The impact of human resource management practices on manufacturing performance

A human resource management (HRM) analysis framework is proposed and tested using data from first tier suppliers to the Big 3 in North America. Relati onships among underlying dimensions of human resource management practices and manufacturing performance are examined. The study found support for the proposed framework, suggesting that human resource management practices ca n be grouped into five distinct factors, four of which are associated with specific manufacturing competitive dimensions (quality, flexibility, cost a nd time). The remaining HRM factor is generic. The four priority-specific H RM factors are strongly related to their respective manufacturing performan ce dimensions. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.