – a managerial value emphasizing collaboration and open communications between business owners/managers and employees.
High Performance Work Systems – the constellation of managerial practices related to selection, training, development and compensation that are designed to attract, retain and motivate employees.

“My research concluded that firms combining a greater utilization of high performance work systems with an entrepreneurial orientation achieve higher levels of sales growth, one of the ultimate goals of an emerging organization,” said Dr. Messersmith. “Respondents had an average net sales volume of $2.2 million and had been in business an average of 7 years. Results of the research indicate that adoption of a High Performance Work System yielded a 7.7 percent increase over and above standard sales growth, and use of employee partnership systems increased sales growth by 7.9% over and above standard growth metrics.”

Dr. Messersmith summarized the key takeaways for the TAG Finance Society audience as follows:

Employment practices matter, even in small firms
Merit-based compensation and promotion are particularly important
Emphasizing a partnership between owner/managers and employees matters
Firms with an entrepreneurial posture benefit the most from using High Performance Work Systems
A competitive advantage can be gained through a system of practices that help to select, retain, and motivate employees

Following Dr. Messersmith’s presentation, a panel including Dr. Michael S. Salvador, a member of the faculty at the Michael H. Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University and responsible for the development and delivery of Executive Education Programs, and Lance Weatherby, Venture Catalyst at the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a part of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute provided perspective and analysis of the research.

About Technology Association of Georgia

The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to support its members by generating opportunities for personal, professional, and business growth. By forging strategic alliances, TAG serves as a primary catalyst to foster a rich environment for economic development in Georgia’s technology community. TAG is made up of 3200 members representing technology leaders from over 1500 Georgia-based companies, affiliated technology, and business organizations. For more information on TAG, visit http://www.tagonline.org/

About the Finance Society

The Finance Society of TAG is focused on addressing the challenges of today’s technology executive in understanding the many dimensions of Finance and Administration industry standards and best practices. The society’s mission is to bring together business leaders around timely and thought provoking topics and allow the dynamics of knowledge sharing to occur. For more information on the TFS mission and 2009 programs, please go to: http://www.tagonline.org/tag-finance.php

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