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Difficulties Implementing High Commitment Management Practices and the Disadvantages of these Practices

While there is substantial evidence that high commitment management practices have many benefits to the efficiency and well-being of the workplace as seen above, there are some disadvantages and difficulties found in the system.

Much of the research presenting strong evidence of success with high commitment management practices may actually be due to confounding variables. An example of this can be seen in research by Burton and O’Reilly who suggested that the benefits seen from high commitment practices may not be due to the practices themselves, but may result from on overarching system architecture or organizational logic. Another possibility they suggested was that good managers themselves pick this form of managing practice and therefore good managers may be a confounding variable. Thus it is possible that the relative success of these practices is in fact a result of reasons other than the practices themselves.

In the process of becoming a workplace with high commitment management practices, the transition can be difficult and in order to gain the full benefits of such practices full implementation is required. All companies must go through a transitioning stage from their previous form of management to high commitment management practices, however not all of the changes can be made at once. This transition can often be difficult for managers to find the right balance between enough and too much worker influence and change the management philosophy along with the practices. Full implementation of high commitment management practices is required in order to receive the full benefits of the system, and therefore during the transition period firms may not experience positive changes right away, which may provide disincentives for continuing the transition. This may explain the reason why very few firms in the US have comprehensive commitment practices .

High commitment management practices are currently considered a universal approach seen to be effective in all firms, however the best form of management for a firm with a price sensitive, high volume commodity market will differ from a firm with a high quality, low volume market . This has been seen within the private and public sector, where only some high commitment management practices in the private sector have the same benefits in the public sector and the entire program cannot be transported. Managers may also face difficulty when implementing high commitment management practices as they face a tension between a consistent approach using the same practices throughout the entire workforce or adjusting their practices based on specific needs of different groups. As workforces become more diverse, this tension may become more pronounced.

While it has been proven that workers feel positively towards high commitment management practices, it is also admitted that these practices portray workers as a resource or commodity that will be exploited by the organization. Therefore, even though positive effects have been shown, these practices are also seen as another management initiative to try to gain greater control and efficiency from employees. Therefore, these practices are still exploiting the worker. Workers do express excessive pressure and high insecurity when high commitment management practices are implemented. However, even though companies may have high commitment practices, which in itself mean companies will have little employee flexibility, if the nature of the company is such that they embrace change, then it is possible for these to coexist.

Therefore, while there are many benefits proven to exist as a result of high commitment management practices, there are also disadvantages and difficulties incurred by management.