Exploring How Managers Increase Employee Performance Within Organizational Supply Chains

Leaders and the strategies they employ to enhance employee performance are essential to retaining an organization\u27s competitive advantage. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies used by supply chain management managers to improve employee performance in the workplace. The conceptual framework for this study combined elements from Vroom\u27s expectancy theory of motivation, Adams\u27s equity theory of motivation and leadership, and transformational leadership theories. Participants were selected via the purposeful sampling of 6 successful supply chain managers in the District of Columbia\u27s metropolitan area. Data were obtained using semistructured face-to-face interviews, interview notes, transcripts, and a thorough review and analysis of organizational documents. Data were analyzed using Yin\u27s 5-step approach to data analysis. Four themes were identified: strategies associated with enhancing employee performance with an emphasis on training, barriers that prevented leadership from achieving performance improvement objectives, tools leaders used to measure employee performance and the leadership style of the manager with an emphasis on the use of the participative leadership style. The findings of this study may contribute to social change by providing supply chain managers with resources required to enhance overall employee performance in the workplace, which in turn may lead to increased overall organizational productivity, helping to ensure the prosperity of the organizational leaders, employees, their families, the surrounding communities, and the local economy