bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Human Capital Efficiency and Employee Productivity: A Comparative Analysis of the Manufacturing Sector vs. Service Sector Public Listed Companies in Sri Lanka
Authors: Wanigasekara W.A.D.K.J. , Deshika N.P.T.
Published: March 2022

Human capital is one of the most vital organizational knowledge assets, which is a part of organizational Intellectual Capital. Therefore, it contributes to organizational competitive advantage through enhancing employee productivity. Hence, the objective of this study was to find out the relationship between Human Capital Efficiency (HCE) and Employee Productivity (EP) in manufacturing sector companies and service sector companies listed in Colombo Stock Exchange as a comparative study. Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) is a method used to measure the value creation efficiency of a company and HCE is one component of VAIC, which has a substantial impact on EP. Therefore, it is vital for finding out the relationship between HCE and EP in the practical scenario. But, there is a dearth of studies related to the relationship between HCE and EP in Sri Lanka. This study is carried out as a solution for bridging this empirical and contextual gap. Data were collected from 25 manufacturing companies and 25 service sector companies (Hotel and travel sector) during the period from 2015 to 2019. The data were analyzed using the Pearson Correlation and regression. The results of the data analysis indicated that the relationship between HCE and EP is moderate and significant in service sector companies, while an insignificant weak relationship was found in manufacturing sector companies. Further, a significant impact of HCE on EP was found in the service sector, but that impact was not significant in the manufacturing sector. It can be concluded that service sector companies pay more attention to enhance the HCE since the knowledge and skill embedded in employees are more valuable in providing services to their customers than manufacturing sector companies. Ultimately, the results show that good HCE can indeed improve EP, which has significant meanings for investors, company management, decision-makers, and industry regulators.

Keywords: Employee Productivity, Human Capital Efficiency, Manufacturing sector, Service sector
Impact of Cultural Dimensions on Accounting Practices in Sri Lanka: Study of Accounting Professionals’ Perspective
Authors: Nanayakkara D.R.N.A.M. , De Silva P. O.
Published: March 2022

The accounting harmonization process involved in improving the compatibility of the accounting practices while minimizing the degree of variance. This process of ordering different accounting practices is vulnerable to so many pressures namely; political, cultural and legal. Consequently, Sri Lanka as a Multifaceted and multicultural country experience this issue severely. However, there’s a shortage of researches that investigate cultural trajectories that influence on accounting practices in the Sri Lankan context. Therefore, the study overviewed the impact of the cultural dimension on accounting practices, particularly in Sri Lanka. Thereby, the study established a quantitative approach via disseminating 150 questionnaires among accounting professional following a convenience sampling technique. The study articulated Hofstede’s cultural dimensions including; power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity vs. feminity, long term vs. short term, indulgence vs restraints and Gray’s accounting practices including professionalism vs. statutory control, uniformity vs. flexibility, conservatism vs. optimism, secrecy vs. transparency. Then, the study employed Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to determine cultural dimensions’ influence on accounting practices along with the Principal Component Analysis and Varimax extraction. The extracted factors accommodated into the multiple regression model to ascertain the relationship between cultural dimensions and accounting practices. The findings emphasized that power distance and individualism as the most dominant cultural dimensions in the Sri Lankan context and subsequently, that led to uniformity and secrecy in accounting practices. As a result, the study developed a model appropriate to the Sri Lankan context integrating Hofstede’s and Gray’s dimensions. In conclusion, the study reflected that accounting standards adopting process in Sri Lanka require to absorb cultural influence to smooth the regulatory application.

Keywords: Cultural dimensions, Accounting practices, Accounting professionals
Motives of Social Media Usage on Building Consumer Behavioural Engagement
Authors: De Silva S.K.D.U.
Published: March 2022

Social media plays a pivotal role in the present digitalized business context by reshaping the marketing strategies of business entities by focusing greater level of consumer engagement. The consumer participation in brand building activities has become a mainstream research concern over social media marketing. Despite the different marketing and promotional efforts taken by marketers, recent studies emphasis more on investigating level of consumer engagement within contemporaneous digital platforms. Alongside, this study attempted to investigate the consumer behavioural engagement in social media marketing, and it was conceptualized based on self – determination theory. Accordingly, consumer autonomy, competence, and relatedness were tested with consumer behavioural engagement in social media marketing. Following a deductive method as the approach, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to construct the study hypotheses. Survey method was used to collect data from a sample of 246 undergraduates in both state and private sector higher educational institutes. The analysis was based on both descriptive and inferential analysis, to understand the relationship between key consumer autonomy, competence, and relatedness towards behavioural engagement. Findings reveal that the consumer competence over social media platforms is the most important determinant of one’s self – determination. Further, the behavioural engagement of consumers is highly influenced by consumer relatedness, showing favourable relationships among both community relatedness as well as brand relatedness. Some of the determinants such as self-censorship and privacy concerns were identified as no significant relationship with consumer behavioural engagement. It provided a considerable amount of interesting findings for practitioner for developing effective marketing and promotional campaigns in the context of social media to gain a greater level of consumer behavioural engagement. Finally, the study was concluded with important insights about the consumer behavioural engagement in social media marketing with some recommended practices for higher achievements.

Keywords: Autonomy, Self – censorship, Self – Efficacy, Relatedness, Behavioural engagement
Factors Affecting the Purchase Intention of Cruelty-Free Cosmetics: with special reference to Women Consumers in Colombo District, Sri Lanka
Authors: Dasunika T. , Gunathilake L.
Published: March 2022

The power which consumers belong, have precipitately identified, and have a faith that consumers can commute the existing purchasing style, accordingly several companies have gathered the knowledge of practicing ethically and have gathered the knowledge of it to build up business strategies. The purpose of this research is to identify the factors that affect the purchase intention of cruelty-free cosmetics with special reference to women consumers in Colombo district Sri Lanka. To delve into this matter, five independent variables and a dependent variable were developed, specifically financial factor, social media, attitude, altruism, environmental knowledge (Independent Variables) and purchase intention (Dependent Variable). To reach the purpose of this study, the deductive approach was escorted by the quantitative method with a developed conceptual frame to test the hypothesis. The population of the study comprised of Colombo district’s female cosmetic consumers where nonprobability sampling technique was used considering convenience to reach sources and time constraints. Data collection was done by using a questionnaire survey. Accordingly, data was gathered from 202 respondents and analysed using quantitative analysis techniques with the help of IBM SPSS software. In the process of preparing data for the analysis, normality, linearity, validity, reliability, multicollinearity, and the correlation of data were checked. According to the findings none of these factors: financial factor, social media, attitude, altruism, and environment knowledge do not influence the purchase intention of cruelty-free cosmetic products. The findings of this study will not be able to generalize into Sri Lanka because this study was limited to the Colombo district.

Keywords: Purchase intention, Cruelty-free cosmetics, Consumer behaviour, ethical consumption
Increasing the Accommodation Capacity towards Sustainable Tourism in Northern Province of Sri Lanka
Authors: Mathuranthy A. , Anandasayanan S.
Published: March 2022

Tourism sector is the third largest foreign exchange earner in Sri Lanka. Cooper, Fletcher, Fyall, Gilbert & Wanhill (2008) stated the necessity of accommodation as accommodation provides the facilities for the tourists to engage in any sort of activities at a destination, therefore, travelling will be incomplete in absence of accommodation. Accommodation is fundamentally required for tourism supply. The basic infrastructure facilities are necessarily required to attract tourists to tourist places. In addition, the characteristics of tourist destinations determine the success of the tourist destinations and it is also vital satisfy the requirements of international tourists. This research employed regression analysis, correlation and normality test to evaluate the impact of accommodation capacity on tourist arrival in the Northern province of Sri Lanka. Only 6 annual observations from 2013 to 2018 were incorporated in this study as no data available for Northern region due to three decades of civil war. The findings indicated that there is very strong and positive correlation between accommodation capacity and tourist arrival. The regression analysis showed that nearly 94 per cent of the variation in the tourist arrival (Foreign Guest Nights in Graded Accommodation) is explained by the independent variables. This study recommend the Sri Lankan government and relevant authorities to establish star hotels and standardize their service to cater more international visitors in Northern province, Sri Lanka so that the economic growth of the Northern province will be uplifted through sustainable tourism.

Keywords: Accommodation Capacity, Northern Province, Rooms, Occupancy Rate
Factors affecting Young Consumers’ Purchase Intention of Green Products
Authors: Thilinika H.K.D. , Gunawardana T.S.L.W.
Published: March 2022

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting young consumers’ purchase intention of green products in Sri Lanka, due to the lack of studies that deliberate green issues in the Sri Lankan context though environmental disputes increasingly affect every side of human life. Moreover, based on the prior researches, this study focuses on three variables that influence on young consumers’ purchase intention of green products such as environmental attitude, environmental knowledge and social influence. Three hypotheses were developed based on the constructed conceptual framework derived from the marketing and consumer behavior literature. The data were collected over a survey technique by conveniently administering structured questionnaires from 150 young consumers in Sri Lanka. First, the analysis was carried out the factor analysis to explore the significance of influencing factors of young consumers’ purchase intention, and multiple regression analysis was performed to explore the factors that influence on young consumers’ purchase intention of green products. The results of the regression analysis indicated that all three variables (i.e., environmental attitude, environmental knowledge and social influence) have a significant and positive impact on young consumers’ purchase intention of green products in Sri Lanka. Moreover, it suggested that the environmental attitude variable was the most significant while social influence was the less significant variables towards young consumers’ purchase intention. The findings of this study provide new insights to marketers to formulate appropriate strategies for promoting green purchase behavior among young consumers in Sri Lanka. Moreover, the study unveiled that marketers need to understand the path that moves the environmental factors to green purchase intention to successfully enhance and redefine the new target markets. The most significant precursor which affects the green purchase intention of Sri Lankan young consumers is environmental attitude followed by environmental knowledge and social influence. But, this study evaluates the construct of purchase intention as an expressed intention for green products based on cross-sectional approach rather than actual purchase for such products. Hence, future scholars should adopt a longitudinal approach in their studies by focusing on changes in consumers purchase intention.

Keywords: Environmental attitude, environmental knowledge, green marketing, green purchase intention, social influence
Effectiveness of Introductory Information and Communication Technology Module and its Implication on Academic Performance: A Study on Medical Entrants
Authors: Nanayakkara P.M. , Peiris H.M. , Ranathunga R.A.N. , Muthuthanmy M.M.
Published: March 2022

Literacy in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is vital in current medical education and practice to; better prepare future physicians for the changing behaviours of the patients and diseases, improve the quality of interventions and health care delivery, find information and change medical teaching practices. A descriptive study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the introductory ICT course and find out the factors affecting ICT literacy in medical entrants. A self-administered questionnaire was administered after receiving the informed consent of the students of the first and second batches of Faculty of Medicine, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka. ICT literacy was evaluated by administering a theory and practical based examination. A pre-course examination was held to a selected sub-sample in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the introductory course. Out of the consented students (n=126), 71.4% were females. All the students owned at least one IT equipment and browsed the internet daily. Having school ICT facility (p=0.001) and parental knowledge on ICT (p=0.04) have affected to the ICT literacy of the students while the external courses have not affected at all. The interaction between ICT evaluation marks and academic results are strongly significant. There was a significant improvement in ICT literacy of the students after conducting an introductory ICT course (p=0.001). It is required to increase ICT facilities at school levels and improve the quality of the introductory ICT courses in order to create skillful professionals who can challenge the changing behaviours of the future world.

Keywords: Medical Entrants, Information and Communication Technology, Introductory Course, Medical Education
Study on Business Performance of Boutique Hotels after Easter Sunday Attacks in Sri Lanka
Authors: Ellepola K.R.W.M.R.T.K. , Balasuriya N.N.M. , Uddeepa K.W.G.E. , Kanumale S.N.M.U.I. , Jayasinghe S.J.A.N.S. , Weerarathna R.S.
Published: March 2022

Tourism sector of Sri Lanka had a rapid growth and identified as the largest source of income in Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, 2018. Easter attack which took place in April 2019 resulted a severe hit to the Boutique hotels in Sri Lanka. The purpose to conduct this study was to identify how Boutique hotels in Sri Lanka are working to regain their business performance after the Easter Sunday attack. The data for this research were assembled employing a strategy of qualitative data. Data were collected through twelve face-to-face semi structured interviews and analyzed base on content analysis by using Word cloud. Many employees in the tourism sector have lost their jobs due to this attack. The majority of the owners stated that now they are focusing more on local customers instead of foreigners. Owners use social media platforms and special discount packages (credit card and visa card discounts) to attract local customers. Banks and financial institutions have offered some loan schemes for hotels to regain their performance. The outcomes will offer assistance for the individuals who are predominantly or indirectly related to the Boutique hotels of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka. In addition to that, this research will assist proper understanding about if the hoteliers have to face crises like the Easter Sunday attack again, how they manage their business performances by using considerable factors of Boutique hotels in Sri Lanka. Since the revenue generated from tourism industry is more important to the Sri Lankan economy, the respected authorities can focus more on the Boutique hotel sector and make arrangements to re-establish the lost revenues in the Sri Lankan economy.

Keywords: Boutique Hotels, Business Performance, Crisis, Easter Sunday Attack
Determinants of Economic Growth in China
Authors: Jayawardana J.M.A.N. , Kumarasinghe P.J. , Huan Q.
Published: March 2022

China is one of the strongest economies in the world which is only second to the United States. Over the past four decades, China was experiencing a fast economic growth and its rise from a developing country to a significant economic power is spectacular. The researchers try to identify main determinants of economic growth using annual data from 1982 to 2018.Multiple regression analysis using OLS method was employed to investigate the influence of each explanatory variable on the GDP per capita growth rate.

The results indicate that the education level and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows have positive and significant impact on economic growth while population growth has imposed a negative and significant impact on growth. As results suggest, education level has played a major role in achieving higher growth rates in China. At present, 4 per cent of China's total GDP is invested in education. If the government can promote education in China, it would promote economic growth further.

This study proves that FDI inflows also have a significant positive influence on economic growth. China has imposed a number of restrictions on FDI inflows. However, according to the results of this study, if the policymakers can open up the economy to facilitate FDI inflows, it would promote economic growth in China significantly. Due to the one-child policy, China is still maintaining a very lower population growth. Due to this, China has faced a severe demographic problem of aging population. That problem has led to slow down the economic growth in China.

Keywords: Economic growth, education level, foreign direct investments, population growth, China
Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Economic Growth: Evidence from Sri Lanka
Authors: Subhasinghe K. M. C. S. T. , Sameera T.K.G.
Published: March 2022

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been one of the defining feature of the world economy as it considered as an important economic force through which developing countries can carry out economic growth consequently. This study explores the impact of FDI inflows to the economic growth (Gross Domestic Product – GDP) in Sri Lankan context. Though many research studies were carried throughout the world, due to the lack of studies within the country was made a great interest to carry a research study in the Sri Lankan context. As well as due to the empirical studies shown mixed results as positive, negative and no any relationship, the willingness to carry the research study was increased. As the result, it created the main objective of this study as to emphasize the extent of FDI inflows influence on economic growth in Sri Lanka. The independent variable used in the study was therefore FDI and the dependent variable was GDP. In addition, the study employed four mediating variables, labor force, exports, unemployment and gross domestic fixed capital formation, to identify the impact of FDI on GDP. The study used secondary data over a period of twenty-nine years from 1990 to 2018 and used descriptive statistics, a correlation to establish relationships between variables. Nine regression models were also used in the analysis to investigate how the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable existed through the mediating variables. The Pearson correlation was computed for FDI inflow and GDP shows a strong positive correlation between the variables. As per the regression analyses employed, they showed that there is a significant relationship between the independent and dependent variables by mediating with labour force, gross domestic fixed capital formation, exports and unemployment. These findings have led to the conclusion that there is a significant positive impact of FDI inflows on the Sri Lankan economic growth. It therefore suggests that opening up the country to international markets and attracting more foreign investment to the country and making it useful to the labor market will improve economic stability.

Keywords: Foreign direct investment, Economic growth, Sri Lanka
Comparative Mathematical Study of the Relationship Between Marginal Social Cost and Pigouvian Tax in the Presence of Commodity and Wage Taxes: Putting Ramsey Theorem into Practice
Authors: Ariyawansa T.S.V. , Amirthalingam K.
Published: March 2022

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between the Pigouvian tax and marginal social cost in the presence of distortionary taxes such as commodity and wage taxes in a Ramsey setting. The Ramsey theory highlights the amount of tax required to raise a given revenue for the government which also maximizes household utility. Previous research in this regard has been carried out either under homogeneous household preferences or a constant marginal social cost. In this paper we go further by analyzing the relationship between Pigouvian tax and marginal social cost in the presence of commodity taxes when households have heterogeneous preferences as opposed to being assumed homogeneous. In addition, we also consider the relationship between Pigouvian tax and marginal social cost in the presence of wage tax when the marginal social cost is considered as a variable depending on Pigouvian tax as opposed to being considered a constant in previous literature. The results indicate that the Pigouvian tax in the presence of wage tax is higher when the marginal social cost was considered a variable as opposed to a constant. Under certain conditions, in the presence of commodity taxes it was observed that the value of the Pigouvian tax is higher when households have heterogeneous preferences as opposed to homogeneous preferences. The mathematical models used in this study enable to see the factors, such as homogeneity/heterogeneity of household preferences and marginal social cost assumed as a variable as opposed to a constant, that impact the dynamics in determining the optimal Pigouvian tax.

Keywords: Distortionary tax, Ramsey theory, Pigou tax, Marginal social cost, Lagrange multiplier
Factors influencing the development of Port of Colombo as a Mega Hub Port for Transshipment Containers and current challenges
Authors: Gunawardena P. , Ariyawansa R.G. , Kumara U.A.
Published: March 2022

The Port of Colombo has earned the status as a hub port for transshipment containers in the region as it strategically positioned to serve the trade in the Indian Ocean. Procreated out of location advantage, Port of Colombo has carved out a niche linking feeder connections in the Indian sub-continent trade to main sea routes on the back of its access to the Indian Ocean, as it aspires to become one of the key transshipment hub ports in the globe. During the past couple of decades’ major ports around the world have faced significant challenges due to rapid evolvement in marine technology and international logistical system. Primarily there were two major thrusts have been impacting the seaports which identified as ‘Increased specialization of ship design’ and the ‘Growth in ship size’. Above two factors of ship specialization and capacity enhancement that were continued to progress has resulted a greater demand in Ports and container terminals to invest on improvements to equipment and ports infrastructure. The continued growth of global containerization has led to the deployment of larger cellular container vessels. Therefore, each subsequent generation of containership which evolved has challenged and limited the number of ports of calls. At the same time, Main Line Operators (MLO’s) were incited to engage the largest containerships possible on their shipping routes in order cater to the increased volumes of cargo. As a result, container ports and terminals were compelled to provide substantial capital investment to acclimatize and meet the new demands in ports infrastructure, cargo-handling technology, and the inland logistical system. On the other hand, from MLO’s perspective this larger containership deployment requires an efficient feeder connectivity and substantial amount of cargo for their service offerings to be commercially feasible. This aspect too imposed pressure once again on Ports and container terminals to planning and performs a high productivity in container handling and improved vessel turnaround time to ensure efficient and effective feeder networking and timely connectivity.

The third related thrust which impacted the container hub ports around the world is the compulsion of the development of integrated logistics systems and infrastructure facilities in the country. This development reflected due to the demand in expanding the network of improved inter-modal links to facilitate ‘hub and spoke’ concept. In the shipping world, integrated logistics led to establishment of several major alliances and mergers of shipping lines.

Keywords: Mega-Hub Ports, Ship Design, Main Line Operators, Feeder Network, and Integrated Logistics Systems.
moderating effect of sustainability reporting on the relationship between board characteristics and firm financial performance
Authors: Shyamanthi O.N.K.
Published: March 2022

Purpose: This study primarily focuses on probing whether sustainability reporting has a moderating effect on the relationship between board characteristics and financial performance of Sri Lankan firms.

Design / Methodology / Approach: The study draws on data from 50 listed companies in Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) with the highest market capitalization during the period 2016 – 2018. This study considers seven board characteristics: board size, gender diversity, board independence, CEO duality, Number of board meetings held, nationality of board members and the number of members with PhD qualifications as independent variables to measure the board characteristics. Firm financial performance is measured by market and accounting based financial performance measures; ROA and Tobin’s Q. The Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression models are applied and the moderating effect of sustainability reporting is measured using a GRI based index and PROCESS macro version 3.4 by Andrew F. Hayes.

Findings: The results reveal that the sustainability reporting moderates the relationship between board characteristics and firm financial performance. Further, the results show that the board size, nationality of board members and number of board meetings held have statistically significant negative relationships with firm financial performance. Other independent variables: gender diversity, board independence, CEO duality and board members with PhD qualifications do not show a statistically significant relationship with firm financial performance.

Practical Implications: This study contributes to the understanding of relationships between board characteristics and financial performance with the moderating impact of sustainability reporting. It provides academic evidence to policy makers in Sri Lanka for current and future governance reforms.

Originality / Value: Recent local and global financial catastrophes have stressed the significance of following corporate governance mechanism either on a mandatory basis or a voluntary basis. Further, the sustainability reporting has become a contemporary concern in global context and adoption of globally accepted standards and principles has become a current practice in Sri Lankan context. Therefore, a study carried out to examine the relationships between such sustainability reporting adoptions, present governance characteristics and firm financial performance is a timely necessity in Sri Lankan context.

Keywords: Board characteristics, Firm financial performance, Sustainability reporting
Women in Boards and Sustainability: Empirical evidence from Sri Lanka
Authors: Fernando D. , Dissanayake D.H.S.W. , Deshika N.P.T.
Published: March 2022

Women in boards is an emerging concept as a solution to break gender barriers across boardrooms. Thus, a comparative study has been conducted, focusing on examining the degree of women in boards and the level of sustainability based on the resource dependency theory, contingency theory, and agency theory. But there is a dearth of studies related to the women in board and sustainability in Sri Lanka. This study is carried out as a solution to the empirical gap and contextual gap. The archival data is gathered based on the audited annual set of financial statements based on the highest market capitalization for the period of 2016 to 2019 and the sample consists of 50 companies. In addition to secondary data, direct interviews were conducted for the sample taking an approach of the triangulation method. The gathered data was dropped down and analyzed by using descriptive statistics, regression, and independent sample T-test. The researcher has used sustainability as the dependent variable and the women directors on the board as an independent variable. The results indicate a significant positive relationship between women in boards and sustainability in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan companies with the critical mass concept have a greater mean difference than companies without having female directors at least three. Furthermore, it also reveals that women’s power of managing different roles and gender stereotypes tend to increase sustainability performance in social, economic, and environmental spheres. The inclusion of female directors will be a pragmatic solution to gender diversity and to create an interest in sustainability which is proving to be an emerging trend in Sri Lanka. This study has proved that the inclusion of women’s voices in the board room adds more colour not only to survive in the corporate world but also to highlight and accentuate an organization by contributing more to society and the environment with growing performance.

Keywords: Women in Boards, Corporate Sustainability, Critical Mass Concept
Solid Waste Management in Local Governments in Sri Lanka with reference to the Boralesgamuwa Urban Council
Authors: Sellahewa W.N.
Published: March 2022

Local authorities are responsible for the provision of an extensive range of public services for the citizens in that residential area which encompassing different fields including the social, economic, environmental, recreational, and community development. This study has been narrowed down to examine the difficulties facing by local government when providing Environmental and sanitation services. When it refers to the environmental services provided by local governments, Solid-waste management can be regarded as a burning problem especially in Colombo district. Based on this situation, this research has been conducted to study about the Solid-waste management in local governments in Sri Lanka with special reference to Boralesgamuwa Urban Council. Main purpose of this study is to identify the challenges of local government institutions in solid waste management and to provide recommendations to enhance the solid waste management practices in local government institutions in Sri Lanka. This study is mainly based on the primary data which has been collected through in-depth interviews followed a semi structured questionnaire. Sample size is 50 including ten officers, ten waste collecting servants and twenty citizens in Boralesgamuwa area. Data has been collected using random sampling methods and analyzed descriptively. As the main findings of the study it was recognized the problem of proper implementation of the waste collecting plan of Boralesagmuwa urban council. There were several servant related problems such as servants’ demotivation, deficiency of labors, lack of facilities, lack of attendance, health problems and bad behaviors of labors etc. Deficiency of vehicles and maintenance problems identified under the category of transport relater problems. The matter of not collecting the waste properly by waste collecting servants was the main problem identified related to the people. Further, recommendations for solid waste management problems in local authorities, have also been provided in this study.

Keywords: local government, solid waste, management
systematic literature review on the notion of sustainability in social enterprise research
Authors: Jayawardhana K. , Siyambalapitiya J. , Fernando P.I.N. , Vimalini N.
Published: March 2022

Given the noteworthy contribution to the global socio-economic development, research on social enterprises (SE) has gained prominence in extant business literature over the past two decades. Making a clear departure from their for-profit counterparts, the core purpose of SEs is to deliver a social mission while at the same time staying financially viable and as a consequence, “sustainability” is strongly embedded in their core drive of existence. Rapidly sprouting body of literature on social enterprise posits that “sustainability” is intensely coincided with “social enterprises”. Although “sustainability” has been a buzz word in the context of social enterprise research, lacking of systematization and categorization of knowledge hinders the advancement of SE context specific research. Consequently, the primary objective of this paper is systematization and categorization of the extant knowledge on sustainability in social enterprise research context. The study carried-out a systematic literature survey and here, published papers were downloaded from well reputed databases such as Scopus, Social Science Citation Index and Science Direct. After removing the repetitions, a total of 108 papers published on sustainability in social enterprise research context was compiled and used for final analysis. The analytical approach was twofold: First, a citation analysis was performed in order to evaluate the prominent, emerging and popular sustainability-based research areas in the extant body of knowledge in the field. Second, a thematic analysis was performed to analyze and interpret explicit themes on which sustainability concept has been investigated in social enterprise research context. Thematic analysis was also used to observe specific patterns of sustainability research in SE context. The paper discovered six themes that the sustainability concept has been researched in SE context through significant research popularity disparities can be witnessed among the discovered themes. Since this paper identifies several research gaps and inconsistencies in the field, it noticeably sets path for future research on the concept of sustainability in SE research context.

Keywords: Sustainability, social enterprises, systematic literature review, citation analysis, thematic analysis.
Investigation on the Readiness of the Sri Lankan Construction Industry towards Internet of Things (IoT): Conceptual Guideline
Authors: Dilakshan S. , Rathnasinghe A.P. , Seneviratne L.D.I.P.
Published: March 2022

The world is witnessing the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution known as Industry 4.0, where the ICT-fuelled digital economy is taking off exponentially. In such a context, the essence of the Internet identified as the Internet of Things (IoT) is a revolutionary way of procuring goods and services. IoT refers to scenarios where network connectivity and computing capability extend to objects, sensors, and everyday items not generally considered as computers while allowing them to interact among each other with the least involvement of humans. The application of IoT has already extended to the sectors such as manufacturing, transportation, energy, retail, smart cities, healthcare, and buildings to significantly improve the quality of life by increasing efficiency, productivity, profitability, and innovation. Meanwhile, the construction industry is still suffering from complexity and bottlenecks, whereas IoT has aroused researchers' curiosity to investigate the possibility of achieving more efficient management throughout the whole life cycle of a construction project. In the Sri Lankan (SL) context, the construction industry places a vital role in economic and physical development. Furthermore, in the Sri Lankan economy, Construction is the fourth highest sector after services, manufacturing, and agriculture. Therefore, it is vital to recognize the potential of IoT to be adopted in the industry, and associated barriers within such a process, which is the aim of this study. To attain the aim, an extensive literature synthesis was piloted to acknowledge the concepts and current practices of IoT applications in a global context. Literature synthesis revealed the global construction industry's faithfulness towards IoT applications, following a successful identification of potential barriers. Eventually, a conceptual guideline was developed to specify key variables that influence a phenomenon of interest while guiding SL construction professionals to recognize and adopt IoT applications in their respective fields.

Keywords: Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0, Construction Informatics, Information Technology, Smart Sensors
Impact of Technology Readiness on Usage of Accounting Software among Small and Medium Enterprises in Kurunegala District
Authors: Abeysinghe W.A.M H. , Rajeshwaran N.
Published: March 2022

Technology in many cases, are rapidly changing faster than the employee’s knowledge, skills, awareness and compliance. Therefore, some organizations or some people reject to manipulate the technology for their accounting functions. Therefore, there is a problem implementation of IT does sufficient for enhancement of usage accounting software packages. The objective of this paper is to investigate the significant impact technology readiness on usage of accounting software among small and medium enterprise. To achieve this objective this empirical survey using closed ended questionnaire. This survey results revealed that almost half of the responded SMEs have reported that, there is a moderate impact of technology readiness on usage of accounting software among SMEs in Kurunegala district. Positive and negative related beliefs of technology readiness have affected this moderate impact. It seems that small and medium enterprises are suffering some curiosity in presenting financial reports using accounting software packages whether their organization is fully embraces with technology. As the results reveled in this study recommended Usage of accounting software in SMEs should improve rather than the manual method. However, security threats of technology, reluctance of users’ CAS knowledge and skills, mind set and human habit, are affecting negatively for usage. So through this study hope to find out that, how technology TR impact on usage of accounting software among SMEs. For this study selected 383 respondents and responses were collected by using closed ended questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS 22.0 version. This research has used a famous model which has been presented by the parasuraman, that is technology readiness model. The study survey revealed that drivers of technology readiness, optimism and innovativeness are positively impact and inhibitors of technology readiness, discomfort and insecurity are negatively impact on usage of accounting software. It is proving after rejecting all null hypothesis.

Keywords: Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Technology Readiness (TR), Computerized Accounting System (CAS), Statistical Practical Software System (SPSS), Information Technology (IT)
applicability of Robotic Process Automation in the Supply Chain & Logistics Industry in Sri Lanka
Authors: Witharana V.N.B. , Liyanage H. L.
Published: March 2022

As technology transforms the business world, the supply chain and logistics sector need to embrace automation that promise rebuilding and integrating sustainable supply chains. Robotic process automation is the application of automating the business processes using software bots. These software bots can enter data into software applications, manipulate data, and communicate with other software applications. However, most robotic process automation literature focuses on sectors such as finance, but little research focuses on supply chain and logistics sector applications. Besides, robotic process automation in the Sri Lankan supply chain context is less studied. Therefore, the study's main objectives are to identify the applicability of robotic process automation in supply chain and logistics industry in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the study aims to identify employee perception towards robotic process automation implementations in the supply chain logistics industry in Sri Lanka.

This study uses qualitative and quantitative research methods to collect data. Initially, a case study was conducted in one Logistics Company. A comprehensive feasibility framework was developed to identify the most feasible process. The AS-IS process and data flow mapping were developed to in-depth study the applicability of robotic process automation of the selected process. Findings confirm that many tasks of the selected process can be automated using robotic process automation. Moreover, a survey was conducted to identify employee perception towards robotic process automation implementations. The findings reflect that the young employees who have higher education and income levels are more likely to view robotic process automation as a positive impact on their jobs in the supply chain and logistics industry in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: Robotic Process Automation, Supply Chain and Logistics Industry in Sri Lanka, Employee Perception, Feasibility Framework
Effectiveness of Project Management Tools and Techniques in Sri Lankan Telecommunication Sector
Authors: Ekanayake E.M.C.L.B. , Weligamage P.
Published: March 2022

The main focus of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of project management tools and techniques (PMTT) in Sri Lankan telecommunication sector. Also this research will further elaborate how Project Management Tools and Techniques effect on success of projects. Sample has been derived as a representation by covering main telecommunication providers in Sri Lanka. This sample consists of 178 employees who are responsible for projects in telecommunication sector. Linear regression and correlation analysis has been used to prove the model fitting. The finding suggests that project manager’s competency, top management support and organisational commitment facilitate project success by active use of PMTT. Further Project manager’s competency is the most important factor influencing the level of PMTT usage and thereby project success. Also, Top management support is the second most important factor determining the level of PMTT usage and project success. Further Organisational commitment influences the level of PMTT usage and project success. Finally, analysis proved there is no significant association between project complexity and PMTT usage or project success.

Keywords: Project management tools and techniques, project management, telecommunication sector, project success
How Top Management Values Impact in Setting Strategic Direction and Directional Corporate Strategies in Large-scale Export-Oriented Companies in Sri Lankan Apparel Industry
Authors: Wickramathilaka S.S.G. , Pushpakumari M. D.
Published: March 2022

Sri Lankan apparel industry is very distinctive industry after the trade liberalization in 1977. Large apparel companies were established after 1977. This paper fundamentally focusses on top management values and how it affects in setting strategic direction and directional corporate strategy of export-oriented companies in Sri Lankan apparel industry. The research was carried out as a qualitative research by using interviews as main data collection tool. The book on life stories of one top manager also taken as secondary source in deriving key findings relating to that top manager. Six top managers from six different large-scale apparel companies were used as the sample based on purposive sampling and thematic analysis was used to analyze data. The paper emphasis the importance of top management values in the apparel context and how it is being impacts on setting strategic direction and directional corporate strategies. Based on the identified finding, this paper discusses about mode of conduct values, self-centered values and society centered values of top managers in Apparel context and deep analysis on how strategies and company’s direction is affected by those top management values. According to the findings, mode of conduct values has identified as the most influential values of top managers, while personal values is the second influential values and society centered values are the least contributing values on setting strategic direction and directional corporate strategies.

Key words: Top management values, Strategic direction, Directional corporate strategies, Export– orientation, Sri Lankan apparel industry