The mothers’ role in prospering a mindful consumer in Sri Lanka

Purpose: This study provides new understandings of the socio-structural elements that support (or undermine) domestic daily mindful consumption behaviours of kids and young adults of Sri Lanka. The process of mindful consumption and its adoption at home has been explored with the aim to understand how mothers have influenced their children in becoming mindful consumers. Design/methodology/approach: The findings presented are derived from 25 in-depth interviews with mothers and children in the context of Sri Lanka. Findings: It was evident that the Sri Lankan mothers are encouraging their child’s mindset and behaviour in terms of Limited Acquisitive consumption, Poor Aspirational consumption, Limited Repetitive consumption, caring for the community, caring for nature, and caring for self were found as the aspects of mindful consumption that were influenced by the mothers. Reducing, Reusing, Rejecting, Recycling and Redefining were the common mindful practices that were inspired by mothers which were highlighted by the respondents as shaped by mothers in terms of the child’s mindful mindset and mindful behaviour. Originality: This paper makes an important contribution to the field by studying the domestic mindful consumption practices adopted and taught to kids and young adults by their mothers.   Implications: Findings have practical implications for businesses that want to maximize stakeholder satisfaction through their corporate social responsibility activities and expand their opportunities for goodwill and company growth. Finally, this study implies the managerial and social aspects to improve mindfulness and thereby accomplish the goal of sustainability. Keywords: Mindfulness, Mindful Consumption, Children, Mothers, Sri Lank

Service-Learning, Spiritual Orientation, and Social Entrepreneurship: A Case Study of the Vikings Club of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura

The primary purpose of this study was to understand the effects of a student’s service-learning experience gained by working on social entrepreneurship projects or engaging in corporate social responsibility activities on a student’s change towards social and community development and to understand their spiritual orientation. This study investigated 20 transformational stories of the students of Viking Club attached to the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, which is a student-led club initiated from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura that supports social entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka. Using a qualitative research approach, in-depth interviews were conducted along with one of the author’s personal experiences- autoethnography, to understand and capture the authentic experiences of transformative change of the participants. The results of the study indicated that active engagement in the social entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility activities of the Viking Club increased the empathetic behaviour and created a more empathic mindset, socially responsible, happy, and sustainable. The students were motivated to work interconnected and appeared to exert more effort in sharing love with others which reflects the development in the spiritual orientation and how it has linked with social entrepreneurial to reach the steering vision of the Club. As the Club provides opportunities in social entrepreneurship and CSR to use their newly acquired skills and knowledge in real-life situations with the active participation in the social entrepreneurship and CSR projects, they can effectively solve social problems in Sri Lanka through social entrepreneurship and the transformations will inspire ethical decision-making at both individual and organisational levels. Keywords: Service-Learning, Spiritual Orientation, Social Entrepreneurship, Student Club