Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: A Study of Sri Lankan Manufacturing Companies

Corporate governance is about putting in place the structure, processes and mechanism that ensure that the firm is being directed and managed in a way that enhances long term share holder value through accountability of managers and enhancing organizational performance. Corporate governance refers to a set of rules and incentives by which the management of a company is directed and controlled. Hence good corporate governance maximizes the profitability and long term value of the firm for shareholders. There is a great awareness among the researchers to carry out the researches in “corporate governance’. Very little researches on “corporate governance” are available in Sri Lanka and need to be empowered companies to pay a special attention on corporate governance. In a way, the present study is initiated on “corporate governance and firm performance” with the samples of 28 manufacturing companies using the data representing the periods of 2007 – 2011. Board structure, board committee, board meeting and board size including executive directors, independent non-executive directors, and non executive directors were used as the determinants of corporate governance whereas return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA) were used as the measures of firm performance. The study found that determinants of corporate governance are not correlated to the performance measures of the organization. Regression model showed that corporate governance don’t affect companies’ ROE and ROA. Further recommendations are also put forwarded in the research. Key words: Corporate governance, firm performance, board size, board structure, board committee, board meeting

Export, Import and Economic Growth: Evidence from Sri Lanka

This research focuses on the research question as what extent the export and import influence on Economic growth in the Sri Lankan Perspective. Data on the economic growth, export and import from the year 1970 to 2010 were collected for the study purpose. The results revealed that, the export and import have the significant positive relationship with each other, and also, both export and import have the significant impact on the economic growth. Further, the export and import have been associated by 98 percent, which denotes that, there is a strong positive association between export and import. We have suggested that, the small medium enterprises should be motivated towards export orientation. Meantime, the restrictions in the import of the raw materials to the industries should be implemented in the flexible way through the fiscal and monetary policy. In the further research, the performance of the external sector should be tested in the srilankan context to identify the cues in the export and import sector development and its policy framework. Key Words: Export, Import and Economic Growt

Corporate Governance Practices, Capital Structure And Their Impact On Firm Performance: A Study On Sri Lankan Listed Manufacturing Companies.

Purpose: Corporate governance is about putting in place the structure, processes and mechanism that ensure that the firm is being directed and managed in a way that enhances long term share holder value through accountability of managers and enhancing organizational performance. Corporate governance refers to a set of rules and incentives by which the management of a company is directed and controlled. Hence good corporate governance and capital structure maximizes the profitability and long term value of the firm for shareholders. There is a great awareness among the researchers to carry out the researches in “corporate governance’. Very little researches on “corporate governance” are available in Sri Lanka and need to be empowered companies to pay a special attention on corporate governance. The main objective of this study is to examine the relationship between corporate governance practices, capital structure and firm performance in listed manufacturing firms in Sri Lanka. Design: In a way, the present study is initiated on “corporate governance practices, capital structure and firm performance “with the samples of 25 manufacturing companies using the data representing the periods of 2008 – 2012. Leadership structure, board committee, board meeting, board size, board composition, were used as the determinants of corporate governance practices whereas debt equity ratio (DER) were used as the measures of capital structure and return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA) were used as the measures of firm performance. The statistical tests were used includes: descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analyses. Findings: The study found that determinants of corporate governance are not correlated to the capital structure and firm performance measures of the organization. Regression model showed that corporate governance don’t affect companies’ DER, ROE and ROA. Further recommendations are also put forwarded in the research. Research Limitations/Implications: The study only used data from the 2008-2012 annual reports. However, the findings have highlighted the effects of corporate governance of the performance and capital structure. Originality/Value: The study contributes to literature in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the finding of the paper can be considered as helpful for managers and users that are anxious to develop financial description quality and practices of corporate governance. Keywords: Corporate Governance, Firm Performance, Capital Structure, Leadership Structure, Board Committee, Board Meeting, Board Size, Board Composition, Sri Lanka

Liquidity, Solvency and Profitability Analysis Using Cash Flow Ratios and Traditional Ratios: The Telecommunication Sector in Sri Lanka.

This study examines the performance of Dialog Axiata PLC and Sri Lanka Telecom PLC by employing both cash flow ratios and traditional financial ratios over the past five years. Using the financial statements from Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) website, independent sample t-tests were used for the analysis. The performance of Dialog Axiata PLC and Sri Lanka Telecom PLC was measured using liquidity, solvency, and operational efficiency indicators. Results show that traditional ratios generated different results from cash flow ratios in liquidity, Solvency and Profitability. Sri Lanka Telecom PLC was found to have significantly higher solvency ratios than Dialog Axiata PLC, indicating a possibility that the difference may be caused by the type of ownership. Keywords: Liquidity ratios, cash flow ratios, Solvency ratios, efficiency ratios and financial statement analysis

Association between mechanistic characteristics and categories of banking employees

Earlier studies have proved varying degrees and strength of association between mechanistic, organic characteristics and organizational characteristics. There were no uniform results in these studies. Thus, there was a great need to find the association between mechanistic and organizational characteristics. This research gap motivated researcher to study in this area. Thus, this study attempts to know the association between mechanistic characteristics and categories of banking employees of Peoples‘ Bank. This study has taken 34 members from each category of banking employees. Altogether 102 employees were considered in this study. A convenience sampling technique was used in this study. Data are analysed using SPSS. Pearson Chi-Square, Phi, Cramer's V and Contingency Coefficient are used in this study. Results of Chi- Square statistics proved that there is association between mechanistic characteristics and categories of banking employees. It is evidenced by values of Chi- Square along with 0.000 of Sig. values. Further, the strength of association between mechanistic characteristic and categories of employees of Peoples‘ Bank are witnessed by values of Phi, Cramer's V and Contingency Coefficient that vary between 0.5 to 0.8. All these values prove the strong association between mechanistic characteristics and categories of banking employees of Peoples‘ Bank

Capital Structure, Liquidity Position and Their Impact on Profitability: A Study of Listed Telecommunication Firms in Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), Sri Lanka

The focus of this study is to find out the significant impact of capital structure (CS) and liquidity position (LP) on profitability and identify the relationship between CS, LP and profitability of listed telecommunication firms in Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) from the financial year 2008 to 2012. CS is vital in determining the return on equity (ROE). There are number of studies in the field of CS and profitability also those studies reveal different results. Regression and Correlation analysis were performed in this study; regression results revealed that there is no significant impact of capital structure and liquidity position on the profitability however Dialog Axiata PLC’s capital structure and liquidity position have a significant impact on its profitability. Correlation results confirmed that there is no significant relationship between listed telecommunication firms’ capital structure, liquidity position and profitability but capital structure is negatively correlated with its profitability. Finally as a researcher suggested that Dialog Axiata PLC should heavily focus on its capital structure and liquidity position to enhance its profitability, on the other hand Sri Lanka Telecom should give consideration on other factors which can influence or impact its profitability other than capital structure and liquidity position in the future. Keywords: Capital Structure; Liquidity Position; Profitability; Listed Telecommunication Firms.

Occupational Stress and Organizational Commitment in Private Banks: A Sri Lankan Experience

Occupational stress is a pattern of emotional, cognitive, behavioral and psychological reaction to adverse and noxious aspects of work content, work organization and the work environment. It is an adaptive response, mediated by individual characteristics and/or psychological processes that are a consequence of any external action, situation or event that places special physical and/or psychological demands upon a person. It can be affected the commitment of the employees. Thus the present study was conducted to measure the impact of occupational stress on organizational commitment and the relationship between stress and commitment using 291 questionnaires gathered from   employees in private banks at Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Correlation analysis indicated that organizational commitment is positively correlated with the components of occupational stress such as organizational factors, job design, management practices, career development and social stressors except physical environment. Further occupational stress is correlated with continuance type of commitment. Multiple regression analysis showed that occupational stress is contributed to determine the organizational commitment by 33.8% Key words: Occupational Stress, Commitment, Physical factor

Fiscal Deficit and Economic Growth: A Study on Sri Lankan Economic Perspective

The concept of budget deficit has become a major social and political issue. Fiscal policy and its indicators play an important role in the design and execution of fiscal policies by the government of many countries. The main purpose of the study is to find out the impact of fiscal deficit on economic growth in Sri Lankan perspective. Data on the Fiscal deficit and economic growth from the year 1970 to 2010 were collected for the study purpose. The results revealed that, there is no significant impact of fiscal deficit on the economic growth. And also, there is no significant relationship between fiscal deficit and economic growth in the Sri Lankan economic perspective. Finally, we have suggested that, government of SriLanka should heavily focus on the infrastructure development to enhance the economic growth level through the effective fiscal policy frame work. Key Words: Economic Growth, Fiscal Deficit, Sri Lankan Economic Perspective

Use of Electronic Information Resources and Academic Performance of University Teachers: A case study

Electronic Information Resources (e-resources) play an important role in teaching and learning process at university level and provide superior assistance to its users. The main objective of this study is to identify the impact of usage of e-resources on academic performance of the university teachers. As this study was limited to the university teachers, working at the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, Stratified random sampling technique were adopted to select a sample from each of the five different faculties in proportion to the actual size of the group in the total population. The study employs correlation and regression model to test the operational hypotheses and results revealed that usage of e-resources has a strong positive association with academic performance (r = 0.623, p < 0.01). Multiple regression analysis showed that the usage of e-resources has an impact on academic performance at the rate of 38.8 % (R2= 0.388), which is statistically significant at the levels of 0.01 (p < 0.01). This study would absolutely benefit the research scholars through exploring impact of usage of e-resources on academic performance. Keywords: Electronic Information Resources, Academic Performance, University Teachers

Determinants of Employee Satisfaction (ES) in Public Health Service Organizations (PHSO) in Eastern Province of Sri Lanka: A Pilot Study

Employee satisfaction in public health service organizations is meeting the expectations of employees with respect to psychological, structural and environmental factors. Many authors have studied employee satisfaction in different context in different organizations. This study tries to determine factors affecting employee satisfaction in PHSOs; to know the reliability and validity of items & factors and to create a mathematical equation model. Data are collected in both secondary and primary sources. Researcher collected 41 from employee satisfaction in public health service organisations’ performance during the period of 2012 to 1996. Primary data have been collected using questionnaire. Since this is a pilot study researcher selected only 100 hospital employees out of 3 selected government hospitals in Addalaichenai Divisional Secretariat of Ampara District. Collected questionnaires have been analysed by a factor analysis and regression analysis. Results found that environmental, psychological and structural factors have been factors have been identified as determinants of employee satisfaction in public health service organizations. Values of Cronbach alpha for items in environmental factor, psychological factor and structural factor are 0.961, 0.807 and 0.928. It shows the existence of high reliability among items of these factors. KMO is used to know the statistical validity of factors. In this study, values of KMO environmental factor, psychological factor and structural factor are 0.750, 0.598 and 0.698 respectively. Log log model is the best fitted model than linear models. In terms of this model, environmental, psychological and structural factor explain around 93% of total variation for employee satisfaction. Keywords: Employee satisfaction, Public Health Service Organizations, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka