Volume 8 - Issue 2 - 2019
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/29347
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Item Exploring Financial Literacy Programmes Delivered by the Sri Lankan Microfinance Institutions: A Case Study Approach.(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya., 2019) Premarathne W.G.I.D.; Abeysekera R.According to the Global Financial Literacy Survey done by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, in 2014 only 35% of adults were financially literate in Sri Lanka. However, Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) were struggling to improve this rate and there is a dearth of research covering this critical area utilizing a qualitative approach. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the critical, yet an under-researched dimension of Microfinance (MF), the intercession of MFIs in delivering FL to the MF clientele focusing on profiles such as delivering channels, importance, constraints and strategies to address. The multiple case study method was used in this study as the research methodology. The data were gathered from a purposive sample using in-depth interviews. The findings show that channels of delivering Financial Literacy (FL) are Social Mobilization Programmes, seminars, training programmes, community committees, and credit societies, and the importance of delivering FL is; enhancement of human capital, the sustainability of industry and firm, upgrade new venture survival, client protection, social and economic empowerment and development. Further, the barriers to deliver FL; budget, industry competition, in active participation, attitudes of clients, the contribution of inactive regulatory bodies and external barriers were investigated with the strategies adopted in addressing barriers; community awareness, motivational strategies, regulatory framework and cost addressing strategies. These findings contribute to both the knowledge and practice domains. They have implications for policy makers in paying attention to make a financially literate clientele in the MF discipline.Item Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment and its impact on Economic Growth: Evidence from South Asian Association for Regional Corporation (SAARC) Countries(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya., 2019) Gunawardhana C. S.; Damayanthi N. M. M.It is argued that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows benefits the recipient countries by providing capital, technology and long term foreign exchange and bridges savings and investment gap of the recipient country. Further, FDI provides an important role in achieving economic growth in the developing countries. This paper identifies the influential factors that determine FDI inflow in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Countries and empirically investigates the relationship between economic growth and FDI. Further, this study uses time series data from 1980 to 2018 and considered the size of the economy, economic growth, potential of the host market, economic stability, degree of openness, income level and institutional developments in the host country to identify influential factors to determinants of FDI. Analysis reveal that countries with larger Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate can successfully attract FDI and FDI on the other hand, significantly affect economic growth of a country. In addition, it was found that current account balance, financial deepening and trade openness significantly play a crucial role in determining the FDI flows into recipient countries.Item Does Weather Contribute to Stock Price Variation? A Cointegration Analysis(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya., 2019) Gunasekara, A.L.; Jayasinghe, J.A.D.K.The objectives of this study are to investigate whether there is a long term relationship between stock returns and weather factors and to examine whether the weather factors have an outperforming effect over macroeconomic variables when explaining the stock price variation. This study is motivated by the emergence of behavioral branch of asset pricing which pays attention towards the irrationality of investors who are influenced by the mood and the sentiment. This study investigates this phenomenon taking evidence from an emerging market, Colombo Stock Exchange. The study uses Johansen Cointegration Test with VAR - Vector Error Correction Estimates and Variance Decomposition. The results confirm that weather factors are related with the stock prices in the long run and reveal that temperature has an outperforming contribution to the stock price variation whiles supporting the Temperature Anomaly which is widely tested in this background.Item Role of Adversity Quotient (AQ) on Perceived Stress of Managers: with specific reference to AQ Dimensions(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya., 2019) Somaratne C.S.N.; Jayawardena L. N. A. C.; Perera B.M.K.The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Adversity Quotient (AQ) and levels of perceived stress of middle-level managers employed in the Sri Lankan Non-Governmental Organisational (NGO) sector. Using a questionnaire survey 223 responses were collected. The data analysis included mean difference analysis and regression analysis. Age, work experience, and academic qualifications were found to significantly influence the level of AQ. However, gender and marital status recorded no such influence on AQ. Results further revealed higher AQ levels among managers of International NGOs. In addition, the study found that dimensions of AQ predict the variance in perceived stress. Only age and marital status among demographic factors explained the variance in perceived stress. The type of NGO was not a significant determinant in explaining the level of perceived stress. Further, AQ revealed no significant moderation between demographic factors and perceived stress. These empirical evidences signify that stress models can consider addition of AQ in future research. An integrated study among NGO, private, and public sector organisations is recommended. AQ serves as an important factor in training and development, selection process, and performance management.Item The Glass Ceiling and Women Career Advancement: A Study Based on Ready – Made Garment Industry in Sri Lanka(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya., 2019) Kuruppuarachchi K.A.P.S.T.; Surangi H.A.K.N.S.There is a growing number of women who enter the workforce, and an increasing number of top leadership positions remain limited. This questionable situation has been identified by scholars as “glass ceiling” and researchers revealed that there are invisible barriers which women are facing when they are trying to climb up the leadership ladder. The main purpose of this study is to explore the glass ceiling concept and female career advancement in the ready-made garment industry in Sri Lanka. This study used in-depth narrative interviews and observation for data collection and eleven female employees were purposively approached and interviewed. Narratives were used to collect and analyze the qualitative data. Findings revealed that there were three main influences, namely individual barriers, organizational barriers and social barriers for women to get into the top leadership positions. The study gives some recommendations on how organizations, individuals and society can simplify the development of female advancement into the top leadership positions.Item Territorial Behaviours and Fellow Customers’ Expectations of Employee Responses in the Casual Dining Environment(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya., 2019) Gunawardana, H. M. R. S. S.; Steel, G. D.There is an inclination of customers to show a high level of territorial behaviours and rejection, causing intruders and observers to experience different emotions and expectations in the commercial service environment, particularly the casual dining environment, with minimal behavioural norms and standards. There have been several studies that deal specifically with territorial behaviours in restaurants, cafes and similar ‘third place’ spaces measuring emotions of observing customers, but not measuring their expectations. It leads to the question of whether observing customers expect employee intervention in the territorial rejection of intruders in a dining environment. This research examined the influence of observed rejection, the perceived similarity of the rejected intruder and perceived crowding on desired employee intervention in a dining environment using the experimental vignette method (EVM), drawing from the other-customer-perception (OCP) framework, social projection and deontic justice theory. Forty diners provided responses to three 7-point-scale questions for a randomly assigned one vignette from a total of eight vignettes using an online survey link. Data obtained were subjected to full factorial MANOVA. The results of this study did not support a direct or interaction effect of independent factors on observing customers’ expectations of employee responses. This suggests that observing customers do not expect employee intervention for the territorial rejections of others. Therefore, other factors possibly prevent forming such expectations in territorial rejection situations.