Browsing by Author "Wickramarachchi, A.P.R."

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Consumers’ perceptions towards UHT milk in Tetra Pak through food quality dimensions
(Research Symposium 2009 - Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2009) Hemarathne, E.M.; Wickramarachchi, A.P.R.
Although fresh milk is considered to be the most heavily consumed beverage in the world, level of consumption of which in Sri Lanka is considerably low. Also per capita liquid milk consumption level is one of a criterion to measure the nutritional level. The objectives of this study were to evaluate consumer attitudes on UHT milk in Tetra Pak based on dimensions of quality and to determine the relationship between attitudes and demographic variables of the consumers. A conceptual model was derived mainly through Garvin‟s dimensions of product quality. Two parameters, namely “Mean Attributes Score” and “Index of Overall Perception” were developed to evaluate individual attitude on this product. A structured questionnaire was developed to describe quality dimensions and to probe demographic variables. Results based on the “Mean Attribute Score” indicate that age group between 15 to 25 years was much concerned in using UHT milk in Tetra Pak. Also, consumption level of this product and the level of education of each consumer showed a strong relationship. The statistical outcome showed that consumer‟s education level had a significant effect on positive attitude on UHT milk in Tetra Pak. However gender, household income and age had not shown a significant impact on this behaviour. Quality dimensions namely “Durability”, “Features”, “Performance” and “Aesthetics” make consumer loyal to UHT milk in Tetra Pak. “Safety” and “Reliability” of this product were not accepted by consumers. Based on analysis of results it could be recommended that consumption of UHT milk could be promoted mainly using Reliability, Conformance and Serviceability dimensions.
Factors affecting successful implementation of E-government projects in Sri Lanka
(2009) Wickramarachchi, A.P.R.; Gunawardana, L.H.D.
E-government concept which enables governments to provide an enhanced service has become one of a most widely discussed topics today. Sri Lanka is lagging behind in this respect when compared with developed countries and many developing countries. In 2002 the government of Sri Lanka launched the e-Sri Lanka programme to spread the dividends of ICT across the country. There is considerable evidence to point out that most of the Sri Lankan government institutes are only in the initial phase of implementing e-government services, and some experienced failures due to number of problems such as poor infrastructure, ineffective leadership, ineffective requirement identification etc. Very few researches have been conducted to identify factors that contribute towards successful completion of e-government projects, especially in Sri Lanka. The objective of this research is to identify enablers of successful e-government projects and to develop a framework which may help organizations to initiate, execute and implement e-government efforts successfully. A survey was carried out among selected public sector organizations to collect data. Based on the research, it was found that clear vision for e-government, well established objectives and strategies, effective leadership, attitudes of management and staff, availability of funds, size of IT staff, requirement identification, overall Information technology infrastructure, and business process re engineering are the most important factors an organization should address when implementing e-government projects. Moreover, it is quite evident that some factors are specific to individual organization. The framework developed highlights the common e-government enablers that should receive more attention in each stage of the life cycle of e-government project.
Identifying the key success factors in third party logistic services: Sri Lankan context
(Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2020) Perera, D.G.T.M.; Wijayanayake, A.; Wickramarachchi, A.P.R.
To be more cost-effective as well as to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage, many enterprises tend to improve their business practices by having a strong relationship with thirdparty logistics (3PL) service providers. 3PL service providers mainly focus on warehousing, inventory management and control, planning, cross-docking and transportation. By outsourcing such processes, enterprises gain benefits such as reducing costs, improving product quality, and improving the flexibility of operations. Sri Lankan 3PL service providers also provide many services for their clients but compare to other countries Sri Lanka is facing more challenges including poor infrastructure, complex tax regulations, insufficient use of technology and limited service offerings. According to the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Indicator ranking (LPI) for 2018, Sri Lanka is ranked 94th out of 160. Compare to the previous year Sri Lanka’s rank has dropped down. This indicates a need for Sri Lanka to improve the quality of its logistics services. Better performance of the 3PL service providers is one factor which can contribute to improving the quality of logistics services. Therefore, it is important to investigate key success factors of 3PL industry in Sri Lanka which can support to increase the performance of 3PL service providers. The main objectives of this paper are to determine key success factors associated with the Sri Lankan 3PL industry and prioritize those key success factors. This study used the systematic literature review and expert’s opinion to identify the key success factors of 3PL industry in Sri Lanka. In total, 20 key success factors were obtained, and those key success factors were grouped into four categories as organization strategy, management and process, human resources and customer orientation. The study used the Q-sort technique to group key success factors into four categories and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to identify the priorities of the key success factors. Survey analysis is conducted with four Sri Lankan 3PL service providers to collect the data. Data were collected through questionnaires from executives, middle and seniorlevel managers of 3PL firms who got more than least five years of experience in 3PL industry. Totally, 36 experts in 3PL industry have participated in the data collection process. The geometric mean was used to consolidate different experts’ opinions to a single value in pairwise assessment matrix. The result shows that business expansion, technology and automation, internationalization of operations, management and leadership style are the most important key success factors in the Sri Lankan 3PL industry. These factors explain that most of the Sri Lankan 3PL service providers are currently in the growth stage of the 3PL industry and these key success factors will lead them to reach the maturity level. Therefore, managers need to focus more on these factors to increase the performance of 3PL companies. This is the first research that addresses the key success factors of 3PL industry in Sri Lanka. The outcomes of this study can help managers/practitioners to formulate flexible decision strategies for better performance in their 3PL firms and experience a competitive advantage against the competitors.
An investigation of WAP based applications in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2011) Wijesinghe, H.; Wickramarachchi, A.P.R.; Jayalal, S.
Mobile usage around the world, including Sri Lanka, has been growing rapidly. Statistics show that 428 million mobile devices were sold in the first quarter of 2011. In addition to voice based services, mobile service providers are offering services based on Wireless Access Protocol (WAP), mobile broadband, mobile television etc. WAP is one of the most commonly used data transfering technoloies. Email by mobile phones, e-commerce transactions, tracking stock markets, music downloads, and providing news headlines and sports scores are some of the examples of WAP based applications. A number of studies have shown that there is a high, positive influence of WAP based mobile commerce applications on business and society today. As Internet penetration rates are low is Sri Lanka, WAP could be a viable alternative to access e- commerce application. It should be noted that the majority of mobile phones support WAP. Previous studies have indicated that use of WAP based applications is very popular in many countries. A preliminary survey was conducted to determine usage of WAP based application by mobile phone users in selected areas of Sri Lanka. However, it was found that usage of such applications is very low. The initial findings of this research have shown that mobile users‟ poor knowledge of WAP technology, lack of awareness of the availabe WAP based applications, reluctance to use WAP because availability of Internet access through other ways, vary low bandwith on WAP when accessing the Internet, unavailability of high quality WAP based applications and small size of mobile phone screens as main reasons for poor WAP based application usage in Sri Lanka. Small customber base may discourage service providers in promoting and facilitiating use of such applications.Mobile usage around the world, including Sri Lanka, has been growing rapidly. Statistics show that 428 million mobile devices were sold in the first quarter of 2011. In addition to voice based services, mobile service providers are offering services based on Wireless Access Protocol (WAP), mobile broadband, mobile television etc. WAP is one of the most commonly used data transfering technoloies. Email by mobile phones, e-commerce transactions, tracking stock markets, music downloads, and providing news headlines and sports scores are some of the examples of WAP based applications. A number of studies have shown that there is a high, positive influence of WAP based mobile commerce applications on business and society today. As Internet penetration rates are low is Sri Lanka, WAP could be a viable alternative to access e- commerce application. It should be noted that the majority of mobile phones support WAP. Previous studies have indicated that use of WAP based applications is very popular in many countries. A preliminary survey was conducted to determine usage of WAP based application by mobile phone users in selected areas of Sri Lanka. However, it was found that usage of such applications is very low. The initial findings of this research have shown that mobile users‟ poor knowledge of WAP technology, lack of awareness of the availabe WAP based applications, reluctance to use WAP because availability of Internet access through other ways, vary low bandwith on WAP when accessing the Internet, unavailability of high quality WAP based applications and small size of mobile phone screens as main reasons for poor WAP based application usage in Sri Lanka. Small customber base may discourage service providers in promoting and facilitiating use of such applications.