Environmental Management Practices on Financial Performance: With special reference to the Rubber Industry in Sri Lanka

This study investigates the relationship between environmental managementpractices (EMPs) on financial performance (FP) using the data from thirtyrubber manufacturing organizations by building panel models for the sampleduring the period of 2012-2016. The study has considered the three differentEMPs of energy reduction (amount of furnace oil use per day), waste (amount ofwaste water generates), and recycle (amount of recycle raw material) incapturing the effect of EMPs on FP. In addition, to elucidate how financialperformance is dealing with EMPs, the study used Return on Assets (ROA) as adeterminant of financial performance. It is more difficult to identify the generalrelationship between EMPs and FP of firms due to its heterogeneity during thegrowth of firms.’ The estimation results suggested that the recycling of wastematerial had significant negative driving forces on FP. However, waste watertreatment and furnace oil consumption had no significant impact on FP.Therefore, it is critical to investigate the relationship between FP and EMPswhich is yet to be resolved in order to build up a scope for companies toimplement better environmental practices in the organizations.KeywordsEnvironmental management practices; Financial performances; rubber industr

Solation and Characterization of Putative Nitrogen-Fixing Endophytes from Three Distinct Wild Rice Species in Sri Lanka

There are 22 recorded wild rice species on earth, of which 5 are found in Sri Lanka. Knowledge on the endophytic diazotrophs of wild rice species, which can be adopted for paddy cultivation, is still at a fledgling stage of discovery. The identification of stably maintained endophytic diazotrophic bacteria in the genus Oryza requires further attention, especially due to skyrocketing global prices of chemical fertilizers. The main objective of our study was the isolation and characterization of endophytic and rootsurface colonizing nitrogen fixers from three distinct wild rice species found in Sri Lanka, namely Oryza eichingeri, Oryza granulata and Oryza nivara. Endophytic nitrogen fixers were isolated from surface– sterilized stems, leaves, and roots, while root surface colonizing bacteria were isolated from washed roots. There were eleven endophytic bacteria and four root surface colonizing bacteria isolated by using nitrogenfree yeast mannitol/malate agar plates; six isolates from O. granulata, five isolates from O. eichingeri and four isolates from O. nivara. Out of the 15 isolates, 13 were Gram negative and 2 stained Gram positive. Six of the eleven isolates secreted three enzymes tested, primarily pectinases, proteases, and cellulases, suggesting their prospective involvement in endophytic lifestyles. Most isolates showed either bulls eyes, dendritic or featureless patterns of swarming chemotaxis for the chemoattractant proline, a common promoter of bacterial motility. We also tested the genomes of the isolates for the presence of the nifH gene. DNA from seven isolates gave a PCR amplicon of the expected size (360 bp) using universal nifH primers, which proves that the genetic foundation for the production of nitrogenase reductase subunit was found in these seven isolates. We also tested each of the bacterial isolates against a devastating fungal pathogen of rice (Rhizoctonia solani). We found 4 potential candidates that show partial inhibitory activity against the growth of this rice sheath blight causative agent

Impact of Self Service Technology Quality on Customer Satisfaction: A Case of Retail Banks in Western Province in Sri Lanka

Rapid technological advancement in the banking environment drives Sri Lankan banks to adopt self-service technologies to deliver services via SMS banking, Internet banking and telephone banking facilities, Automated Teller Machines (ATM) etc. This study explored the perceived quality of the self-service technology of these services and its effect on customer satisfaction. The literature survey and in depth interviews helped to formulate quality dimensions: security, efficiency, eases of use, reliability and convenience and those dimensions were assessed through a questionnaire. This study surveyed 215 customers from branches of six dominating commercial banks located in Western Province of Sri Lanka. Data were subjected to Principal Component Analysis and retained factors were regressed using multiple regressions to assess the impact of quality dimensions on customer satisfaction. The results revealed that reliability and convenience have positive impacts on customer satisfaction but efficiency has a negative effect

A Comprehensive Bioinformatics Analysis of the Nudix Superfamily in Arabidopsis thaliana

Nudix enzymes are a superfamily with a conserved common reaction mechanism that provides the capacity for the hydrolysis of a broad spectrum of metabolites. We used hidden Markov models based on Nudix sequences from the PFAM and PROSITE databases to identify Nudix hydrolases encoded by the Arabidopsis genome. 25 Nudix hydrolases were identified and classified into 11 individual families by pairwise sequence alignments. Intron phases were strikingly conserved in each family. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all multimember families formed monophyletic clusters. Conserved familial sequence motifs were identified with the MEME motif analysis algorithm. One motif (motif 4) was found in three diverse families. All proteins containing motif 4 demonstrated a degree of preference for substrates containing an ADP moiety. We conclude that HMM model-based genome scanning and MEME motif analysis, respectively, can significantly improve the identification and assignment of function of new members of this mechanistically-diverse protein superfamily

Gender Inequality in Digital Transformation: Evidence from Business Process Management Industry in Sri Lanka

This research examines whether gender inequality exists in Leadership Style, Organizational Culture, and Digital Competence of digital transformation of the Business Process Management (BPM) industry. Data were collected from 507 employees of 40 Sri Lankan BPM companies through a web-based survey. Mann-Whitney U test with descriptive statistics provided evidence to strengthen the findings. The findings confirmed that gender inequality exists in Leadership Style, Organizational Culture, and Digital Competence of digital transformation in the BPM industry in Sri Lanka. This research contributes to "Acker's Theory of Gendered Organizations" by identifying areas that reproduce gender inequality in the new digital economy workplace. This study recommends controlling if not eradicating the gender inequality through proper Human Resource (HR) policies and procedures since it may hinder organizational performance. Digital workplace will improve employee retention, satisfaction, and productivity. Keywords: Business Process Management, Gender Inequality, Leadership Style, Organizational Culture, Digital Competenc

Impact of ICT-Usage on SMEs’ Innovations in Western Province of Sri Lanka

Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) are major sources of employment and value creation, as it plays a key role in Sri Lankan livelihood. It is evident that the SME sector in Sri Lanka does not provide the expected results and this sector lacks innovation. Thus, it is important to identify opportunities to improve the SME’s innovative capacity and business performance. This study was designed to investigate the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on innovations of SMEs in the Western Province of Sri Lanka, and to identify the existing level of ICT usage among the SMEs in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. This study used a quantitative research method. The population of the study was SMEs with less than 500 employees in the Western Province. The sample frame was derived from the two main listings of organizations: the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Industries and Industrial Development Board. Accordingly, 350 respondents were selected by using the simple random sampling method. Data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical tool with descriptive and inferential statistics. This study identified four main types of innovations namely: product, process, market, and organizational, and found that there is a significant effect of ICT usage on SMEs innovations. Future research could be undertaken to examine the mediating effect of ICT-based innovations and ICT usage on business performance. Keywords: Entrepreneur, Innovation, Small and Medium size Enterprises, Information and Communication Technolog

Diversity of Actinomycetes in Nitrogen Fixing Root Nodules of Casuarinaequisetifolia and its Impact on Plant Growth

Casuarinaequisetifolia (Kasa) is an actinorhizal plant which is used for rehabilitation of poor and disturbed soil throughout the world. Actinorhizal plants which were colonized by Frankia sp. enhance the soil fertility due to frankial colonization in root nodules. However, few studies were reported on non-frankial colonization and its impact on plant growth and soil fertility. Thus this study was carried out to investigate the unrevealed information on actinomycete consortia residing the nitrogen fixing root nodules of C. equisetifolia. The actinomycete were successfully isolated from surface sterilized root nodules by using double layered agar plate technique and also isolates were tested on reinfectivity on Casuarina seedlings. Three different actinomycetes were able to identify as Frankia sp., Micromonospora sp., and novel symbiont as Streptomyces sp. from nitrogen fixing root nodules of Casuarina plants. Further, co-existence of all threeisolates were observed in nitrogen free and nitrogen enriched Yeast Mannitol Agar medium (YMA). Frankia sp. promoted the shoot and root growth by 87% and 55% respectively with nodulation of C. equisetifolia and whereas Micromonospora sp. promoted the root and shoot growth by 28% without nodulation. In contrast Streptomyces sp. was able to trigger the lateral root formation of C. equisetifolia which indicate the ability of the microorganism to alter host development system. This study provides novel data on root inhabiting Streptomyces sp. which could play a vital role in enhancing plant growth, exchanging complex signals between plant and microorganisms. These results suggest that the root inhabiting microbial consortium of C. equsetifolia would significantly contribute to the development of plant growth

Impact of Self Service Technology Quality on Customer Satisfaction: A Case of Retail Banks in Western Province in Sri Lanka

Rapid technological advancement in the banking environment drives Sri Lankan banks to adopt self-service technologies to deliver services via SMS banking, Internet banking and telephone banking facilities, Automated Teller Machines (ATM) etc. This study explored the perceived quality of the self-service technology of these services and its effect on customer satisfaction. The literature survey and in depth interviews helped to formulate quality dimensions: security, efficiency, eases of use, reliability and convenience and those dimensions were assessed through a questionnaire. This study surveyed 215 customers from branches of six dominating commercial banks located in Western Province of Sri Lanka. Data were subjected to Principal Component Analysis and retained factors were regressed using multiple regressions to assess the impact of quality dimensions on customer satisfaction. The results revealed that reliability and convenience have positive impacts on customer satisfaction but efficiency has a negative effect

Exploring the interplay between Buddhism and career development : a study of highly skilled women workers in Sri Lanka

This article adopts a socio cultural lens to examine the role of Buddhism in highly skilled women workers’ careers in Sri Lanka. While Buddhism enabled women’s career development by giving them strength to cope with difficult situations in work, it also seemed to restrict their agency and constrain their career advancement. Based on our findings, we argue that being perceived as a good Buddhist woman worked as a powerful form of career capital for the respondents in our sample, who used their faith to combat gender disadvantage in their work settings

Impact of Green Reporting for Business Valuation Study of Rubber Manufacturing SME in Sri Lanka

Key economic players of Small and Medium Scale Industries are eager to provide final products to meet the market demand. But they are not considering the environmental impact on the manufacturing process. This has resulted in climate change which led to global warming. Several researches have been carried out in this regard and mitigation measures have been introduced, but there is not a semblance of implementation of measures in minimization global disposition through green reporting of carbon dioxide emission level. Hence, this research has been carried out considering how green reposting can lead to derive fair business valuation, by doing a case study in the sphere of rubber manufacture. This case study is carried out by applying the net asset value method. Findings have revealed that, energy consumption is associated at the rubber mill itself and emissions connected to productivity of kW/H of energy consumption and emissions from the production of rubber band amounting 1.67 ton CO2-eq/ton product. There is a vital finding from this research — mainly there is no record of environmental impact due to manufacturing process to derive fair business valuation—. Any business valuer could directly benefit from these findings in order to derive fair business valuation methods of price to earnings ratio, net asset value and net present value through green reporting to minimize global warming potential. Also policy makers can develop processes to promote the green reporting as a mandatory requirement for business valuation.Keywords: Business Valuation, Green Reporting, Energy-Efficienc