Collaborative HRM, climate for cooperation, and employee intra-organizational social ties in high-technology firms in China: A cross-level analysis

Individual social ties have been an important source of competitive advantages for hightech firms in the knowledge economy. However, the existing cross-level studies have mainly investigated the impact of HRM systems on traditional individual attitudinal or behavioral outcomes, and few studies have examined the effect of SHRM on individual social ties. Based on the data collected from 363 knowledge employees working in 64 high-tech firms in China, we examine the cross-level relationships among collaborative HRM practices, climate for cooperation and employee intra-organizational social ties. The hierarchical linear model results show that organizational-level collaborative HRM practices have significant positive effects on the number and strength of individual-level intra-organizational social ties, and the climate for cooperation mediates the positive cross-level relationship between collaborative HRM and individual intra-organizational social ties. This study makes three contributions to the literature. First, with a cross-level model, this study helps us better understand how collaborative HRM acts as an approach to manage individuals’ social capital formation. Second, this study makes contribution to the social network literature by showing how organizational contextual factors (HRM practices and organizational climate) affect employee individual social ties. Third, based on the AMO model, this paper developed a more clear construct and a three-dimension measurement of the collaborative HRM.