STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES, TOP MANAGEMENT TEAM SOCIAL NETWORKS, AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES IN CREATING ORGANIZATIONAL COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.

In this article, we begin to explore the black box between human resources (HR) practices and firm performance. Specifically, we examine the relationships between a set of network-building HR practices, aspects of the external and internal social networks of top management teams, and firm performance. Results from a field study with 73 high-technology firms showed that the relationships between the HR practices and firm performance (sales growth and stock growth) were mediated through their top managers ’ social networks. Researchers in the field of strategic human re-source management (SHRM) have increasingly re-lied on the resource-based view of the firm to ex-plain the role of human resource practices in…