School of Business
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Publication Open Access Framework to create opportunities to maximize the contribution of differently abled employees in the Sri Lankan garment industry(Springer Science and Business Media, 2025-04) Gurudasa, P; Lokeshwara, A; Weerarathna, R; Thelijjagoda, S; Weerasinghe, C; Fonseka, S; Dananjaya, SThe primary focus of this study was on Differently Abled Employees’ (DAEs) work performance within Sri Lanka’s garment industry. Prior research revealed inadequate awareness among organizations regarding the provision of employment opportunities for DAEs. Notably, DAEs constitute a substantial portion of the economically inactive working-age population in Sri Lanka. In this setting, the study aimed to identify the crucial factors influencing the contribution of DAEs in the Sri Lankan garment industry. In this setting, the study sought to measure their impact and develop a framework that supports both DAEs and the garment industry, fostering a mutually beneficial work environment. Utilizing a mixed approach, the study encompassed a sample population of 270 DAEs. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews and a Likert scale questionnaire. Convenience sampling was deployed to interview 14 DAEs, while a sample of 159 DAEs was selected through simple random sampling for the distribution of the questionnaire. Thematic analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were employed to analyze qualitative and quantitative data. The results underscored the significance of the examined factors affecting DAEs’ contributions. Based on regression analysis results, the researchers developed a framework, which underwent further refinement through reviews and discussions. The findings proposed supportive strategies to achieve the overarching objective of the study to maximize DAEs’ contributions in the workplace.Publication Embargo Employing the deaf community: challenges and opportunities for companies in the developing world(SLIIT Business School, 2019-12-10) Charuka, W.A.A.; Samarakkody, N.W.; Senaviratne, V.E.M.G.; Wijayanayaka, K.A.M.S.This research investigates opportunities and challenges of employing deaf personnel in organisations in developing world. Though much research related employing people with disabilities is done in western countries, only a few similar empirical studies have been published in this part of the world. Hence an exploratory investigation is carried out adopting a grounded theory approach. Accordingly, five companies in Sri Lanka, both large and small, employing deaf people have been investigated. 23 operational-level deaf employees (DEs), with five supervising managers are the subjects involved. The results brought a number of opportunities for hiring DEs from strategic, productivity and customer satisfaction perspectives. Managers of all companies confirmed that their skills, ability to learn, concentration on work and the productivity are much higher than their parallel workers. The DEs are not provided with any special privileges (e.g. remuneration, leave, infrastructure facilities). Thus, there is no extra burden, financially or otherwise, to the company for hiring them. However, as a safety initiative all DEs are assigned to work together with a parallel worker with no hearing impairments. Two companies where DEs deal directly with customers confirmed that customer feedback on DEs are very positive. All managers indicated a negative comment that the DEs become emotionally disturbed when their communication is not heard well. The existed negative connation of all managers on DEs had disappeared after orientation. It can be concluded that employing DEs appear to be me more productive to the company, as highlighted in the past research studies of the developed world.