Vegetation structure and faunal composition of Wathurana wetland ecosystem Tebuwana, Kalutara, Sri Lanka

A study was conducted in Tebuwana Wathurana Wetland ecosystem to understand its vegetation structure and faunal composition in order to assess its conservation needs. As there are no published records on the flora and fauna of Wathurana Wetlands in Tebuwana, it is necessary to understand the ecological and other relevant features in order to develop strategies to conserve this wetland. These objectives were pursued by surveying the vegetation of the wetland and by identifying fish and bird species present. A total of 66 species of flora and 61 species of fauna were identified in the survey. Of the 27 fish species recorded from the Tebuwana Wetland, 9 species were endemic and 17 species belonged to the indigenous category. With regard to the flora in the wetlands, the dominant families were Rubaceae, Fabaceae and Arecaceae. The 66 species belonged to 39 families and 61 genera while 12 species were endemic and 4 species were considered highly threatened. These flora were found in four layers. Of the 22 species of birds recorded, two species were endemic. This study revealed that these Wathurana Wetlands have a high species diversity but that they face many threats including encroachments, extraction of forest products mainly as timber, land filling, mining and occurrence of invasive species. It is essential to minimize the exploitation of natural resources from this wetland in the future and in particular to mark the boundary, conduct awareness programmes and continue research

Sri Lankan Management Undergraduates’ Employability Capital towards Work Readiness: Undergraduates’ Perspective

Work-readiness is the primary goal of higher education and a crucial component of job performance. Universities are intended to provide graduates with the necessary employable skills and knowledge to contribute significantly to the economic development of a country. Many criticisms are levelled at the university system in Sri Lanka for failing to fulfil one of the main goals of university education, which is to equip an undergraduate for a job role. The consensus of experts in the educational sector is that the Sri Lankan education system is not producing appropriately employable graduates, especially in the disciplines of the social sciences and management (Ariyawansa,2008). Accordingly, the primary objective of the present explanatory study aimed to analyse the nature and strength of the relationship between graduate employability capital and the work readiness of management undergraduates in Sri Lankan state universities to address the gap in the literature about Sri Lanka in the given area. To this end, five hypotheses were tested to measure the nature of the relationship between work readiness and five components of graduate employability capital: human capital, cultural capital, identity capital, social capital, and psychological capital. Three hundred and ninety-four undergraduates were selected as prescribed by Krejcie and Morgan (1970), using the stratified sampling method with respondents representing all state universities in Sri Lanka. The findings revealed that the tested five factors correlated positively with the level of work readiness of undergraduates. Moreover, the results showed that the highest positive correlation of the level of work readiness was with psychological capital, the second-highest positive correlation was with social capital and the lowest positive correlation was with cultural capital. Accordingly, the findings demonstrated that the level of psychological capital and social capital of management undergraduates strongly predicts their work readiness. Keywords: Employability, Employability Skills, Graduate Employability, Work Readines

The Effect of e-Procurement Technology on Performance of Apparel Industry in Sri Lanka: The Mediating Role of Procurement Practices

The apparel industry in Sri Lanka is one of the vital sectors in the country’s economyhaving recorded substantial development over the past. The entire procurementprocess of the industry, from the purchase of raw materials through to the delivery ofthe finished product, is crucial to supply chain management and decision-making.Use of electronic procurement technology (EPT), procurement practices, andprocurement performance are the three key factors that affect this process. Thisresearch aims to explore the relationship among EPT usage, procurement practicesand procurement performance of the apparel sector in Sri Lanka. More specificallythe study investigates the mediating effect of procurement practices on therelationship between EPT and procurement performance. Data were collectedthrough a structured online questionnaire from randomly selected 40 supply chainand procurement management staff of three leading apparel companies in Sri Lanka.Collected data were analyzed by using SPSS statistical software with descriptive andinferential statics. The results of the analysis provide evidence for statisticallysignificant positive effects of EPT and procurement practices on procurementperformance. Moreover, the study found a statistically significant mediation effect ofprocurement practices on the relationship between the usage of EPT and procurementperformance. Thus, this study contributes to the literature by providing new insightinto the importance of investments in new technology for effective procurementprocesses.Keywords: e-Procurement, Performance, Apparel industry, Sri Lank

Natural ventilation in insect screened single span greenhouses under warm weather

The ventilation rates of different types of ridge vents in combination with insect-screened side vents were assessed in single greenhouses in terms of the difference in temperature and humidity inside and outside under tropical conditions. The A-frame (slanted roof) was comparatively advantageous over the conventional arch frame (curved roof) for keeping daytime temperature lower in single span greenhouse with insect-screenedside vents (mesh size: 1 by 1 mm) and without roof vents. The inclusion of ridge vents further reduced the internal temperature and relative humidity (RH) in the A-frame greenhouse during the daytime. The openingarea of the ridge vent within the range between 9.3% and 14% (of the floor area) did not significantly change the ventilation based internal temperature and RH when operated under low wind speeds (0.5±0.5 m s-1). Meanwhile the effect of ridge orientation, with respect to wind direction, on greenhouse ventilation was not obvious in terms of temperature or RH under inconsistent wind directions and low wind speeds. Greenhouse ventilation positively responded to low winds (0.25 m s-1) by reducing internal temperature as well as RH. However, the response to a further increase in wind speed from 0.25 to 0.5 m s-1 was not significant. Based on climate control characteristics an A-frame single-span greenhouse design with double sided alternate ridge vents and insect-screened side vents could be appropriate for tropical climates under low wind speeds and inconsistent wind directions as a cost effective and user-friendly greenhouse design. Particularly, it is highly applicable for the small-scale controlled environment vegetable production in mid and low elevations in the wet zone of Sri Lanka. Keywords: Alternate ridge vent, curved roof, continuous ridge vent, ridge orientation, wind effect

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Labor Market Perspectives for Management Undergraduates: New Models of Employability Capital Development

Introduction. COVID-19 is a worldwide epidemic that impacts all aspects of human life. Social distancing was an essential action to prevent from COVID-19 virus. For this reason, collective activities were prohibited in many countries including Sri Lanka. Education is one of the main collective activities in the world. As such, it is relevant to test the influence of COVID-19 on graduate employability skills. However, it is difficult to find COVID 19 impact on graduate employability skills in the Sri Lankan context. Aim and tasks. The main objective of this paper was to identify the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the graduate employability capital of state universities’ management undergraduates in Sri Lanka and the significant level of that factor. Results. Based on the literature review, the COVID-19 pandemic affected five factors human capital, identity capital, cultural capital, social capital, and psychological capital identified as graduate employability capital factors or not. The methods of the study were to use the analysis of quantitative data. To achieve this goal, an online survey of 377 university students was conducted. The obtained selective results in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic showed significant positive shifts in the employment processes of university graduates. This positive impact, according to the results of the regression analysis, was provided by the following types of capital: social, human, psychological, cultural, and identity, the values of which ranged from 91.4 percent to 95.8 percent. Among all types of capital, human and psychological capital had the most significant impact on student mobility. Conclusions. The conducted studies show the importance of the online educational system in the universities of Sri Lanka. The use of available resources can significantly improve the existing infrastructure of online education and help increase the level of competence and professionalism of the teaching staff and university students. The introduction of the proposed online educational programs and courses will not only improve the quality of services provided but will also increase the revenue side of the university budget

Factors Affecting Staff Demand for an Electronic Course Materials Service

Additional reading materials that are prescribed for undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered by the University of Auckland have a high demand. The Electronic Course Materials (ECM) service of the University of Auckland Library digitizes and provides online access to such materials. The demand for the ECM service varies between different staff members. Thus, this research project aims to investigate the factors affecting the staff demand for the Electronic Course Material (ECM) service provided by the University of Auckland Library. The current research revealed that - percentage increase in usage of the ECM Collection in 2008 was less significant than that in 2007 - there is a correlation between the academic staff awareness and the staff uptake of the ECM service - only 50% of the staff members who were aware of the ECM service used the service to digitize course materials - subject Librarians play an important role in promoting the ECM service in academic departments / units that had a high staff uptake - the Library ECM webpage was less significant in promoting the ECM service - the University of Auckland Library does not have a standard method of promoting the ECM service throughout all the academic departments / units - most preferred method of providing access to course materials was through nDeva, Cecil and WebCT. The ECM service was the third preferred method - there was no relationship between the timeliness of the ECM service, restriction on the types of materials that can be digitized through the ECM service, availability of distant or online courses and the staff uptake of the ECM service Recommendations mentioned in page 61 were made based on these findings

Impact of Office Design on Employees’ Productivity; a Case Study of Banking Organizations of North Western Province in Sri Lanka

AbstractThe main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of office design on employees’ productivity with the focus on banking organizations which are located in North Western province, Sri Lanka. In simply an office can be defined as a room, set of rooms or building where people work, usually sitting at desk. Employees’ productivity is known as an assessment of the efficiency of worker or group of workers. Productivity may be evaluated in terms of the output of an employee in a specific period of time. In order to conduct the study, with the use of random sampling technique 8 banks located in the North-Western province, Sri Lanka were taken in to consideration and eighty-two respondents were used as the sample. Self-developed questionnaires were distributed among the respondents. Correlations analysis is used to measure the degree to which independent variable (office design) and dependent variable (employees’ productivity) is related. Accordingly it was found that there is a high (significant) relationship between the office design and the employees’ productivity. Finally, it is concluded that, the Office design should be done in a careful manner otherwise employees get frustrated and they will not perform at their best. Accordingly, employees’ productivity will decrease and consequently organizational productivity will be decreased.Keywords: Arrangement, Employees’ Productivity, Office Design, Workforce Productivit

Waste management strategeis: municipal waste vs Disaster waste

Waste has become a global issue with rising population, urbanization, economic activities and consumerism. Further, this is becoming more critical due to waste generated through frequent disasters. This is evident with increased number of environmental, social, economical and health issues such as epidemics. Thus, this paper intends to critically review waste management practices, of both municipal and disaster waste to identify prevailing gaps. Lack of physical, human and financial resources, less enthusiasm among community groups and legal loopholes are identified as major gaps. Community involvement in planning, development and implementation of waste strategies, enhancing strategic level capacities, raising public awareness and establishing supportive authorities are proposed to eliminate identified gaps

Assessing Stakeholders Satisfaction with the Transformation of Conventional Auction into an E-Auction

Ceylon Tea is renowned as the finest quality teas in the world. Colombo tea auction, which was functioned as the single origin traditional system is the main marketing platform for Ceylon tea. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the industry was encouraged with the conversion of conventional tea auction into the virtual E- auction. Hence, this study aimed to assess stakeholders%252339%253B satisfaction with this transformation and its pros and cons effects. A stratified sampling technique was used to collect 75 stakeholders who are directly and indirectly connected with the E-auction. A pretested survey instrument validated by applying a reliability test was administrated to collect data on perceived ease of use, usefulness, usability, socio-economic factors, and industry-related factors. The SWOT analysis was also undertaken on the gathered data to identify how best E-Auctioning process was matched with todays context of tea market. The ordinal logistic regression test results reveal that the degree of stakeholders satisfaction with the transformation process varied in the range of high, moderate, and low, with values of 45.3%25, 49.3%25, and 5.3%25, respectively. The overall model was significant at the 0.05 significant level and its results exhibited that stakeholder satisfaction was positively correlated with experience, age, perceived ease of use, and usefulness, whilst it was negatively correlated with education level, usability, and stakeholder type. The SWOT analysis results revealed that the newly implemented E-auction has many strengths and opportunities such as the ability to log in at any given time, maintaining high transparency, timesaving, reduction of operational cost, and real-time updating dashboard and some weakness and threats such as poor interaction among buyers and sellers, not fully automated current system, not a good system for people who have low IT literacy compared to conventional tea auction, mental tidiness among system operators etc.. Hence, this study confirms that there are both positive and negative effects of the newly implemented E-auction over a traditional auction and require user friendly simplified and more navigated IT related interventions to elevate more efficient and effective E-auction system with the technological advancement of the ICT sector

CURRENT STATUS OF AMBEWELA RESERVOIR OF SRI LANKA WITH SPECIALREFERENCE TO WATER POLLUTION

The water pollution trends in the Ambewela reservoir at the uppermost catchment of Kotmale River was assessed through a study on chemical and bio monitoring programme that carried out from March to October 2008.The mean average value (mean ± SD) of the nitrate, nitrite, phosphate and ammonia concentrations in Ambewela reservoir were 0.780 ± 1.386 mg/l, 0.103 ± 0.223mg/l, 0.051 ± 0.061mg/l and 0.218± 0.261 mg/l whereas values for the streams selected from Dambagasthalawa Oya were 0.985 ± 0.902 mg/l, 0.099  ± 0.207mg/l, 0.038 ± 0.026 mg/l and 0.085± 0.077 mg/l respectively. Average Chlorophyll- a values of the reservoir were 17.85 ± 17.858 mg/m3 and 8.30 ± 4.686 mg/m3for other two streams accordingly. Average BOD values of the reservoir were 8.06 ± 3.494 and 4.25 ± 2.251 for other two streams correspondingly.The bio monitoring studies also clearly showed sudden records of huge colonies of  Hydra(approximately 258/cm3) in the reservoir from time to time. This phenomenon was found in relatively dry period that directly coincided with intensified use of agro chemicals. Moreover, steady population of Chironomid (average population density 208/cm3) that is commonly accepted pollution indicator was reported at Ambewela reservoir throughout the study period.Therefore, both chemical and bio monitoring studies indicate eutrophic condition in Ambewela reservoir in which long run might affect on the ecology of the entire ecosystem. Hence prompt mitigatory action should be implemented to avoid further depletion.Key Words: Ambewela Reservoir, Water Pollution, Physico-Chemical Parameters, Chlorophyll –