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Item Role of Human Resource Management in Recruitment and Providing Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities in Sri Lanka(Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2021) Mudannayake, M. M. S. M.; Weerasinghe, T. D.Although the eighth goal of sustainable development emphasizes to promote employment and decent work for all, and the availability of Sri Lankan and international rules, legislation and policies encourage persons with disabilities (PwDs) to work in organizations having decent work, the literature shows that the majority of economically active PwDs in Sri Lanka still face barriers in employment (regarding equal employment opportunities, receiving disability-related services, rejections in recruitments etc.). This study explores the perceptions of Human Resource professionals and PwDs (employed and unemployed) about recruitment and providing decent work for PwDs in Sri Lanka. The study used the qualitative method and thematic analysis technique to analyze the gathered data through interviews from 21 respondents under three categories: 07 HR professionals, 14 economically active PwDs including 07 employed PwDs and 07 unemployed PwDs. The selected sample of PwDs contained the most prevalent difficulties such as difficulties in seeing, hearing, walking and communication. The results revealed that the negative attitude of employers about employed PwDs directly connects with the negative perception of Human Resource professionals towards recruiting PwDs, which leads to creating deficiencies in providing decent work for them. Further, human resource professionals keep refraining from recruiting PwDs due to the lack of disability-friendly arrangements in workplaces. These deficiencies create a negative perception of employed PwDs towards receiving decent work, and it impacts the decision of unemployed PwDs to apply for such companies. A negative impact on this case could lead PwDs to engage in vulnerable employment. Hence, in addition to increasing the recruitments, it is also vital to change the negative attitude of employers about PwDs and establish disability-friendly arrangements in workplaces to provide them decent work.Item Sustainable Engagement of University Students in E- Learning during the Post-pandemic of Covid-19: Evidence from Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka(Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2020) Ekanayake, E. M. H. L.; Weerasinghe, T. D.Bridging the lacuna in the context of higher education in Sri Lanka and up-to-date research literature, this study was carried out to recognize the key determinants of sustainable engagement of university students in e-learning during the post-pandemic of Covid-19. This was carried out as a cross-sectional field study, predominantly applying the hypothetico-deductive approach, in which the researchers’ interference on the study sample was minimal. Final sample consists of 590 respondents selected randomly from the Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Primary data were collected through a survey questionnaire developed based on the standard measurement scale; ‘sustainable engagement in e-learning’ which was administered to the respondents directly via on-line mode, as a google form. Data analysis were done with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Excel employing descriptive statistics, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and One-way ANOVA. Moreover, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five senior lecturers randomly selected from each academic department in the Faculty. Students in the sample have shown a higher degree of engagement in e-learning. Among them, 87.8% of the respondents were highly engaged in e-learning during the post-pandemic of Covid-19. Except the academic department to which the student is attached, relationship of other factors with engagement in e-learning were found to be statistically not significant. Further, it is found that number of assignments per course, nature of those assignments, online lecture time, learning activities designed for students other than lecturing and the level of monitoring of student engagement through LMS are different among the academic departments. Further, the conduct of live-lectures via zoom or any other possible virtual platform is emphasized more effective to get a higher level of student engagement than merely uploading a recorded lecturer into LMS. Building on such, the present study strongly suggests to re-install a ‘hybrid mode of blended learning’ to get the engagement of students in the long-run instead of mere concept of ‘learn from home’.Item Impact of Emotional Contagion on Work Performance of Employees(Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Ekanayake, E. M. H. L; Weerasinghe, T. D.People possess variety of emotions. In spite of the effectiveness and the productiveness, they capture others’ emotions and moods habitually. It spreads as if a virus among them. Employees serve as the life-blood of any organization that ensures the health at the workplace. Thus, every organization strives to enhance and nurture their work performance effectively and efficiently by carefully managing the factors that affect their performance. The previously mentioned habitual nature of catching others’ emotions at work can have an impact on employees’ performance. Hence, the purpose of this study was to assess the impact emotional contagion on individual work performance. The study is an explanatory, cross-sectional in nature. A standard questionnaire was administered among the participants of the sample, selected through convenience sampling technique, which encompasses 100 respondents who are in the age category of 18 years or above that who work organizations. The items in the questionnaire have been extracted from the standard measurement scales. Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression have been used to test the hypotheses and draw conclusions. Results revealed that there is a significant relationship between the emotional contagion and individual work performance. Further, a significant impact is found from emotional contagion on work performance; as R-square is 15.7% Thus, building on the findings, it is recommended that the individuals should spend more time with the ones who boost their morale while practicing the effective ways they can use to manage the impact of others’ negative emotions and moods. Findings of the study would be beneficial for all the individuals, employees, managers, and for every organization that deploy humans at work to manage the emotions and moods productively in a way which they support their work performance.Item The Nexus between Employee Motivation and Turnover Intention: Moderating Role of Generation Gap (With Special Reference to the Executives of a Leading PVC Manufacturing Firm in Sri Lanka)(Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Jayasekara, W. A. S. S.; Weerasinghe, T. D.With Human Resource Management being recognized as a strategic partner, organizations are keen on refining their existing Human Resources Management practices. Yet retaining effective and efficient employees has been a critical issue in this century. Furthermore, managing multi-generational workforce with different traits have become a widely discussed topic. Through studies, researchers have identified different factors that have an impact on employee turnover intention. This study is aimed to assess the effect of motivation on turnover intention and to assess the moderating role of generation gap between motivation and turnover intention among employees of ABC Private Limited. This study follows deductive approach and mono-method quantitative methodological choice with cross-sectional time horizon. Primary data was collected through a pre-tested questionnaire, which were statistically verified as reliable and valid. The data was collected from a sample of 83 executives of the ABC Private Limited and analyzed using IBM SPSS software through descriptive and inferential statistical tests. Through the findings of this study, it is found that intrinsic motivation has a significant negative nexus with turnover intention. The direct impact of intrinsic motivation on turnover intention is also significant. Furthermore, a negative significant nexus between extrinsic motivation and turnover intention is found and the direct influence of extrinsic motivation on turnover intentions, which is significant. In addition, it is found that motivation has a significant negative nexus with turnover intention. Moreover, this study concluded declaring that generational differences significantly moderates the nexus between motivation and turnover intention. It is recommended to use a mixture of motivational factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic, to reduce employee turnover intention. Furthermore, it is suggested to consider composition of generations in the workforce when determining intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors.Item The Nexus between Informal Relationships at Work and Employee Retention: A Review(Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2017) Priyasad, K. P. M.; Weerasinghe, T. D.The present paper reviews and summarizes the key findings of research on the effect of informal relationships at work on employee retention featuring the main three aspects of informal relationships at work: friendship; romance and negative relationships. Building on Maslow's (1954) hierarchy of needs theory, a narrative literature review of all the relevant research papers known to the authors was conducted. It is found that friendship at the workplace is positively correlated with employee retention whereas negative relationships at the workplace inversely effect on employee retention. However, the underline relationships between romance at the workplace and employee retention is not clear and consistent in extant literature, so that, it remains yet to be investigated further in future research studies. The findings of the current review support the general notion that workplace is not a mere place to come and work, but it is a complex societal system through which people try to fulfill their social needs, included relationships at the workplace.Item Factors Affecting Employee Turnover Intention and the Moderating Role of Gender: Evidence from the Laborer Category Employees Working in Katunayake Free Trade Zone of Sri Lanka(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya., 2022) Piyasiri, S.; Weerasinghe, T. D.Although the factors affecting employee turnover intention have been adequately studied in the extant literature in various contexts, minimum attention has been given to studying the actual effect of such factors on the role of gender, especially in the Free Trade Zones in Sri Lanka. Hence, the current study attempts to examine the effect of identified factors from literature, on employee turnover intention with the moderating role of gender on each antecedent. Predominantly adopting the deductive approach, quantitative strategy and cross-sectional time horizon, the study was conducted among a sample of 194 employees of the labourer category working in Katunayake Free Trade Zone via a survey questionnaire developed based on standard measurement scales. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the sample while the sample size was determined based on the Morgan table. Data analysis was done employing multiple regression analysis and the moderator analysis with Hayes process v3.5 macro in SPSS 26.0. Findings revealed that job satisfaction and organizational commitment have a negative relationship whereas job performance and job burnout adhere to a strong positive relationship with the employee turnover intention regardless of gender. Further, it is found that gender has no moderating effect on the hypothesized association. Accordingly, it is recommended for human resource professionals to focus more on each controllable factor affecting employee turnover intention which is more likely to convert into actual employee turnover adding costs to organizations in training and development, poor job performance, poor productivity, and emergency recruitments.Item Difference of Work Related Behaviors between Generation X and Generation Y: A Study of Professionals of a Development Bank in Sri Lanka(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya., 2020) Pathirage, U. K.; Weerasinghe, T. D.Managing a multi-generation workforce today is becoming endlessly challenging, basically due to their different work related behaviors. In the recent literature, it is reported that further investigations are required for three work related behaviors of generations; work engagement, career development and teamwork, in banks, especially in developing countries. As a leading development bank in Sri Lanka, XYZ is unique in its multi-generation workforce consist of 2347 permanent employees as at 31st July 2019 across the county. In the context, a gap is identified for such a study among two major generations; Gen X and Gen Y. Hence, bridging the gap in the context, and adding further evidence to the extant literature, this study was carried out as a cross-sectional, quantitative, field study among a sample of 350 Gen X and Gen Y professionals, randomly selected from XYZ Bank. Primary data were collected based on a standard measurement scale, through an offline questionnaire survey. Descriptive statistics and the Independent Sample t-test were used to analyze data and coming to conclusions with the aid of SPSS software. There is no significant difference found among Gen X and Gen Y professionals at XYZ Bank in terms of those three work related behaviors; work engagement, career development and teamwork. Further, the importance of a strong corporate culture is emphasized in which generational differences are neutralized up to a significant extent. Hence, it is recommended that the XYZ Bank does customize its people management policies and practices based on the needs and the dynamics of its corporate culture.Item The Effect of Strategic Flexibility on Strategy-Performance Nexus: A Conceptual Model(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya., 2018) Liyanage, A. S.; Weerasinghe, T. D.Many of the business strategies adopted by organizations fail as a result of inflexibility of such strategies in responding to market dynamics. Although there is a considerable number of research to indicate that the strategic clarity has a strong positive association with firm performance, there remains little theoretical and empirical evidence to explain the effect of strategic flexibility on firm performance. Hence, this concept paper draws on the Porter’s typology and the Miles and Snow’s typology to analyze how the strategic flexibility moderates the association between strategic clarity and firm performance. The paper concludes with a conceptual model that enables the testing of the discrete effect of strategic flexibility on firm performance which in turn will add insights to the said models in the study.