Subjective measures of company performance are widely used in research and typically are interpreted as equivalent to objective measures. Yet, the assumption of equivalence is open to challenge. We compared the use of both types of measure in 3 separate samples. Findings were consistent in showing that: (a) subjective and objective measures of company performance were positively associated (convergent validity); (b) those relationships were stronger than those between measures of differing aspects of performance using the same method (discriminant validity); and (c) the relationships of subjective and objective company performance measures with a range of independent variables were equivalent (construct validity).

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This paper examines the psychometric properties of an existing measure of mental health, the GHQ‐12, as revealed in three studies involving employees in an engineering firm (n = 659), recent school‐leavers (n = 647), and unemployed men (n = 92). The measure was shown to be psychometrically sound in all cases, with a Likert scoring method providing a more acceptable distribution of scores than the more commonly deployed ‘ GHQ score ’ for use in parametric statistical analyses. Scores on GHQ‐12 were found to be much higher (indicating lower mental health) for those who were unemployed, higher for women than for men in one sample, and unrelated to age, job level and marital status.

Within the strategic human resource management (SHRM) perspective, psychology-based practices, especially empowerment, extensive training, and teamwork, are seen as vital to sustained competitive advantage. Other approaches, such as those of integrated manufacturing and lean production, place greater emphasis on operational initiatives such as total quality management, just-in-time, advanced manufacturing technology, and supply-chain partnering as determinants of organizational performance. We investigated the relative merits of these practices through a study of the productivity of 308 companies over 22 years, during which

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