The sample respondents had been selected at random basis from the list of enterprises in the DEPZ. The HRM practices with 21 items were tested with 30 managers to obtain feedback, and assess the scale validity of the survey.

The objectives of indepth interviews were to investigate personal, sensitive and confidential information related to human resource management practices and their implications for DEPZ for improving firm performance.

A full scale questionnaire survey was conducted during the months of April through June 15 2008 within 53 manufacturing organisations out of 103 organisations in the DEPZ. The survey engaged 216 respondent managers from the total of 512 in the 53 sample enterprises and with the response rate of 42.2 per cent.

It was found that HRM practices have significant relationship with the overall performance of DEPZ. The HRM practices are found to explain about 42.3 per cent of total variance in the firm performance, which suggests that they are important factors which are positively related to DEPZ firm performance.

The objective of this study was to investigate on the relationship between HRM practices and firm performance in the DEPZ in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

This observation suggests that firms in the DEPZ should improve their performance appraisal system and compensation to enhance employee performance.

The regression analysis results demonstrate that HRM practices have a strong significant relationship to overall improvement of firm performance in DEPZ. In this study five human resource management practices were hypothesised to influence the firm performance in DEPZ.

The first hypothesis (H1) states that effective recruitment and selection practice will increase firm performance in DEPZ manufacturing enterprises.

The study results substantiates the hypothesis showing that performance appraisal is positively associated with DEPZ firm performance with a coefficient of .276 (p < .01).

In this study, unionisation (H3) was hypothesised to be directly related to firm performance in the DEPZ enterprises.

In this study it was found that effective training and development practice in DEPZ manufacturing enterprises had a positive effect on firm performance with a coefficient of .122 (p < .05).

It was found that compensation practice in DEPZ enterprises had a positive effect on firm performance with a coefficient of .221 (p < .05).