Browsing by Author "Sachitra, V."

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Are Sri Lankan Farmers Ready to e-agriculture Transformation? Perspective on E-readiness Measurement
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2021) Sachitra, V.; Padmini, C.
There is consciousness that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) should be efficiently used to develop agricultural sector. E-agriculture is vital for supporting the promotion of agriculture products and to have an impact on the living standards of farmers. Before developing any e-agriculture technology, it is needed to measure the e-readiness as it will be an indicator to predict the utilization of technology. Quite a few e-readiness initiatives have been initiated to help developing countries’ agriculture sector. Prior literature, a large variety of e-readiness tools currently exist, using a variety of questions, statistics, benchmarking and historic analyses. However, these indicators come with a particular perspective. The analysis of the literature demonstrates that most of the indicators of ereadiness related to technology infrastructure, human skills, people and accessibility and connectivity. However, the challenge is to construct a comprehensive model that would incorporate all the major driving forces of an economy that would directly effect on the improvement of e-agriculture. This paper provides a first attempt to conceptualize the scale to quantify the e-readiness of farmers in Sri Lanka utilizing the criteria 8Cs. The present study will be useful for policy makers as well as researchers for the measurement of e-readiness of farmers to know their preparedness and ability to use technological devices. The e-readiness measurement will be utilized to evaluate the farming community’s readiness to engage in eactivities such as e-commerce and e-government.
Managerial Mindfulness and Business Model Innovation as Antidotes to SMEs’ Survive and Growth: Conceptual Model and Scale Development
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2023) Sachitra, V.
In the dynamic business environment, the notions of business model (BM) and business model innovation (BMI) have received considerable attention in industry and academia. Coupled with reduced consumer demand and supply restraints due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus, it is no surprise that many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are experiencing challenging times. Under challenging and stressful conditions, mindfulness plays a prominent role. However, mindfulness is primarily observed as an individual’s psychological state, thus scholars have begun to study collective mindfulness, particularly focusing on managerial mindfulness. It is worthwhile to argue that BMI processes of SMEs can be supplementary facilitated by owners’/managers’ mindful behaviors. On these notes, backed by previous works, this study provides a first attempt to develop a hypothesized model connecting managerial mindfulness, BMI and SMEs survive and growth. Subsequently, in scale development process, an initial item pool was established, and face validity of the modified measures have been tested using expert judging method. A logical next step would be to collect data and test the scales for overall construct validity as well as provide a statistical view on how managerial mindful behaviors can drive to adopt BM tools to support SMEs survive and sustain continued growth.
Reflection of Environmental Citizenship Behaviour through Domestic Waste Disposal Practices: Examination on Youth in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya., 2022) Sachitra, V.
The comparison of Environmental Citizen Behaviour (ECB) and waste disposal mechanism is relatively unknown among youth. The study explores how ECB reflects through domestic waste disposal practices by analyzing extend of ECB and waste disposal practices among Sri Lankan youth descriptively. A quantitative cross-sectional online survey was adopted to collect data from students in Sri Lankan universities. ECB was measured with a modified version of the eleven-item scale developed. Measurement properties were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation analysis and mean comparison analysis were utilized as data analysis techniques. The study operationalized ECB as eco-initiatives, eco-helping and eco-civic engagement. Relative to eco initiative and eco helping, low practice was reported to eco-civic engagement. Presence of low and moderate ECB, the probability of using waste collection arrangement was high. Respondents with higher level of ECB, applicability of composting the waste is relatively high. However, dumping waste outside premises was also high among highest ECB. Compared to individuals with high and low ECB, burning waste was higher for moderate ECB. The findings suggest that there is a certain level of ECB that is necessary for waste disposal method selection, however when the ECB level optimized, it may affect waste disposal negatively. The joint inspiration of ECB and waste disposal is relatively unknown. In Sri Lanka, which is a developing context, there is a lack of studies about the connection between ECB and waste disposal.