General Management

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    Impact of marketing mix on customer buying intention of motor insurance industry in Sri Lanka
    (University of Kelaniya, 2016) Weerasiri, R.A.S.; Maldeniya, D.
    The objective of this study was to identify the influence of Marketing Mix on customer buying intention for motor insurance industry in Sri Lanka. History of insurance industry goes back to centuries and currently the industry is facing issues for a profitable growth. Especially the non-life insurance sector ran in a loss for last couple of years and few companies recorded a profit from investment income, but it was not a major issue for non-life insurance section since it operates with the life insurance section. Due to new rules and regulations implemented recently, life insurance and non-life insurance should be segregated into two business entities, causing non-life insurance companies in Sri Lanka to face issues on profitable growth. The researcher has attempted to investigate reasons and finding an acceptable solutions for the issue faced by non-life insurance sector in order to make recommendations to the motor insurance industry. The researcher has conducted several in depth interviews with a few senior professionals from insurance companies to obtain basic information on the insurance industry. To understand how the insurance industry was operated before a few decades, a few ex-professionals from the industry was also interviewed. 25 respondents were selected for the pilot study and the sample questionnaire was circulated among them. Reliability test was Sri Lanka Journal of Marketing Vol 2 No 1 Jan June 2016 116 carried out for the data collected from pilot study and final questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was circulated through Google forms among 200 respondents representing the five insurance companies in Gampaha district. Both descriptive and inferential techniques were used to analysis the data. Findings revealed that the people are the most influential variable of service marketing mix which influence on the customer buying intention of motor insurance in Sri Lanka. The place and process were came up as second and third most important variables respectively. In order to increase the efficiency of people in insurance industry both sales and non-sale, and to face industry challenges successfully, the researchers recommend to improve the customer touch points and to develop effective and speedy processes.
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    Field Force Interactions and Life Assurance Buying Behavior in Sri Lankan Insurance Market
    (2011) Perera, M.A.C.H.
    Studying field force interaction on Life assurance buying behavior in Sri Lankan Insurance market is very interesting but has given least consideration in researches. The purpose of the research is to study the how field force use their power of interactions on consumer behavior of life assurance in Sri Lankan insurance market and to develop a consumer behavior model. This study investigates the influence of sales force interactions on purchasing behavior of the life assurance buyers. The importance of field force on life assurance buying behavior has been highlighted in past research studies too.This research study report is on an investigation of the variables that may be a predictive of life assurance buying behavior and to test the model with sales force interaction as the independent variable. Conceptual frame work hypothesized that the situational factors have positive relationship. The sales force interaction shows the positive impact on the life assurance buying behavior. Sample for the study was 120 consumers in Kuliyapitiya and Kurunegala areas. Researcher adopted questionnaire was used to collect data in this regard. The study tested hypothesis using correlation and regression analysis. The findings of the study provide a substantial support for the hypothesized paths of the model. Accordingly, it has been empirically proven that there is a positive relationship between sales force interaction and the life assurance buying behavior. Further the findings of the study shows that the field force influences are statistically significant. Most important factor in this research study is the findings of the study could be used for formulation of the future marketing strategies. Since this area is not touched much by the researchers, there are ample rooms for the future researches in Insurance Industry.
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    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.
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    PROMOTE UVA AS A REMARKABLE TOURIST DESTINATION;WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BADULLA DISTRICT, SRI LANKA
    (2010) Fernando, I.N.
    Sri Lanka is considered as one of the most wonderful tourist destination partly due to the compact physical diversity of its nature, surrounded by various top ranked beaches into mountain plains, rivers and water Falls, wild life as well as misty mountains. From East to West in the central highlands, the picture changes in to rainforests, misty mountains and plains and from green Tea plantations. Small miracle waterways as well as wonderful waterfalls riches the natural picture of the Island. Uva province, one of the most salubrious environment regions of the Island, is an area full of waterfalls, misty mountains including giant Namunukula Mountains and surrounded by Tea plantations. The climate of the triangle formed by Ella, Haputale and Welimada is regarded by many local and foreign tourists as the most favorable climatic area in Island. Salubrious environment enriched the area with many kinds of vegetables, fruits and flower gardens and make the way to tourism attraction from ancient times. Uva consists of two districts as Badulla and Monaragala and Badulla is the district that consists with salubrious environment and surroundings. Ella, Haputale , Bandarawela and Welimada areas enriched with natural beauty as well as potentiality to attract tourists as their tour destination. Also Badulla town is one of the oldest town in Sri Lanka with proven traces of the earlier settlement and surrounded by tea estates, paddy fields along the banks of the Badulu oya and Namunukula mountains. Badulla is also popularized for its ancient stories and tails as ?Rama-Rawana legend? and have some hidden places and caves to prove that legend archeologically. If tourist visit to Badulla, he can impressively experience the eco-tourism, pilgrim tourism, tea tourism, adventure tourism and historical tourism at one place. Eco tourism could experience by natural salubrious environment and Muthiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya , Mahiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya and other important religious places provides pilgrim tourism experiences. Surrounding Tea plantations has potentiality to promote Tea tourism. Adventure tourism could experience by hiking in mountains, climbing waterfalls and other adventure experiences, Dowa Temple, Demodara station, Bogoda wooden bridge implies the historical tourism. Ancient legend of ?Uva Wellassa? heroes reflects the historical heritage in the region.
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    Way Forward for Tourism: Delighting Customers, Improve Possibilities and Service Innovations - A Case Study in Badulla Region, Sri Lanka
    (2011) Fernando, I.N.; Long, W.
    Sri Lanka is one of the most wonderful tourist destinations in world, naturally heritage tourist attractions from hundreds of years. Tourism is an emerging sector after end of the civil war. Badulla, a region surrounded by huge collection of natural resources and bio-diversity, but not attracted as a tourist destination with vast collection of tourism potentialities. The places related to ancient Rama-Ravana legend having a huge potentiality to attract Indian tourists also existed. Study aims to explore the possibilities to develop tourism. Sample size was 60, simple random sampling, both questionnaires and interviews were used. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric analysis ( Kruskal-Wallis test) was used. Accordingly develop the knowledge-base and infrastructure can be highlighted. Porter?s Diamond model has developed to analyze weaknesses in micro-economic environment in region. As conclusion, tourism is an emerging sector having huge potentiality to develop in post-conflict situation. According to Diamond model, increase the competitiveness of the regional tourists firms, service innovations, supportive industry development and most importantly clear strategy focused tourism plan and execution can be highlighted as recommendations.
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    TOURISM PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT IN ECOLOGICALY AND CULTURALLY FRAGILE AREAS ? OBSERVATIONS FROM KERALA IN INDIA
    (2010) Saji, M.P.; Narayanasamy, N.
    For economically poor but resource rich countries, tourism has become a vital sector to be considered for regional development. In the post-modern world, there seems to be an ever increasing urge for experiencing authentic life styles and environment ? a search which is obvious to end up in locations and communities that were ecologically and culturally enclosed so far, so that it had not altered yet. This taste of more diversified and specialized experience makes many of the culturally and ecologically rich regions attractive in contemporary tourism market. The new tourism styles like Eco-tourism, Cultural tourism, Rural tourism, (indeed too many) have become synonym with the growth of tourism in several countries. However the real challenge before policy makers and the industry is to manage and strike a balance between conservation, recreation and regional development. In this context, the paper tries to explore through various alternative tourism concepts like eco-tourism and cultural tourism and observe its actual practices in Kerala, the southern most states of India, which has initiated several innovative tourism models. After analyzing the pros and cons tourism initiatives in the state, the paper seeks to appreciate and present the approaches that could be used as a base for tourism product development and management in ecologically and culturally fragile area.
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    Impact of Various Marketing & Supply Chain Functions on the Supply Chain
    (2011) Giri, S.; Sharma, V.
    Purpose: Supply chains are not only affected by the entities involved in it but are also affected by the various other functions like the marketing & supply chain functions performed by the organizations. The occurrence of various kinds of marketing functions leads to the variability in the demand of the products at the consumer end which in turns affects the supply chain of the organizations & similarly there are certain supply chain functions which in itself affects the supply of products. So we can conclude that these both functions affect the supply chain of organization. Research Methodology and Approach: The study is based upon the primary survey and data was collected from 200 respondents from Jammu region (India) with the help of a well designed pre-tested structured questionnaire. The present study is descriptive and conclusive in nature and the sampling technique used was convenience sampling. To analyse the data; regression analysis & factor analysis was used. Findings/Conclusion: It has been concluded from the study that there are various marketing and supply chain functions that affect the supply chain but factor like fill/replenishment rates, promotional activities & holding cost of inventory are the factors which affects the supply chain mostly. Research Limitation/Implications: The study was conducted in the Jammu region (India) only and the responses depend upon the mood of the respondent while answering the questions, so in future the study can be extended to beyond the Jammu region (India) & a wide variety of products can be included in the study.
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    Supply Chain Management with Cost-Containment & Financial Sustainability in a Tertiary Care Hospital
    (2011) Chandra, H.; Rinkoo, A.V.; Kapoor, R.; Sharma, R.K.
    Financial crunch in present recession results in non-availability of right materials at right time in large hospitals. However due to insufficient impetus towards systems development, situation remains dismal even when funds are galore. Cost incurred on materials account for approximately 1/3rd of total recurring expenditures. Systems development for effective and efficient materials management is tantamount to cost-containment and sustainability. This scientific paper perspicuously describes an innovative model, Hospital Revolving Fund (HRF), developed at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow, India, a pioneer research institute in Asia. The main idea behind inception of HRF was ?Mission Supply All?. The model was conceptualized in background of non-availability of hospital supplies in the hospital leading to sub-optimal treatment. Patients were dependent on external vendors and touts for these materials. They used to charge at higher rates leading to exorbitant treatment costs. Objectives: To study and evaluate HRF system with special reference to its supply chain maintenance, cost-containment and financial sustainability. Methodology: A retrospective study of HRF structure, functioning, revenue generation, expenditures and sustainability was carried out in February 2011. Results: The institute catered approximately 300000 outpatients, 35000 inpatients and 7000 surgical procedures with bed occupancy rate of 78% in 2009-10. Hospital supplies have been divided into two parts, approximately 3250 unit items and 1750 miscellaneous items. Division is based on high/low cost, common-utility and case- specific utilization. 0.1 Million USD seed money, separated from non-planned budget of SGPGIMS in 1998, had already revolved more than 300 times. HRF procures supplies from reputed firms on concessional rates (8-25%) and make them available to patients at much lesser rates vis-�-vis market rates, levying minimal maintenance charges. In 2009-10, total annual purchases of 14 Million USD were made. The balance sheet reflected 1.4 Million USD as fixed deposit investment. Minimal maintenance charges levied on the patients along with interest income were sufficient to pay for recurring expenses related to HRF viz. manpower salary, securities, stationery etc. Even after these expenses, HRF boosted of 0.2 Million USD as cash-in-hand in financial year 2009-10. Implications: HRF is self-sustainable and viable supply chain mechanism to ensure availability of right materials at right time at reasonable cost. Thus innovations like HRF will prove robust in rendering quality healthcare at an affordable cost.
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    A Study on the factors that affect establishment of businesses by rural entrepreneurs
    (2008) Siri, J.G.S.; Jayalal, S.
    In Sri Lanka, as in other developing countries community development is considered as the development of the rural poor. It is estimated that 88% of the poor communities live in rural areas in Sri Lanka. Rural entrepreneur is a crucial entity of the rural community. As far as the economic development is concerned it is important to address their needs and problems when bridging the gap between poor and rich. A policy strategy recognizing the challenges facing rural entrepreneurs could do much to reduce the regional disparities and rural poverty in Sri Lanka. Rural entrepreneurship is one of the newest areas of research in the entrepreneurship field. It has become one of the significant supportive factors for rural economic development. This study which explored the factors that affect rural entrepreneurs was carried out in selected villages of seven districts namely Anuradhapura, Monaragala, Nuwara Eliya, Kegalle, Kaluthara, Puttalam and Ratnapura. The study covered the rural areas in each district. The Vidatha Resources Centers1, initiated by the government is facilitating technology transfer with a view to promote rural entrepreneurship. Even though many resources have been spent through the Vidatha Resources Centers, the majority of existing and potential entrepreneurs are yet to realize the way to run their business successfully. The main objective of this study was to identify the factors influencing rural entrepreneurs when establishing and expanding their business with a view to fill the knowledge gap in real problems of rural entrepreneurs to be addressed during the process of planning and thereby to maximize output from rural entrepreneurship development programmes. The research process was divided into two phases. In the first phase, secondary document analysis and informal interviews with key entities were carried out. The second phase was characterized by in-depth interviews with female and male entrepreneurs in rural villages, Science and Technology Officers and Field Officers at the Vidatha Resources Centers. The hypotheses tested were that, whether the level of education, age of the entrepreneur and a marketing plan at the beginning influence the success of the establishment and the level of income from the enterprise.Key findings of this study were that the level of education, age of the entrepreneur and a marketing plan at the beginning influence the success ofthe establishment and the level of income from the enterprise. Most of the entrepreneurs who had a marketing plan at the beginning (before establishing the enterprise) have been able to carry out their business successfully and withstand the market forces. It was found that previous experience in the relevant business field, gender of the entrepreneur, availability of new technology, limited access for micro-credits, availability of training programmes and lack of business development for service providers at rural level do not have a significant influence on the success or failure of the enterprise. Since majority of them have utilized their own savings to start up the enterprise, there is no significant influence of limited access to sources of micro credit at the point of establishing the business. However, it was observed that they face difficulties due to limited access to sources of micro-credits when they are going to expand their business further. The reasons for failure of enterprises were also surfaced in this study. Lack of training,difficulty to find a market, inability to find micro-credits and market competition are some of the reasons for failure as given by the entrepreneurs.
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    Understanding Significant Relationships between Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) and Marketing Function
    (2011) Bambale, A.J.
    This is a literature based paper that attempts to make contribution in to organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) and Marketing literatures by providing up to date literature on the relationship between the two important research areas. Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has contributed tremendously to the marketing field through enhancing service quality, customer satisfaction and organizational effectiveness. Many well-understood forces, such as globalization, technology, fierce competition and increasing complexity in customer demand have compelled marketing organizations to become more innovative in their marketing activities and more sensitive to their marketing employees for them to survive and thrive. OCB is a recent development in the marketing profession and has positively affected service delivery and organizational effectiveness. This paper reviews relevant OCB and marketing literatures and has provided useful insights on the current development on the marketing-OCB relationships as well as research update in the two areas. Subsequently this paper has discussed important implications for future research and professional practice regarding the OCB-marketing relationships.