Browsing by Author "Perera, L"

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    PublicationOpen Access
    THE EFFECT OF THE COVID 19 ON OVERALL FIRM PERFORMANCE IN SRI LANKAN APPAREL COMPANIES
    (2021-04) Kavindi, B; Priyasath, G; Perera, L; Anuradha, R. P. S; Weligodapola, H. W. M. C; Karunarathna, K. N. P
    Covid-19 pandemic originated in China has rapidly spread across the world. The global damage caused by this disaster has not yet been confirmed. In this crisis, the respective authorities and governments put several efforts to control the pandemic outbreak. In the face of this emergency, different rules and regulations were enforced by different countries. The apparel industry significantly contributes to the GDP in Sri Lanka as it accounts for 15% of Sri Lanka’s exports and provides over 300 000 direct employment and 600 000 indirect employment opportunities. Sri Lanka is no exemption when it comes to the effect of COVID-19. The apparel industry has a high demand from overseas buyers, and the raw materials used in its production are primarily imported from other countries. COVID - 19 virus has severely hampered the manufacturing process and the availability of raw materials from suppliers due to foreign transactions’ restrictions. Besides, obtaining the labour required for the production process has been severely restricted due to the government’s precautionary actions. This research’s main objective is to recognise the impact of COVID 19 on Sri Lankan apparel companies and make recommendations for confounding the challenges posed by COVID 19. As a result of the literature review, five key variables were identified to determine the impact of COVID-19, Sri Lankan apparel companies such as finance cost issues, Lockdown limitations, workforce management issues, and research and product development. For this study, data collected from past literature reviews, reports, webpages. The impact of Covid-19 on the Sri Lankan apparel industry’s sustainability is being explored here, as no such research has been conducted in Sri Lanka so far. Finally, the recommendations for overcoming the challenges faced by Sri Lanka apparel companies were suggested.
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    PublicationEmbargo
    Fueling the future: unveiling what drives gig worker motivation and engagement in Sri Lanka’s corporate landscape
    (Emerald Publishing, 2025-03-25) Perera, L; Jayasena, C; Hettiarachchi, N; Siriwardana, D; Wisenthige, K; Wickramaarachchi, C
    Purpose: The gig economy has rapidly grown due to economic trends supporting flexible work and digital platforms, leading to increased demand for corporate gig workers. Although numerous studies have explored various aspects of the gig economy, research on the motivational and engagement factors of gig workers remains relatively rare. This study aims to investigate the factors that influence corporate gig workers’ motivation and engagement in the geographical context of Sri Lanka. Specifically, job autonomy, remuneration, social connection and technology and investigated here. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative study, employing a deductive research approach, was conducted with data gathered through a survey designed using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire. Respondents were conveniently selected from Sri Lankan corporate gig workers. A total of 397 responses were obtained through a snowball sampling technique. The collected data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling, providing a robust framework for evaluating the hypothesized relationships. Findings: The findings revealed that job autonomy, remuneration, social connection and technology significantly influence corporate gig worker motivation, whereas motivation significantly influences the engagement of corporate gig workers in Sri Lanka. Research limitations/implications: This study faced common limitations. Due to challenges in identifying the framework for the population, a snowball sampling technique was employed. One key limitation is the study’s narrow focus on motivation factors within the Sri Lankan context, which may affect the generalizability of the findings. Additionally, the geographic focus and uneven sample distribution could limit the broader applicability of the conclusions. Future research should adopt a cross-cultural approach to explore the influence of social commerce adoption, enhancing the generalizability of the results. Practical implications: A comprehensive understanding of the factors that influence the corporate gig worker motivation and engagement is provided, facilitating, the decision-makers to gain insight to enhance worker motivation and engagement by adapting strategies. This can lead to higher productivity and job satisfaction among gig workers. Originality/value: Examination of the motivational and engagement factors specific to corporate gig workers in Sri Lanka, a context that has received limited attention in previous research. Also, it contributes to the existing literature by providing a deeper understanding of the gig economy and gig work, particularly in a non-Western setting.
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    PublicationEmbargo
    Guided Vision: A High Efficient And Low Latent Mobile App For Visually Impaired
    (IEEE, 2021-12-09) Rizan, T; Siriwardena, V; Raleen, M; Perera, L; Kasthurirathna, D
    This paper presents a novel solution for visually impaired individuals. A mobile app is connected to an ESP32CAM and a remote server to help visually impaired individuals to navigate around their environment safely. A deep learning model is deployed in the mobile app to detect obstacles in real-time without connecting to the internet. Other tasks such as reading texts, recognizing people, and describing objects are done in the remote server. We managed to connect the mobile app to the ESP32CAM and the remote server simultaneously. This was possible because the ESP32CAM is connected to the mobile app through Bluetooth. This gave the mobile the ability to connect to the remote server via the internet. To the best of our knowledge, no research has been done using Bluetooth to stream images to do object detection in a mobile app locally. Hence, our solution can detect obstacles locally and do other tasks mentioned previously in the remote server. This paper discusses how the ESP32CAM, obstacle detection module, face recognition module, text reading module, and object description module was implemented such that a low latent and highly efficient mobile app is created using minimal resources.