Browsing by Author "Abeysekara, B"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

item: Conference-Full-text
Defining kpis to measure eco-sustainable performance at container terminals in sri lanka
(IEEE, 2016-05) Perera, MPA; Abeysekara, B; Jayasekara, AGBP; Bandara, HMND; Amarasinghe, YWR
A port or a terminal is always associated with various adverse environmental impacts. There are different tools and standards to measure environmental performance; such as ISO 14001, ISO 14031, EMAS and SDM. But incorporating environmental sustainability into the Balanced Scorecard gives comprehensive, internally-developed environmental performance management tool to improve ecological sustainability. For this research, focused interviews were done to identify existing environmental issues at container terminals in Sri Lanka, and Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) was the base tool to rank the defined KPIs, using a questionnaire survey. Finally a Strategy Map was drawn for the extended Eco-BSC. The findings of research show that three container terminals, JCT/UCT, SAGT and CICT are having varied environmental issues and priorities, therefore the outcomes of the results are unique to each terminal. The developed model will provide a comprehensive tool for environmental performance management, which will help measure and mitigate adverse environmental impacts, and improving ecological sustainability at the container terminal.
item: Conference-Abstract
Evaluation of main factors affecting the choice of a freight forwarder : a Sri Lankan exporter’s perspective
Maheshika, MDI; Abeysekara, B
The intermediary role performed by freight forwarders in exportation has become significant in fulfilling businesses’ supply chain needs in this dynamic world. Since the success of exporter’s business is at present, highly reliant on supply chain optimization, cost efficiency, profitability, consistent service and responsiveness, the decision of selecting the most beneficial freight forwarder has become crucial for exporters. In order to identify and prioritize key factors which have affected the exporter’s decision in selecting freight forwarders in Sri Lankan context, Sri Lankan export industry was stratified into 22 sectors based on commodity using stratified sampling technique. One exporter from each sector was then selected using judgmental sampling to have a sample of 22. Factors which were identified through a pilot survey, was organized under 6 main criteria. A questionnaire was basically developed as pairwise comparisons using 9-point semantic differential scale and comparisons were done within main criteria and sub criteria. After a pre-testing, interviews and e-mail questionnaire survey were conducted. Data were analyzed using Analytic Hierarchy Process to determine priority vectors of criteria. Customer service was found to be the most important main criterion for Sri Lankan exporters. It was followed by reliability and operational efficiency respectively. The criterion of the least importance was company background and reputation. While small sized exporters pay more attention to rate, reliability is the major concern among medium and large scale exporters. Irrespective of seniority of the exporter, reliability is given the prominence. Responsiveness is the most important sub criterion among Sri Lankan exporters. Consistency of judgments with respect to main criteria was verified through consistency ratio, which was less than 10%. Being more competitive, freight forwarders should come up with customized marketing strategies based on each target group’s requirements and expectations in offering services to retain existing exporters and attract new exporters.
item: Conference-Full-text
Evaluation of main factors affecting the choice of a freight forwarder: A Sri Lankan exporter’s perspective
(2015-08-03) Maheshika, MDI; Abeysekara, B
The intermediary role performed by freight forwarders in exportation has become significant in fulfilling businesses’ supply chain needs in this dynamic world. Since the success of exporter’s business is at present, highly reliant on supply chain optimization, cost efficiency, profitability, consistent service and responsiveness, the decision of selecting the most beneficial freight forwarder has become crucial for exporters. In order to identify and prioritize key factors which have affected the exporter’s decision in selecting freight forwarders in Sri Lankan context, Sri Lankan export industry was stratified into 22 sectors based on commodity using stratified sampling technique. One exporter from each sector was then selected using judgmental sampling to have a sample of 22. Factors which were identified through a pilot survey, was organized under 6 main criteria. A questionnaire was basically developed as pairwise comparisons using 9-point semantic differential scale and comparisons were done within main criteria and sub criteria. After a pre-testing, interviews and e-mail questionnaire survey were conducted. Data were analyzed using Analytic Hierarchy Process to determine priority vectors of criteria. Customer service was found to be the most important main criterion for Sri Lankan exporters. It was followed by reliability and operational efficiency respectively. The criterion of the least importance was company background and reputation. While small sized exporters pay more attention to rate, reliability is the major concern among medium and large scale exporters. Irrespective of seniority of the exporter, reliability is given the prominence. Responsiveness is the most important sub criterion among Sri Lankan exporters. Consistency of judgments with respect to main criteria was verified through consistency ratio, which was less than 10%. Being more competitive, freight forwarders should come up with customized marketing strategies based on each target group’s requirements and expectations in offering services to retain existing exporters and attract new exporters.
item: Article-Full-text
Improving the capital deployment efficiency: An infrastructure investment planning process in transportation project
(Elsevier, 2021) Abeysekara, B; Perera, P; Kumar, G; Shrestha, C; Gunaruwan, L; Kumarage, A; Sadiq, R; Hewage, K
Transport infrastructure investments constitute 31% of the world's capital investments. However, there is a significant gap between the demand for large-scale transport infrastructure and investments in such infrastructure. An investigation into the causes of the above gap brings to light the inefficiencies of the current capital deployment practices throughout the project life cycle that result in additional expenditure over the optimal investments. This paper aims to review the existing body of knowledge on capital deployment efficiencies of large-scale transport infrastructure investments. The review looks into the causes of inefficiencies and practices applied for efficiency enhancement. Pareto analysis is used to prioritise the causes, and a cause and effect diagram is drawn to identify the root causes for inefficiencies. Finally, practices applied in different stages of the project life cycle are discussed. Based on these findings, a decision support outline is suggested to enhance the efficiency of each identified cause. The findings of this study provide an important foundation to set up a strategic approach to improve capital deployment efficiency of large-scale transport infrastructure investments. Accordingly, a strategic approach is proposed in policy, organisation, and project level activities to improve the capital deployment efficiency of large-scale transportation infrastructure investments in developing countries. Existing studies primarily focus on the technological advancements, without focusing on healthier governance practices. Therefore, it is essential to address the technical advancement and better governance practices to get the best value for investments. Further research is suggested on the application of a strategic approach in different types of projects.