ARS - 2012

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/170

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සාලිය කුමරුට සිහසුන අහිමිවුයේ සැඩොලියකට පෙම්බැඳි නිසාම ද?
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Kumari, T.R.A.D.
An Empirical Analysis of Globalization and Economic Integration in the Nigerian Economy
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Ola, A.E.
Trade openness and economic integration are believed to stimulate economic growth due to their influence in integrating world economies and generating better markets. This study examines the implication of globalization and economic integration in Nigeria. Data sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and other institutes were analyzed through the employment of multiple regression model of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS). A unique long-run relationship between economic performances, foreign direct investment (FDI), Exchange Rate, Government fiscal status and trade openness for Nigeria were established. The analysis shows 80.3% of economic performance is explained by FDI and other explanatory variables. In addition, FDI, exchange rate and government fiscal status impact positively on the economy of Nigeria. However, the trade openness impacts negatively, indicating that Nigeria must be properly keyed into the process of globalization or be marginalized. The study therefore recommends amongst others, that the country should develop her infrastructural and institutional capacities to encourage investment and exports.
Measuring the Impact of Web Extracting Techniques with Special Reference to News Publishing Industry
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Ranasinghe, K.; Saheer, M.M.
Browsing for a certain topic in the internet will probably show up more than hundreds of results. The query is how efficiently do we use those findings? Going through all the findings will be a hideous challenge for any human being, but failure to read everything, may result in wrong interpretations. Presently there are millions of news websites available on the web. But each website might have its own style and totally rely on the personal attitudes of the site owner. This may lead to glossing over some of the important news/events happening around the world. The objective of this paper is to explore how to make use of the web data in an effective manner and produce a framework to support the web search. It is a common belief that by applying web extracting techniques one can enhance the web search and save the time of the user. Web extracting techniques are used to extract contents from various sources, combine them and reuse them in a productive way. The news publishing industry is chosen as the research area of the study.The research methodology was qualitative and basically influenced by online articles, books and journals written on web extraction and also, monitoring over fifty of popular news websites. The study suggests that using web extraction techniques in news publishing may help to gather all the news/events happening around the world and publish in one place. This will be cost effective and less time consuming. Moreover, Information Technology personnel are not required to handle the system. As part of the research, a news website has been created according to the suggested research framework, as a working prototype.
Facial (Prosopic) Index in Purana Inhabitants at the Foot of Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Chandimal, K.M.; Yasawardene, S.G.; Adikari, G.
The physical dimensions of the human body depend on age, gender, race, geography, nutrition and many more factors. Cephalometry is an important branch of anthropometry which involves measurements of the head and face. The facial (prosopic) dimension is an important cephalometric parameter which is used to describe gender and racial differences. The Purana population in Sigiriya who face imminent threat of extinction, traces their ancestry to the times of the Sinhalese kings of the 5th century A.D. This study was carried out to describe facial morphological characteristics of Purana inhabitants living at Talkote, Diyakepilla, Pidurangala and Nagalaweva- Purana villages at the foot of Sigiriya. One hundred and seven (107) adult males and 208 adult female Purana inhabitants belonging to Purana pedigree were included in the study. The individual selection was based on verbal pedigree analysis, and pedigree was traced back to at least three generations and those who had craniofacial deformities were excluded from the study. The length and width of the face of the selected Purana inhabitants were measured by spreading caliper, and the facial index was calculated. In general, Purana female measurements were less compared to male. The face length ranged from 9.5cm to 13.5cm in males and 8.5cm to 12.8cm in females. The face width ranged from 10cm to 16cm in males and 10cm to 14cm in females. Among Purana inhabitants, a minimum facial index of 68 and a maximum of 100 was observed in both genders. The maximum facial index was 99 in males and 100 in females. The mean facial index of male inhabitants was 92 ± 5.1 while female was 90 ± 6.2. The results indicate that the dominant type of facial shape in Purana male and female is leptoprosopic, being 67% in male and 61% in female. Least common type was hypereuriprosopic in male (2%) and female (6%).The difference in mean morphology (facial index), facial length and facial width between the two genders was significant (P<0.05). The facial morphology of male and female Purana inhabitants being leptoprosopic differs from the reported facial morphology of Indian male as mesoprosopic and female as mesoprosopic (Vaishalia et al 2011). This study confirms the ethnic diversity of facial dimensions among different groups and races of human population and gender based variation.
Providing Support for Visually impaired ESL Learners of Jaffna University
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Bakeerathan, M.
The term “visually impaired” in this study refers to the learners, who are deprived of total and partial visual perception. Since the theme of the research symposium deals with the multi-faceted nature of research, the present study has been carried out to investigate the support that can be rendered to the visually impaired English as a Second Language (ESL) learners of the University of Jaffna. The ESL teachers claim that among the four language skills, reading and writing, along with enriching vocabulary are found to be the most challenging tasks for them to deal with. As the visually impaired learners are not treated separately, the learners face numerous problems in using printed teaching materials, taking notes from the lectures, producing handwritten work and assignments, identifying spelling, decoding the meanings of unknown words and reading graphic material like, graphs, charts, maps and tables. Since, it has been a longstanding issue of the teachers of English, the present study was designed to investigate how the teachers of English can provide support for the visually impaired learners in their language learning. The subjects of the study include twenty visually impaired students including both undergraduates and graduates who passed out from the University of Jaffna. Questionnaires were administered by the teachers of English and in-depth interviews were conducted among the participants in order to collect data for the study. The findings suggest a number of practical strategies that can provide support for the visually impaired learners of English. Apart from the usual practice of allowing the learners to use tape recorders in the lecture halls, the teachers can be guided to provide teaching materials incorporated with Braille, screen readers, microcapsule papers and thermoforms. The learners can also be guided to use laptops to take notes and do assignments. The administration can assist by recruiting technical assistants with a fair knowledge of Braille to assist the teachers and learners.
Investigating the Sociocultural Competence of Learners of English as a Second Language in Sri Lanka through Sri Lankan English Borrowings in the Classroom
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Fernando, D.
The vocabulary of Sri Lankan English (SLE) is an extremely dynamic area of language, as revealed in written as well as in spoken texts, in formal and informal registers. In particular, borrowings from other languages are used widely in speech, and in written genres such as newspapers and creative writing. However, in the English language teaching classroom, anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a tendency to avoid the use of SLE borrowings by teachers and material writers. Such a negative attitude towards SLE borrowings can hinder the development of learners’ vocabulary as well as their sociocultural competence. Sociocultural competence as defined by Celce-Murcia et al (1995, 2007) is a significant learner competence which refers to the ability to use the target language in a socioculturally appropriate way. As the vast majority of English as a Second Language (ESL) learners in Sri Lanka need to use, and to display competence, within a SLE speaking community, neglecting the acquisition of SLE vocabulary can be seen as a hindrance to gaining proficiency in the language. Within this context, this study investigates the use of SLE borrowings in the classroom using qualitative and quantitative approaches. With its theoretical underpinnings located in studies in World Englishes and in the principles of English Language Teaching, this study aims to shed light on the extent of the usage, or non-usage, of SLE borrowings in English language teaching, as well as possible reasons for such practices in the ESL classroom in Sri Lanka.
MICE Tourism Industry in Sri Lanka and its Development
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Chinthaka, H.B.U.
After eradicating terrorism, the country's growing tourism industry has presented a huge opportunity for Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE), which attract the high-end business travelers. As Sri Lanka is not new to MICE tourism, the country has huge potential to attract more numbers in the future. This segment of tourism is important to increase the overall number of tourist arrivals. MICE tourism has several components, and the country gets sufficient numbers for small meetings as well as incentive categories. However, we need to work in the area of international conferences to attract more numbers. The main objective of this research is to find out the possibilities of development of MICE tourism industry in Sri Lanka. Primary data were gathered by interviews while the secondary data were gathered by publications and internet websites. The Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre (SLECC) and BMICH are the main venues for exhibitions and conventions. The need for a spacious complex has risen due to the space crunch at the key venues. However, the major renovation which is currently taking place at BMICH will increase the capacity and strength of this brand of tourism. The infrastructure capacity and facilities should be boosted to derive more benefits from this sector. The country needs more large scale conference facilities, as the tourism industry continues to grow. Necessary lands and locations should be made available for the MICE sector to contribute to the industrial growth.
Current Situation of Information Literacy Pedagogy of Academic Libraries in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Nawarathne, I.M.
Information literacy is the ability of any national to locate, evaluate information, and analyse any problem of day to day life. It is scaffolding and intermingles with primary and higher education. According to the literature search, it is difficult to locate a unique format or curriculum in university level education and thus it is a dysfunctional situation. Information literacy programs have been discussed as the way of implementation to solve this problem. Many heated debates, conferences and seminars have been organized with the help of foreign experts to find a unique pedagogy and curriculum. As a result of development and deployment of Information Technology, information realm permeated the world. Every university has to take steps to include information literacy based credit- bearing courses in the curriculum with the purpose of making heuristic-reliant students in the university. The researchers observed available Information Literacy programs in all of the university libraries and found that they were unable to find a common structure relating to Information Literacy. Most of the university libraries have started this program under various names. It is also found that the curriculum and the assessment test varied from university to university. The researchers hope to apply their recommendations to the academic libraries to make a unique format and provide collaborative information to design literacy programs.
කෝට්ටේ යුගයේ රාජත්වය
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Sudharmawathie, J.M.
Readiness for Conducting E-assessments for end-of-semester examination in Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Jayathilake, M.V.M.
The use of ICT in assessment, marking and reporting is known as e-assessment. E-assessment provides a good solution when the number of students increase compared with the staff ratio. Eassessment fits with conventional objectives of assessment. Assessments measure the performance of the students compared with the learning objectives of the course. Assessment results are very important for students to identify their performance and show their grades to society and also, for lecturers to take the instructional decisions. Researchers believe that Information Technology offers a powerful tool to improve the assessment criteria. E-assessment is the one of effective tools used in many educational programs. Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE) offers Higher National Diploma courses in many disciplines. At the end of each fifteen week semester SLIATE conducts examinations. Student enrollment is increasing each year. But the number of lecturers is not increasing. Therefore student staff ratio is high. This becomes a burning issue when evaluating answer scripts, because it needs a lot of human effort and time. Delays in issuing results is also another problem. Compared with conventional assessment methods, e-assessment provides many advantages such as less human effort for organizing and evaluating answer scripts, and issuing results quickly and at low cost. This study employed the qualitative research method. Conceptual framework for the study was developed based on the literature review and considered key factors are technology, attitudes and assessment methods. Data were gathered through the expert survey, interviews with key stakeholders and questionnaires. The findings are discussed in relation to literature. From analysis of the findings, the key issues affecting e-assessment systems are attitude of the stakeholders and technology infrastructure. Basic technology infrastructures are available but they are inadequate. Various assessment methods are used at the moment from the structured questions and multiple choice questions are easily converted to eassessment methods. Delay in issuing results is mainly based on the high number of answer script in some subjects.
Making Nitrogen Enriched Biochar and its Effect on Crop Performance and Soil Properties
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Chandrasoma, H.E.L.J.M.; Weerasinghe, P.; Yapa, P.L.
Nitrogen is an essential plant nutrient. Since it is a limiting nutrient in soil, nitrogen based fertilizers are extensively used in agriculture to enhance crop production. Biochar (BC) on the other hand, has a greater surface area and has the ability to retain nutrients. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of N enriched BC as a nitrogen input for tomato under greenhouse conditions. Treatments used were Soil (control), Soil + BC, Soil + 100% N in the form of Urea, Soil+ 100% N in the form of BC ( N enriched biochar), Soil + 75% N in BC, Soil + 50% N in BC and Soil + 25% N in BC. All the pots were equally treated with potassium and phosphorus. Coconut shell charcoal was enriched with N using urea for different rates. Rate of BC application was 5 T/ha. Soil and BC samples were analyzed for pH, Electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon, available phosphorus and exchangeable potassium prior to the application of treatments. Plant height, fresh weight, dry weight, nitrogen uptake at harvesting and root dry weight were considered as crop parameters. Soil pH, EC, total nitrogen and available nitrogen were determined after harvesting. According to the results, Soil + 75% N treated BC showed the highest plant height and root dry weight. Soil (control) alone and BC + soil showed the lowest plant height, plant fresh and dry weights and nitrogen uptake. Nitrogen enriched BC at 75% N level gave comparable plant dry weight and N uptake with 100% inorganic N application. Root weight was more pronounced in BC with 75% N level and the application of inorganic fertilizer showed poor root weight compared to BC treated plants. Addition of BC raised soil pH and lowered EC. The study showed that the addition of N enriched BC at 75% n could produce comparable dry matter yield with standard NPK fertilizer application. BC addition improved the available N presence in soil at harvesting.
Finite Difference Approximation for Valuation of Option Prices with Dividend Payments of the Underlying Assets
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Premarathna, L.P.N.D.; Karunathilaka, N.G.A.
The development and the expansion of financial derivatives can be considered as the most significant events in finance during the past decade. The main purposes of the derivatives are hedging or providing risk reduction, arbitrage, and speculation. In the 1970s, Black, Scholes, and Merton developed the Black-Scholes partial differential equation considering the no-arbitrage principle for pricing financial derivatives. However, the efficient computation of prices and hedges for derivative products is a major concern for financial institutions since various assumptions and simplifications have to be made in order to obtain an analytical solution of the Black-Sholes equation. Hence, the resulting analytical solution does not reflect the reality. The remedy consists of discretization of the Black- Scholes equations using some numerical technique in order to obtain an approximate solution. Throughout this work, we present some Finite Difference Methods for solving the Black- Scholes model with dividend payments and discuss their convergence properties.
Evaluation of Stochastic Based Tagging Approach for Sinhala Language
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Jayaweera, A.J.P.M.P.; Dias, N.G.J.
Part of Speech (POS) tagging is one of the fundamental and important steps of any Natural Language Processing (NLP) task, from speech recognition to machine translation, text to speech, spelling and grammar checking to language-based information retrieval on the Web, etc.Tagging is the process of assigning a part-of-speech or other lexical class marker to each word in a sentence based on its morphological and syntactical properties. Sinhala is a morphologically complex and agglutinative language which has a lot of similar features to other South Asian Languages, such as Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, etc. In Sinhala language, words are inflected with various grammatical features; most words are postpositionally affixed to the root word. Automatically assigning a tag to each word in a language like Sinhala is very complex. So the objective of this paper is to evaluate the Stochastic based tagging approach for Sinhala language, which uses statistical methods to assign tags to each word in a sentence. The approach discussed in the paper is based on a well known stochastic based tagging approach, the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) which selects the best tag sequence for a complete sentence rather than tagging word by word. The historical evidence shows that HMM based approach is a widely used tagging approach in other research studies carried out for other languages. The tagger presented here takes a sentence, a tag set and a corpus as input and gives the tagged sentence as output. The tagging process is done by computing the tag sequence probabilityP(ti|ti-1) and a word-likelihood probability P(wi|ti) from the given corpus, where the linguistic knowledge is automatically extracted from the annotated corpus. In this research, we have used the tagset and the corpus developed by UCSC/LRTL (2005) under PAN Localization Project. The current tagset consists of 29 morpho-syntactic tags. An algorithm is presented in this paper for implementing POS tagging system for Sinhala language. The evaluation was done by using a 14549 word tagged corpus. Testing was done with text extracted from different sources. The approach was evaluated, and produced tag sequences with accuracy between 80% - 97%. With the result obtained from this research, we could say Stochastic based tagging approach is well suited for the Sinhala language. But still there is much more research needed to optimize the accuracy of tagging the Sinhala language.
Application of a Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for Detection of Pathogenic Leptospira in Clinical Samples
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Denipitiya, D.T.H.; Jiffrey, A.M.; Abeyewickreme, W.; Wellawaththge, C.; Hapugoda, M.D.
Leptospirosis, is a zoonotic disease with worldwide distribution, caused by pathogenic species of the genus Leptospira. It has the greatest impact on health in developing countries where it is often grossly under-recognized. Clinical features are similar to a range of other infectious diseases that occur in the same environmental and climatologic conditions. Therefore, laboratory confirmation is essential for proper management of leptospirosis patients. Molecular assays offer definitive laboratory confirmation of leptospirosis at the early phase of infection (1-5 days of fever) within a few hours. The objective of this study was to establish and evaluate potential use of a real time- PCR assay for early, definitive laboratory confirmation of leptospirosis patients. A SYBR green-based real time PCR assay targeting a 203 bp fragment on the secY gene which is conserved among pathogenic serovars of Leptospira was established using a reference DNA sample (Leptospira interrogans strain RGA). Analytical specificity of the assay was tested with the DNA from pathogenic and non-pathogenic Leptospira spp. and five other micro organisms. Analytical sensitivity of the assay was tested using serial dilutions of the reference sample. A panel of acute blood samples (n=150) collected during early phase of infection (1-5 days of fever) from leptospirosis suspected patients was used for evaluation of real time PCR vs qualitative PCR. The results show, real time PCR assay with high analytical specificity (100%) was established and the assay shows 100 times higher sensitivity over qualitative PCR assay (1.3 pg/ml). Real time PCR and qualitative PCR could diagnose current leptospirosis infection in 37.3% (56/150) and 19.3% (29/150) suspected patients respectively. These results indicate high sensitivity of real time PCR over qualitative PCR for diagnosis of leptospirosis patients. In conclusion, this study shows that real time PCR has the potential to facilitate rapid and sensitive diagnosis of acute leptospirosis during early phase of infection.
Is the Animal-cry Supportive to Attain Nibbāna? An Appraisal Mainly Based on the Pali Canon
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Gamage, A.K.
The aims of this paper are to examine and figure out the supportiveness of animal cries in order to acquire one’s spiritual progress. A remarkable amount of scholastic issues have already been put forward by modern Buddhist scholarship with regard to environmental awareness, especially of flora and fauna for the spiritual progress of the human beings. Nonetheless, no substantial literary piece has yet been issued that pays adequate attention to the effectiveness of animal cries for one’s spiritual attainment as reflected in the Pali canon. Accordingly, this paper will present the Buddhist standpoint of animal cries especially with regard to their progressive/positive influence on the human psyche. However, due to the extensiveness of its scope, this study is delimited to the accounts of Theragāthā in the Pali canon. Similarly, a selected amount of Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit sources also will be scanned in support of this issue. The Buddha, as we see in many accounts of the Pali canon, encourages his disciples who attained their ultimate liberation, i.e. nibbāna, to perform a tremendous service to society and become ideal social beings. However, as we are told by many substantial discourses of the Buddha, the common society is of a quantity of certain obstructive nature to acquire one’s final liberation. Thus, the Buddha insisted that a monk should temporarily shun society and should stay in one of three specific circumstances until he or she acquires the final goal of Buddhism. The first, out of these three specific circumstances refers to the forest while the second also represents a module of the forest, i.e. the treefoot (rukkha-mūla).The main reasons for the inappropriateness of the common society in order to reach spiritual progress are irrelevant association complexity. Furthermore, society is corrupted with noise and hustle and bustle whereas the forest, as Buddhism mentions, is of fewer sounds and noises (appa-sadda and appa-nigghosa) and the breeze in the forest that we breathe is not polluted due to the activities of the people (vijana-vāta). However, very significantly, an adequate amount of Pali canonical evidence categorically speaks of the helpfulness of animal cries for the person’s spiritual development. It can be deemed that, the Buddha seeing the utility of this factor, has persuaded his disciples to go to the forest to build up their mental culture, i.e. bhāvanā. At the first sight, one may think that the Buddha instructed his disciples to delight in forest life since it is extremely calm and quiet. However, perhaps, the forest maybe more noisy than a township since the former often consists of the variety of sounds such as the rustling sound of the wind that blows through the leaves, falling and twisting sounds of trees, etc. Especially various animal cries such as the lion’s roar, elephant’s trumpet, tiger’s growl, crow’s caw, peacock’s scream etc. are highly strident in the forest. Yet, the Buddha nowhere mentioned these sounds as disturbances for one’s concentration. On the contrary, as the Buddha and his disciples insist, those sounds are extremely instrumental in order to attain the final liberation. Besides, Pali commentaries, as the most trustworthy hermeneutic source material for the Pali canon, provide a mass of elaborations to prove the aforementioned idea.
Opposition Parties and Democratic Consolidation: A comparative Analysis of Sri Lanka and Nigeria’s Democracies
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Malam, B.
The survival of any true democracy depends largely on the functions of the existing institutions within the political system. Political parties in our modern day democracy were identified as one of such important institutions. It has been observed that, without well-functioning parties, governments and legislatures have little chance of representing wider society in a meaningful way. Parties are the bridge between government and society, both in the ways they translate society’s demands into political ideas and programmes, and in the way they hold government to account on society’s behalf. Therefore, the need for strong and sustainable political parties with the capacity to represent citizens and provide policy choices that demonstrate their ability to govern for the public good cannot be overemphasized. This paper uses content analysis and specialized interviews to examine the role played by opposition parties in democratic consolidation in emerging democracies such as Sri Lanka and Nigeria. It is also the objective of the research to determine the effectiveness of the political parties in containing the challenges of growing complexity of anti-democratic forces.
බුදු සමයෙන් පෝෂණය ලද ටිබෙටයේ බොන ආගම
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Wimalagnana Thero, Naotunne
Taxonomic and Phytochemical Study on Albizia lebbeck and Substitute Plants used in Ayurvedic Drug Preparations in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Jayasiri, A.P.A.; Senanayake, S.P.; Paranagama, P.; Amarasinghe, A.P.G.
Nowadays consumption of herbal medicines is widespread and has increased dramatically. The main supply of herbal material for ayurvedic drug preparations is from the wild. It causes inherent problems: misidentification, phenotypic variability, extract variability and adulteration. The pharmacognostic evaluation is the preliminary step in the standardization of crude drugs which provides valuable information in morphology and physical characteristics, and the purity and quality of the plant drugs. Albizia lebbeck (Sinhala- Mara, Sanskrit-Mahari, Hindi- Shiris ) is a South Asian medicinal plant widely cultivated and naturalized in tropical and subtropical regions. In Sri Lanka many substitute plants are used due to the restricted distribution which has caused ambiguity in utilizing accurate plant material. The present study focuses on exploring the use of A. lebbeck and its substitutes in ayurvedic drug preparations with reference to their morphological and pharmacognostic similarity. A questionnaire survey was carried out, using a randomly selected sample population of 100, to determine the use of substitute plants and it revealed that three plants in the subfamily Mimosodeae, Albizia odoratissimma (Sinhala-Suriya mara), Adenanthera pavonina (Sinhala-Madatiya) and Samanea saman (Sinhala-Pare mara) are used widely in Sri Lanka, whereas A. odoratissima is being predominantly used in drug preparations. Specimens of the above plants were collected from the natural habitats and indentified using the authenticated specimens at the National Herbarium. Methanolic bark extracts of A. odoratissimma and A. pavonina were subjected to a preliminary phyotochemical screening to detect the different secondary metabolites, such as carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, glycosides, and alkaloids. Further, phytochemical screening was carried out using solvents; ethyl acetate, methanol and water. Thin Layer Chromatography was performed on each extract, for the qualitative and quantitative analysis. High yield was obtained from methanolic extracts that indicated the presence of polar compounds. Chromatographic properties have showed the variation of chemical profiles in these two bark extracts. These compounds will be characterized by fractional analysis, and their distributional patterns in these plant species will be compared to evaluate the effectiveness as substitutes to A. lebbeck.
The Effect of Transformational Leadership on Follower Work Engagement and the Moderating Role of Follower Characteristics
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Sangarandeniya, Y.M.S.W.V.
Work engagement is the positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind characterized by vigour, dedication and absorption which is vital for an organization to gain a competitive advantage through its workforce. The leadership style is one of the determinants which can influence the work engagement level of the follower. Therefore, this study examines the effect of transformational leadership on follower work engagement in the manufacturing industry. Transformational leadership is the inspirational leadership aimed at motivating subordinates to achieve organizational goals while at the same time emphasizing the importance of subordinate wellbeing and need for fulfillment. Transformational leadership was measured through idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration of the leader toward the follower. Further, the study examines whether the relationship between transformational leadership and follower work engagement is moderated by follower characteristics. Data were collected from 342 followers in the manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka using a selfadministered questionnaire. Transformational leadership was assessed using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Form 5X) while the work engagement was assessed using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Furthermore, follower characteristics were measured using the scale that was adapted from the scale developed by Dvir and Shamir (2003). The simple regression analysis was used to test the significance of the impact of transformational leadership on follower work engagement and the moderated multiple regression analysis was used to test the moderating effect of follower characteristics on this relationship. The results of the study revealed that there is a significant relationship between transformational leadership on work engagement of followers of manufacturing industry and the follower characteristics moderate the positive relationship between these two variables. Thus, when follower characteristics are more positive, transformational leadership has a more positive effect on follower work engagement. The implications of the findings and possible directions for future research are discussed.
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.