Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore, and eventually unlocking, the “black box” problem by addressing the potential mediating role of human capital and organizational commitment in the relationship between high performance work systems (HPWS) and perceived firm performance in the Tunisian financial industry. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the strategic human resource management (SHRM) theory, the authors developed a model that links HPWS to perceived organizational performance through human capital and employee organizational commitment. Data collected from 351 respondents was considered. Multiple regression analysis was then used to assess the research hypotheses. Findings – Data collected from 351 respondents suggest that HPWS positively affect perceived firm performance through first, enhancing the firms’ human capital; and second, developing positive organizational commitment attitude among employees. In addition, a direct relationship between HPWS and firm performance was found. Research limitations/implications – The research focussed on the perceived performance of the organization rather than financial measures. Also, because data were collected from a sample of Tunisian financial companies, results of this study are not generalizable. Originality/value – More than two decades after the earliest contributions, the SHRM scholars believe that the “black box” problem is still accurate and, therefore, needs to be addressed in an effective way. At a general and broad level, the authors believe this study contributes to the SHRM literature by successfully addressing two critical “black box” elements, i.e. human capital and organizational commitment. Also, since there is a lack in such research in Tunisia, an icon country of the Arab spring, this paper provides theoretical basis for future research and managerial implications for Tunisian business leaders and HR managers. Finally, this research is extending the current empirical SHRM literature by addressing the critical role of HRM in the largely understudied field of financial services industry.

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PurposeThe present study attempts to examine the mediating effect of leader member exchange (LMX) and affective organizational commitment on the relationship between followers' emotional intelligence (EI) and their turnover intention.Design/methodology/approachUsing a cross-sectional design, survey data were obtained from 182 employees in Tunisia. Survey responses were analyzed using Model 6 in PROCESS (Hayes, 2017).FindingsAs predicted, LMX and affective organizational commitment were found to sequentially and totally mediate the causal relationship between EI and turnover intention.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations include using a cross-sectional design, convenience sampling and self-report measures for EI, LMX, affective commitment and turnover intention.Practical implicationsOrganizations need to encourage more emotionally intelligent responses in employees which improve the quality of their leader–follower relationships. The quality of LMXs enhances the affective commitment that drives lower turnover intention.Originality/valueWhile the relationship between EI and turnover intention has been theorized, this study is one of the first to enable us to explore the mechanisms underlying this relationship. Specifically, a sequential mediation model linking EI with turnover intention through LMX and affective commitment was proposed.

Résumé Dans cet article, nous tentons de démontrer que la confiance interpersonnelle joue un rôle de médiation entre les réseaux sociaux et le comportement de partage des connaissances dans les entreprises tunisiennes de haute technologie. Même si l’impact direct des réseaux sociaux sur le partage des connaissances a été traité par les recherches antérieures, nous pensons qu’une telle relation gagnerait à intégrer le rôle de la confiance interpersonnelle comme mécanisme intermédiaire. En conformité avec McAllister (1995), nous nous proposons d’étudier deux formes de confiance interpersonnelle : la confiance cognitive (basée sur les compétences) et la confiance affective (basée sur les échanges socio-émotionnels). Un modèle structurel a permis de tester les hypothèses de recherche. Les résultats de l’enquête soutiennent partiellement nos conjectures théoriques. Ils montrent que seule la qualité des interactions dans un réseau social influence positivement et significativement les deux formes de confiance. Sur un autre plan, seule la confiance affective aurait une influence sur le comportement de partage des connaissances. Enfin, les résultats stipulent que la confiance affective médiatise l’effet de la qualité d’interaction sur le comportement de partage des connaissances. Une discussion est engagée sur la base de ces résultats et les implications de la recherche, sur le plan théorique et managérial, sont présentées.