Operationalizing a relationship-centric model of high-performance culture: a conceptual precursor for scale development

Abstract

This concept paper advances the conceptualization of High-Performance Culture (HPC) using a relationship-centric model by integrating a newly validated Employee Work Focus (EWF) and a set of established constructs. We first synthesize the literature on culture–performance links, anchoring the selected model of HPC in Denison’s Mission–Consistency–Involvement–Adaptability model and the Great Place to Work (GPTW) trust-based perspective while clarifying distinctions from high-performance work systems. Building on this synthesis and our earlier grounded work, we define HPC as a socially constructed pattern of desired employee–system interactions; indexed by five measurable domains: Focus (employee–job), Accountability (employee–management), Collaboration (employee–colleagues), Subjective Well-Being (employee–ideal self), and Perceived Organizational Support (employee–ideal organization). We then conceptually operationalize HPC by (a) adopting the validated three-factor EWF instrument for the Focus domain, (b) borrowing established items for Collaboration, Accountability, POS, and SWB from widely used scales, and (c) assembling a content validity matrix that maps items to sub-dimensions and theoretical rationales. Finally, we outline a rigorous scale development plan for constructing an integrative HPC instrument. The contribution is twofold: (1) a theory-consistent conceptualization of HPC as a relational construct, and (2) Providing an operational foundation for its future empirical measurement.