Validation of firm-employee relationship strength as a higher order construct

Abstract

This paper reports further assessment of the fit of a model proposed to represent firmemployee relationship strength. Firm-employee relationship strength is defined broadly as the level of the emotional connection between the firm and the employees (Herington, 2003b). Initial support for this model has been reported. In this analysis four competing models were assessed. The analysis provided further support for the originally proposed model, that is an eight-factor, higher order construct. However, the existence of the higher order construct remains inconclusive. Further research is now required to determine the existence of the firmemployee relationship strength as the latent construct, and to assess the model using new data.