Abstract:
The apparel industry has begun to struggle for survival because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the
economic crisis in Sri Lanka. The business needs to reinvent itself by adapting to the new normal condition in Sri
Lanka, and further innovations are necessary to proceed with business continuity. Human resources is an essential
domain that reinforces the resources of the organization to enhance the success of businesses. Hence, the current
study aims to examine the relationship and the mediating effect of adaptability culture between the relationship
of human resource flexibility and organizational innovation in the Apparel sector. A sample of 150 managers and
executives was selected using stratified random sampling among the selected population. The data were analyzed
using descriptive statistics, correlation, and multiple regression analyses. The study’s findings highlight a highly
positive relationship between HR flexibility and organizational innovation; human resource flexibility and
adaptability culture and adaptability culture is also positively correlated with organizational innovation. Indeed,
HR flexibility has the highest impact on corporate innovation, while the study revealed that adaptability culture
partially mediates the relationship between HR flexibility and organizational innovation. The findings of the study
are useful in improving the efficiency of human resource utilization and enriching applications of these concepts.
