The purpose of this research is to examine the underlying mechanisms inside the so-called black box that relate high performance work systems (HPWS) with employees’ well-being and job performance in hospitality. We surveyed a sample of 494 hotel workers to test a research model that related the following variables: HPWS, organizational commitment, motivation, job satisfaction, quality of life (QoL), and individual job performance. Structural equation modelling, namely through PLS-SEM, was conducted. We confirmed that HPWS directly influence employees’ motivation, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and QoL. Additionally, workers’ motivation and organizational commitment positively influence job satisfaction, which, in turn, enhances workers’ QoL. Moreover, job satisfaction and quality of life significantly predicted individual job performance. This study contributes to unlocking the so-called black box relating HPWS with job outcomes as well as to the growing body of research that relates employees’ well-being with performance. From a managerial point of view, hospitality firms should prioritize investment in HPWS, as its design and implementation affects employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Future lines of research should consider bundles of practices instead of the whole HPWS effects on employees’ attitudes and behaviors.

The interest in promoting social entrepreneurship projects lies in their ability to develop innovative solutions to social and environmental problems. This ability becomes even more important in situations of global crises such as that arising from COVID-19. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), an explanatory structural model of social entrepreneurial intention was tested, and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on this intention was evaluated. To do this, a quantitative investigation was conducted using a survey of Spanish university students, obtaining a total of 558 responses: 324 before the COVID-19 crisis and 234 during the crisis period (February and June 2020). The results obtained make it possible to validate the explanatory model of social entrepreneurial intention from the perspective of the TPB. In addition, it shows that social entrepreneurial intention decreases in times of deep socioeconomic crises and high uncertainty, such as that caused by COVID-19.