The effect of safety culture and team member exchange (TMX) perception on factory optimization (FO)

This study was conducted to examine the effect of safety culture and team member exchange perception on factory optimization (FO) approach, which is applied as a model of operational excellence approach. The effect of safety culture on "factory optimization", which is one of the management approaches adopted by enterprises in their efforts to maintain their continuity, increase their productivity and protect safe working environment, has been a matter of curiosity. It is hoped that the research will contribute to the literature due to the limited number of researches on factory optimization in Turkey. In teamwork that is at the core of factory optimization practices; "Does team-member exchange play a role in the relationship between factory optimization and safety culture?" question is another matter of curiosity. Leader-member exchange has been the subject of research in the literature, and team-member exchange has not received enough attention. It is hoped that research in this area will contribute to the literature. The research was carried out in a multinational company operating in the manufacturing industry. Participants consisted of 189 people working in various levels and functions, most of them blue collar. Each participant was asked to answer the questionnaires on "Safety Culture", "Factory Optimization (FO)" and "Team Member Exchange". At the beginning of the study, a pre-study of 70 people was conducted and the Cronbach's Alpha reliability values of the questions were examined. Participants were chosen randomly from various levels and functions in order to have a strong representation. It was concluded that it was highly reliable because the scales were larger than .7. According to the results of the correlation analysis, a significant relationship was found between safety culture, factory optimization and team member exchange. Factor analysis was applied and 6 factors were determined in the safety culture, and no sub-factors were detected in factory optimization and member team exchange. The safety culture questionnaire consisted of 31 questions; Sub-factors are named as "management", "communication", "procedure", "risk management", "management support", "training". In the regression analysis, a relationship was found between the perception of safety culture, factory optimization (FO) and TMX at a significance level of p <= 0.05 and it was revealed that they affect each other positively. Team member exchange (TMX) had a moderator effect on the relationship between safety culture and factory optimization (FO). In addition, the moderator effect was examined for the sub-factors of safety culture and it was found that TMX related to the communication dimension had a moderator effect. According to these results, it was confirmed that there is a significant and positive relationship on factory optimization when the perception of safety culture and team member interaction is high.