bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Is Ethical Banking the Future? A Literature Review
Authors: Jayasekera M.A.K.De.S. , Pushpakumari M.D.
Published: March 2022

Banks are one of the main contributors of economic growth. Whilst carrying their role as a catalyst of economic growth, banks may cause indirect damage to the environment and neglect part of the society. In the process they evade themselves from the socio- environmental responsibilities. In search of sustainable development through banking requires a new form of banking. The alternative source of banking has emerged to address these issues of environmental and societal sustainability. The new criteria for a knowledgeable shareholder/customer planning for investments/relationships with a bank would be the objective of the bank for environmental and societal sustainability. Banks are moving from profit centered banking to socio-environment centered banking. The ultimate objective is to achieve not only economic gains but societal and environmental gains as well. Hence; a form of banking based on values emerged and are called Ethical Banks. These banks promote ethical and responsible behaviors among their stakeholders. Ethical Banks like any other conventional Bank engages in whole gamut of banking operations. It operates with more transparency. Ethical Banking has many sustainable criteria, Responsible Investments, Values based Banking, Financial Inclusion, Environmental Sustainability and Sustainable Economic Gains. Ethical Banking is gaining popularity especially among the western part of the world. As the world is heading towards sustainability, Ethical banking is the most suitable banking model for the future. The subject of Ethical Banking is new to this part of the world. Therefore, many researches on this subject were done in the western world. Very few researches are available in Asian context. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether Ethical banking would be the future of banking through a literature review. The study is a desk research in the form of a literature review based on literature published between 1989-2019. The significance of the study is to find out whether Ethical Banking could contribute to socio-environmentally sustainable growth as the future of banking. Based on the literature reviewed, it can be concluded that Ethical banking could be the future of Baking for a sustainable world.

Keywords: Ethical Banking, Value Based Banking, Financial Inclusion, Sustainable Development Environmental Sustainability
Electronic banking and customer satisfaction with reference to debit card holders in Sri Lanka
Authors: Weerasinghe I.M.S. , Bandara O.G.C.G.
Published: March 2022

The anticipated gigantic changes in the banking and finance industry that are taking place around the world, have redesigned the competitive landscape of the industry with many digitalized services. This sparking trend has fortified many financial institutes in Sri Lanka to metamorphose its operation with international standards thriving competitive environment. Electronic payments and online baking facilities were few such innovative solutions that shift the entire economy towards a cashless society. Debit Card is a multipurpose electronic card that facilitates 24-hour customer services has now become a mandatory banking facility in Sri Lanka, therefore billions of money have been already invested by banks in the facility. By today the card is extensively applied everywhere, however, the application of debit cards is somewhat questionable especially in regional areas. Hence the objective of this study was to identify the level of customer awareness about debit card facilities and customers' satisfaction with the card. This deductive type quantitative study applied a questionnaire survey strategy and achieved its purpose through five causal hypotheses that tested the impact of convenience, security, prestige, rewards, availability of facilities on debit cardholders’ satisfaction. Randomly, selected individual customers (397) contributed to the survey on which different statistical (correlation and regression) tests were employed to meet the research objective. There were 51.1% of male respondents in the sample in which 73.6 % were married. The majority of respondents belonged to the 26-35 age category and above 50% of them had up to A/L education. All most of the respondents had awareness about the facilities of the debit card, however, very little usage was reported except withdrawal as still people comfortable with cash. Respondents had mostly use a debit card for expenses between 5000.00 and 50000.00. Finally, the study found that convenience and available facilities as significant factors that satisfy debit cardholders. Accordingly, convenience and available facilities of debit cards are the expound dimensions that upsurge debit card application in day to day transaction in Sri Lanka, therefore study strongly encourage banks to consider the aforementioned dimensions if they wish to uphold debit card usage in the country.

Keywords: Banks, Cashless transaction, Debit Card, Facility, Satisfaction
Critical Evaluation of Airport Business Plan
Authors: Fernando W.W.A.S. , Indunil U.P.A.
Published: March 2022

The airport business plan is a logical and disciplined structure to set out goals, objectives, and action plans for daily operations and management of airports. To evolve the business, airports need to follow different strategies. These strategies are implemented through the business plans of the airports. The following are the objectives of this research.

Identifying the business plan and its components

Developing Criteria to evaluate airport business plan with its performance

Evaluating the impact of how the airport business plan affects airport performance by utilizing developed criteria.

A literature survey was carried out to identify the components of the business plan. Interviews and questionnaire surveys were conducted to develop criteria including airport business plan elements (ABP Elements). Identified ABP elements are Airport & Market, Organization, Marketing, Operations, Aviation Products, Services & Facilities, Financial and Information Technology.

Key performance indicators were identified under each ABP element to evaluate the impact of how the business plan affects the airport performances. Four business plans were selected as case studies namely, Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Mattala Rajapakshe International Airport (MRIA), Hong Kong International Airport (HKG), and Amsterdam International Airport (AMS) according to the availability of information. These business plans were benchmarked based on the key performance indicators under each ABP element. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was utilized to calculate the weights of the elements of the ABP.

As findings, HKG was the highest performing airport, MRIA was the lowest-performing airport in terms of Airport Business Plan. The areas that need to be developed in Airport Business Plans of BIA and MRIA were identified and recommendations were given. The created rubric by developing a table of airport business plan criteria and sub-criteria for the selected four airports can be used as a decision-making tool. The airport can enhance its efficiency to identify new business opportunities and attract investors by implementing a standard business plan.

Keywords: Evaluation, Planning, Airport Business Plan, Airport performance, Airport benchmarking
Facilities Management Outsourcing Options: Evidence from Practices in Sri Lanka
Authors: Dasandara S.P.M. , Jayawickrama B.P.S.S. , Dissanayake D.M.P.P.
Published: March 2022

Facilities Management (FM) can be identified as an emerging profession in Sri Lanka, where FM outsourcing has become a new and tactical business approach for carrying out a variety of FM services. It is a way of optimising core function of the organisation by transferring non-core functions to external parties. Generally, FM outsourcing options include managing agent, managing contractor, total FM, bundle service, single service and integrated service. Applicability of these methods depends on the current situation of the FM industry. Presently, these options are commonly used for FM outsourcing practices in Sri Lanka. However, all these methods are not perfectly applicable with the current condition of the Sri Lankan FM industry. This urges the need of identifying the most ideal FM outsourcing option(s) to deliver FM services in Sri Lanka. This paper, therefore, aimed to investigate the current FM outsourcing practices in Sri Lanka to identify the most ideal FM outsourcing options(s) by bridging the knowledge gap in prevailing literature.

The research aim was achieved through a qualitative approach with qualitative interview survey strategy. Semi structured interviews were conducted as the data collection technique with twelve experienced FM industry practitioners. The collected data was analysed using content analysis method. Research findings revealed that all FM outsourcing options are currently practiced in Sri Lanka and among them, single service option has become the most commonly used method to deliver FM services. However, it was proven through the findings that with the evolution of FM, organisations have to move from traditional methods to modern methods for FM outsourcing. As a result, even though single service option is the most commonly used method, integrated service option was identified as the most ideal and appropriate FM outsourcing option in Sri Lanka based on the benefits from clients’ as well as service providers’ perspectives. The knowledge generated through this study can be used by the FM practitioners, clients and service providing organisations in order to practice most appropriate FM outsourcing option(s) in Sri Lanka by gaining the expected benefits from FM outsourcing.

Keywords: Facilities Management (FM), FM Outsourcing, FM Outsourcing Options
Reasons for the deviation in the Final Pre-Production Completion in Apparel Industry: Case Study
Authors: Perera A. S. P. , Ariyarathne S. P.
Published: March 2022

Sri Lanka’s apparel and textile manufacturing industry is the most significant and dynamic contributor to the economy. A key success factor of the industry is the high level of quality in the final production which delivers to the customer. This depends on many internal procedures within the organization. The final pre-production (PP) is one of those significant stages in the internal manufacturing process, which impacts the quality and completion time of the bulk production. Repetitive delays in the final pre-production (PP) completions which holds the entire bulk production was observed as an empirical problem in one of a leading apparel manufacturing company in Sri Lanka. Hence the primary objective of the study is to investigate reasons for the delays in final PP completion. Research methodology follows an interpretivism philosophy with an inductive approach. The strategies of data collection were based on a case study method which includes deep observations of 240 hours on the production floor and interviews as primary data collection sources and historical data of the organization as the secondary data. Study used Plan-Do- Check-Act (PDCA) cycle with an eight-step problem solving method to analyze the data. Findings of the study are; delays in pre-production sample approval, issues with material quality assurance, materials and trimming sources, development center, factory authorized auditor, machines unavailability. This study contributes to the existing literature and apparel sector by providing fine-grained recommendations to the field such as enhancing the collaborations on cross functional team tasks, sharing responsibilities of the feedback mechanisms in the production process and to increase the plant technical team involvement on each stage of the process.

Keywords: Pre-Production (PP), Bulk production, Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
Bernoulli Trial in Gauging the Quantity Surveyors’ Standpoint on Concurrent Delays
Authors: Jayalath C. , Wickramasinghe W.M.U.
Published: March 2022

It is not off beam to contend that concurrent delays are a contentious arena in construction claims where anecdotal experience-based approach has been evident among the practitioners. Assessing concurrent delay in relation to extension of time and delay damages is often complicated. The aim of the research is to recognize an industry-accepted precedent as to concurrent delays, from the quantity surveyor perspective. The objectives are to identify the ‘evaluators’ view on concurrent delay as a ‘phenomenon’ in the construction industry, gauge the industry practitioner’s view on the treatment on concurrent delay in terms of ratifying time extension and prolongation costs and finally to see whether a consensus is truly available. The authors in this paper offer a key insight into claims using a quantitative approach by effectively recommending a convincing solution in terms of either yes or no. This is done by encapsulating a concurrent delay scenario and asking consulting quantity surveyors to add their experience and offer their views through fully structured questionnaires. The questions were to examine, whether there exists a concurrent delay, time is excusable so that concurrent delay period once identified is added to the period of extension and finally, whether the costs on prolongation due to concurrent delays are compensable. Binomial distribution is used to model the probability and gauge the perception where a series of discrete trials in this research was conducted and each individual trial had either agreement or otherwise. In this way, a new insight into the attitudes of ‘evaluators’ to claims is obtained and common areas of agreement and disagreement are identified. It was found that claims consultants have a greater appreciation of the ways in which claims are eventually settled. Further, the authors have noted that assessing concurrent delay is often problematic. There is no single accepted definition of concurrent delay.

Keywords: Claims; Concurrent delay; Scenario-based
Revisiting Pro-Social Rule-Breaking: Suggestions for Improvements
Authors: De Peiris T.N.S. , Kaluarachchi K.A.S.P.
Published: March 2022

The existing literature on the concept of deviant behaviour in Management and Organizational Studies includes two streams of research on deviant behaviour, which consider both positive and negative consequences. Under positive deviant behaviour, Pro-Social Rule-Breaking (PSRB) is considered as an important concept, which addresses the motives, behaviour, and consequences of positive deviant behaviour in the organisational context. This paper intends to examine the construction of PSRB within the existing literature to identify its strengths and limitations. Further, if gaps are available in the existing notion of the concept, the paper intends to propose constructs to be incorporated in the re-conceptualisation. With the review of the literature it was found that PSRB falls short in explaining the motive(s) of positive deviant behaviour linked with the ‘self’ by emphasising the pro-social motive of rule-breaking which is linked to a concern for the ‘other’. It also gives prominence to breaking formal rules by ignoring deviance from informal norms. Moreover, the emphasis of the existing literature on the construction of PSRB is mainly on explaining the impact of organization-specific constructs related to deviant behaviour, with less consideration paid to constructs in the extra-organizational context. Hence, in order to overcome the limitations of the concept, constructs considered in the literature were analysed with a view to re-conceptualising PSRB with suitable sub-constructs. Consequently, the paper proposes to incorporate discourses, norms, and identity work in re-conceptualising the construction of PSRB of organizational actors. This re-conceptualisation will facilitate understanding the self’s and the other’s motives, the breaking of formal as well as informal rules/norms, and organizational as well as extra-organizational motives in the construction of PSRB. Hence, the proposed sub-constructs go beyond a surface-level analysis by overcoming the limitations of the existing notion of the construction of PSRB. The proposed re-consideration broadens the understanding of PSRB while enabling practitioners to manage positive deviant behaviour desirably in the organizational context.

Keywords: Deviant Behaviour, Discourses, Identity Work, Norms, Pro-Social Rule-Breaking
Impact of Sustainable HRM Practices on Employee Performance: A Study of Employees in a Selected Private Sector Company in Sri Lanka
Authors: Weerasinghe T.W.M.K.K. , Silva K.N.N.
Published: March 2022

Private sector plays a distinct role in Sri Lankan economy at the present context. Lack of employee performance is one of the major challenging problems faced by the private sector organizations. Private sector organizations incur a huge investment on improving employee performances and introduce novel HRM practices in order to improve employee performance. Sustainable HRM is also such a novel concept aimed at improving employee performance with sustainable outcomes. The major objective of conducting this study is to investigate current sustainable HRM practices and to identify the impact of those sustainable HRM practices on employee performance in one of the leading broiler companies in Sri Lanka. Based on the objectives of the study, semi structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 100 employees through simple random sampling and the collected data was analyzed descriptively and statistically. Sustainable recruitment and selection, sustainable training and development and sustainable motivation and rewards were considered as the major factors to identify the existing sustainable HRM practices in the company and to test the willingness of employees for implementing sustainable HRM practices. Findings of the study reveal that all the selected sustainable HRM practices were existed within the company and employees were willing to practice, except the practices which are related with advanced technology. In case of impact identification of sustainable HRM practices on employee performance, sustainable recruitment and selection have a significant negative impact. Sustainable motivation and rewards have a significant positive impact on employee performance. In case of identifying the constraints for practicing sustainable HRM practices in the company, lack of knowledge was identified as the most affecting constraint. Consequently, the results of this study may give policy implications for the company to enhance employee performance with sustainable HRM practices while expanding existing literature on sustainable HRM in Sri Lankan context.

Keywords: Employee performance, Sustainable HRM, Sustainable motivation and rewards, Sustainable recruitment and selection, Sustainable training and development
Redefining Professional Identities: Identity Work of Professional Accountants in the Presence of ICTs in Sri Lanka
Authors: Alwis T.P.G.P.C. , De Peiris T.N.S.
Published: March 2022

Changes in professional identities with moving into new types of roles or engaging in new tasks may strive to alter the direction of a profession at large. Comparatively little attention has been devoted to the professional identities of accountants in the Sri Lankan context, to the construal of their professional identities in the face of changes accompanying the widespread use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Thus, the purpose of this paper is to present the findings of an empirical study on how the professional identities being redefined by accounting professionals in Sri Lanka in the presence of ICTs. The paper elaborates on the less studied phenomenon as ICTs facilitate the world of work by creating interfaces for workers to act, though on some occasions it does present certain challenges. A qualitative research approach was adopted to carry out an interpretive and naturalistic exploration. Participants were selected based on the purposive judgmental sampling technique, to cover different aspects of the profession from the time of introduction of ICTs to the Sri Lankan context, to the present day. Data was gathered through semi-structured, in-depth interviews and subsequently, the transcribed interviews were thematically analysed. Findings of the study explains how the professional accountant’s job role and accounts departments’ structures changed with the advent of ICTs. Five types of identity work which accounting professionals use to redefine their professional identities in the presence of ICTs, were identified as resistance to change, acquiring new skills and facilitating new skills, occupying different spaces, legitimising knowledge, and finding alternative avenues. Accordingly, the paper presents the views of the participants on the future trends in the accounting profession in Sri Lanka while drawing implications for the policy decisions of academics and other professional bodies. Thus, the paper highlights professional accountants’ identity work which contributes to the redefinition of professional identities in the face of inevitable changes occurring in the world of work.

Keywords: Accounting professionals, Identity work, ICTs, Redefining identities
Predicting and Comparing the Retention and Turnover Intention of Generations X and Y at Selected Service Companies in Sri Lanka
Authors: Walpola M.D.C.P. , Piyasiri A.D.W.D. , Jayamal I.A.U.M. , Wijenayaka T.H.P.C. , Pathirana G. Y. , Weerarathne R.S.
Published: March 2022

The generation gap has impacted a much higher turnover in the generation Y than in generation X during the previous years. It has impacted in achieving a healthy working environment at organizations to achieve the organizational goals. Hence it was needed to identify on what factors does the turnover rate of generation ‘y’ has increased than in generation ‘x’ within organizations and to predict which employees will retain and leave from the organizations during the next year. This study is based on a quantitative research type. A survey was used as the main research strategy and the study is based on deductive research approach. The population of the study was 1298 employees who belong to the two generations ‘x’ and ‘y’ of selected private companies which operate under the service category in Sri Lanka. The target sample of the study was 297 and the researchers were able to fulfil their requirement. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, multiple linear regression and binary logistic regression using SPSS. It was found that differences in characteristics of the two generations and the behaviors of them had influenced a higher turnover intention in generation ‘y’ than in generation ‘x’. It was specifically noted that the three independent variables had a positive impact on the retention and intention to leave of the two generations at workplaces separately. The results will be of utmost importance for employers to predict the retention and turnover intention of employees and for employees to have faith and continue the career providing the best to fulfill the organization’s needs. Hence, this concept could be recognized as a key factor to drive the quality in both employers and employees while achieving sustainability to have a healthy working environment. The main limitation of the study was that only two generations were taken into consideration. Therefore, it is recommended for future researchers to have research studies on upcoming generations at workplaces to identify the generational behavior.

Keywords: Sustainable HRM, Generation ‘X’, Generation ‘Y’, Predictive Analysis
Impact of Workplace Surveillance on Employee - Employer Bond
Authors: Ranasinghe V. R. , Samarasinghe S.M.
Published: March 2022

Workplace surveillance has drawn the attention of many organizations during the past decades. Previous research investigated the impact of workplace surveillance on different constructs such as job satisfaction, employee loyalty, trust in management, employee creativity and employee privacy. However, there was a dearth of research on the impact of workplace surveillance on employee – employer bond as it has not been tested previously in any organizational context. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of workplace surveillance on employee – employer bond and to identify the role of trust in the impact of workplace surveillance on employee – employer bond. Further, this study used social bond theory which has not been used before to investigate the impact of workplace surveillance on employee – employer bond. The model was empirically tested by collecting data from two hundred and eight operational level employees working in commercial banks in Sri Lanka. In selecting the sample, convenience sampling was used due to time constraints. The survey questionnaire method was used to collect data. The study focused on three constructs, namely, workplace surveillance, trust, and employee – employer bond. This study used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the data. Before the statistical analysis, data was screened for its appropriateness for use in the main analysis. According to the findings of the study, workplace surveillance had a weak positive impact on employee – employer bond and a moderate, positive impact on trust. Trust, on the other hand, had a strong positive impact on employee – employer bond. Further, trust had an indirect effect on the relationship between workplace surveillance and employee – employer bond. Hence, managers should identify strategies to enhance their employees’ trust levels as they directly enhance employee – employer bond and increase organizational performance.

Keywords: Employee – Employer Bond, Trust, Workplace Surveillance
Impact of need for Affiliation on the relationship between Emotional intelligence and integrating style of conflict resolution
Authors: Dissanayake W.D.M.B.K. , Kodagoda D.T.D.
Published: March 2022

The research was conducted to gain an insight into how the Need for Affiliation (nAff) influences the relationship between Emotional intelligence (EI) and the integrating style of conflict resolution among state university undergraduates in Sri Lanka. Undergraduate disputes have frequently being a regular heading in many mainstream dialogues in the county, this study is expected to provide a deep understanding of the issue from the perspective of the impact of nAff on the link between EI and integrating style. The nAff as a moderating factor on the relationship between EI and integrating style of conflict resolution has persisted unexplored in the context of Sri Lankan state university undergraduates. Consequently, a study was conducted with the aim of providing an insight to bridge the prevailing gap. The investigation was based on a survey conducted with the participation of 388 undergraduates containing ten (10) state universities in Sri Lanka. Extensively used scholarly work tools were used to ensure the credibility of research in which EI was measured using Wong and law EI scale, nAff was measured using Unified Motive Scales (UMS), and conflict resolution strategies (integrating style) measured using Rahim’s Organizational Conflict Inventory-II. Moderated multiple regression analysis (hierarchical multiple regression) was applied to evaluate the moderating impact and level of interaction of nAff on the nexus between EI and integrating styles of conflict resolution. The results signify that emotionally intelligent people prefer to use the integrating style to resolve conflicts. The results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that nAff (moderating variable) enhanced the relationship between EI and integrating style. It indicates that those who are emotionally intelligent and have a high need for affiliation have a stronger preference to choose the integrating style. Conclusively, research has contributed to understanding the role of nAff in defining the relationship between EI and conflict resolution styles and it confirms that higher EI combined with a higher need for affiliation increase the chances of selecting a more productive and collaborative conflict resolution approach.

Keywords: nAff, EI, Integrating conflict resolution style, State University, Undergraduates
Investigation on Occupational Safety and Health Best Practice in Building Maintenance: Case of Sri Lanka
Authors: Wepitiyage I.N. , Gowsiga M. , Pavithra G.
Published: March 2022

Implementation of occupational health and safety best practice at the workplace is mandatory to ensure employees’ safety and health since maintenance activities include several risks for maintenance workers as well as occupants in the entire organisation. Therefore, employers should promote and implement safety and health practices among employees to improve the safety and health within the organisation. Furthermore, safety practices are the indicators of a safe working environment of the organisation. However, in Sri Lanka, priority for health and safety practices of workers are still low due to the cost of provisions and there are no quantifiable benefits immediately. Currently, it is noted that many accidents have happened due to the absence of supervision, lack of knowledge and awareness, bad work practices, and improper use of personal protective equipment. Moreover, in Sri Lanka, there is nonexistence of study in health and safety practices on maintenance operation. Hence, this study focuses on identifying the best occupational safety and health practice in the maintenance division, including its implementation barriers and solutions for the identified best practice, to enhance the occupational health and safety performance of the building maintenance employees. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify the best occupational safety and health practices. Then a mixed approach was adopted to validate the findings in the real Sri Lankan context. Primarily, a preliminary survey was conducted to validate and find out the relevance of identified occupational health and safety practices through literature. Then a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews were carried out. The collected data was analysed using manual content analysis, NVivo11.0 software, SPSS statistical software. The Study results provide the best occupational safety and health practice to the building maintenance division. In addition, financial issues, lack of awareness, time constraints, ignorance, and less support of employees are identified as prominent barriers to the implementation of the identified best occupational safety and health practices. Moreover, the establishment of the importance of occupational safety and health, commitment, leadership and interest of management towards occupational safety and health, encouraging workers, awareness program, conducting regular meetings and close supervision of workers was suggested as a key solution to overcome those barriers.

Keywords: Occupational Health and Safety, Best Practice, Building Maintenance, workplace, barriers, and enablers.
Application of Green HRM Practices (GHRM) in Brandıx Apparel Solutions Ltd.: The Managerial Perspective
Authors: Dayananda P. , Silva K.N. N.
Published: March 2022

Growing concern for the global environment and the adoption of international environmental protection principles have created a need for businesses to implement environmental policies and programs. GHRM means environmental friendly Human Resource Management (HRM) activities such as video recruiting, protection of electronic archives, online interview and application filling environmental training and green initiative-based incentive etc. The main motive of the study is to find out the potential contribution of Human Resource Management field for increasing environmental sustainability by using Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) concept at organization in Sri Lankan context. This study also helps to examine the available GHRM practices in the organization, perception regarding green human resource practices and related constraints as identified by HR professionals of the organization. A survey was conducted to collect data from the respondents of 35 employees by pre-structured questionnaire and informal interviews. The simple random sampling method was used. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics methods. The major findings of the study are significant positive willingness towards all the proposed GHRM initiatives, more than 50% of HR professionals are moderately implemented at least one GHRM initiative, existing rules and regulations is the highest constraints as identified by the HR professionals. In order to achieve sustainability, incorporation of GHRM practices for Brandix group of companies is a prerequisite and company to focus this in their action plan and Flexible rules and regulations have to be followed to motivate HR professionals to practice GHRM practices within the organization.

Keywords: Apparel sector, Environmental sustainability, Green human resource management, GHRM practices, HR professionals.
Impact of Strategic Role Behaviour on Employee Performances
Authors: Subodha B.P.V. , Silva K.N.N.
Published: March 2022

Private sector related to the agrochemicals plays a vital role in the agrochemical industry in Sri Lanka. There is a huge competition among agrochemical companies in Sri Lanka. Employee’s performance is the key driving force for the market competition and productivity of the company. Analysing the discrepancy between potential and actual performance of the employees is crucial for those agrochemical companies. Hence, this research focused to identify the determinants of the discrepancy of employee performance and to identify the impact of employer’s strategic role behavior on performances. One of the leading private sector agrochemical Company in Sri Lanka was purposively selected for this study. Primary data was collected from randomly selected 50 employees using structured questionnaire. Standard statistical procedures, such as regression analysis, Pearson correlation analysis and Wilcoxon sign rank test were employed to analyze the data. The study concluded that employee’s personal determinants namely employees experience, skills, motivation and confidence are significantly affect for the discrepancy of employee performances while managerial role on employees performances namely organizing procedure, delegation, authority distribution and management, coordination among employees have significant negative impact on employee performances(p=0.000). According to the Pearson correlation analysis, the age of the employees have significant correlation with employees work load & schedule. Past experience of the employees have significant correlation with role ambiguity, employees planning ability, skills of the employees, confidence and the motivation of the employees. Furthermore, this study suggested that organization management in agro chemical companies must focused on employee’s personal factors and managerial behavior apart from strategic role behaviour in order to improve the employee’s performance effectively.

Keywords: Agro chemical company, Employee performances, Human resource practices, Strategic human resource management, Strategic role behavior
Impact of Meaningful Work on Altruistic Behavior of Employees
Authors: Bartholomeusz R. A. , Edirisooriya W.A.
Published: March 2022

Altruism plays a vital role in human relationships and it promotes satisfaction in both personal and professional life. Some individuals are inherently altruistic, but some may not. However, in the corporate world, willingly or unwillingly employees are bound to help each other at any given cost for the betterment of the organization. But over the past few months, COVID-19 has reset the behaviors of employees in a different way. Majority of the employees worried only about their survival and exploited COVID-19 crisis as an excuse for selfishness. However, scholars proved that employees who exhibit altruistic behaviors are the ones who can effectively survive even in crisis situations. Therefore, the ultimate objective of this study was to investigate the impact of meaningful work on altruistic behavior of private sector banking employees in Sri Lanka. Further, organizations need identify an effective strategy which can encourage employees to exhibit more altruistic behaviors at workplace. By nature, employees have an inner desire to accept tasks, duties and responsibilities which gives a meaning to their work life. Meaningful work drives employee’s momentum, even when the situation is worse. In Sri Lankan context, there is no evidence to date investigating the extent to which meaningful work can support employers to nurture employees with altruistic behaviors. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of meaningful work on altruistic behavior of employees. Study was aligned with cross sectional survey strategy and through convenience sampling technique researcher gathered data from 149 private sector banking employees in Sri Lanka. The analysis of the data was done using simple regression with the support of SPSS version twenty. The results of regression analysis proved that meaningful work has a significant impact on altruistic behaviors of private sector banking employees in Sri Lanka. Further, meaningful work can account for 34.1% of variance in altruistic behavior of employees. These findings contributed to limited literature available to understand the nexus between meaningful work and altruism. Further, it provides an opportunity for industry experts to rethink the importance of meaningful work in promoting altruistic behaviors and the possible strategies that can be utilized to make work meaningful for employees.

Keywords: Altruistic Behavior, Meaningful Work, Private Sector Banking Employees
Development of Framework to Enhance Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Project Success Through Sustainable Stakeholder Relationships; Case of Unsolicited PPP Projects
Authors: Widanage W.C.L. , Gunatilake S.
Published: March 2022

Infrastructure plays an essential role in the economic development of a country. Hence, the prevailing global infrastructure gap has succeeded in promoting the adoption of the PPP concept for construction projects due to its tremendous advantages in terms of risk-sharing, creativity, innovation, and public sector budgetary constraints. This enormous interest of the governments towards the PPP emphasises the requirement of more investigations on the successful implementation of PPP construction projects. Accordingly, many researchers have been identified that stakeholder opposition results in many failures in PPP project performances. However, limited studies have been focused related to successful stakeholder management in PPP projects worldwide. Therefore, there is a need for an in-depth investigation of stakeholders and their relationships in PPP projects to facilitate sustainable relationships to improve project success.

A qualitative survey strategy was adopted to achieve the established objectives of this study. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews which were conducted under two rounds. Interviews were conducted with thirty responders per each round which totalled to sixty interviews with construction experts. Finally, these data were analysed using content analysis technique and social network analysis technique. Findings of this research indicate that the government, contractor, consultant, and end-users are the essential stakeholders in PPP projects. Social network diagrams developed under categories of contractual, financial, information exchange and performance incentive relationships provide clear visual on stakeholder relationships in PPP projects. Furthermore, success factors of stakeholder relationships were identified to improve stakeholder management in PPP projects, and strategies were suggested to minimise existing barriers and maximise facilitators in achieving those success factors. Moreover, the developed conceptual framework provides an approach to be followed by industrial practitioners to achieve sustainable stakeholder relationships in PPP construction projects in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: Public-Private Partnerships, Stakeholders, Stakeholder relationships, Critical success factors, Strategies
Impact of Employees’ Protean Career Attitudes on Affective Commitment to organization (With special reference to financial sector in Sri Lanka)
Authors: Bandara W.M.H.K. , Senanayaka S.G.M.S.D.
Published: March 2022

With the emergence of new career theories, the present study attempted to provide insight upon the influence of protean career attitudes on an individual’s affective commitment to their employing organization. As to date, there have been fewer theoretical and empirical research findings related to this topic. Within the literature this topic was done by various researchers, however, there is a knowledge gap it does not vitally answer the question with respect to if protean career attitudes impact affective commitment. A quantitative method research design was used. The data collection method was done using self-administered questionnaires and distributed to 100 young employees by using a convenient sampling technique. Data analysis was performed using simple and multiple regression analysis. The findings of the study indicated that young employees with protean career attitudes have a positive impact on affective commitment. Results of regression analysis show self-directed career management and value-driven predispositions positively related to affective commitment. The findings of the study concluded that young employees with a protean career attitude are even emotionally attached to the organization. Further, the study recommended that it would be important for the employers to provide more varied experiences and development opportunities inside the organization are more committed affectively to their organizations, they control over their work environment.

Keywords: Affective commitment, Protean career attitudes, Self-directed career, Value-driven predispositions
Factors Affecting Private Sector Bankers’ Job Satisfaction in Sri Lanka: A Case Study
Authors: Thotawatte L. P. , Samarakoon N.D.
Published: March 2022

Job satisfaction is a positive and a delighted feeling of the employees’ job or work roles that they are currently dealing with. This emotion has an inspiring nature which is closely related with individual’s behavior in the workplace. Banking sector is one of the sectors in Sri Lanka which makes a significant impact and contribution on community, society and the development of the economy of the country. It comprises of state and private banks, currently facing an intense competition. Every bank tries to ensure their quality service to customers. Job satisfaction of bankers is directly linked with service quality. This study aimed to identify the factors affecting employees’ job satisfaction level in private banking sector with special reference to Union Bank. Also the research was designed to identify the most significant factor which affects job satisfaction and to identify differences of job satisfaction level in different demographic groups. The independent variables of the study were pay, promotion and working conditions. The demographic groups considered based on gender, employment type and experience. A deductive approach was followed with quantitative data. Data was collected by using a questionnaire and it was done within a particular time period, the study was cross sectional in nature. Stratified sampling method was used, selected 200 employees. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 22. Descriptive statistics, correlation, regression and t-test and ANOVA were used.

The results of the study showed that job satisfaction is strongly and positively correlated with working conditions and moderately positively correlated with pay, promotion. The most significant factor which affects job satisfaction was working conditions. A significant difference of job satisfaction level was observed only among groups with different experience levels. No significant differences of job satisfaction level were observed in different demographic groups based on gender and employment type. The findings contribute to the human resource practitioners at Union bank to develop human resource strategies in such a way it increases job satisfaction of bankers.

Keywords: Banking sector, Job satisfaction, Pay, Promotion, Working conditions
Does Psychological Empowerment Mediate the Impact of Transformational Leadership Style on Employee Performance: Evidence from the Public Sector in Jaffna District
Authors: Raveendran T. , Gamage A.S.
Published: March 2022

Sri Lankans continue to rely on public service to satisfy most of their needs, however, they are increasingly distrustful of its performance. If the managers and leaders better manage the employees, it is possible to move toward a productive workforce and to meet the common expectations of the people. There is a need to adopt appropriate style in order to promote psychological empowerment among employees and to improve employee performance. In the Sri Lankan public sector, it is very rare to come across studies which have been conducted on the impact of leadership style on employees’ performance, particularly in the Northern Province. Thus, the current study aims to examine the association between transformational leadership style and employees’ job performance and the potential mediating effect of psychological empowerment in the effect of transformational leadership on employee performance in the public sector organizations in Jaffna District. The study employed survey method and 287 employees participated in this study. Leadership style was measured using MLQ Rater Form 5-x, employee performance was measured using Job Performance Scale and psychological empowerment was measured using Empowerment Scale. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to get factor structure and confirmatory factor analysis was performed to confirm the validity and reliability of the study instruments. The results revealed that transformational leadership has a positive impact on job performance and on psychological empowerment. It was also found that psychological empowerment has a mediating effect in the impact of transformational leadership on employee performance. This study recommends that the leaders should pay more attention in their leadership style as a way to improve employee performance. This study further suggests that future researchers should cover other public sector organizations to better understand the relationship between the variables.

Keywords: Public sector, job performance, psychological empowerment and transformational leadership
Review on Professional Indemnity Insurance for Quantity Surveyors
Authors: Kanchana A. , Jayalath C.
Published: March 2022

Professional Indemnity Insurance is a risk shifting mechanism popular among the service providers including the delivery of construction related services. One of the guiding principles used for structuring an insurance policy is to ensure adequate indemnity. This research is to appraise various dimensions of Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) related to the quantity surveying profession with particular emphasis on the Sri Lankan context. A comprehensive literature survey was carried out to recognize the liabilities that inspire policy requirements. A desk review was carried out to identify the deficiencies of the existing PII policies. 15 individual practitioners selected purposively were interviewed to gauge their perception and experience. All responses were considered valid for analysis. A discourse analysis was carried out to understand the themes and patterns in the context under study and draw conclusions. It was found that PII for the QS profession is at its embryonic stage. The study suggests that the uptake of enhanced policies would indeed help in fostering a fully-fledged insurance mechanism for quantity surveyors that is capable of accommodating the rapidly changing and newly added dimensions in the quantity surveying profession.

Keywords: Professional indemnity insurance, Quantity surveyor, Professional liabilities, Insurance policy