Abstract:
This paper empirically investigates the effectiveness of systematic use of Grievance Settlement
Practices (GSP) and identifies the impact of the size of the firm on effectiveness of systematic use
of GSP in apparel industry in Sri Lanka. The study was conducted relating to large and medium
size apparel manufacturing firms in Colombo District. The unit of analysis of this study was at firm
level. The sample of the study consist of four (04) large garment manufacturing firms and three
(03) medium size garment manufacturing firms. A structured 7-point likert scale questionnaire
was administered to collect data from a randomly selected sample of 70 executive level employees
representing all firms. The effectiveness of the grievance settlement procedure was analyzed using
seven characteristics: formal procedure, speedy settlement, acceptance, settlement at lower level,
perceived justice, simplicity and training. The effectiveness of GSP was measured using arithmetic
mean and effectiveness was at satisfactory level in both large as well as medium firms. Mean for
the effectiveness of GSP was 5.3375 of large apparel firms and 5.1318 of medium size apparel
firms. Independent Sample t test was performed to compare means to identify impact of the size
of the firm on effectiveness of systematic use of GSP. Results indicate that there was no statistical
evidence to claim that the effectiveness of systematic use of GSP related with the size of the firm.
