Linking human resource management practices and customer satisfaction on product quality

Although research has addressed relationships between HRM practices and several firms’ performance variables, it remains rare for studies to assess process that may underlie such relationships: limited empirical studies has in particular estimated the mediating effect of organizational commitment on HRM practices and performances simultaneously. This study thus aims to investigate the relationships HRM practices and product quality hypothesizing a mediating role of organizational commitment. A conceptual model is designed and hypotheses are constructed. In order to test the hypotheses, structural equation modeling is performed for the data collected from an international sample. The study contributes to the theoretical development of a model to explain the relationship between skills-developing HR practices and quality performance. Additionally, this study is an attempt to consider the mediation role of commitment. If commitment is a significant determinant of quality performance, as suggested in this research, then understanding the factors leading to commitment is indeed critical. Our findings are thus expected to help managers better understand the key role of HR practices leading to higher product quality and the mechanism through which such practices contribute to meet customers requirements and achieving their satisfaction upon product quality.