Packiyanathan Mathushan | Uva Wellassa University (original) (raw)

Papers by Packiyanathan Mathushan

Journal of Ecohumanism, 2024

Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) is a salient investment for firms to stay sustainably comp... more Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) is a salient investment for firms to stay sustainably competitive and is instrumental
in enhancing organisational environmental performance for natural environmental sustainability. While there has been a significant
increase in GHRM, there is a lack of academic empirical studies examining the nexus of green transformational leadership, GHRM,
green innovation and environmental performance. Nonetheless, the nexus of those variables must be explored in developing countries,
especially Sri Lanka. Drawing upon the Ability Motivation Opportunity (AMO) theory and Resource-Based View (RBV) of the
firm, this study aims to substantiate that GHRM fosters environmental performance, especially of Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs), thus yielding them a competitive edge. The study used bibliometric analysis to analyse unstructured data from 86 journal
publications from the Scopus database. Subsequently, a research gap was identified, and a conceptual framework was constructed based
on the findings. The theoretical framework was confirmed by analyzing data from a sample of 128 small and medium-sized companies
(SMEs) and social entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka employing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Strong
green transformational leadership is required to improve GHRM and environmental performance, raise the caliber of green innovation,
and promote environmental performance within small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), according to the results of the bibliometric
study and the application of partial least squares methods.

Sri Lankan Journal of Human Resource Management, 2025

The phenomenon of Quiet Quitting has been a subject of academic and professional discourse for a ... more The phenomenon of Quiet Quitting has been a subject of academic and professional discourse for a considerable period. Although many definitions and justifications for Quiet Quitting have been suggested, no study has systematically been conducted as exploratory research on the actual motivations and behavioural expressions of workers who engage in Quiet Quitting. This study utilises comprehensive qualitative data obtained through interviews, with the participants consisting of a convenience sample of employees and managers currently working in the hospitality industry in Sri Lanka. The data underwent deductive analysis utilising the content analysis method. The findings reveal that the employee's propensity to quit is increasing. The determinants such as work-family conflict, employer branding, employee engagement, organisational culture and values, and employee voice seem dominant, attributing to Quiet Quitting.

In the modern business world, organisations are confronting a severe competitive and unceasingly ... more In the modern business world, organisations are confronting a severe competitive and unceasingly changing condition. In this context, innovation has gained significant popularity in management and entrepreneurship literature as vital in reaping competitive advantage. Thus, organisational practitioners are in the quest to better encourage and organise innovation within their firms to warrant sustainable competitive advantage. However, how to promote innovation within organisations remains obscure and paradoxical. The past literature shows that human resource management practices are the antecedents of firm innovation. Therefore, studies are investigating the role of human resource management in facilitating firm innovation. Nevertheless, empirical evidence remains inconsistent, and theory is fragmented. Notably, the link between human resource management and innovation in Sri Lanka echoes several unresolved aspects. Since scant empirical research has addressed those relationships in developing country contexts, this study explicitly investigates the relationship between human resource management practices and firm innovation in Sri Lankan SMEs. Data were marshalled through a self-reported questionnaire with 214 Sri Lankan SMEs. As a caveat, the reliability and validity of the variables were confirmed. The hypotheses were tested with statistical software, PLS-SEM (Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling). The study revealed that recruitment and selection, training and development, and performance appraisal significantly impact firm innovation. However, compensation and reward systems positively impact product innovation, not process innovation, and this study found a negative impact of compensation and reward systems on administrative innovation. The study contributed to the extant human resource management and innovation literature in many ways discussed at the end of the paper. On an equal footing, practical implications for HR managers, practitioners and employees were lucidly discussed. The present becomes a springboard for future scholarly works.

The present study aims to explore human resource analytics literature using a systematic literatu... more The present study aims to explore human resource analytics literature using a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis. A sum of 179 articles extracted from the Scopus database for the years 2015-2022 with selected keywords (HR analytics, Human resource analytics, Workforce analytics, People analytics, Talent analytics, Human capital analytics) along with certain filters (subjectbusiness, management and accounting; language-English; document-article, article in press, review articles and source-journals). Human resource analytics is discussed in this article with an emphasis on their application to human resource processes and their contribution to organisational goals. Based on the analysis, 14 influential research clusters were found: future trends, workforce analytics, talent management, human capital analytics, organisational learning, employee productivity, human resource analytics, big data challenge, adoption, evidence-based technology, recruiting, and intuition. Moreover, line managers and upper management are emphasised, making human resource analytics a strategic priority. The study presents valuable insights that aid academics and organisational practitioners in conceptualising human resource analytics practices. Additionally, this study contributes to the existing human resource analytics literature by identifying the keywords, authors, journals, and intellectual and conceptual structure.

Vidyodaya Journal of Management, 2023

The concept of artificial intelligence, a driving force behind human resource management, has rec... more The concept of artificial intelligence, a driving force behind human resource management, has recently gained popularity in the academic community. This study explores the intellectual structure of this field using the Scopus database in the subject area of business, management and accounting. Bibliographic analysis, a recent and rigorous method for delving into scientific data, is used in this investigation. The approach used is a structured and transparent process divided into four steps: (1) search criteria; (2) selection of database and documents; (3) selection of software and data pre-processing; and (4) analysis of findings. We employ bibliometric mapping to observe their numerous linkages and performance evaluation to learn about their structure. A total of 67 articles were collected from the Scopus database between 2015 and 2022 using certain keywords (artificial intelligence, expert systems, big data analytics, and human resource management) and some specific filters (subjectbusiness, management and accounting; language-English; document-article, review articles and source-journals). Ten research clusters were identified:

In the contemporary business world, effective leadership is one of the salient factors in achievi... more In the contemporary business world, effective leadership is one of the salient factors in achieving organisational purpose and goals. Moreover, the link between leadership style and individual job satisfaction is one of the pivotal strategic aspects in any business organisation, and it has been one of the popular areas of study among psychology, management and organisational behaviour scholars. The present study investigates the impact of transformational versus transactional leadership styles on employee job satisfaction. The data were marshalled with a self-reported questionnaire from the employees working in banks in Sri Lanka. The data were analysed with SPSS. The results seem to indicate positive trends of all variables. Consistent with previous findings, the results show that transformational leadership significantly impacts job satisfaction than transactional leadership. The results support managers' adoption of transformational leadership behaviours as a salient strategy for establishing robust working conditions that foster improved outcomes. Notably, the present study contributes to the frontiers of existing literature and offers valuable practical implications.

Social innovation has become a salient catalyst for sustainability and inclusive growth. As a res... more Social innovation has become a salient catalyst for sustainability and inclusive growth. As a result of policy debates and collaborative responses to societal issues, social innovation has become critical for aiding communities where markets and established institutions fail. Nevertheless, academics and practitioners reap social innovation frequently; the conceptualisation has remained fragmented because no systematic effort has been made to grasp the fundamental idea behind social innovation. Ironically, the past literature claimed that research on the evolution of the social innovation domain is still in its infancy and requires further quantitative exploration. Arguably, traditional literature reviews significantly advance a specific research field; however, they lack a comprehensive evolution of the research domain. The present study uses bibliometric analysis to explore the social innovation domain (development and current trends). Bibliometric analysis is a widely used and rigorous approach for examining and interpreting vast amounts of scientific data. The database used was Scopus. The analysis found eight clusters: investing in social inclusiveness, emerging need, traditional business model, social entrepreneurship, empowering network constellation, human service organisation, categorisation scheme, social finance and contemporary societal challenge. In addition to this investigation, an analysis of the most frequently used terms was conducted to determine the most popular bibliographic information networks; this was attained using the VOSviewer visual bibliometric analyser. The paper contributes with new theoretical perspectives, in addition to contributing to practice.

Green entrepreneurs have been realized as critical motorists for a transition to a green economy.... more Green entrepreneurs have been realized as critical motorists for a transition to a green economy. There has been a growing interest in developing a 'green' economy as a means of reconciling economic development and the environment. Hence, green entrepreneurs are exchanging fluctuating stiffnesses between their business activities, environmental philosophies, and broader contexts at the intertwine between the green economy and the mainstream economy. However, research on green innovation and green entrepreneurship has been finite focused and remained agnostic in Sri Lankan context.More specifically, entrepreneurs in Vavuniya district rigorously encountering colossal problems in green innovation (e.g. green packing, green marketing). In fact, there is an urge to foster green innovative practices to reap business success. Hence, the researchers selected entrepreneurs in Vavuniya district. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the effect of green innovation (innovative practices) on green entrepreneurship sustainability. Data were gleaned from purposively chosen entrepreneurs in Vavuniya district with in-depth interviews. The results revealedthat most informants disclosed that entrepreneurs do not appear to be prepared to encounter the challenges or take unforeseen risks by capitalizing in green business and green innovative practices. Ironically the government and other departments and educational institutions (colleges and universities) do not recognize their role and fail to support green entrepreneurship development.

Unprecedentedly, owing to globalization and technological evolution, a firm's ability to attract ... more Unprecedentedly, owing to globalization and technological evolution, a firm's ability to attract and retain talent is of greater concern in reaping competitive advantage. Under this view, firms are in the quest for robust techniques to attract and retain talent. Intriguingly, the concept of "Employer branding" has gained significant popularity among managers and researchers as a strategic tool to acquire and retain talent. The resource-based view of the firm signifies that employer branding is predicated on the understanding that human resources carry dramatic worth to the firm, and the management of human talent can prompt a reinforced competitive advantage. Notwithstanding, employer branding research has formed into a divided field with heterogeneous understandings of the employer branding idea furthermore, its extension, which has hindered further theoretical and empirical progression. To reinforce the establishment for future work, this article aims to review the extant literature to add insights from the human resource management perspective and to derive future research avenues. Bibliomatirc and citation analysis was performed to identify the most influential research articles in the domain of employer branding and to find out the notable research topics, themes, and clusters that have been studied to date. Based on the analysis, it is found that there are nine compelling clusters in the domain of employer branding that portrays the employer branding effectiveness viz, innovation, human resource development, corporate social responsibility, employee value proposition, social media, brand equity, strategic brand management, talent management and Psychological contract. Eventually, the research agenda on employer branding is provided.

Environmental changes and ever-increasing competition among corporations have compelled businesse... more Environmental changes and ever-increasing competition among corporations have compelled businesses to innovate incessantly. Over the few decades, the concept ‘corporate entrepreneurship’ has gained notable attention among researchers and practitioners as a salient competitive strategy that evokes a firm’s performance. Additionally, the resource-based view of the firm claims that human resources are the prominent enablers of competitive advantage. Notably, a limited but rising body of research has empirically examined the relationship between human resource management practices and corporate entrepreneurship. However, researchers wanting to draw conclusions confront a significant obstacle, as corporate entrepreneurship is not a one-dimensional concept. The overriding purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between human resource management practices and corporate entrepreneurship. This paper uses a quantitative design; a questionnaire survey method was used to assess human resource management practices and corporate
entrepreneurship. Data have been collected through a purposively chosen sample of 169 employees from various SMEs in Sri Lanka. Hypotheses were tested using a partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that out of four HRM practices, three practices, viz., employee acquisition, technical training, compensation and incentives system, positively impact corporate entrepreneurship.
Ironically, no significant association was found between performance
appraisal and corporate entrepreneurship. Practical implications for managers are discussed at the end of the paper.

In general, research on entrepreneurship thus far, has been intriguingly slight investigation int... more In general, research on entrepreneurship thus far, has been intriguingly slight investigation into the motives and influences on green entrepreneurs. In the recent decades, green entrepreneurship is ubiquitous and a vitally important phenomenon from the perspective of green economic development. Further, investment on green economy creates opportunities to accelerate sustainable economic growth while pursuing the global standards. This epitomises that firms encounter increased environmental and social challenges to survive. Despite, some firms intend to produce and market its products by engaging in unscrupulous acts (Greenwashing) as a result of the sudden environmental conscience. More so, greenwashing is an evolving problem highly relevant to lodging industry. The present study aims to explore the key issues, significance, and consequences of the greenwashing and green entrepreneurship in enhancing sustainable environmental consciousness. A wide range of databases were used to find out relevant articles. The articles published other than English were excluded. From a large corpus of reviewed literature, it has been found that, green washing rigorously affects the health of the consumers and ruins the environment holistically. Intriguingly, it has been reviled that most of the entrepreneurs have lack of understanding and mindfulness on the greenwashing, green entrepreneurship and the effect of greenwashing on sustainable entrepreneurship success and environmental sustainability. Needless to say, it is pivotal to embrace green innovation and practices to reap competitive advantage.

Unprecedentedly, the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak causes businesses with many unforeseen chall... more Unprecedentedly, the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak causes businesses with many unforeseen challenges due to its rapid spreading and global reach. Due to the global magnitude and changing impact of the Covid-19 crisis, there is an urgent need to consider its effects on entrepreneurship. Therefore, more and more businesses are now looking to improve their continuity plan to better prepare for the impact of COVID-19. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the effect and consequences of COVID-19 in entrepreneurial firms. With the purposive sampling technique's aid, data were garnered from entrepreneurs and small-business owners in the Vavuniya district with in-depth interviews. The majority of the informants interviewed disclosed that the COVID-19 devastated firms' productivity, demand, customers' loss, and, consequently, performance. Moreover, it has been found that the COVID-19 epidemic has given an open-door for entrepreneurs to conduct their business operations online.

Management Research and Practice, 2022

Firms' ability to innovate becomes a more significant concern over the hypercompetitive and dynam... more Firms' ability to innovate becomes a more significant concern over the hypercompetitive and dynamic business environment. Within this context, how to promote innovation in organisations becomes challenging. Many studies far less focused on the role of human resource management in promoting firm innovation. Since the human resource management practices vary from country to country and firm to firm, the findings of the studies limit its application in a diverse context. Sadly, there is bereft of such studies recorded in many developing countries. Consequently, the study aims at investigating the relationship between human resource management practices and firm innovation and the mediating role of the human capital of such relationship. This study deploys PLS-SEM to test the hypotheses in a sample of 127 firms operating in Sri Lanka. The data were collected through a self-reported questionnaire. The result shows that human resource management practices are significantly, positively, related to human capital, which positively affects firm innovation. The findings support that human capital plays a mediating role between human resource management practices and firm innovation. Finally, this study discusses the implications and highlights the future research directions.

The literature shows that personality factors were salient in determining entrepreneurial intenti... more The literature shows that personality factors were salient in determining entrepreneurial intention. However, most research on the association between Big Five personality traits and entrepreneurship has been undertaken in developed countries, with little emphasis on emerging countries such as Sri Lanka. Paradoxically, there is a dearth of prior research examining the association between the Big Five personality traits and entrepreneurial intentions among Sri Lankan university students. The present study investigates the impact of the big five personality traits on entrepreneurial intention. The study used a quantitative survey using a convenience sample of Sri Lankan university students. A total of 196 valid questionnaires were received and analysed. The researchers employed the partial least squares (PLS) approach with smart PLS software (version 3.0) to test the hypotheses. The result showed that Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness significantly impact entrepreneurial intentions among Sri Lankan university students. Further, Neuroticism has an insignificant impact on entrepreneurial intentions. The research advises the government and policymakers to comprehend students' personality traits who are likely to become future entrepreneurs and to encourage new start-ups by offering different incentives. Other repercussions are mentioned.

Owing to the persistent changes in the business climate, firms are progressively looking at their... more Owing to the persistent changes in the business climate, firms are progressively looking at their human resources (HRs) as a crucial resource that can help with harvesting competitive advantage. HRs are considered by numerous individuals to be the main resource of a firm for sustaining competitiveness. Drastic transformations brought about by COVID-19 have affected human resources significantly in many ways. Therefore, the study aims to explore the effect of COVID-19 on human resource management. Using a purposive sampling technique, the data were marshaled from Managers, HR managers, and executives working in the apparel industry. The findings demonstrate that organizations, along with the HR supervisors, must formulate precautionary countermeasures, rethink, and reform new HR strategies concerning their human resources for distant just as blended working frameworks as a reaction to current and future emergencies. Employees also require training and development interventions to reinforce their capability to concur the unprecedented situations. Firms have to reimagine and reform their jobs to improve productivity. Additionally, COVID‐19 has changed the experience of work for by far most employees.

Human capital is recognised as a salient factor determining organisational success in the informa... more Human capital is recognised as a salient factor determining organisational success in the information-driven era. It was echoed in many strategic management studies that human talent is a primary strategic source for a sustainable competitive edge. Thus, many organisations are crafting their brand-employer branding. Nonetheless, this may not last if the employee is not engaged in the work. Engaged employees contribute to long-term success and the firm to thrive. Given this managerial interest, this study investigates the mediating role of talent management practices in the relationship between employer branding and employee engagement. The data were collected from conveniently chosen 112 employees working in 16 private sector organisations in the Northern region, Sri Lanka. The hypotheses were tested with the aid of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) using Hayes' PROCESS Macro-the process Macro Regression method. The results revealed the significant positive effects of employer branding on talent management and talent management on employee engagement. Notably, the study confirmed a complementary mediation that the effect of employer branding on employee engagement was partially mediated by talent management. The study has contributed to the frontiers of human resources management literature. The study has also provided many practical implications to augment employee engagement in organisations.

Owing to globalization and dynamic business environment, organizations quest for sustaining their... more Owing to globalization and dynamic business environment, organizations quest for sustaining their business performance by crafting various compelling strategies. Recently, employee engagement and well-being have gained dramatic popularity among managers and practitioners as a salient strategy to augment firm performance. Notably, the research studies on the nexus among employee engagement, employee well-being and firm performance are still nascent, and past findings are obscure. Moreover, the studies that have been conducted in developed countries cannot be generalisable to the developing countries since the variables are subject to country culture specific nature. To fill the void left by the earlier studies, the present study is designed to investigate the moderating role of employee well-being on the relationship between employee engagement and firm performance based on the sampled from Sri Lankan apparel industry. Using the convenience sampling technique, data were marshalled through a self-reported questionnaire from 177 employees working in the apparel industry in Sri Lanka. The data were analyzed using SmartPLS. The study shows a significant positive relationship between employee engagement and firm performance. The study further reveals a moderating effect of employee well-being on the relationship between employee engagement and firm performance". The study contributed to the fronters of extant HRM literature and provided many useful practical implications that have been discussed at the end of the paper. Importantly, the present study adds to the evolving debate on the critical role of employee engagement in enhancing firm performance through employee well-being.

Corporate entrepreneurship becomes critical in building the firms' innovative climate and maintai... more Corporate entrepreneurship becomes critical in building the firms' innovative climate and maintaining sustainable competitive advantage. In recent years, little yet nascent literature has arisen that empirically analyses the relationship between human resource management practices and corporate entrepreneurship. Notwithstanding, many studies urge researchers to find ways to flourish the relationship between human resource management practices and corporate entrepreneurship. The present study fills a lacuna by investigating the moderating role of a firm's innovative capacity in the relationship between human resource management practices and corporate entrepreneurship. Using a convenience sampling technique, data were marshalled through a self-reported questionnaire from 113 SMEs operating in the Northern region of Sri Lanka. The study revealed a significant positive relationship between human resource management practices and corporate entrepreneurship. Further, the study confirmed that the positive relationship is much stronger at a high level of a firm's innovative capacity than at a lower level. The study contributes to the extant HRM literature in many ways discussed at the end of the paper. This study pushes back the frontiers by responding to the growing debate as to the critical role that HRM can play in enhancing corporate entrepreneurship through a firm's innovative capacity.

Journal of Ecohumanism, 2024

Sri Lankan Journal of Human Resource Management, 2025

Vidyodaya Journal of Management, 2023

Management Research and Practice, 2022