Social Exchange, Perceived Organizational Support And Performance Outcomes In Sri Lanka’s Garment Factory - A Longitudinal Empirical Case Study -

The study examined how the introduction of self-managed teams effected employees’ perceptions of organizational support (POS) and how this employee involvement initiative impacted on their work performance. The changes in work performance evident in the study resulted from the interaction of organizational factors (perceived organizational support) and individual psychological factors (job involvement and work values) and points to the emergence of an exchange relationship between employees and the organization. The study was conducted over 19 months in one garment factory in Sri Lanka that introduced self-managed teams into three production lines. The study draws on the responses of 110 participants that included line managers, supervisors and 87 line employees. The results imply that high perceived support and individual factors result in the emergence of social exchange relationships and substantially improved work performance while low employee perceptions of organizational support, job involvement and work values leads to an economic exchange and negative work outcomes. These results support earlier research highlighting the significance of social and economic exchanges at work to our understanding of the employment relationship and performance outcomes.