14th SLIIT Business School Students Research Conference [SBSSRC] 2021
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Publication Embargo ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND INTERNET SERVICE QUALITY DURING THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC IN SRI LANKA(SLIIT Business School, 2019-12-10) Rashad, M.N.M.; Hansini, M.P.; Muthugala, M.H.N.; Karunarathne, U.W.S.P.; Munasinghe, R.M.; Bulathsinghala, A.S.K.The tracking of Service Quality is an important consideration for a business as customers may go with an alternative service provider if they are dissatisfied with the standard. In particular we look at Internet Service Providers (ISP) and research the impact of Internet Service Quality (ISQ) on Customer Satisfaction. The prevailing COVID-19 situation in Sri Lanka reveals the importance of this study as government rules and regulations have been imposed to promote work from home, online learning and online entertainment. Previous studies have looked at the influence of ISQ on Customer Satisfaction in other countries – however to the best of our knowledge, no such evaluation has been done in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, in the context of COVID-19 the existing literature is lacking. Past research identifies the following factors which impact ISQ: Tangibility, Assurance, Empathy, Reliability, Responsiveness (Eze, et al., 2008) and Price (Joudeh & Dandis, 2018). This study was carried out as a deductive study and a quantitative method was employed. Our sample included 500 respondents obtained from the convenience sampling method by distributing a questionnaire survey among university undergraduates within Sri Lanka. The findings revealed that there is a positive relationship between Internet Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction. The study was also able to extract insights for ISP managers by highlighting the aspects of ISQ which can satisfy their customer base as well as measures which could be taken with reference to the practice gaps identified.Publication Embargo COVID-19 MODIFYING THE DYNAMICS OF FINANCIAL REPORTING: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY(SLIIT Business School, 2019-12-10) Nagendrakumar, N.; Lokeshwara, A.A.; Naresh, R.; Abeywickrama, D.P.; Hewaarachchi, S.H.; Edirisinghe, A.M.I.E.The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced many business sectors worldwide, including the Accounting and Finance reporting perspectives. This motivated the researchers to investigate how the pandemic has affected the financial reporting of listed companies in the Sri Lankan context. It was evidenced that the empirical studies on the influence of COVID-19 on corporate financial reports based on accounting standards and techniques are still in the beginning stages; therefore, this paper sets the foundation in bridging the existing knowledge gap by examining how Covid-19 has modified the dynamics of financial reporting. This study is exploratory in nature, and the researchers adopted interpretivism philosophy and have used an inductive approach in conducting the research. The case study method was adapted, where in-depth and semi-structured interviews were applied to collect data. The study population is one hundred and fifty-eight (158) companies consisting of six (6) sectors: Banking, Materials, Consumer services, Diversified financials, Capital goods, and Telecommunication in Colombo Stock Exchange, out of which seven (7) sub-cases were chosen under the purposive sampling technique and the collected data were analyzed on thematic procedures using the Wordcloud analysis tool. Based on the findings, it was revealed that reporting aspects of different sectors were influenced differently by COVID- 19. LKAS 1(Going concern), LKAS 2 (Inventory), LKAS 16 (Cost of depreciation), SLFRS 13 (Fair value measurement) are a few of the standards generally mentioned by the respondents. The result of this study contributes to filling the existing knowledge gap and will be a value addition to contemporary academia.Publication Embargo FACTORS INFLUENCING THE CUSTOMER PROMOTION ACCEPTANCE CIRCULATED BY FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS(SLIIT Business School, 2019-12-10) Jiffry, S.; Adithya, T.; Wasundi, V.; Sakkaf, S.; Thelijjagoda, S.; Kumarasinghe, H.The fast food industry in Sri Lanka is growing and recently has undergone revolutionary transmutation within the frequent consumer behaviours. The purpose of this research is to specify the factors which influence customer promotion acceptance circulated by fast food outlets. To accomplish the goals of this study, the required data were gathered from a convenience sample of 384 respondents in the Colombo suburb. The target population consisted of teenagers, youngsters, professionals and middle-aged consumers. A closeended and Likert scale questionnaire with 21 questions was utilised to collect the necessary data. To review the results, the analysing process was conducted by using SPSS, Power BI and for testing the hypothesis Pearson's correlation was used. The outcomes mainly depict that most of the consumers tend to have fast food frequently. Moreover, the target population crave for a limited price range where they distaste to go for the higher price range. With regard to the mode of having fast food, most consumers are keen on having it in outlets and by deliveries where they have hesitated about the takeaway options. At the same time, in the Sri Lankan context, most of them received promotion messages via short message service (SMS) and secondarily through Facebook and Instagram. According to findings, among the reason for choosing fast food are to enjoy the taste, choosing to eat with families and friends and less expensive compared to prices on usual days. Eventually, the survey results brought the key insight of this promotion message is, the most people visit fast food restaurants when there's a promotion going on and they evaluate the value of the spending's for their foods, and the customers are always aware of the price of the industry before they make their purchasing decisions.Publication Embargo Fostering Resilience of Smes to Supply Chain Disruptions: The Role of Relationships(SLIIT Business School, 2021-12) Manathunge, K.A.D.N.; Samaraweera, V.A.; Withanage, W.J.H.; Karunarathna, W.A.S.N.; Weligodapola, W.; Madhavika, W.D.N.The global spread of the recent coronavirus outbreak has disrupted supply chains in both unanticipated and unprecedented ways. In the wake of such numerous catastrophic incidents, the core notion of supply chain resilience has sparked the attention of countless researchers and practitioners. However, the supply chain resilience of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) remains rather underresearched to date. In such turbulent times, it is important to investigate the role of relationships in achieving supply chain resilience in the context of SMEs. Thus, the overall intention of this study is to explore the influence of supply chain relationships on the resilience of SME supply chains by exploring the impacts of both outsourcing and collaboration. A well-structured online questionnaire was administered by selecting respondents using stratified random sampling techniques. In order to measure all the variables, a 5-point Likert scale was used. The survey was administered to a total of 160 SMEs and 114 valid responses were returned (response rate of 71.25%). Quantitative data was analyzed using correlation and regression analysis with the help of SPSS tool. The results of the study revealed that both outsourcing, and collaboration positively influences supply chain resilience. Therefore, the study recommends SMEs to engage in outsourcing and collaborative processes to foster resilience in supply chains during turbulent times. To the best of the author’s knowledge the present study is one of the first study done regarding SME supply chain resilience in Sri Lanka. The study recommends SMEs to focus better on outsourcing techniques and collaborative procedures in order to nurture supply chain resilience. Therefore, the guidance of this study will provide future scholars and practitioners to pursue an effective study in the field. The present study was limited to quantitative methods to achieve the objectives of the study. Hence, the authors recommend future researchers to focus on qualitative methods that can aid in the advancement of knowledgePublication Embargo IMPACT OF E-WOM AND BRAND IMAGE ON THE PURCHASE INTENTION OF CUSTOMERS TO SELECT A HOTEL IN SRI LANKA(SLIIT Business School, 2019-12-10) Wijesinghe, K.; Lakruwan, D.; Sazeem, M.; Rajapakshe, R.The most influential method of information transmission is e-WOM. Today's internet social networks are altering the way information is transmitted. In today's environment, marketing strategy and effective communication tools are generally acknowledged by the majority of users. The majority of companies in the hotel sector have concentrated on online marketing. People prefer to enhance their use of e-WOM by following current trends to share their experiences, information, and expertise. Even though e-WOM, brand image and purchase intention are highly discussed in the global context, a knowledge gap exists in the Sri Lankan context which will be addressed by the research. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the efficacy of e- WOM and brand image and how it would influence the perception of new local customers when choosing a hotel in Sri Lanka. To complete the study, the conceptual framework was developed by considering e-WOM and brand image as the independent variable while taking the purchase intention as the dependent variable. Primary data were gathered via a direct survey and a questionnaire designed in line with the study's goals. Digital marketing tools such as social media platforms were used to communicate the questionnaire with the respondents. Data was gathered from a sample of 348 Sri Lankan consumers. Multiple linear regression was used to evaluate the relationship e- WOM has on the purchase intention as well as to determine the impact brand image is having on the purchase intention. The results showcased that the e- WOM and brand image has a significant positive impact on the purchase intention of customers when selecting a hotel in Sri Lanka.Publication Embargo THE IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT IN LEAN IMPLEMENTATION ON EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY IN ABC COMPANY(SLIIT Business School, 2019-12-10) Gamlath, O.A.The concept of lean manufacturing is rapidly getting to the top of many production companies' improvement strategies in a global manufacturing environment, where businesses must know how to manufacture high-quality goods at the lowest cost. Many companies have recently become keen in transferring to the lean manufacturing model, and countries are becoming more involved in this transition (Nawanir, et al., 2016). Lean manufacturing is being implemented or planned in a variety of industries worldwide. ABC company has tried many times to move to a lean culture and has used lean tools and techniques. These lean implementations failed because of poor leadership and management commitment. Therefore, this paper is aimed to investigate the impact of leadership and management commitment in lean implementation on employee productivity in ABC company in Sri Lanka. The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of leadership and management commitment in lean implementation on employee productivity in ABC company. The findings of this study be a guideline for the managers in manufacturing firms, especially in the apparel field in Sri Lanka. The study uses a quantitative approach. In this study, primary data has been collected from a survey questionnaire with close-ended five-point Likert scale questions. In conclusion, there is a significant impact of leadership and management commitment in lean implementation on employee productivity.Publication Embargo THE IMPACT OF MOBILE MARKETING ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: CASE OF LISTED HOTELS IN SRI LANKA(SLIIT Business School, 2019-12-10) Premasinghe, P.K.S.D.; Ashintha, B.W.T.; Perera, M.A.D.C.H.; Fernando, D.L.P.T.; Kuruppu, C.L.; Lokeshwara, A.A.Digital tools, including mobile phones, have been widely popularised amongst both resident and non-resident tourists to explore vacation destinations and to make subsequent bookings. This provides a versatile platform for hoteliers and prospective clients to exchange information effectively. However, according to the past literature, it was revealed that the adaptation of digital marketing tools such as mobile marketing is scarce in the context of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, according to the preliminary interviews held with experts, one of the main contributory factors was identified as the lack of experience and confidence of hoteliers in investing in digital marketing solutions such as mobile marketing due to ambiguity in relating to financial and non-financial outcomes. Hence, this study aims to bridge the existing knowledge gap by evaluating the impact of mobile marketing on listed hotels’ financial performance in Sri Lanka. All thirty-seven (37) hotels registered in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) under Listed Tourist Hotels category were chosen as the population sample for this quantitative study with Mobile Marketing as the independent variable and Return on Equity (ROE) as the dependent variable. The required data was collected through structured questionnaires distributed among the marketing managers of the firms. The Statistical Package for Social Studies (SPSS) was used to analyse and obtain results on the research objective from the collected data. Descriptive statistics, Correlation and Regression, were deployed in assessing the impact of mobile marketing on the financial performance of listed hotels. The findings revealed a significant positive impact on the financial performance of hotels from mobile marketing since its significance value is less than 0.05. This demarks that mobile marketing, if utilised appropriately, could influence the financial performance of hotels positively allowing firms to reap greater economic benefits. In addition, the results help allay the ambiguity and uncertainty that hotel managers havePublication Embargo IMPACT OF THE CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING HUMAN RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN SRI LANKAN MSMES(SLIIT Business School, 2019-12-10) Gunawardane, Y.; Sathiyakumar, J.; Sivalingam, K.; Rasathurai, B.; Rajapakshe, W.; Kumarapperuma, C.Nowadays, the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is a trending software that is a highly efficient platform for the HR department to carry out their operations. Still, there are some challenges faced by organisations with regard to HRIS implementation. The primary objective of the research is to explore the impact of the challenges such as the cost of maintenance, technical knowledge, management support and staff training in implementing the HRIS in Sri Lankan micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The authors collected both primary and secondary data. The primary data have been referred from previous research. To study the impact of the challenges and to obtain secondary data, authors analysed 300 surveys as a sample in the Western Province from a total of 1,017,352 MSMEs population in Sri Lanka. This survey had closed-ended questions to collect quantitative data from the respondents, and the convenience sampling method has been used as the data collection method. As the data analysis tool, the authors have used simple and multiple regression analysis to study the significant impact of the challenges on implementation. Lack of researches have been conducted on HRIS implementation, especially in MSMEs, and a minority of HRIS service providers are focusing on MSMEs to promote their systems. To conclude, this research will boost the demand for HRIS technology among MSMEs, pay attention to the HRIS service providers to focus on MSMEs. Further, it helps to spread HRIS knowledge among HR students and HR industrial people to improve the information technology units in the HR industry.Publication Embargo IMPACT ON TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT TO EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY OF BLUE COLLAR WORKERS AT CRYSTAL CERAMICS LANKA PLC(SLIIT Business School, 2019-12-10) Sarangi, N.; Balasuriya, S.Human Resources is the key asset that can be used to gain a competitive advantage in many organizations. Especially in a large-scale manufacturing organization, Human Resources plays a major role. Therefore, it is vital to protect the employees and take necessary actions to improve employee productivity concerning their work and what they do. However, employee performance or employee productivity can be significantly hampered when employees lack in knowledge, skills, and motivation towards performing duties or not doing their best to the ability. Large scale manufacturing organizations require skillful manpower who could handle the new technological equipment or who could understand the new processors and is willing to dedicate their knowledge and strength to achieve the targeted output. Training and Developing is one method to improve employee’s skills, knowledge, and attitudes towards the company and the work allocated. Having proper training leads the employees to perform their duties effectively and efficiently and will increase the productivity levels as well. Therefore, this study is used to analyze the impact on Training and Development on Employee Productivity of Blue Collar Workers and selected Crystal Ceramics Lanka PLC as the sources to collect data. The main objective of the study is to identify the impact of Training and Development on Employee Productivity. Also, the research uses Employee Work Experience within the industry to find out how effectively moderate the relationship between Training, Development and Employee Productivity. The literature review identifies the factors which are related to Training and Development which will impact Employee Productivity increase or decrease and how employee work experience moderates the relationship based on past academic research literature. Through the Random Sample technique study use the Cluster Sampling method to select the sample population. The total sample population is selected as 300 samples out of 1020 workers in all three factories. A structured questionnaire was designed, pre-tested, and used to collect data from the selected sample whilst secondary data was collected through company reports and HRIS (Attendance) system. The research findings revealed that all the components tested as per the developed hypothesis showed that there is an significant impact on Training and Development to Employee Productivity as well as there is an effect on industry work experience to the relationship between Training and Development and Employee Productivity.Publication Embargo A Model to Manifest the Inadequacy of Awareness in Cyberbullying Among the Adolescents and to Accent Its Dire Need(SLIIT Business School, 2021-12) Liyanage, C.; Athauda, K.; Sendheera, H.; Silva, R.; Dunuwila, V.Cyberbullying can be technologically expressed as the use of electronic communication to bully or threaten a person. It was identified that this has become a social debacle. Hence the research study was directed to identify the exact mean of cyberbullying, the reasons that lead to this cause, and how to prevent the victims getting exposed to this social dilemma. In Sri Lanka this subject was not majorly focused as a social issue, therefore the study was focused on the adolescents within the Sri Lankan context, as they are the major group of active users in social media. To identify the specific factors, previous research articles written by academicians were adopted throughout the study. The objective was to introduce a model that can be introduced as a mode of bringing awareness on the misuse of social media among adolescents. This study was based on qualitative techniques. Secondary and primary data were analysed through grounded theory and thematic analysis. The primary sources included an open-ended questionnaire and an in-depth interview while the secondary sources include the reviews of past literature. The Interviews conducted with Sri Lanka Computer emergency Readiness Team supported upon many findings of the study. With results gained from the interviews, it was clear that many adolescents were exposed to cyberbullying but somehow, they were unaware of the situations that they were exposed. As per the findings, a model was built that can be adopted to eliminate the malpractice amongst the social media users with proper awareness on the concept of cyberbullying. The level of awareness required in terms of Sri Lankan legal framework, the psychological instability residing among the minds of adolescents, and the technological illiteracy rate amongst the social media users are based for the identified model as the base of root causes in the study.Publication Embargo Modelling and Forecasting Tourist Arrivals in Sri Lanka(SLIIT Business School, 2021-12) Nagendrakumar, N.; Lokeshwara, A.A.; Gunawardana, S.A.D.C.K.; Kodikara, U.P.; Rajapaksha, R.W.N.H.; Rathnayake, K.R.M.C.S.The Sri Lankan tourism industry contributes significantly to economic development through diversified mechanisms of revenue generation and for creation of employment opportunities. The tourism industry is volatile and easily affected by man-made or natural catastrophes: terrorism, financial crisis, and tsunamis. The racial dispute among Sri Lankan government forces and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, which started in the 1980s spanned over thirty years and adversely affected the development of the tourism sector. However, with the conclusion of the ethnic strife in 2009, tourism started to boom. The objective is to estimate and forecast tourist arrivals for the tourism industry from August 2021 to August 2025. This study used monthly tourist arrivals from January 2000 to July 2021 to predict values for August 2021 to August 2025 and evaluates against the actual, based on the number of visitor arrivals. Box-Jenkins Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) was used to model the visitor arrivals to Sri Lanka by evaluating the study period and have applied the Standard ARIMA model to achieve the research purpose. Monthly tourist arrival data obtained from the Sri Lankan Tourism Development Authority and diagnostic test statistics, including autocorrelation and partial correlation, were used to examine the parameters of ARIMA. The results revealed civil was has impacted on tourist arrivals and was further noted that terrorism affected tourist arrivals negatively. In addition, the findings showed that the forecasted tourist arrivals were substantially less than the actual, which indicated that the Sri Lankan tourism industry rebounced shortly after the three-decade long civil war. Hence, this analysis highlights the potential of the Sri Lankan tourism industry to recover rapidly from shock events. Moreover, it is advantageous for policymakers, academia, society, and the government of Sri Lanka to set up the national tourism framework and also align the crisis management process effectively.Publication Embargo ONLINE LEARNING DURING COVID-19: THE IMPACT ON SATISFACTION AND COMMITMENT OF LEARNERS(SLIIT Business School, 2019-12-10) Ranadewa, D.U.N.; Gregory, T.Y.; Boralugoda, D.N.; Silva, J.A.H.T.; Jayasuriya, N.A.The deadly Covid virus has impacted education across the world to temporarily close the educational institutes and shift towards online learning methods (Dhawan, 2020). The educational system in Sri Lanka usually follows the traditional method of in-class learning. Due to the fast-spreading Covid-19 and the government rule imposed on social distancing, the universities across the country facilitated the online delivery of lectures through their learning management systems (Hayashi et al., 2020). Due to this shift, the learners faced several consequences regarding academics, accessibility, and lecturers' commitment. Referring to empirical studies, the study points out how those consequences impacted students' satisfaction and commitment worldwide. Limited empirical studies have been conducted to test the online learning efficiency with regards to learner satisfaction and commitment. Hence, the study aims to investigate whether there is a significant impact between those consequences and students' satisfaction and commitment in the Sri Lankan context. The target population included undergraduates in state and non-state universities in Sri Lanka. The sample size was 384, and the method applied was purposive sampling. The Googleform questionnaire was distributed among the sample, and the results were analysed quantitatively using SPSS and AMOS software, following the multiple linear regression method. The results demonstrate that the academic issues, accessibility issues have a significant negative impact, and lecturer commitment has a significant positive impact on learner satisfaction, and learner satisfaction has a significant negative impact on the learner commitment, proving that learners are less satisfied and less committed to online learning. Considering the originality, this is one of the pioneer studies conducted to identify the impact of online learning on the satisfaction and commitment of Sri Lankan undergraduates during the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings would be favourable for the learners, lecturers, future researchers, universities, and other educational institutes in making solutions to enhance learner satisfaction and commitment.Publication Embargo PESTER POWER: THE NEXT BIG GAME OF YOUNG CONSUMERS INFLUENCED BY INFORMATIVE FACTORS(SLIIT Business School, 2019-12-10) Wasala, W.M.A.S.M.; Ravindran, N.; Bandara, W.A.S.C.; Pratheepan, T.; Jayasuriya, N.A.; Munasinghe, A.A.S.N.The pester power of a young consumer has held the attention of scholars for decades, introducing them to a plethora of new research topics. According to the researchers, the goal of this study is to evaluate the child's influence on parental decisions in Sri Lanka's fast-moving consumer goods market, which is governed by informational characteristics exposed by children throughout their everyday activities. Adding to the quest for reality in respondents' narratives of their experiences and feelings, as well as the construction of indepth descriptions of the occurrences, this phenomenological study investigates the pester power of a young consumer in Sri Lanka. An in-depth interview and focus group conversations with children ages eight to eighteen were conducted, and the data were analysed using thematic analysis to reveal patterns and trends in the data. Previously conducted research has largely neglected this request relationship, as well as the consistent number of components that influence behavioural outcomes. As a result of this research, previously unknown informative characteristics have been unveiled that may explain why children in Sri Lanka play such a big part in family buying decisions. This is the first study of its kind in Sri Lanka, and it fills both the empirical and practical gaps that existed previously. A new generation of active, aware young consumers is emerging, yet the country's traditional culture continues to value group conformity and social acceptance, supporting a collectivist culture where youngsters are expected to be obedient. Innovative marketing strategies can be used to promote a company in the fast-moving consumer products industry, and marketers in this area can benefit from this singularity. Academics can conduct additional research on this universal and widely discussed topic children's behaviour, which is currently under investigation.Publication Embargo THE PROBLEMATIC ISSUES FOR STARTING A BUSINESS FACED BY BUSINESS GRADUATES(SLIIT Business School, 2019-12-10) Randuwa, T.D.S.D.; Liyanahity, L.R.L.; Rathnayake, E.P.; Kovalan, S.The objective of this research paper is to investigate the process and obstacles that new business start-ups face. The identification of entry barriers is critical because the removal of these restrictions and the development of small businesses may lead to the development of the country, as small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. These serve as engines for developing countries such as Sri Lanka, which is now a lower-middle emerging market. The objective of this research is to identify and investigate the most fundamental issues that new businesses encounter. Our country's government aims to reduce unemployment, with the higher unemployment rate among fresh graduates. For more than three decades, graduate unemployment has been a major issue in Sri Lanka. We investigated the challenges, difficulties, and obstacles that graduating entrepreneurs have faced or would face while launching a startup through this study. For this study, 184 newly graduated business faculty students from private tertiary educational institute provided data. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire. The analysis of the study was conducted using correlation and regression analysis further using factor analysis. The study findings will aid in determining which obstacles would most impact business graduates, the level of government regulations that would be more supportive, and the educational system improvements that would be adopted. This article focusses on the effects of challenges and issues, graduate motivation, educational support, employability and start-up finance, and government regulations and policies on business start-upsPublication Open Access THE STUDY OF THE CLINICAL DRUG DELIVERY PROCESS AND THE HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES IMPACTED DURING THE LOCKDOWN PERIOD(SLIIT Business School, 2019-12-10) Prabashwara, W.; Fernando, W.I.N.D.; Alwis, R.M.V.D.; Igalawithana, D.K.; Thelijjagoda, S.; Pathirana, U.P.G.Y.This study was conducted to explore the drug delivering process and the impact Human Resource practices towards the delivering drugs to the clinical patients during the lockdown period in Sri Lanka. This study carried out a qualitative analysis. Improvements required during the pandemic for most provisional Human Resource practices on health and safety, and training was identified from this process. Researchers conducted interviews with the government employees who contributed to this process (Postmen and PHI). Gampaha district was selected as the sample area for this study, Further, this research motivated the researchers to study about the effectiveness of employee training and health and safety practices in drug delivery process on COVID-19 situation.