Abstract
The increasingly competitive pulp and paper industry requires chemical suppliers to optimize organizational resources and operational processes. This study examines how the work environment, human resource management, and information systems affect the performance of a domestic chemical supplier serving the pulp and paper industry, mediated of operational efficiency and employee productivity. Grounded in the Input-Process-Output framework, the model comprises six latent constructs and fourteen hypothesized paths. Using a quantitative, explanatory, cross-sectional survey, data from 122 permanent operational employees (census sampling) were analyzed with SEM-PLS (SmartPLS 4.0). All three input factors significantly affect operational efficiency, while employee productivity is driven by the work environment and human resource management but not by information systems. Both process variables significantly affect company performance, with operational efficiency as the strongest path. Operational efficiency fully mediates the effect of all three inputs on performance, whereas employee productivity mediates only the effects of the work environment and human resource management. Of the fourteen hypotheses, twelve are supported. The findings position human resource management as the highest-leverage factor and operational efficiency as the main channel to firm performance, offering guidance for managing organizational inputs to improve the performance of chemical suppliers serving the pulp and paper industry.