The Effects of Governance Practices on the Performance of the Sri Lankan Public Sector Development Projects

The use of Project Governance Practices (PGPs) is increasingly taking a substantial stage in developing economies, particularly in a newly industrializing nation like Sri Lanka where public sector development projects have been implemented to expedite the nation's growth and prosperity. As it is essential to lay a transparent and tangible foundation for an effective public sector that can be sustained, the paper focuses on the significance of PGPs in enhancing the performance of the Sri Lankan public sector development initiatives. Structuring, normalizing, facilitating, and post-conflict-sensitive variables were used to measure the PGPs, whereas financial and non-financial performance measures were employed to evaluate the project performance. The researcher conducted direct observations and administered a comprehensive Likert-scaled questionnaire to 518 project administrators involved in various Sri Lankan public sector development projects, specifically focusing on projects related to irrigation, roads and highways, water and sanitation, and other infrastructure developmental projects. The data was analyzed using the structural equation modeling through the AMOS software. The results showed that PGPs created a considerable improvement in project performance, which increased support for expanding economic prosperity through balanced development strategies and sustainability-based policy formation. Keywords: Performance, Project governance practices, Public sector development projects, Sri Lank

Emergence of gamified commerce: Turning Virtual to Real

An earlier version of this paper appears in Ciaramitaro, B. (2011). Virtual Worlds and e-Commerce. Hershey, NY: Business Science Reference, pp 61-89.This paper, published in large part in Ciaramitaro’s (2011) Virtual Worlds and E-Commerce, reflects how gaming and virtual worlds have impacted on ecommerce in recent years. A dynamic commercial environment with massive growth in user numbers and an overspill into real worlds through gamification, virtual worlds have contributed new language, new ways of engaging customers in branded virtual experiences and new business models. Co-creation and co-production remain central themes within this environment. Convergence between online and offline proceeds apace, facilitated by ever more accessible technological interfaces such as mobile and tablets but also now micro-projection technologies that enable new ways of sharing and engaging. The paper reviews the convergence context and concludes with a discussion of how relationships between customers and businesses have changed, economies have emerged and boundaries between virtual and real have become blurred to form gamified commercial experiences