Coping with food price hikes: strategies of the poor in Kandy, Sri Lanka

The objectives of this study are to assess: (i) the resource profile of the vulnerable households in Kandy district in Sri Lanka, (ii) food consumption pattern of the households, (iii) the coping strategies adopted by the households during the times of food price hikes, (iv) the usefulness and effectiveness of coping strategies adopted by the household, and (v) the factors that influence the decisions made by households to change their food consumption patterns in crisis situations.Food hikes, Kandy, Sri Lanka

A biomechanical approach to prevent falls in ergonomic settings

Introduction: Fall-related injuries are exceptionally prevalent in occupational settings. While endangering the workers’ health, falls cause poor productivity and increased economic burden in the workplace. Hence, identifying these threats and training workers to achieve proper postural control is crucial. Purpose: Study 1: To investigate the ankle joint kinematics in unexpected and expected trip responses during single-tasking (ST), dual-tasking (DT), and triple-tasking (TT), before and after a physically fatiguing exercise. Study 2: To investigate the impact of virtual heights, DT, and training on static postural stability and cognitive processing. Methods: Study 1: Twenty collegiate volunteers (10 males and females, one left leg dominant, age 20.35 plus-minus 1.04 years, height 174.83 plus-minus 9.03 cm, mass 73.88 plus-minus 15.55 kg) were recruited. Ankle joint kinematics were recorded while treadmill walking during normal gait (NG), unexpected trip (UT), and expected trip (ET) perturbations with DT and physical fatigue. Study 2: Twenty-eight collegiate volunteers (14 males and females; all right leg dominant; age 20.48 plus-minus 1.26 years; height 172.67 plus-minus 6.66 cm; mass 69.52 plus-minus 13.78 kg; body mass index 23.32 plus-minus 3.54 kg/m2) were recruited. They were exposed to different virtual environments (VEs) over three days with and without DT. Postural sway parameters, lower extremity muscle activity, heart rate, and subjective anxiety parameters were collected. Results: Study 1: Greater maximum ankle angles were observed during UT compared to NG, MDT compared to ST, and TT compared to ST, while greater minimum ankle angles were observed during ET compared to NG and during post-fatigue compared to pre-fatigue. Study 2: Greater postural decrements and poor cognitive processing were observed in high altitudes and DT. Discussion & conclusions: Study 1: Trip recovery responses are different between during DT, TT, and fatigue. Study 2: Static postural stability deteriorates at higher virtual altitudes and with DT, while it improves with a two-day training. Virtual height exposure reduces cognitive performance. Importance: The findings of these studies will provide insights into the biomechanics of falls in ergonomic settings and aid in designing functional and convenient fall prevention programs

Critical Success Factors of Remote ERP Implementation: From System Users’ Perspective

The study explores critical success factors of remote ERP implementation in the Sri Lankan context from system users perspective As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic ERP implementation has become more complicated and ERP software vendors have shifted to remote ERP implementations Although there are several studies on identifying Critical Success Factors CSFs in ERP implementation there is a void in the literature on identifying CSFs in remote ERP implementation As a result of the literature review it was discovered that only a small amount of research has been done on remote ERP implementation Therefore the current study tries to bridge these gaps by identifying the CSFs of remote ERP implementation during Covid-19 by taking Sri Lanka as a case stud

Hotel and Travel Sector in Sri Lanka and Easter Attack 2019: An Event Study

This paper examines the impact of the Easter Attack, which took place in Sri Lanka, after the thirty-years of brutal civil war, on the Hotel and Travel Sector. As the hub of the Tourism Industry, the stock performance of the Hotel and Travel Sector is observed and investigated with the major objective of finding the impact of the Easter Attack and testing the Semi – Strong Form Efficiency of the Hotel and Travel Sector since three out of eight bombings has taken place in Hotels. The Event Study Methodology has been used to analyze the data and investigate the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH). With the Market Model implication, the Abnormal Returns is calculated by using daily stock prices on thirty-three (33) companies belong to Hotel and Travel Sector, and for the Market Return data, the daily All Share Price Index (ASPI) is taken into account. For 41 days Event Window, which includes 100 days Event Timeline, Graphical presentation of Average Abnormal Return (AAR) and Cumulative Average Abnormal Return (CAAR) and t - Statistics analysis is guided for analyzing the event. The findings of this study have shown a quick drop in both AAR and CAAR has been shown. It provides evidence for Semi – Strong Form efficiency on the event day in the Hotel and Travel Sector Stock prices since the market efficiently and negatively responded regarding the event of Easter Sunday Attack since the quick drop on the event day and the significant t-statistic at 5%. Nevertheless, a few days after the event were also showing significant results but declining continuously due to maybe investors’ over-reaction situation. However, Semi – Strong Form Efficiency could not be proved because it takes considerable time to adjust stock prices. In practice, investors will be able to trade stocks in a market except for the possibility of beating the market in the future. Keywords: Easter Sunday attack 2019, efficient market hypothesis, event study methodology, hotel and travel sector, Sri Lank

A Quantitative and Qualitative Inquiry into Family Business Succession Planning

In recent times, the family business has become an active study area among researchers. Family businesses contribute enormously to the economy and are of utmost importance. Succession is defined as the passing of business leadership from the owner to the successor. Since the previous research has shown that only 30% have survived the succession to the second generation and a mere 10% to the third, it is crucial for family businesses to engage in succession planning to continue through generations. The objectives of the current study were; to investigate whether the family business owners plan for succession and the determinants of family business succession planning. The population was family businesses located in the Gampaha Municipal Council area, Western Province, Sri Lanka. A list of fifty-two (52) members of the Gampaha United Trade Association who attended the two most recent meetings was initially considered as the sample, of which 45 members responded. The sample was further increased to 84 by adopting the snowball sampling technique. Primary data were collected through telephone surveys which were guided by a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. In-depth interviews were also conducted with selected respondents to obtain qualitative data based on their responsiveness and higher levels of succession planning. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that the majority (57%) of the respondents had taken at least a single step towards succession planning. Results further showed that family business succession planning is more likely to occur when the owner's level of education increases, family commitments increase, family involvement in the business increases, business age and size increase. Furthermore, the findings revealed that family business succession planning is less likely to occur with increasing levels of family cohesion. Quantitative research findings were supplemented by specific patterns identified through in-depth case studies. Keywords: Family Businesses, Family Business Succession, Family Business Succession Planning, Selecting Successor

Factors Affecting Social Entrepreneurial Orientations: Moderating Role of Government Support

In the face of globalisation expanding trend, social entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurial orientation (SEO) are regarded as the key economic development strategies to advance an organisation’s performance and eventually a country’s economic growth and sustain its competitiveness. This study aimed to explore the factors that affect the SEO of non-profit organisations (NPOs), as well as the moderating effects of government support in enhancing the SEO of NPOs. To meet the study's objectives, the two-step cluster analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) were utilised. The moderator of the study was classified into three clusters; access to both government financial and non-financial support, access to higher government non-financial support only and access to lesser government non-financial support only. The study was conducted among one hundred and ten NPOs in the Ampara district of Sri Lanka, where data were collected from owners or managers of the organisations. The findings of this study noted a significant positive relationship between organic organisational structure and organisation size with SEO. Organizations that engage in earning activities, receiving other organisations’ financial support and individual donations show comparatively higher SEO. Organisations with male owners/managers have higher SEO than those with female owners/managers. In terms of the moderating effects of government support, findings revealed significant moderation characteristic of government support. Most of the direct relationships are moderated when both governments financial and non-financial support is available to the NPOs. Government support accelerates the association of organic organisational structure and social networking with SEO. Organisations involved in earning activities, organisations receiving other organisations’ financial support and individual donations show a higher SEO when the moderating effect of government support is present. The findings of this study provide a clear indication to researchers and policymakers about the effectiveness of the current government support designed and implemented to support NPOs in Sri Lanka. Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneurial Orientation, Non-Profit Organisation, Government Suppor

Determinants of Translating Entrepreneurial Intention to Action: A Study of Undergraduate Students of the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Entrepreneurs are the wealth creators of an economy, and hence business start-ups are always encouraged. Although it is often suggested that entrepreneurial intentions are strong predictors of entrepreneurial action, all intentions do not necessarily translate into action as there is an “intention-action gap” when nascent entrepreneurs fail to act on their intentions. This study aimed to explain the gap between entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial action and identify the determinants of the intention to action translation by surveying the final year undergraduates from different degree programs at a major public university in Sri Lanka. The research focused on the effects of demographic, psychographic, and environmental factors to explain the intention-action gap. Data were collected using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was circulated online among the entire final year undergraduate student population of the University of Peradeniya. Four hundred and fifty-three undergraduate students (n=453) responded to the survey. Hierarchical OLS regression with the main effect model and an interactions model was used for the data analysis. Results found that of the respondents who had entrepreneurial intentions, 32% had taken some actions towards starting a business. The results also revealed a positive relationship between entrepreneurial intention and action and there were positive effects of gender, perceived competence in entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial environment in the faculty, and entrepreneurial education on entrepreneurial actions. Furthermore, it was found that progressing from entrepreneurial intention to action was more robust for male undergraduates compared to female undergraduates. Therefore, to promote entrepreneurship, introducing entrepreneurship courses, introducing programmes to improve entrepreneurial skills and competencies and promoting an entrepreneurial culture in the Faculties could be recommended. Keywords: Entrepreneurial intention, Entrepreneurial action, Hierarchical OLS regression, Student

Olfactomedin1 (Olfm1) in fallopian tube may modulate tubal ectopic pregnancy in humans: evidence from Immunohistochemistry and an in vitro coculture model

Conference Theme: The Intersection Between Genetics, Genomics, and Reproductive BiologyOlfactomedins are secretary glycoprotein constituted in the extracellular matrix (ECM) of various cell types. Recent studies suggested that Olfm-1 is down-regulated during the window of implantation (WOI) in the human endometrium and up-regulated in pathological condition like endometriosis and recurrent spontaneous abortions. Ectopic pregnancy is a gynaecological emergency and fertility threatening phenomenon which occurs in 1-2% of normal pregnancies and shows an increasing trend. Yet, tubal ectopic pregnancy accounts for more than 98% of the cases ...postprintThe 43rd Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Preproduction (SSR), Milwaukee, WI., 30 July-3 August 2010. In Biology of Reproduction, 2010, v. 83 n. Meeting abstracts, p. 27-28, abstract no. 13

Stock Price Reaction to the Stock Splits Announcement of Listed Companies in the Colombo Stock Exchange

A stock split is a corporate event that directly impacts the number of a company’s shares and indirectly on stock prices. This study tests the effect of the stock splits on the share price of companies listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange during the periods of pre and post stock split announcement in accordance with the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The main objective of this paper is to identify the overall impact of a stock split announcement on stock prices. This study analyses 88 annual stock splits during the ten (10) year period from 2009 to 2019 by taking the listed companies in the Colombo Stock Exchange into consideration. It uses the event study methodology to test the market efficiency of the Colombo Stock Exchange, and the market model is run with the aid of abnormal returns, which are calculated based on daily closing stock prices and the All-Share Price Index. For analysing the results, the graphical analysis and t statistics have been utilized. According to the event day average abnormal return, the majority of stock splits were more negative than positive with a significant t value at 5% by indicating that investors were taking the stock split announcement as bad news just after the split announcement was released. Each day with a significant Average Abnormal Return shows more positives than negatives. Graphical results have shown both Average Abnormal Return, and Cumulative Average Abnormal Return has remained continuously negative up to 18 and 25 days, respectively, by implicating that stock splits have made a deleterious impact on stock return. This study finally concludes that the information regarding the stock splits has not been absorbed efficiently by the market because the market reactions before and after the date of the split announcement were significant at 5%, although the Average Abnormal Return got a quick reaction to the announcement. Furthermore, results had not provided evidence for Semi-Strong Form efficiency of the Colombo Stock Exchange since the significant stock price adjustments before and after the event day was noticed. By this study, the policymakers and investors are convinced that all information has not been incorporated into stock prices in making their decisions. Keywords: Efficient market hypothesis; Event study methodology; Signalling theory; Sri Lanka; Stock split