We classified participating institutions on the
basis of the size of the workforce reduction over
the preceding two years and the extent to which
they were perceived to have implemented a number
of progressive or high-performance HRM
practices. Using the arbitrarily chosen mean value
for workforce reduction {11.7 percent) and the
mean score for progressive HRM practices (4.17)
on the eight variables that composed our index, we
placed hospitals into one of four categories. In the
first category (labeled LARGEPRO) we placed 55
hospitals that had experienced large workforce
reductions over the previous two years {reductions
greater than 11.7 percent of their total workforce)
yet reported having more progressive HRM practices
(scores greater than 4.17). In the second category
{labeled LARGEREG) we placed 45 hospitals
that had experienced larger workforce
reductions but had lower progressive HRM practice
scores. The third category (SMALLPRO)
comprised 85 hospitals that had expetienced
smaller workforce reductions over the preceding
two years yet reported a greater emphasis on progressive
HRM practices, and the fourth category
(SMALLREG) comprised hospitals that had
smaller workforce reductions and reported lesser
adoption of progressive HRM practices.