Human resource practices, organizational climate, and customer satisfaction

The degree to which organizational climate mediates the relationship betwee n human resource practices and customer satisfaction is investigated for 35 1 small businesses in the same industry. Results indicated support for the hypothesized mediated relationship. The indirect effects of HR practices on customer satisfaction were significant and relatively large while the dire ct effect was nonsignificant and near zero. The results were supportive of a social context model of the impact of human resource practices on organiz ational outcomes. Limitations of the study and implications for future rese arch are discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.