This study explores employees' perceptions of organisational support, commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions in Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT). Organisational support involves the provision of valued financial benefits along with employees' perceptions of support from supervisors and co-workers, and procedural fairness in decision-making. We found strong evidence that high levels of organisational support lead to employee reciprocity via increased affective commitment and job satisfaction and reduced turnover intentions. We also found evidence, albeit weaker, of a positive relationship between economic exchange and continuance commitment, where employees may be dissatisfied but stay because they have too much invested in firm specific knowledge and skills. The firm provided above average compensation and benefits and with limited alternative job opportunities in the formal economy in Sri Lanka the costs of leaving the organisation are likely to have outweighed the costs of staying.

Although the direct effect of flex-work on work-life balance is well documented, previous theoretical explanations and empirical findings related to the relationship have been inconsistent. Thereby, drawing on the job border theory, the role accumulation theory and the human ecology theory, the current study attempts to examine the effect of flex-work on work-life balance by exploring the mediating effect of role conflicts, and the moderating effect of organizational culture. The study was quantitative, and a cross-sectional survey design was followed. The data was collected through a structured questionnaire. The convenience sampling technique was used to select the sample, and the final sample consisted of 450 flex-workers from nine IT companies in Sri Lanka. The data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with the aid of AMOS. It was found that flex-work is significantly related to role conflicts, which in turn has an impact on work-life balance. Further, role conflict is found to be a partial mediator, and work-life support organizational culture to be a significant moderator. Finally, it is concluded that though flex-work creates role conflicts which hinder work-life balance, employees could achieve a better balance between work and life in an organizational culture that supports work-life balance. The study makes a major theoretical contribution by addressing the inadequacy of the job border theory in explaining flex-work. The study supports the argument that flex-workers are not border crossers, but rather that they have no borders, and concludes that an organizational culture that supports work-life balance must be considered when explaining the effect of flex-work on work-life balance. It is suggested that managers and practitioners establish such a culture before introducing flex-work to employees.

The Asian Tsunami struck Sri Lanka on December 26, 2004. Sri Lanka was the second worst affected country after Indonesia, and this natural disaster killed in excess of 35,000 people and displaced over 1 million. The article explores the Tsunami Disaster Management Program developed by one Sri Lankan university: the Postgraduate Institute of Management at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. The program encouraged postgraduate students to undertake a range of recovery management projects to improve the operation of temporary camps and restore the livelihoods of tsunami survivors. The article examines the steps taken by postgraduate students to diagnose problems within the camps and implement a comprehensive range of solutions. The recovery management projects enhanced postgraduate students'managerial skills in diagnosis and analysis, planning and goal setting, leading teams and conflict resolution as well as their awareness of their social responsibilities to local communities at a time of national crisis. The article also highlights a number of lessons for other educational institutions contemplating changing their curricula to promote a stronger focus on problem-based learning.

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This paper examines performance evaluation outcomes for middle managers in the garment sector in Sri Lanka and seeks to explain variations in levels of job involvement and perceptions of organizational support. Some 155 middle managers across three firms were segregated into high-and low-performing groups. High-performing managers tended to have higher perceptions of organizational support, resulting in a social exchange relationship with their employer, and expressed higher job satisfaction and lower turnover intentions. Managers assessed as low performers experienced more negative perceptions of organizational support, lower job satisfaction and an economic exchange relationship with their employer. Significantly, for both high and low performers these outcomes were moderated by job involvement. These findings highlight the need for organizations to pay careful attention to the factors influencing job involvement and perceived organizational support. The paper concludes with a discussion on the practical implications of the findings for human resource managers. IntroductionThis study examines how perceptions of job involvement (JI) and organizational support influence middle managers' job satisfaction (JS) and turnover intentions (TIs) in Sri Lanka's garment industry. Managerial employees contribute significantly to organizational performance. They translate the organization's strategic and tactical objectives into operational level tasks, influence team dynamics, and can enhance operational and financial performance (Peterson, Smith, Martorana and Owens 2003). As a result, their attitudes toward work and work outcomes are critical to organizational success. Studies of managerial performance have focused on major personality traits such as conscientiousness, extraversion, emotional stability (Antonioni 1998), the influence of leadership (Csoka 1998) and the significance of personality assessments in managerial recruitment (Hogan and Sinclair 1997;Sperry 1997).Developing the competencies of middle managers is important for delivering high levels of organizational performance. Middle managers translate strategic directions into unit-level goals and are increasingly expected to coach, mentor and motivate staff to achieve these objectives (Holbeche 2003). Middle managers also require support and motivation from more senior managers to perform their tasks effectively. They require training and development to ensure that they can communicate performance expectations effectively. Foster, Parston and Smith (2002) recommend that organizations regularly review the people management skills of their managers to ensure they have the competencies needed to communicate team and individual goals clearly, to provide regular and constructive upward and downward feedback, and to utilize formal and informal recognition rewards, including praise, letters of thanks and small discretionary bonuses. In addition, Vroom's (1964) expectancy theory of employee motivation suggests that middle managers need to believe that the rewards on of...