Research Publications
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://rda.sliit.lk/handle/123456789/4194
This main community comprises five sub-communities, each representing the academic contribution made by SLIIT-affiliated personnel.
Browse
4 results
Search Results
Publication Open Access Strategies Used by the Sri Lankan Construction Industry to Overcome the Challenges Posed by the Covid-19(SLIIT, Faculty of Engineering, 2023-03-02) Fernando, P; Gunarathna, NThe global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the world's political, social, economic, religious, and financial structures into disarray. COVID-19 has a broad range of effects on numerous industries, including construction. Sri Lanka as a developing country is also affected by the pandemic and many sectors of the Sri Lankan economy such as construction, education, tourism, imports and exports, agriculture, and health etc are experiencing negative consequences of the pandemic, Construction industry as one of the key sectors of the economy was also severely affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic in various ways. Construction companies and government institutes are taking action to face these challenges. This study describes how COVID-19 impacts the local construction industry throughout the construction process. Furthermore, the impact was evaluated with regard to several aspects namely, financial, human resources, supply chain and logistics, legal, and completion and handover of the project. The strategies which are used by the construction industry participants to face the challenges of the pandemic are also discussed. A mixed research approach was used in the study and questionnaires which comprised of both qualitative and quantitative questions were used as a data collection tool. This research revealed new knowledge about the construction industry in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study's most important finding was that the spread of the virus influenced the entire construction process. The pandemic had a major impact on the construction stage as well as the human resources aspect of the industry.Publication Open Access EFFECT OF COVID-19 ON THE SMALL-SCALE CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES: THE CASE OF COLOMBO DISTRICT, SRI LANKA(Ceylon Institute of Builders, 2022-06-26) Gunarathna, N; Namarathna, C. PCOVID-19 is a global pandemic that has wreaked havoc on the lives of many individuals and has had a severe impact on the global economy. During this crisis, small and medium-scale businesses suffer the most and are the least prepared among all companies as per the previous studies done in other parts of the world. The majority of the small-scale construction firms in Sri Lanka act as subcontractors and generate job opportunities for a considerable number of people and are able to create a multiplier effect on the whole economy. However, it was observed that they are more vulnerable to the adverse impact of the pandemic. Thus, the principal goal of this research is to explore possible survival strategies to overcome critical financial issues of small-scale construction companies during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka. A mixedmethod approach was adopted to gather the data for the study. A comprehensive literature review was carried out to identify the impact of COVID-19 on both global and local construction industries. The data for this study was gathered using semi-structured interviews and a comprehensive questionnaire survey with small scale construction company owners and construction industry professionals. The findings highlighted the key financial issues faced by the small-scale construction companies due to the pandemic including delays in client payments, supply chain management issues, frequent price escalation of construction materials, and inability to repay loans. The respondents suggested creating partnerships with financially strong companies, reduction of unwanted expenses, modifying supply chain channels and agreements, and ensuring business continuity plans as the strategies to be used to overcome the financial burden that occurred due to the pandemic.Publication Open Access Effect of COVID-19 on the small-scale construction companies: The case of Colombo district, Sri Lanka(2022-06-24) Gunarathna, N; Namarathna, C. PCOVID-19 is a global pandemic that has wreaked havoc on the lives of many individuals and has had a severe impact on the global economy. During this crisis, small and medium-scale businesses suffer the most and are the least prepared among all companies as per the previous studies done in other parts of the world. The majority of the small-scale construction firms in Sri Lanka act as subcontractors and generate job opportunities for a considerable number of people and are able to create a multiplier effect on the whole economy. However, it was observed that they are more vulnerable to the adverse impact of the pandemic. Thus, the principal goal of this research is to explore possible survival strategies to overcome critical financial issues of small-scale construction companies during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka. A mixedmethod approach was adopted to gather the data for the study. A comprehensive literature review was carried out to identify the impact of COVID-19 on both global and local construction industries. The data for this study was gathered using semi-structured interviews and a comprehensive questionnaire survey with small scale construction company owners and construction industry professionals. The findings highlighted the key financial issues faced by the small-scale construction companies due to the pandemic including delays in client payments, supply chain management issues, frequent price escalation of construction materials, and inability to repay loans. The respondents suggested creating partnerships with financially strong companies, reduction of unwanted expenses, modifying supply chain channels and agreements, and ensuring business continuity plans as the strategies to be used to overcome the financial burden that occurred due to the pandemic.Publication Open Access DELAYS AND DISRUPTIONS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY DURING THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC(researchgate.net, 2022-06-24) Gammanage, S. H; Gunarathna, NCOVID-19 pandemic has become a global catastrophe today dragging many nations towards severe economic distress. The Sri Lankan economy has no exception. Not surprisingly, the sluggish economic conditions in the country have adversely affected the construction industry in Sri Lanka. The pandemic has resulted in almost every construction project getting delayed or disrupted. This research aims to determine the factors that caused delays and disruptions in large scale construction projects in Sri Lanka due to pandemic. The overall impact of the global pandemic on construction projects in both local and international platforms were identified through a comprehensive literature review. Additionally, the impact on the local domain in terms of delay and disruption was assessed based on exploratory interviews and survey questionnaire disseminated among industry experts. Final conclusions were drawn by conducting 9 case studies and analysing responses to survey questionnaire provided by 30 industry practitioners. This study assisted in finding measures and mechanisms currently in use to mitigate the impact of delay and disruption of the construction phase of construction projects. The findings also paved the way to recognize innovative mitigation strategies to control the adverse impact on on-going construction projects. Analysis of the responses concluded that, delay in project kick-off, delays in material delivery, shortage of material, project suspension, reduction in the workforce productivity, health and safety concerns, regular price escalations as the key elements attributed to impact the project progress. The study has identified the present mitigating controls over delays or disruption are barely sufficient to address the concern and thus emphasised the need to resort to more effective techniques to remedy the issue.