Purpose: This study aims to explore the nuanced role of organizational “collectives” in transmitting the effect of high-performance work systems (HPWS) on organizations’ market success and workforce retention. Design/methodology/approach: The multi-source data was collected from 113 construction firms operating in Pakistan using a survey questionnaire. Findings: The findings indicate that collective human capital and collective satisfaction of organizations differentially mediate the effect of HPWS on market success and workforce retention. Collective satisfaction mediates the effect of HPWS on both market success and workforce retention, however collective human capital only mediates this relationship for market success of organizations. Practical implications: Organizations should consider prioritizing investment in cognitive and affective development of overall human resources. Knowledge, skills, abilities and emotions of individual employees operate at the collective level so organizations should design HRM practices to manage collective thoughts and interpretations. Originality/value: This is the first study to investigate human capital and satisfaction at the collective organization level to explore collective developmental and motivational paths for HPWS to boost organization strategic outcomes.

The recession due to COVID- 19 causes uncertainties in the industry's immediate operating landscape as well as other unprecedented impacts. Due to the immense magnitude of impacts posed by recessionary events, this present study proposes the significance of understanding the phenomena while examining the subject of crisis readiness of SMEs during COVID-19 era. The main objective of the study is to examine the impact of business coping strategy and entrepreneurial orientation on the crisis readiness of Pakistani-based SMEs. The study emphasized the necessity of delineating the effects of extremely disastrous and unforeseen events. This is because the understanding of the effects of such cataclysmic event is more important than the prediction of the event's occurrence. The study has employed a Suraya-based method, and data is collected with the aid of a questionnaire. The response rate was 78%, which qualifies the minimum response rate criteria. The SEM-PLS is used to analyse the data. The results of the study have provided support to hypothesized results.