The influence of human resource practices on empowerment and employee perceptions of management commitment to quality

Abstract

We hypothesized that certain human resource (HR) management practices establish a platform for basing employee empowerment, and that increasing empowerment would be positively related to perceptions of leadership commitment to quality. Using multi-stage structural equation modeling, we tested these hypotheses on data collected internally from 529 employees in a high-technology manufacturer well known for its quality initiatives. Results supported these predictions, and point to ways to further integrate HR management and quality management practices.