Browsing by Author "Anjalee, G.H.I."
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Item Factors Affecting the Female Worker Out-migration from Up country Tea Plantations in Sri Lanka(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Samarakoon, S.M.S.K.; Athauda, A.M.T.P.; Anjalee, G.H.I.; Udugama, J.M.M.Tea is a major plantation crop in Sri Lanka which provides employment for over one million people. Labour is the most important input in tea production where sixty five percent of its workforce comprises female workers. Since the tea industry of Sri Lanka is intensely dependent on labour, chronic absenteeism has a major impact on worker productivity and cost, while workforce continuity and industry viability are threatened by out-migration for better conditions and a more fulfilling life outside the tea sector. Therefore, this paper examines the reasons for female workers to out-migrate from tea plantations and identifies the actions to be taken by the management to reduce female worker out-migration. A questionnaire based survey was carried out to collect data from female workers (n=60) from randomly selected five different corporate tea plantations from Badulla and Nuwara Eliya districts during April to June 2010. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Chi-square test was used to identify the relationship between out-migration with socioeconomic variables such as age, education level, income, marital status and income from outside of the plantation. The results revealed that, there is a significant association between the out-migration status of female workers with the level of education and age of the workers. Further, it reveals that the lower social image of the occupation and harshness of work also had a significant impact on out-migration. The study suggests that raising the living standards, housing and working conditions for estate workers and the need to redress the low cultural esteem and existing class structures as possible measures of action. Therefore, proper government action is needed to incorporate a socio cultural approach to the management system in order to increase female worker commitment in the plantation sector.Item Impediments to Innovations among Small Scale Firms in Agro-Food Processing Sector in Sri Lanka(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Anjalee, G.H.I.; Semasinghe, D.M.Innovation is widely recognized as a key factor in the competitiveness of nations and firms. However, innovation is a cost to any organization, especially to small scale firms due to the nature of operations. The aim of this study was to identify the impediments to innovation faced by the owners of small scale agro-food processing firms in Sri Lanka and in turn to investigate the most critical impediments faced by them. The data were collected from 120 small scale agro-food processing firms. The study was able to locate eight internal and five external factors that act as impediments to innovations. High cost of innovations and lack of qualified personals were identified as the most critical internal impediments while, insufficient government support was identified as the most critical external impediment to innovation. The results of the study recommend that, the policy makers should pay their attention on providing financial assistance to the small scale firms to come up with new innovations and also focus on developing skilled human resources that can be used by the small scale firms.