An analysis of the direct and mediated effects of employee commitment and supply chain integration on organisational performance

This paper focuses on the interrelationships among the different dimensions of supply chain integration. Specifically, it examines the relationship between employee commitment and supply chain integration dimensions to explain several performance measures, such as flexibility, delivery, quality, inventory and customer satisfaction. Very little research has been conducted onto this topic, since employee commitment is rarely included as an antecedent of the effect of supply chain integration on performance. Seven research models have been analysed with Structural Equation Models using a multiple-informant international sample of 266 mid-to-large-size manufacturing plants. The findings suggest that the relationship between employee commitment and operational performance is fully mediated by supply chain integration. Employee commitment contributes to improving internal integration, and internal integration affects performance both directly and indirectly. Moreover, obtaining internal integration helps to achieve supplier and customer integration. As a result, companies should strive to achieve both employee commitment and internal integration, as they mutually reinforce each other. Similarly, managers should achieve internal integration before external integration and include external integration at the strategic level in order to reap the greatest advantages from supply chain integration. Meanwhile, managers should promote employee commitment not only for better supply chain success, but also to mitigate the barriers of supply chain management implementation.This paper has been made possible thanks to Grants DPI2009-11148 and DPI2010-18243 awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Project of Excelence P08 SEJ 3841 awarded by the Junta de Andalucia.Alfalla-Luque, R.; Marín García, JA.; Medina-Lopez, C. (2014). An analysis of the direct and mediated effects of employee commitment and supply chain integration on organisational performance. International Journal of Production Economics. (162):242-257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2014.07.004S24225716

Effect of Internal Marketing on Internal Supply Chain Management through Mediation of Employees’ Affective Commitment

This study examined the relationship of internal marketing and employees’ affective commitment with internal supply chain integration. Furthermore, this study also uncovered the mediation mechanism by proposing employees’ affective commitment as mediator between internal marketing and internal supply chain integration for services firms. Data of 245 usable responses was collected from five major banks of Thailand through self-administered questionnaire by utilizing convenience sampling. Structural equations modeling was carried out in Smart-PLS 3 in order to test the proposed hypotheses. Results depicted that internal marketing is a significant predictor of internal supply chain integration and this relationship becomes stronger with the intervention of employees’ affective commitment. This study sheds a light on the importance of employees for service organizations and provide a way forward to managers for policy making about their employees in order to develop profitable and competitive assets for the organization

Business process management and supply chain collaboration: effects on performance and competitiveness

Purpose: This study aims to examine the interrelationships among business process management (BPM), supply chain collaboration (SCC), collaborative advantage and organisational performance. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 204 manufacturing firms in Thailand, and the interrelationships proposed in the framework were tested via structural equation modelling. Findings: This study highlights the role of intra- and inter-organisational practices and clearly demonstrates the joint role and impact of BPM and SCC, respectively. The results provide empirical evidence that BPM improves both organisational performance and collaborative activities. Also, SCC and collaborative advantage can have indirect positive impacts on organisational performance. Research limitations/implications: This work could be expanded by adopting a supplementary dyadic or extended supply chain (SC) approach and could also consider contextual factors, which were outside of the scope of this study. Practical implications: The BPM approach has a positive impact on organisational performance, which is essential for collaborative activities between a firm and its SC partners. Further, effective BPM and SCC practices lead to enhanced performance and collaborative benefits. Practitioners should be better able to define and measure specific actions relating to their BPM and SCC practices. Originality value: This paper stresses the need to consider the interrelationships between BPM, SCC, collaborative advantage and organisational performance for both direct and indirect effects. Rather than focusing only on improvement at individual firm level, SCC is vital to compete in the market. Improving the effectiveness of SC allows higher organisational performance levels than those that could be achieved in isolatio

Linking Employee Stakeholders to Environmental Performance: The Role of Proactive Environmental Strategies and Shared Vision

Drawing on the natural-resource-based view (NRBV), we propose that employee stakeholder integration is linked to environmental performance through firms’ proactive environmental strategies, and that this link is contingent on shared vision. We tested our model with a cross-country and multi-industry sample. In support of our theory, results revealed that firms’ proactive environmental strategies translated employee stakeholder integration into environmental performance. This relationship was pronounced for high levels of shared vision. Our findings demonstrate that shared vision represents a key condition for advancing the corporate greening agenda through proactive environmental strategies. We discuss implications for the CSR and the environmental management literatures, with a particular focus on the NRBV and stakeholder integration debates

The Impact of Relational Governance on Performance Improvement in Export Manufacturing Firms

Purpose: This paper seeks to identify the factors affecting social performance improvements in the Pakistan export manufacturing firms and investigate inter-relationships existing among them. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a cross-sectional survey; data were collected using self-administered survey questionnaire. Using data collected from 239 small- and medium-sized direct exporters manufacturing firms in Pakistan. We used structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to test structural model, and mediation analysis was conducted with regression analysis. Findings: The results support that meta-cognitive dimensions of cultural intelligence effect on social performance improvements, while the social performance improvement significant associated with innovation performance improvements. We suggest that cultural intelligence is a key to maintaining a relationship through development better cultural understanding and creating harmony among suppliers and buyers through minimizing the differences and disputes, requires developing social cohesion. Our results reveal that exporting firms need to adapt, reconfigure cultural knowledge and integrate resources into the operations to build learning capability, in turn, they can improve social performance and achieve superior innovation performance. Practical implications: Through the application of cultural intelligence capability, a firm could increase its ability to sense cultural differences, seize and adapt globally scattered cultural practices on social issues and allows for the development of unique knowledge resources and capabilities, impact on firm social performance and innovation performance improvements. Originality/value: The study conducted in Pakistan cultural context, which can be extended to other Asian countries. We argue that in a globalising world it is pertinent for exporting firms to have a better understanding of the various facets of cultural when dealing with inter-organisational relationships.Peer Reviewe

Enhancing Supply Chain Performance of SMEs in Thailand Using the Integrated Personnel Development Model

Personnel development is a salient component of the human resource supply chain of a business organization. This is especially true for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) which has limited resources and could potentially affect their supply chain performance. In an era where modern businesses are driven by innovation, a fresh approach to entrepreneur personnel development should be considered crucial and indispensable. Thus, the objective of this study has been to find a comprehensive and multi-dimensional approach in developing outstanding SME entrepreneurs that could bring about enhanced business performance, including in the vital supply chain functions. Through content analysis of relevant literatures in human resources, three pertinent constructs with strong empirical foundations have been identified, namely happy workplace, transformational leadership, learning organization, were selected and later hypothesized to affect organizational commitment and eventually contribute to enhance performance. Questionnaires were used as a quantitative research tool to collect the data from 500 employees in SMEs in the Nakhon Pathom Province, Thailand. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used for analysing the statistics. The results found that the learning organisation is most appropriate, which has direct and indirect effects on supply chain performance. The mediating effect of organisational commitment on the relationship between learning organisation and supply chain performance was also found.  The results of this study will be beneficial to entrepreneurs, the government, and educational agencies to be used as a guideline to form the policies and conduct further research

How do firm social practices produce social impacts? Investigating the role of social and long-term orientation

Sustainability practices are expected to yield positive outcomes for both firms and the community. The literature reviewing the relationship between sustainability practices and performance has mainly been concerned with environmental issues and financial outcomes. However, there are few empirical studies that deal with the social dimension of sustainability. This article seeks to address these gaps and contribute to social sustainability studies by suggesting a positive correlation between firms’ social sustainability practices – towards employees and community - and social performance, highlighting the role of social and long-term orientation as mediators. Social identity theory and practice-based view are employed to explain these relational mechanisms. Data were collected through a survey of Italian firms in the manufacturing and trade sectors. A two-stage structural equation modeling approach was followed to test the proposed mediation model. The results reveal that when practices are supported by a strong orientation, it triggers the process of social identification, thereby enhancing the firm’s social outcomes. From a practice-based view, orientation can explain the performance differences among firms. To succeed in enhancing social impacts, managers and policymakers should prioritise promoting the cultural aspects of sustainability

An empirical investigation of the channels that facilitate a total quality culture

It is generally agreed that the culture of an organisation is a function of its values, beliefs and behavioural practices and that the influence of culture on an organisation is powerful and pervasive. There is also broad agreement that total quality management (TQM ) is a management paradigm that propagates certain values, behaviour and working methods. Moreover, that the successful introduction and practice of a total quality management approach requires close attention to, and more often than not modification of, organisational culture. Yet, culture is somewhat intangible, and regardless of the precise cultural aspirations, in order to change or maintain the desired culture an organisation needs a set of facilitating channels. These are mechanisms or necessary conditions that influence, mould and help sustain a desirable cultural orientation. This paper examines the channels that facilitate the development of a total quality culture based on the findings of an investigation of an international sample of organisations widely regarded as leading exponents of TQM