Human Resource Management
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Item Empathic Listening in Organizational Communication: Putting oneself in the other person’s shoe(Communication. Relations. Management, Volumina. Szczecin. pp. 31-38, 2018) Wijewantha, P.A common cause associated with most of the organizational problems are linked to listening issues of managers. If leaders or managers actively question and listen to their employees, it encourages dialogue and debate within the organization and thereby the employees will be encouraged to perform (Garvin, Edmondson and Gino, 2008). But what happens within the organizations is, when employees take their problems to the managers, the managers only tend to listen briefly to what is said by the employees, where as they are very quick in proposing their own solutions. But sometimes these solutions proposed do not pertain to the actual problems encountered by the employees, and thereby make the problems worse.Item National Culture and Transfer of HRM Practices in Multinational Corporations (MNCs)(International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research. 8(9), 2019) Wijewantha, P.This paper provides a review on the role of national culture in transferring the Human Resource Management (HRM) practices of the headqua rters of a Multinational Corporation (MNC) to its subsidiaries in other parts of the world. This challenging concern over tra nsfer of HRM practices has created a huge development and a series of novel insights in the field of International Human Resource M anagement (IHRM).Item Lunchroom Discussion at Fontel (A teaching case)(Journal of the International Academy of Case Studies, 24(3)., 2018) Wijewantha, P.The primary subject matter of this case falls in to the discipline of Human Resource Management (HRM). Secondary issues examined in the case study belong to the highly interrelated discipline to HRM, Organizational Behavior (OB). The case study is written keeping the undergraduate (Bachelors) and postgraduate (e.g., postgraduate diploma, MBA, M.Sc. and M.Phil.) students following courses related to Business Management/Administration, HRM, and OB. The case is designed to be taught in one lecture session of 2 h (120 min) duration. Students need to be taught about the basic functions of HRM before they are given the case. It would be beneficial if the case study is shared with the students after a lecture on functions of HRM. The students should be asked to engage in reading the case and outside preparation for at least 3 h. The case may be then discussed in the class room by the students in groups for 60 min before the group presentations are madeItem Developing Global Leadership Bench Strength through Transformational Leaders(Asian Journal of Empirical Research. Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Wijewantha, P.Developing the global leadership bench strength by advancing the global leadership competencies of high potential employees is a critical concern for Multinational Corporations (MNCs), to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Accordingly, the main purpose of this paper is to emphasize the role of line managers transformational leadership in developing the global leadership competencies of their respective subordinates, with the theoretical support of the transformational leadership theory. For the above purpose, data were collected from line manager-high potential dyads, using a structured questionnaire developed using well accepted, standard measures. Upon completion of preliminary analyses, the hypothesis was tested. From the regression analyses, it was found that there is a major impact of line manager's transformational leadership in the development of global leadership competencies of high potential subordinates. This finding is consistent with the transformational leadership theory and other empirical studies in the area and suggests the development of line manager's transformational leadership competencies for the purpose of developing the global leadership bench strength in MNCs.Item Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and Organizational Commitment: Evidence from the Construction Industry of Sri Lanka(Paper presented at III Human Capital in Enterprise and Economy – Perspective of Management and Economics Conference, University of Szczecin, Poland, 2018) Wijewantha, P.This study examines the relationship between OHS management practices and employee organizational commitment in the construction industry of Sri Lanka. The survey was carried out among labourers in the construction industry, chosen using convenience sampling. Data were collected by distributing a self-administered anonymous structured questionnaire among 250 labourers where 155 were received. Data analyses were performed using the SPSS 23.0. Upon completing the preliminary analyses, the relationship was determined using correlation and regression analyses. Results indicated a significant positive relationship between OHS management practices in the industry and forms of organizational commitment – affective, normative, and continuanceItem Individual factors and student involvement in extracurricular activities(12th Annual Research Symposium, University of Kelaniya - 2011, Sri Lanka. p.192., 2011) Wijewantha, P.Universities are not only places of knowledge creation and dissemination but they have a broad mission: developing and molding a “whole student”. Extracurricular activities are activities performed by students, outside the realm of the normal curriculum of university education. A deep investigation using available sources of literature indicates that there is a knowledge gap especially in the Sri Lankan context, with respect to factors affecting student involvement in extracurricular activities within the university. Primary data for the study were collected through a self developed, personally administered structured questionnaire. Circumstances justified that this study should be conducted among the 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates when considering the Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya. The sampling technique t used could be identified as Systematic Sampling, which is a Complex or Restricted Probability Sampling Method. A sample of 100 undergraduates was selected for the study. Based on the study, it was concluded that there is no association between the individual factors of gender, ethnicity, religion, school attended, location of home town and family income level, whereas there is an association between the relationship status of undergraduates and their involvement in extracurricular activities. Further this creates the need to investigate whether the extracurricular activities available for students at university will develop the employable undergraduate required by the world of work.Item Talent Management: An Alternative Perspective(1 st Doctoral Colloquium August 19 2016.Post Graduate Institute of Management,University of Sri Jayawardanepura, Sri Lanka. p.36-37., 2016) Wijewantha, P.Talent management has gained wide popularity among the practitioner community because it has been identified by them and the consultants as a source of producing necessary capability differentials to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. The majority of organizations practice the ‘exclusive’ approach to talent management, where organizations identify a limited percentage as talented employees resulting in dissatisfaction among the majority of employees. This, is contrary to the expectations of the main concept of talent management, and it has negatively influenced firms’ aim of gaining competitive advantage. As such the purpose of this study is to look at ‘How viable is talent management as a management practice in generating results for organizations in the long run?’ The findings of this study would enlighten the managers about the unnoticed consequences of adopting the practice of talent management from a ‘short term shareholder approach’ ,rather than considering the wider interests of the other stakeholders as proposed in the stakeholder theory. In addition, it will also become an eye opener for the managers to not only focus on the interests of the managers in adopting business practices, but also that they need to have a balanced look at performance considering multiple stakeholders of all other activities of the business. Accordingly, this concern of considering the interests of multiple stakeholders, proposed based on the stakeholder theory of this study, is a new perspective than what had been considered by managers of organizations in adopting practices such as talent management. Further, it addresses the issue of limited empirical studies in the field of talent management, and also takes a novel perspective than the existing literature by overcoming the limitations of current talent management literature.Item Reasons for Unionization and Politicization of Trade Unions in Sri Lanka(University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. p.01-02, 2011) Wijewantha, P.; Gamage, P.Observations indicate that, the majority of both private and public sector organizations in Sri Lanka have trade unions and a higher percentage of the workforce has some form of trade union membership. Majority of the trade unions in these organizations are branches of main trade unions affiliated to leading political parties. As it is found in this study on reasons for unionization and impact of their politicalization, a multiplicity of trade unions is in operation in the selected state organizations. This has been mainly due to people having various motives to fulfil through trade unions and in addition due to their affiliation to achieve objectives of political parties. Situations prevailing in the selected organizations are not for the wider interests of the workers and are also harmful in considering the objectives of the trade union movement in general. This has created a negative feeling among the workers about the trade unions and it is implied when looking at their reasons for unionization. As such it has become necessary to pioneer efforts in bringing the trade union activities to the right track especially in the South Asian context, for the trade unions to be contributory to the employee welfare and national development. The study proposes certain measures based on the observations in bringing the country’s trade union movement to the right path.Item Protean Career Attitude And Organizational Commitment A Study Among Mid- Career MBAs(University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2012) Wijewantha, P.Commitment is an attitude reflecting an employee's loyalty to the organization, and an ongoing process through which organization members express their concern for the organization and its continued success and well being. With the increasing mobility of employees especially the mid careers, the HR Departments are highly concerned about maintaining the level commitment and loyalty of employees towards their organizations. Given this continuing importance of organizational commitment, this study examines the impact of mid career manager’s protean career attitude on organizational commitment with the moderation effect of developmental opportunities. Despite the growing concern on protean career attitudes in the international research domain little empirical evidence is available with regard to it in the Sri Lankan context and this study attempts to fill that knowledge gap. Affective, continuance and normative commitment are identified as the dimensions of organizational commitment where as self-directed career management and values-driven career management are identified as the dimensions of protean career attitude. Data was collected from a convenience sample of 92 part-time MBAs using a self administered questionnaire. Meyer and Allen’s 24 item Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) was used to measure organizational commitment where as the protean career attitude was measured using the 14 item Protean career attitude scale of Briscoe and Hall. Data collected were analyzed using correlation, regression, or moderated multiple regression. Perceived organizational and supervisor support, organizational culture and leadership style of the supervisor are controlled for in the data analysis. There exists a negative relationship between protean career attitude of mid career managers and organizational commitment, where the development opportunities moderated this relationship. This means higher developmental opportunities resulted in higher commitment even for those with higher levels of protean career attitude. Finally the practical and theoretical implications are discussed.Item Doctors Look After Our Well-being, But How to Look After Theirs? Testing a Model of Work-Family Conflict, Perceived Social Support, and Employee Well-being(University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. p.01., 2018) Wijewantha, P.; Wijewardena, N.This paper examines Work-Family Conflict (WFC) and Employee Well-Being (EWB) of married female medical doctors and how this relationship is impacted by their Perceived Social Support (PSS). More specifically, this aims to examine 1) the impact of WFC on wellbeing and 2) the direct, indirect, and buffer effects of PSS on the relationship between WFC and well-being of married female doctors. With the increase in women’s workforce participation (Casper et al., 2011) and women entering previously male dominant professions, WFC issues amongst employed women have increased. Thus, Cinamon (2009) calls for research on WFC female professionals. To date, limited attention has been given to WFC of female doctors (e.g., Brown, 1992), though they engage in highly demanding work and experience reduced EWB (Walsh, 2012). This can especially be witnessed in Asian cultures, where females must combine occupational demands, marriage, motherhood, and extended family (Brown, 1992) which cause them to experience additional burdens and greater well-being issues than male counterparts (Goh, Ilies, & Wilson, 2015). Thus they need resources that reduce their WFC, and increase well-being. As such, this study examines ‘social support’ as one such resource that can positively impact the well-being of married female doctors. Using the Conservation of Resource (COR) Theory (Hobfoll, 1989) and other literature (Drummond et al., 2016; Greenhaus & Parasuraman, 1987; Lapierre, & Allen, 2006), the following hypotheses were developed to be tested. H1: WFC has a direct negative impact on EWB H1a : Work Interference with Family (WIF) conflict negatively impacts EWB H1b : Family Interference with Work (FIW) conflict negatively imapcts EWB Next, based on the Social Support Theory (SST), the following hypotheses were developed. H2: PSS has a direct positive impact on EWB (Direct effect) H3: PSS indirectly impacts EWB through WFC (Indirect effect) H3a: WIF conflict mediates the relationship between PSS and EWB H3b: FIW conflict mediates the relationship between PSS and EWB H4: PSS moderates the relationship between WFC and EWB (Buffering effect) H4a: PSS moderates the relationship between WIF conflict and EWB H4b: PSS moderates the relationship between FIW conflict and EWB A self-administered questionnaire was used for collecting data from a sample of 537 married female medical doctors employed in government hospitals in Sri Lanka (SL). EWB was measured with the 18-item scale by Zheng, Zhu, Zhao, and Zhang, 2015. WFC was measured using the 18-item multi-dimensional scale by Carlson, Kacmar, and Williams (2000) while PSS was measured using the multi-dimensional measure by Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, and Farley (1988). Data were analyzed using the SPSS 23.0 software. Hypotheses 1 (H1a and H1b) and 2 were supported explaining direct effects. Partial mediation was supported in hypothesis 3 (H3a and H3b) as confirmed by the Sobel test calculation. However, the proposed buffer effect of PSS on the relationship between WFC and EWB as posited in H4 (H4a and H4b) was not supported. These results are consistent with the COR Theory and prior literature and the direct effects of SST, and the empirical literature supporting the indirect effects of social support. The results are inconsistent with the buffering hypothesis of the SST, indicating that in a collectivist culture like Sri Lanka, people have strong family ties, extended family support, and deep community bonds on which they are highly dependent on a daily basis, rather than seeking support in times of stress. The main contributions of this study are, i) it examines the relationship between WFC and well-being of female professionals, i.e., medical doctors, ii) assesses WFC, and its cross–domain linkages as a mediator between PSS and EWB outcomes, and iii) tests PSS in a different cultural context to see its effects. The main implications of this study are: 1) it provides insights on being proactive about well-being of married female doctors by taking steps such as introducing family-friendly employment practices and WLB programmes to the health sector of SL; 2) introducing transformations to the health sector by designing suitable interventions to help married female doctors (e.g., National Sick Doctors scheme, Telephone helpline, free counselling services, and psychotherapy for doctors) and 3) provide training and awareness programs for doctors to improve their social support systems and their own well-being.