Human Resource Management as Practices Determining Factors of Social Capital

Abstract

This study examines the determining factors and impact of social capital, along with human resource management practices, on workplace performance. Data were collected twice related to two changes in Japanese companies’ workplaces affecting human resource management. As a result of the analysis, social capital was confirmed to have an impact on workplace performance. Furthermore, human resource development practices and performance-based pay practices were both positive influences on the formation of social capital. This result shows that the formation of social capital is not a combination of human resource development practices and seniority system, which had been the prevailing and consistent perspective in human resource management. Instead, a combination of human resource development practices and performance-based pay practices generate a better rationale for social capital formation.