The relationship between employee involvement, partnership management and supply performance : Findings from a developing country

Purpose – This research aims to investigate the relationships among employee involvement, partnership management, and a firm's supply performance in the automotive industry in Thailand. Design/methodology/approach – The measurement instruments for employee involvement, partnership management and a firm's supply performance were developed based on an extensive literature review, and validated by experts. They were pilot‐tested, and analyzed using various statistical techniques to ensure reliability and validity in structural equation modeling constructs. A hypothesized model was tested through path analysis. Findings – The study found that the measurements of employee involvement, partnership management, and a firm's supply performance are reliable and valid for Thailand's automotive industry. Employee involvement has not only a significant direct positive impact on partnership management and firm's supply performance, but also a significant indirect positive impact on a firm's supply performance through partnership management. Research limitations/implications – The distribution of paper‐based questionnaires was a convenience sample. Although data from a sample of 211 companies was collected, only 19 percent of them provided more than one response. Future research should apply different random sampling methods, and investigate the reasons for and ways to improve the low multiple‐response rate. Practical implications – The findings are beneficial to managers in the automotive industry in developing countries who want to improve partnership management and supply performance through employee involvement. Originality/value – This study is one of the first to examine the linkage among internal employee involvement, external partnership management, and a firm's supply performance in the automotive industry in a newly industrialized country such as Thailand. It can be used in further research on the new concept of supply chain quality management.