The Perceptions of Management and Employees on the Effects of Employee Involvement in New Product Development

Abstract

This study aims to determine the perceptions of management and employees in the effects of employee involvement in new product development on the employees’ motivation, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Two food companies have participated in this study, where general interview guides were used and complementary to this a self-rating checklist. A descriptive research design was followed using thematic analysis. Managers and rank-and-file employees were the key interview informants in this study. Employees are involved in the business analysis, testing, and postlaunch evaluation stages in the NPD process. Participative management and representative participation are the programs that facilitate employee involvement. Aiding these programs are the tools that the management use: informal group meetings, formal group meetings, and consultations. The management perceives the improvement in motivation in their employees the same way that the employees rated themselves. Both say that there is a major improvement, specifically in these specific intrinsic outcomes: feeling of having completed a job well and the feeling of having contributed something to the enterprise. Taken into account in these results is having met the needs of the employees. Another manifestation of this is their willingness to do something beyond their job description. They also see their efforts help in the overall operation of the company. Both the management and employees rate moderate improvement in job satisfaction. Most of them say that they have moderately improved in terms of liking the people they deal with. This relatively lower rating could be affected by the employees’ inability to gauge their expectations of the company through their participation in NPD. However, the employees values are met, there is a low turnover due to a lean organizational structure and the organizational culture promotes employee participation. The management perceives the improvement in their employees’ commitment to the organization almost the same way that the employees rated themselves. The management rated a moderate to high improvement, while the employees say that there is a high improvement in their organizational commitment. Affecting this is the personal and role variables of the employees. In this study, it can be seen how internal marketing chains three important stakeholders in an organization - the management, employees, and customers.