Browsing by Author "Niroshini, S."
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Item Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) Market Orientation and BOP Focused Product Innovations in FMCG Industry in Sri Lanka(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Erandika, K.K.; Jayawardhana, A.A.K.K.; Niroshini, S.The global Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) market is estimated to be with around 5 billion consumers who spend approximately 2 USD per day. Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry plays a vital role in the Sri Lankan economy as it has been seen as the engine of growth to the economy as a result of its ability to create a job, generate revenue, reduces poverty and drives economic growth. Market orientation is a set of actions within the organization that create value for the customer which results in profitability and finally facilitates achieving sustainable competitive advantage which consists of three behavioral elements customer orientation, competitor orientation, and inter-functional coordination. Product innovation could create a firm’s performance and profit growth. Leveraging on these diverse fields, this study investigated the relationship between BOP market orientation and BOP focused product innovation. Data were collected across fifty major high performing FMCG companies in Sri Lanka, according to industry capability report using a theoretical sampling technique. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis. Simple regression analysis was used only as a supportive analysis to prove the relationship further. Results indicated that BOP market orientation significantly and positively affected to BOP focused product innovation. The study demonstrated that FMCG companies have adopted activities with BOP market orientation as a business strategy which has improved its BOP focused product innovations. In conclusion, the research findings can be applied to other industries not only on product innovations but also for other innovation types. Keywords: Bottom of the pyramid (BOP), Market orientation, Product innovation, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)Item Causes of Unemployment among the Educated Youth in Sri Lanka(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Wimalarathna, B.M.R.M.; Kumara, P.H.T.; Niroshini, S.Educated youth unemployment is one of the major problems in many developing countries like Sri Lanka. It does not reflect the utilization of scarce resources that would be significant to the socio-economic development of countries. Unemployment among educated youth in Sri Lanka is an increasing trend over the last few years. The issue of unemployment among the population aged between 15 - 24 is the subject of this research. Literature argues that demographic and socio-economic factors significantly affect the educated youth unemployment. Thus, the major objective of this study was to analyze the causes of unemployment among the educated youth in Sri Lanka using the Labour Force Survey data of 2016 conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka. The study mainly applied the Probit regression model to analyze the data. The results suggested that the areas of living had a positive and statistically significant relationship between educated youth unemployment. However, eduction level of head of household, gender and vocational training showed a significant negative relationship with educated youth unemployment in Sri Lanka. Further, adding to that, participation in vocational training of respondents caused a decrease in unemployment of educated youth in Sri Lanka. The study recommended that improving access to the education system in Sri Lanka and promoting entrepreneurship among educated youths as two best solutions for the reduction of unemployment among the educated youth. Keywords: Educated youth, Unemployment, Probit regression model, Labour force surveyItem Do Innovations Lead to Achieve Triple Bottom Line(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Mawathkanda, M.L.N.; Jayawardhana, A.A.K.; Niroshini, S.Sri Lankan rubber manufacturing industry is a developed industry and is largely a sustainable focused industry. The most critical issues identified in the rubber manufacturing industry are high level of chemical practices, high wattage, high energy consumption, environmental pollution, and other various social-economic issues. Hence rubber manufacturing organizations are implementing number of complex and innovative business practices. Organizations strive to achieve sustainability through triple bottom line goals. Innovation has become one of the most important functions of an organization since it deals with achieving the goals of the triple bottom line. Thus, this study evaluated the association between innovations and triple bottom line goals. Quantitative research was carried out and questionnaires were distributed using a theoretical sampling technique to collect the primary data from 50 managerial level employees who are working in rubber manufacturing organizations registered under the Board of Investment (BOI), Sri Lanka. Moreover descriptive, correlations, and regression analysis were performed to analyze the data. The results of the study indicated that there is a positive relationship between innovation and triple bottom line goals. Further identified there is a positive impact of innovations on triple bottom line goals. The results encourage managers in the rubber manufacturing industry to innovate to achieve the triple bottom line. Future researches regarding the proposed research area is encouraged through the study. Keywords: Innovations, Triple bottom line, Rubber manufacturing industry, SustainabilityItem The Effect of Gender Identity on Self-Esteem among Young Adults (Special Reference to Central Province)(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2021) Gloriya, N.M.; Niroshini, S.Social identity is being recognized as perceived self-concept of an individual based on the social group that they are belong to. Favorable comparison between persons automatically increase the self- esteem of them. People always contemplate on the emotions of their relatives (in-group) and resisting the emotions of others (out-group). Even though the theory of social identity explains the positive side of the intergroup discrimination and biasness, it does not sufficiently represent the negative of them and the symmetry is missing. Further there are only a few researches has been undertaken on the influence gender has on self-esteem among young adults and the results obtained are not significant as well. Therefore, the study on effect of the gender difference on self-esteem among the young adults in central province is performed to examine whether the gender identity of a person affects his/her self-esteem. A quantitative study was conducted by using convenient sampling to collect the sample of 100 young adults from central province have been selected for the study and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was used to get scores of the self-esteem. The major findings were statistically analyzed using tables and a graph using SPSS Statistics Data Editor. With the overall results it was observable that men had a good self-esteem than women. However, the results obtained were found to be insignificant according to the t-test conducted. Therefore, the study concludes with the idea that self-esteem is not influenced by the gender identity as supporting the previous findings. Keywords: Gender identity; Self-esteem; Social identity; Young adultsItem The Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Brand Recall(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Dharmathilaka, D.P.N.Y.; Fernando, P.I.N.; Niroshini, S.To aware of the product presence in the competitive market the promotional mix plays a major role. Among the promotional mix, advertising using celebrities has significant effects on the brand. Therefore, the celebrity endorsement practices have been intensively used in the modern market. It is crucial to identify the cause and effect of celebrity endorsement before implementing the marketing plan. The usage of celebrity endorsement has been gradually enhanced within the field of cosmetics in the Sri Lankan context. Therefore, this study explores the impact of celebrity endorsement on brand recall regarding the fairness products in Sri Lanka since the limited number of studies has been performed related to this research area. The present research contributes to bridging the knowledge and theoretical gaps that exist in both local and international contexts. The primary objective of the study was to assess the impact of celebrity endorsement on brand recall while using attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise as the dimensions of celebrity endorsement. To collect data a survey was undertaken through the distribution of questionnaires. The millennial population was selected as the sample for the research and descriptive, correlation, and regression analysis were conducted to generate results. A strong positive relationship between celebrity endorsement and brand recall was identified in the fairness product. Moreover, a significant impact of celebrity endorsement on brand recall was discovered. Findings revealed the expertise as the prominent impactable celebrity endorsement dimension on brand recall and the attractiveness and trustworthiness align, respectively. Findings encourage the managers to recruit celebrities with expertise knowledge and attractive appearance in order to endorse the fairness products in Sri Lanka. Further research regarding the proposed area is encouraged. Keywords: Celebrity endorsement, Attractiveness, Trustworthiness, Expertise, Brand recallItem The Impact of Debt Capacity on Firm’s Growth: A study of Listed Manufacturing Companies in Colombo Stock Exchange(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2021) Zahira, J.F.; Balaputhiran, S.; Niroshini, S.Capital structure and company‟s growth is important for any firm because company success depends on its growth and that off course required capital. In competitive market growth shows strength and stability of firm and profitability continuation in long run. In Sri Lanka few empirical studies have been done to establish the relationship between debt capacity and firm‟s growth. Therefore the study attempts to fill the empirical and knowledge gap by establishing how debt capacity and firm„s growth are linking and how company can change its debt portion while maintaining its growth level. Hence a quantitative study has been undertaken to establish a conclusion that the debt capacity of an entity has an impact on firm„s growth in listed manufacturing companies in Colombo stock exchange. From the twenty sectors of the Colombo stock exchange, manufacturing sectors was selected for the present study. The sample of this study composed of 31 listed manufacturing companies in the Colombo Stock Exchange and period of five years from 2014/15 to 2018/19 from secondary data sources. To perform the analysis of the study, STATA analyzing technique has been used. The study discovered a significant relationship between interest coverage and market capitalization. Further identified that the interest coverage has a significant negative impact on market capitalization but debt to assets ratio has an insignificant positive impact on market capitalization. There is no prior literature in Sri Lanka comprising Debt Capacity and Firms‟ Growth. So, this study contributes to the extant literature and fills the existence gap in the literature by providing empirical evidence regarding the impact of Debt Capacity and Firms‟ Growth in the Sri Lankan context. Keywords: Debt to assets; Interest coverage; Market capitalization; Price earningsItem International Remittance and Household Expenditure Patterns in Sri Lanka(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2017) Niroshini, S.International migration from Sri Lanka is in an increasing trend over the past two decades and the money sent home by the migrants to Sri Lanka which is called the remittances is following the same. The literature argues that the international remittances significantly affect on the expenditure patterns of the households. Hence, this paper examines the impacts of international remittances on the Household Expenditure patterns. Sri Lanka is one of the leading countries in the South Asia with a rapid growth in foreign workers' remittances. The improvement in international migration has contributed to growth in remittances inflows to Sri Lanka. The main data source of this study is the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2012/13, conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS). This paper examines the impact of international remittances on expenditure patterns and how remittances are utilized by the remittance receiving households. Thus, the main objective of the study is to analyse the relationship between the international remittances and the total household expenditure disaggregated by food, non-food, and liquor, drugs and tobacco expenditure. The study uses Ordinary Least Square as one of the main analytical techniques while, Propensity Score Matching method is applied to overcome the possible selection bias generated by the Ordinary Least Square method. The results of the study confirms that, compared to the households without receiving remittances, households who receive international remittances spend more on non-food items such as durable goods, healthcare, education and investments and they spend less on food, liquor, drugs and tobacco. Hence it suggests encouraging the international remittances and opportunities for investments.Item International Remittances and Household Expenditure Patterns in Sri Lanka(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2018) Niroshini, S.; Kumara, P.H.T.; Abeyweera, G.H.International migration in Sri Lanka is in an increasing trend over the past two decades and international remittances follow the same. Sri Lanka is one of the leading economies in the South Asian region with a rapid growth in foreign workers' remittances. The recent literature argues that the international remittance significantly affects the expenditure patterns of the households. Hence, this paper examines the impacts of international remittance on the household expenditure patterns in the Sri Lankan context and how remittances are utilized by the remittance receiving households. The main data source utilized for this study is the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2012/13, conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS). The main objective of the study is to analyze the relationship between the international remittances and the total household expenditure disaggregated by food, non-food, and liquor, drugs and tobacco expenditure. The study uses Ordinary Least Square (OLS) as one of the main analytical techniques while, Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method is applied to overcome the possible selection bias generated by the Ordinary Least Square method. The results of the study finds that, compared to the households non-receiving remittance, households which receive international remittances spend more on non-food items such as durable goods, healthcare, education and investments and spend less on food, liquor, drugs and tobacco. Hence it is encouraged to create more investment opportunities for remittance to be invested.Item Market Orientation and Entrepreneurial Orientation in Social Enterprises (With Special Reference to Jaffna District)(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Sivarasa, T.; Jayawardhana, K.; Niroshini, S.Staying closer to their market is viewed vital in gaining strategic goals and sustainable goals for social enterprises since the approach widens their strategic capabilities on different fronts. Inventing this important knowledge gap, this study focused on identifying the role of market orientation nurturing entrepreneurial orientation of social enterprises. The research specifically focused on identifying the existing level of market orientation and entrepreneurial attributes of social enterprises and identifying the relationship between market orientation and entrepreneurship while assessing salient market orientation attributes influencing the entrepreneurial level. Relying on a quantitative research approach, 100 social enterprises from Jaffna district were surveyed. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data for achieving the respective research objectives. Findings revealed that there is a positive relationship between market orientation and entrepreneurial attributes. Detailed findings further uncovered that barring the beneficiary orientation, donor orientation, peer orientation, and inter-functional coordination done in the region strongly influence the entrepreneurial level. Finally, this study contributes theory and facilitates social enterprises in Sri Lanka in reaching greater heights and it specified a growth way to the sector with the comparison to other business sectors. Keywords: Social enterprises, Market orientation, Entrepreneurial orientationItem Open Innovations in Apparel SMEs: Special Reference to Western Province(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Nawarathna, W.D.G.A.N.; Jayawardhana, A.A.K.K.; Niroshini, S.Open innovation leads firms to use external knowledge in the firm innovation process. In this dynamic environment, use of external knowledge to accelerate innovation practices is vital for organizations. Small and medium firms are facing challenges in adopting innovation practices due to the size and have limited resources for introducing the innovation effectively in the market. Even with those challenges, firms are engaging with open innovation in developing the firm innovation process. The main objective of this study was to assess the degree of applying open innovation practices within small and medium apparel firms and the sub-objective was to identify the challenges of open innovation within the small and medium apparel sectors. This research study accomplished those objectives by gathering primary data through an in-depth interview from 12 small and medium apparel firms in the Western province in Sri Lanka by using a convenience sampling method. An equal number of respondents from each district were selected and interview guidelines were used to ensure the interviews were heading in the right direction. Further, data analysis was done using the thematic data analysis method. The study found that small and medium enterprises are applying open innovation practices through customers’ involvement, suppliers’ involvement, competitors’ involvement, and strategic alliance. Additionally, this research found the internal and external challenges of open innovation. The research fundings support creating a platform which connects with external parties and provides awareness of the open innovation practices. Further their research may identify the management involvement of practicing open innovation to develop firm innovation practices. Keywords: Open innovation, Small and medium firm, Apparel sector, External ideasItem A Social Comparison of Does Happiness Increase with the Income?(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2021) Gloriya, N.M.; Niroshini, S.There are numerous psychologists found that there is a small income effects on individual happiness. It has always been a challenge to prove that happiness is positively correlated with money, as it is widely believed and argued that “money can‟t buy happiness”. Further previous scholars found out that more money is positively associated with greater happiness. Hence the research is a psychological evaluation attempts to disentangle the positive relationship between an individual‟s monthly income and happiness. A quantitative study has been undertaken using convenience sampling and data were collected from 100 working individuals between the age group of 25 and 35 providing Oxford Happiness Questionnaire to calculate the happiness level. Further descriptive, correlation analysis conducted to generate results and to identify the impact of income in happiness of an individual. The received responses were numerically valued and the happiness score was found to be increasing with the higher amount of monthly income. The results obtained proved that there is a significant positive relationship between monthly income and happiness of an individual. However, it is not a strong relationship. Therefore, it is concluded that people who earn more are slightly happier than the people who earn less. Keywords: Income effects; Individual happiness; Monthly incomeItem A Study on Impact of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction (Special Reference to Life Insurance Companies in Sri Lanka)(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Niroshini, S.; Niranjika, L.G.H.U.The insurance industry has recorded a high growth rate in Sri Lanka in recent years. The delivery of high-quality service is vital to success in service industries. All business entities are trying to attain customer fulfilment over improved service quality. Service quality denotes of a firm’s performance. Customers are likely to choose an insurance company that has a high quality of service such as provide complete information about the product and services, a well-known and positive corporate image, handle the complaints. Service quality is a recent and more dynamic decisive issue in marketing thought. Customer’s perceptions about life insurance seem to have been largely ignored by life insurance companies in developing countries. Therefore, to understand and identify the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality dimensions in the insurance industry, this research selected a quantitative research method. A sample of 100 customers who have life insurance policies in the top five insurance companies which are lapsed within one year was selected by using stratified random sampling and questionnaires were administrated to collect primary data. Further to analyse the impact, both descriptive and inferential techniques were used. The Pearson’s correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to identify the relationship and impact of service quality on customer satisfaction in the insurance industry. The findings of the study indicated that all SERVQUAL dimensions have a significant effect on the level of customer satisfaction in the Life Insurance Industry. Further, it was identified that the most influential dimension which contributed to customer satisfaction was the tangibility, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. In the study, continuous improvements of service quality dimensions are recommended to maintain a competitive edge to get and retain strong loyal customers by keeping them at a satisfactory level in the Life Insurance Industry. Keywords: Service quality, Customer satisfaction, Insurance industry, Service quality dimensions