Challenges Faced in the Implementation of Sustainability Reporting: Empirical Evidence from Listed Companies in Sri Lanka

Sustainability reporting is a voluntary endeavor that involves publishing reports for reflecting the economic, social and environmental performance of an organization (Isenmann and Kim, 2006). When reporting sustainability practices, corporations encounter many challenges. The objective of the study was to discover the challenges faced by public listed companies in the implementation of sustainability reporting practices. Qualitative approach has been applied in gathering data and structured interviews were conducted among public listed companies who make sustainability disclosures aligning with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. The study has been undertaken selected sectors in Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) who reports sustainability against GRI framework. Researchers have conducted twelve (12) interviews with the responsible personal for sustainability reporting in each company. The data were analyzed utilizing Word Cloud software named as ‘Word It Out’. The findings revealed that gathering information on sustainability practices is a key challenge for most of the companies. Mainly, it was identified that additional resources and costs have to incur in facilitating the reporting purposes. Furthermore, identifying material topics, data accuracy, setting the optimal sustainability goals and measuring sustainability disclosures were also recognized as challenges faced by companies with regard to sustainability reporting. An independent assurance for sustainable reporting by an external auditor is the key overcoming method identified by the researchers as per the interviews. The main limitation was that we were unable to conduct interviews with all the sectors, which would not be adequate for giving an overall representation of sectors in the CSE. Therefore, it is recommended for the future researchers to take a bigger sample who make sustainability reporting according to the existing frameworks. Keywords: Sustainability Reporting, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Challenge

A Study on Business Performance of Boutique Hotels after Easter Sunday Attacks in Sri Lanka

Tourism sector of Sri Lanka had a rapid growth and identified as the largest source of income in Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, 2018. Easter attack which took place in April 2019 resulted a severe hit to the Boutique hotels in Sri Lanka. The purpose to conduct this study was to identify how Boutique hotels in Sri Lanka are working to regain their business performance after the Easter Sunday attack. The data for this research were assembled employing a strategy of qualitative data. Data were collected through twelve face-to-face semi structured interviews and analyzed base on content analysis by using Word cloud. Many employees in the tourism sector have lost their jobs due to this attack. The majority of the owners stated that now they are focusing more on local customers instead of foreigners. Owners use social media platforms and special discount packages (credit card and visa card discounts) to attract local customers. Banks and financial institutions have offered some loan schemes for hotels to regain their performance. The outcomes will offer assistance for the individuals who are predominantly or indirectly related to the Boutique hotels of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka. In addition to that, this research will assist proper understanding about if the hoteliers have to face crises like the Easter Sunday attack again, how they manage their business performances by using considerable factors of Boutique hotels in Sri Lanka. Since the revenue generated from tourism industry is more important to the Sri Lankan economy, the respected authorities can focus more on the Boutique hotel sector and make arrangements to re-establish the lost revenues in the Sri Lankan economy. Keywords: Boutique Hotels, Business Performance, Crisis, Easter Sunday Attac

A Study on regaining ABC authority after trade union activities

Trade Union is any group or combination of employees, whether temporary or permanent, having one or more goals that can have a positive or negative effect on organizational efficiency. In ABC Authority, more than 60 Trade Unions were actively involved. Since 2016, six strikes and picketing cases were reported among ABC Authority. The major incident was, that in 2020 ABC Authority East Terminal was to be sold to a foreign Indian company. The purpose of this study was to identify how ABC Authority was regained after trade union activities. The study adopted a qualitative method, conducted semi-structured interview, using thematic analysis and NVIVO software, responded by eight Managers of separate division in ABC authority. The semi-structured interview findings concluded that ABC Authority is positively regained after trade union activities and ABC Authority has highly progressed from trade union activities. This research indicated various trade unions in ABC Authority and there were reasons to conduct the trade union activities in the authority. The semi-structured interview findings conclude that ABC Authority has positively regained after trade union activities and ABC Authority has highly progressed from trade union activities. The respondents also have stated that ABC Authority has made huge progress as a result of trade union activities. The trade union has consistently advocated for the ABC Authority's best interests. The rapid growth of the ABC Authority will be facilitated by several trade union activities. The significance of the study is to look at how ABC Authority regained after trade union activities. Given the numerous roles that unions play in policing their employers in the public sector, this research was absolutely necessary

Effect of E-learning on Management Undergraduates’ Academic Success during COVID-19: A Study at Non-state Universities in Sri Lanka

Education also becomes one of the basic needs of all human being in the today's world. Due to the rapid advancement of the information and communication technology during the past years emphasize the necessity of using e-learning in the education sector. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, all the countries developed and developing had to quickly move from conventional learning methods to e-learning. As a developing country Sri Lankan education sector also adopt the e-learning as a solution for continuing education process. The prime objective of this study is to examine the impact of e-learning on university undergraduates' academic success in the context of management faculties in non-state universities in Sri Lanka. A deductive quantitative research approach utilized for the data collection and analysis. The study population is 2500 undergraduates who are studying in the year 3 and 4 belongs to the management faculties of two non-state universities. Out of the total population 332 undergraduates were selected using convenience sampling technique. An online questionnaire survey conducted to collect data and simple linear regression models employed for data analysis. To ensure the overall reliability of the gathered data, Cronbach's alpha values checked. The findings revealed that e-learning has a significant positive impact on academic success along with a strong correlation of 0.872. According to the main study findings, there is a positive moderating effect on student satisfaction between e-learning and academic success while showing a strong correlation of 0.774. The major findings of this study give insights for higher educational institutions to create new initiatives to direct undergraduates towards the academic success with e-learning exposure

Factors affecting the level of stress among undergraduates in Sri Lanka with special reference to covid-19

To combat the rapid spread of COVID-19 infections universities and higher educational institutes in Sri Lanka had to suspend all on campus activities and had to tranfer into online learning. This resulted in a swift change in undergraduates’ life style and they had to face many new challenges in their academics which created severe mental pressure. Therefore, the objective of the research is ‘to assess the factors influencing the level of stress among undergraduates in Sri Lanka’. The study looks into this mental pressure in terms of the stress levels of undergraduates which is considered to be the dependent variable whereas their online learning experience and university workload are the independent variables. The study takes a quantitative research approach as its primary data is collected through an online questionnaire created from Google Forms and answered by 384 undergraduates. The questionnaire provided data on the online experience and university workload variables and it included the DASS-21 scale (Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale) which measured the stress level of the undergraduates. Descriptive statistics was conducted on the data through the Microsoft Excel. Based on the data analysis, it was found that the stress levels of undergraduates were; 3% normal, 20% mild, 36% moderate, 21% severe and 20% extremely severe. Therefore, it could be said that 41% of undergraduates faced high stress levels that were beyond what is regular and it negatively affected to the way how they could face challenges and carry out their day to day lives. It should be noted that undergraduates appeared to have much higher stress levels as a result of the pandemic

An Explore of the Views on the Work Transformation of HR Professionals in Sri Lanka amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is a both global health and an economic threat. Disease outbreaks and worldwide pandemics have posed the biggest threat to human survival. The worldwide lockdown of organisations and industries was enforced to limit the spread through discouraging staff from being present in total capacity. This, brought on by the virus, created several unique issues for both employees and employers. It has had unprecedented consequences for businesses globally, with a significant influence on Human Resource Management (HRM). With the COVID-19 situation, HRM has been pushed to navigate the unexpected and, as a result, discover new approaches to pandemic related challenges that have developed globally. Thus, businesses must consider the views of Human Resource (HR) professionals to adapt to unanticipated changes of the COVID-19. For this study, a qualitative research method was used as it aims to study the views of HR professionals in Sri Lanka on the work transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 16 HR professionals in Sri Lanka. The thematic analysis was applied to the gathered qualitative data. Accordingly, three main themes were identified, such as work mode, facilities and adoption arrangements. As per the study findings, the HR professionals in Sri Lanka do not perceive this rapid work transition as a positive move since they were unprepared for such a drastic change in work settings. Thus, they agree to work on-premises in the post-COVID situation, and if the pandemic continues, they agree and would like to continue their work in a hybrid work culture. Further, when focusing on the facilities given by the workplace, they perceive an unfavourable view of the financial incentives and Work From Home (WFH) resources. In terms of adoption arrangements, they have a negative view of work-life balance and crisis management. The insights from the experience of HR professionals and the stages they have navigated can aid in the successful management of similar crises in the future. The present study contributes to understanding the COVID-19 pandemic's influence on organisations and HRM, paving the way for additional thorough research in this domain. Keywords: COVID-19, Human Resource Management, Human Resource Practices, Human Resource Professional