Exploring the relationships between HPWS, organizational ambidexterity and firm performance in Chinese professional service firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to better understand the indirect link between high-performance work systems (HPWSs) and firm performance in Chinese professional service firms (PSFs) by investigating the mediating role of organizational ambidexterity, i.e. a firm’s capability to simultaneously explore new ideas and exploit existing resources. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 120 Chinese accounting firms. The authors used hierarchical and polynomial regression analyses to test their hypotheses. Findings – The proposed positive link between the HPWS and organizational ambidexterity was found. Further, the results showed a non-linear relationship between organizational ambidexterity and organizational performance. Research limitations/implications – The present study is limited in terms of small sample size, single industry and self-report data. Practical implications – Firms which reported a higher level of HPWS demonstrated better performance due to their organizational capabil...