UoM Conferences

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Adoption of 3D printing technology in Sri Lanka's construction industry
(Faculty of Architecture Research Unit, 2022-12-02) Cooray, NKV; Coomasaru, P
The construction industry does have a history of embracing new technologies more slowly than other sectors. 3D construction is a revolutionary technology that has recently identified as a possible technology with the potential to enhance the construction industry's effectiveness and efficiency. This research attempts to provide strategies for integrating this technology into the Sri Lankan construction industry. Using NVIVO, a literature review was carried out and recorded. First, a prototype questionnaire survey was conducted based on findings from the literature, followed by a regular questionnaire survey with 39 professionals with 5 to 20 years of experience to identify bottlenecks and enablers. In addition to the questionnaire, interviews were conducted with three experts with more than 30 years of professional experience to validate its outcomes. "Workforce unprepared to engage with 3D printing," "lack of standards or rules for 3D printing technology," and "high investment requirements" were the top three reported impediments. As enablers, design flexibility, cost advantages, and time savings were highlighted. As a final objective, three strategies were identified: "Conduct training for industry staff on how to interact with 3D printing," "facilitate the collaborative approach (partnering)," and "Construction industry to establish a new set of standards, guidelines, rules and regulations pertaining to adaptation of 3D printing into construction industry."
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An analysis of employee welfare practices in oil and gas construction projects at Qatar
Dissanayake, LC; Somachandra, V; Mudalige, DM
Oil and Gas construction industry has been identified as a very dangerous and risky construction industry sub-sector in the world compared to building and other infrastructure sectors. This field requires highly experienced employees. Those employees are fully open to dangerous situations and risky environment and it may course to lose their life/body parts, permanent disabilities or mental issues. Nowadays, many of Oil & Gas construction companies are using advanced technology to accelerate the works and protect their employee’s from risk. But still, there is risk and incidents are reported all over the world. In this research paper, welfare facilities in Oil & Gas construction industry in Qatar are considered and is aimed to find out awareness of the welfare facilities within that field. First of all, the researcher carried out a thorough literature review using past published books, magazines, journals and the internet. Then the online survey was designed using 30 numbers of questions to collect the required data. Around, 50 numbers of responders are responded to the questionnaire and most of them are supervisory level. 59% are fully aware about facilities and other 41% are partially awareness about the welfare facilities. According to this study, some of the welfare facilities have to be improved and developed around some key areas, like orientation programs, well experience staff for safety department and health and insurance benefits.
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Applicability of green certification system for domestic construction projects in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Architecture Research Unit, 2022-12-02) Perera, BLSH; Ranathunga, RAAS; Madhuwanthi, LPTP; Coomasaru, P
Consistently, researchers have noted that 20 to 30 percent of damage to the environment can be attributable to residential construction. There are a plethora of green certification systems available for implementation throughout the construction phase in Sri Lanka, and the number of adoptions has increased in recent years to lessen the impact on the environment. Even if there has been progress in the implementation of green certification systems, the procedure and associated expenses have been a major concern in the business community. Consequently, the objective of this study is to identify the best appropriate green certificate system for Sri Lankan residential construction projects. The literature review was conducted and analysed using "NVivo." Initially, a questionnaire was deployed to collect primary data, which was subsequently confirmed through interviews with subject matter experts. Sixty-nine professionals with 10 to 15 years of industry experience responded to the survey, and five specialists with more than 30 years of professional experience validated its results. Both the significance of adopting the green certification system and the hurdles that developed during its adoption were addressed in the study. It was recommended that state assistance, social awareness, and continuous education for professionals could facilitate in overcoming the obstacles. Finally, it was determined that the LEED system is the most appropriate green certification system for residential development because it generates environmentally and user-friendly sustainable products.
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Application of information systems in small and medium enterprises in sri lanka
Malwenna, KH
SMEs have become an important factor in the developing economies in the world, especially to economies like Sri Lanka. It contributes largely to the socioeconomic stability and poverty reduction process of the Sri Lankan economy in terms of employment generation while contributing to the GDP, equitable distribution of income, embarking on innovations, balancing regional development, lowering transaction cost and inspiring other economic activities. SMEs are the most dynamic businesses as they play a critical role in achieving socio-economic goals in developing countries with a low level of investment. Globally, information technology has become a key element in the economic development of many countries in the world. The objectives of the study were to explore the types of information technology/information systems existing in small and medium-scale enterprises in Sri Lanka, examine the advantages of the use of integrated systems by owner-managers of small and medium-scale enterprises in Sri Lanka, investigate the benefits of information systems to the small and medium-scale enterprises in Sri Lanka, and identify any problems encountered by small and medium-scale enterprises in exercising information systems. The response rate was 59.9%, which represented 91 manufacturing SMEs in the Colombo District of Sri Lanka. The study employed a questionnaire for owner-managers of SMEs. The stratified sampling technique was applied to obtain the sample size of the study and descriptive statistics were used for the analysis. The findings of the research revealed that e-mail is the most popular method of communication among SMEs in Sri Lanka and that SMEs are well aware about the benefits of information systems/information technologies. This study found that almost all SMEs are looking for government support for creating basic infrastructure, training and technical support.
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Business plan for improving soil using fly ash for construction activities
Prasad, DLS
Sri Lanka has invested in large-scale infrastructure developments to meet the social demand in the country. Soil is the major raw material of aforesaid infrastructure developments. Hence, the demand for suitable soil is high due to these project requirements. The unavailability of suitable soils is considered as a burning issue for the construction projects. Hence, improving unsuitable soils with fly ash is an innovative solution for the construction industry. This paper will introduce a business plan for improving the unsuitable soils using fly ash mixing plants. Hence, highquality soil product can be provided to target customers. This business plan gives the opportunity for the first mover to enter and acquire the entire market. The company can supply high quality soils to internal project usage and to retailers, by acting as a wholesaler. The business plan aims to add value to meet the demand for high quality soil products and strategically earn profits. This innovative soil product would be attracted by the stakeholders and company shall approach to meet the stakeholder’s requirements by taking the competitive advantages. The success of the business will give two additional benefits, i.e., easy construction process and completing the project within the time frame. Further, the study discusses the target area relevant to the business such as business description, strategic goals, management and organization, product and services, market and competition, marketing, sales and finance.
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Effective methods in collaborative procurement system for energy sector projects in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Architecture Research Unit, 2022-12-02) Perera, PNR; Wijesinghe, T; Perera, BKC
All governments are bound to provide better infrastructure services for their citizens. Due to numerous financial difficulties governments move towards Collaborative procurement methods to secure infrastructure projects with participation of private sector. Sri Lanka is still lagging in implementing proper collaborative partnerships in infrastructure developments. Sri Lankan energy sector highly depends on hydro and expensive diesel power plants. Because of that, in dry season Sri Lanka is facing huge generation gap in meeting demand. To overcome these challenges Sri Lanka urgently needs to implement new power plants with more economical power sources. Therefore, the aim of the study is set to identify suitable collaborative procurement methods and develop the framework for processing those new projects. Barriers to implement collaborative energy sector projects were identified through literature review and expert interviews. Explored barriers were categorized into Social, Economic, Political and Regulatory discipline and key measures were proposed to overcome such. The suitable procurement routes for each energy project were brought to the new knowledge considering power generation capacity of power plants and prevailing regulations. Finally, the framework was developed to adopt proper implementation of identified procurement methods in Sri Lankan energy sector.
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Effectiveness of lean manufacturing layout of a firm within the apparel industry of sri lanka: a case study
Ratnayake, RMDK; Dinosha, V
The study is based on Sri Lankan apparel manufacturer ABC and its SBU of Best Clothing to identify the effectiveness of a lean layout. Apparel export industry is the most important and dynamic contributor to Sri Lanka’s economy. The share of the world market clothes and its share of exports of Sri Lanka are steadily losing since 2000. The imports to US from Sri Lanka have reduced by 1 % in 2015. The time has come for Sri Lanka to look beyond the ordinary clothes and move from low -cost strategy. Retailers are demanding more on increasing for short lead times, to meet the customer demand. They prefer in maintaining a low inventory, material just in time at a low cost as to reduce the tax and increasing interest rates. Effective facility layout design reduces manufacturing lead time, increases the quantity and efficiency of the plant. In today’s society no style longs for more than a week. Four fashion seasons namely spring, summer, fall, winter is blending out 52 "micro-seasons" per year. For a style changeover, an effective layout is set to reduce the loss in efficiency because it will minimize the changeover time by developing multi skilled employees and easy changeover of machines with the size of the layout. Therefore, the findings of this research show that there are two aspects that must be fulfilled for a lean layout to be effective. They are better organizational performance and contented employees. The organizational performance was measured using quality, speed, flexibility, dependability and cost. The employee contentment was measured using safety and ergonomics, income generated, relationship and support received from superiors, peers and supporting department, opportunity for skill development and career growth.
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“Ethical management practice” as a csr tool to ensure the corporate sustainability of construction industry: a conceptual review
Somachandra, V; Sylva, K
Construction industry is one of the main contributors to the national economy in most countries with the industry metabolism of businesses including constructors, clients, material producers, professional service suppliers and construction enterprises, amongst others. In a largely diversified industry like construction, inter-organizational relationships grounded through ethical practice and behavior is of utmost importance to establish sustainable relationships. Nevertheless, globally, the construction industry has been reported as an industry with poor ethical performance due to corrupt practices, health and safety catastrophes and triggering damage to the environment. Thus, if the construction industry is not guided by a proper ethical framework, the damage it could do to the economy, society and ecosystem is unrecoverable. This study attempts to identify the nature of ethical management practices in construction industry and its stakeholders, through extant literature. Also it reveals the prevailing ethical issues of the industry related to its stakeholders. Further, this study identifies the costs of these unethical management practices along with the emerging need and paybacks of properly developed ethical framework to ensure the sustainability of the industry. Further research will aim to develop an ethical management framework for Sri Lankan construction industry in the light of this review. Mix methodology will be utilized, to achieve this objective. Critical unethical management practices of Sri Lankan construction industry stakeholders will be identified thorough a questionnaire based on Relative Importance Index. Recommendations to mitigate the identified critical unethical management practices will be formed through an interview survey with industry experts using content analysis method. Based on those inputs, an ethical management framework for Sri Lankan construction industry will be developed.
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Evaluation of quality control measures and competency of the staff in non-accredited testing laboratories in sri lanka
Maduranga, M; Mudalige, DM
The purpose of this research was to identify the quality control measures adopted by non-accredited testing laboratories (excluding medical and calibration laboratories) in Sri Lanka and to examine the competency of the staff in conducting the tests in non-accredited laboratories using ISO 17025 as the guidance. A field study based on a structured questionnaire and personal interviews was carried out in ten (10) non-accredited laboratories in Sri Lanka. Eighteen test methods (18), twenty one (21) actual tests were observed and twenty four (24) employees were given a structured examination. The study analyzed non-accredited laboratories based on management and technical requirements of ISO 17025. Several specific clauses stipulated in ISO 17025 were considered for the assessment. Each clause selected was subdivided in to a set of objective requirements which was examined in each laboratory/test method/test. The laboratory was decided to have complied with minimum quality control procedures related to the clause if these requirements are met as per the acceptance criteria developed by the researcher. The study identified that less than 40% laboratories observed, used adequate quality control methods in conducting the tests in aspects related management system, equipment and reporting results. Less than 70% laboratories observed, used adequate quality control methods in conducting the tests in aspects related to internal audit, organizations and laboratory environment. Erroneous procedures and deficiencies in conducting the test were observed in many aspects. Ignorance of conditions laid down in the relevant test method/standard, inappropriate handling of testing equipment or standards by the staff, non-use of quality control samples when required and errors in documentation and issuing of the test report were the four major shortcomings observed in test methods. Three major deficiencies in laboratory quality control included calibration issues, not enough facilities to monitor the test environment and lack of documentation in quality procedures. The study also revealed the poor competency and knowledge of the laboratory staff in general quality principles. Although 56% of the employees examined had sufficient technical knowledge to carry out the given test, only 30% had satisfactory understanding of general quality management policies laid down in ISO 17025. The outcome of this research is that due to inadequate level of quality control procedures implemented in most of the non-accredited laboratories and due to the lack of knowledge of the staff in these testing laboratories in quality assurance principles, the ability of non-accredited laboratories to consistently deliver reliable and valid results is highly doubtful. Finally, this paper presents recommendations for an effective and reliable laboratory network in Sri Lanka.
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Factors affecting for growth of the social enterprises in Western Province, Sri Lanka
Gunawardena, LHTK; Mudalige, DM
Social entrepreneurship is the newest growing segment of entrepreneurship. The concept is to cater a social or environmental problem while making money. The concept is more valuable as social enterprises are economically selfsustainable. Unlike charitable organizations, social enterprises generate adequate money to support its service or production. Similarly, the first priority of social entrepreneurs is not maximizing economic profits as their central vision is to avoid or mitigate an effect of a social or environmental issue. In Sri Lanka, engaging to overcome a common issue without an invitation as a team or giving and dedicating for others benefit are not new. However, the ‘Social Entrepreneurship’ wording is new to the island. Consequently, there is limited research work that has taken place in Sri Lanka on ‘Social Entrepreneurship’.
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Human resource practices and turnover intention: a case study on internationalized tech-based small and medium gem and jewellery manufacturers in Kurunegala district of Sri Lanka
Fernando, WMSN; Dasanayaka, SWSB; Mudalige, D
Internationalized Tech-based Small and Medium Enterprises (TSMEs) are one of the major elements in the present globalized world scenario. In contemporary circumstances, Human Resources (HR) have become the most noteworthy asset for internationalized TSMEs as the ‘intellectual capacity’ is directly associated with the achievement of TSME’s objectives through efficient and effective management of technology, resources and people while balancing the cost structure of the internationalized TSMEs at an optimal level. It is essential to perfectly match the internationalized TSME’s small number of people with their specific job roles within the internationalized TSMEs so as to face the dynamic globalized business context whereas the turnovers directly affect the TSME’s sustainable growth and development. There is a dearth of research regarding the effects of human resource practices on turnover intention in Tech-based Small and Medium Gem and Jewellery Enterprises in Sri Lanka. A sample of 176 employees was selected using Multi-stage random sampling from the Gem and Jewellery TSMEs which are located in the Kurunegala District. Both descriptive and inferential techniques were used to analyze data. As per the findings, it was observed that the employees are satisfied with the existing human resources practices in the Gem and Jewellery TSMEs in the Kurunegala district. In accordance with the correlation coefficient analysis, there is a strong negative correlation between HR practices and turnover intention. In addition, all six human resource practices (Job Information, Job Analysis, Career Development, Work-Family Balance, Supervisor Support and Compensation) identified within this study context, affected the employee turnover intention within an internationalized TSME in a negative manner.
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Impact of corporate governance on financial innovation: a conceptual framework model
Mahesh, DD; Sinnathamby, V; Kuruppu, GN; Dasanayaka, SWSB; Samarasinghe, GD
This paper presents a conceptual framework that could be applied to the relevant empirical research studies on the relative importance of the concept of corporate governance in order to strengthen the innovative practices in financial services industry. The main data and information for the development of this model is obtained from of the available literature, web sites and supplemented with interviews conducted with key relevant stake holders in financial sector. Thus, this research framework could be utilized to examine the corporate governance and innovation related issues in the other industrial sectors though it has been originally designed for the financial services industry.
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Impact of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty and intention to switch in commercial banking sector in Sri Lanka
Jayasekara, BEA
To obtain the competitive advantage in the dynamic financial industry, banks always concentrate on fulfilling their customers’ needs and demands. The current study attempts to find the impact of customer satisfaction on loyalty and intention to switch in the commercial banking sector in Sri Lanka. The population consists of customers of banks in Sri Lanka and the target population consists of customers of banks in the Colombo district. The sample is derived from the simple random sampling method and a questionnaire is used to collect primary data from 150 commercial bank customers. The dependent variable is intention to switch, the independent variable is customer satisfaction and the mediator variable is customer loyalty. The study reveals that customer satisfaction moderately affects customer loyalty and there is a negative relationship between customer satisfaction and switching intention. However, there is no impact of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty on switching intention. Also, other than customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, there are several other factors affecting the intention to switch. As per the findings of the study, there is no statistically significant association of age, gender, occupation, highest education level and marital status with customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and intention to switch. Monthly income level of the respondents also does not have a significant association with customer loyalty and intention to switch but there is a statistically significant association between income level and customer satisfaction. Finally, the study identified that customers are switching from the existing bank due to an external reason such as the existing bank not complying with some special request or to obtain some exclusive benefits at another bank.
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Impact of selected board characteristics on firm performances of listed manufacturing firms in Sri Lanka
Dissanayake, ADM; Dissanayake, TDSH
This study designed to investigate the association between selected board characteristics and firm performances of organisations registered under the manufacturing sector of the Colombo Stock Exchange. Accordingly, 28 companies have been used as sample over four years (2014 -2017) with the main objectives to measure the level of corporate governance and board characteristics of selected companies and to examine their association. ROA and ROE used as the dependent variables of the study and board size, board independence, board meetings, board diversity, CEO duality and existence of nomination committee as board characteristics used as independent variables while controlling for three variables (i.e., firm size, age and leverage). Results obtained via correlation analysis, OLS regression and panel regression showcase that only board diversity and existence of nomination committee possess the significant impact on firm performances. Leverage is the only control variable which become negatively significant in explaining the variation of firm performances. The study suggests vital managerial implications to policy makers in reforming and strengthening corporate governance guidelines to achieve higher firm performance.
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Importance of leadership to success of digital workplace
Jayathilake, HD
Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. The dilemma of how to lead a company is spread throughout every industry and the dilemma has intensified due to the disruption caused by industry 4.0 which creates a new digital workplace where employee agility is increased by inculcating new, efficient, digital technologies. To gain faith of the followers, a leader needs to know the rules and behaviors that are supposed to be followed in the time of the 4th industrial revolution that is currently reshaping the world. This paper is constructed by evaluating articles published from 1991 to 2019 and from the ideas of experts in the industry of digital workplaces, and developing a conceptual framework to outline the connectivity and correlation of industry 4.0, Industrial psychology, Multi-generational Workflow and Big Data on Resonant Leadership Style with Employees’ first leadership approach to manage the digital workplace of Information technology enabled business process outsourcing (ITES-BPO) organizations. The research also emphasizes how human and machine incorporated research works should follow in the future for Asian context to adapt with industrial psychology for enhancing the employee work-life balance by researching with more proper validation with real-world simulation though pragmatic worldview approach with the research design using explanatory sequential method.
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The impression of work wear attire in the apparel industry
Karunarathne, PVM; Hettiarachchi, UP
Getting dressed for work used to be pretty simple for administrative professionals and other office workers. Men used to wear a suit and a tie, and women would dress in a tailored dress or a skirt suit. In earlier days there was no variation in fashion styles. But in the present, people are dressing down for office in comfortable clothing instead of dressing up too formally. Business formal attire is the most flattering clothing known for both men and women. But recently, business casual attire and casual attire is becoming more popular among the workforce. The newer generation has brought a much more different outlook on work attire. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether work place attires are becoming more casual, do employees prefer casual Fridays, do work places have a business formal dress code, do employees prefer business formal attire for work and what types of attire do employees prefer the most. This investigative study is based on quantitative and qualitative research. The study is confined to questionnaires which covered more than 100 employees in the fashion industry in Sri Lanka. Secondary data were collected from books, articles, websites and visual data such as pictures and photographs. The research found that business casual attire is the most popular attire among employees, most of the employees liked the idea of “casual Fridays”, and currently most organizations do not have formal dress attire.
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An improved labour productivity improvement method as a continuous improvement tool for apparel manufacturing
Deshappriya, KDNM; Wickramasekara, AN; Deminda, AWL
The purpose of this study is to introduce an Improved Method for Sri Lankan apparel industry as a continuous tool for improving the labour productivity through analyzing the activities and motions of sewing sections’ employees. The Improved method consists six steps: Identifying the work units, Motion Study, Activity Sampling, Data Analysis, Eliminating/ reducing unnecessary motions and activities, and Measure the labour efficiency. After measuring the labour efficiency, researcher comes back to the first step for further improvements as a continuous improvement tool. Data analysis and implementation of appropriate solutions are the critical part of this study. Percentage distribution of each activity of the job cycle can be analyzed well using the activity sampling technique. The results showed that talking privately, discussing work related things, idle siting, judgments, cutting excess threads are the critical Non-value added activities. Both Necessary Non-Value Added Activities and Non-Value Added Activities have to be eliminated from the process. Bottleneck of the motions can be identified through motion study. Activity Sampling Technique and Motions Study are the most significant steps of this study. Therefore, this is mainly primary data driven research. These techniques of analysis can be applied to other sectors of manufacturing regardless of nature of the product and working conditions.
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In-house development & implementation of ‘corebrain’ warehouse management system: a case study
Madurapperuma, S; Ebert, LJ; Kuruppuarachchi, D
In the modern complex business context where the customer needs and wants are changing radically, the fulfillment of these consumer demands were mainly laid on third party logistics. A new business concept which evolved along with the world trade is now managing the product flow from origin to the destination. In order to provide an innovative solution to customers, visibility of information and uninterrupted communication, information communication technology (ICT) plays a significant role in 3PL industry both globally and locally. Advantis 3PL Plus as one of the main Sri Lankan origin leading third party logistics service providers in the Asia Pacific region saw this challenge of adopting low cost digital technology in order to handle vital information along with the product flow to illuminate origin and destination. As a result, an initiative has taken to develop an in-house Warehouse Management System (CoreBrain) by capturing all modern warehousing operational scenarios and standards. This paper illustrates how Advantis 3PL Plus developed ‘CoreBrain’-Warehouse Management System (WMS) to cater ICT facility for industrial sectors such as apparel, pharma and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) to operate in low cost with 100% inventory accuracy and information visibility for decision making.
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International Conference on Business Research : 2nd ICBR 2019 [Pre Text]
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Iot based smart waste bin model to optimize the waste management process
kumari, PKS; Jeewananda, THNL; Supunya, NHPR; Karunanayake, VJ
Waste management has become one of the crucial universal problems at present. The rapid growth in world population, their complex living styles and the rate of urbanization have increased the amount of solid waste produce. Therefore, having a proper monitoring mechanism is a must to manage the situation. This paper suggests a solution to enable the society to automate and optimize waste management process using Internet of Things (IOT) technologies. The proposed solution will notify the user and other authorities when the waste bins are getting filled or when there is an unusual condition inside the bins like having high temperature or high humidity. Users can take necessary action based on the details. Researchers have used the layered architecture to develop this model and the main objective of the project is to gather waste collecting data and inform householders and relevant authorities online. The proposed model provides dashboard, sound and light alerts in the system.

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