Human resource practices, supply chain performance, and wellbeing

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to identify management and human resource (HR) practices that lead to satisfaction with the performance of an organization's supply chain as well as employee wellbeing, and to develop recommendations for practicing managers. Design/methodology/approach – Adopting an empirical approach, a Delphi expert panel study was first carried out to identify the possible impact of supply chain integration, particularly with regard to human resource management (HRM) policies and practices. Then, using a survey of 228 supply chain professionals, hypotheses linking satisfaction with supply chain performance to non-traditional HR practices, training, and team organization were tested. Findings – The Delphi study identified specific HR practices, such as flexible job descriptions and teamwork training that would need to accompany successful supply chain integration. Regression results indicate that flexible job descriptions, team organization, teamwork training, and the use of performance metrics to determine rewards, are significantly related to satisfaction with supply chain performance. Research limitations/implications – The Delphi results are subjective by nature and the cross-sectional survey design limits inferences of causality. Practical implications – This paper identifies management and HR practices that lead to satisfaction with supply chain performance, which is particularly relevant to modern industrial organizations where the trend is toward inter-organizational networks in the form of integrated supply chains. Implications for employee wellbeing are also discussed. Originality/value – This paper adopts an interdisciplinary approach and links HRM practice with supply chain management; two separate fields with their own research traditions.