H & T PUBLICATION Journal of Social, management and tourism letter 2025 2025 Reconceptualizing High-Performance Work Practices as a Family-Resemblance Composite 1 20 EN Bala Salisu Aliyu Isah Chikaji Journal Article <p style="text-align: justify;">Purpose: This paper addresses the persistent construct proliferation, definitional ambiguity, and measurement inconsistency surrounding High-Performance Work Practices (HPWPs) by proposing a more coherent conceptualization. Methodology: A conceptual theory-building approach is adopted, integrating HPWP scholarship with construct theory, family-resemblance concepts, and measurement theory. Findings: The paper argues that HPWP scholarship is constrained by an implicit essentialist assumption that a universally valid bundle of practices exists. It reconceptualizes HPWPs as a family-resemblance composite comprising mutually reinforcing HR practices that share overlapping performance-enhancing characteristics without requiring any practice to be universally present. This perspective accommodates multiple valid configurations while aligning conceptualization with composite and configurational measurement. Originality/value: The paper identifies essentialist thinking as the source of conceptual fragmentation, introduces a family-resemblance composite conceptualization, and provides a coherent foundation for construct definition, measurement, and cumulative theory development in strategic human resource management. Practical implications: The framework supports context-sensitive HR system design and encourages measurement approaches consistent with the constitutive nature of HPWPs.</p> http://www.htpub.org/article/Journal-Of-Social,-Management-And-Tourism-Letter/vol/2025/num_method/yes/articleid/1255