# The Role of Management Practices in Closing the Productivity Gap

**Authors:** Peer-Olaf Siebers, Uwe Aickelin, Giuliana Battisti, Helen Celia, Christopher Clegg, Xiaolan Fu, Raphael De Hoyos, Alfonsiana Iona, Alina Petrescu, Peixoto Adriano  
**arXiv:** [0803.2995](https://arxiv.org/abs/0803.2995)  
**Date:** 2008-03-20  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/0803.2995v2/

## Key points

- The paper explores the relationship between management practices and company productivity.
- Research findings on this topic are mixed.
- The paper provides a comprehensive review of existing literature on Operations Management (OM) and Human Resource Management (HRM) practices.
- Various studies have attempted to measure and understand the impact of individual management practices and clusters of practices on productivity.
- Findings from these studies are diverse, with some indicating a positive relationship, others suggesting a negative association, and some finding no significant correlation at all.
- Measurement issues or variations in the level of analysis may contribute to the lack of consensus regarding the effect of complementary management practices.
- Further research using a multi-level approach is needed to gain a more comprehensive understanding of how management practices influence overall firm productivity.
- The link between management practices and productivity remains inconclusive due to conflicting research findings.
- Addressing measurement issues and adopting a multi-level approach in future studies is important for gaining deeper insights into how specific management practices impact firm performance.

## Summary

The paper titled "The Role of Management Practices in Closing the Productivity Gap" explores the relationship between management practices and company productivity. The authors acknowledge that while there is a general consensus that management practices impact productivity, research findings on this topic are mixed. To address this, the paper provides a comprehensive review of existing literature, focusing specifically on Operations Management (OM) and Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, as well as their joint applications. The review examines various studies that have attempted to measure and understand the impact of individual management practices and clusters of practices on productivity at different levels of analysis. The findings from these studies are diverse, with some indicating a positive relationship between the adoption of management practices and productivity, others suggesting a negative association, and some finding no significant correlation at all. The authors propose that the lack of universal consensus regarding the effect of complementary management practices may be attributed to measurement issues or variations in the level of analysis. Consequently, they emphasize the need for further research using a multi-level approach that encompasses different levels of aggregation up to firm-level analysis. This approach would enable a more comprehensive assessment of how management practices influence overall firm productivity. In conclusion, while there is evidence supporting the link between management practices and productivity, it remains inconclusive due to conflicting research findings. The paper highlights the importance of addressing measurement issues and adopting a multi-level approach in future studies to gain deeper insights into how specific management practices impact firm performance. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of the complex relationship between management practices and productivity and provides valuable suggestions for further exploration in this field.