Finance
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/216
Browse
10 results
Search Results
Item Examining the adoption of technology-enhanced learning in universities and its effects on student performance, satisfaction, and motivation(2024) Yan, Liang; Chen, Shujie; Abeysekera, Ruwan; O’Sullivan, Helen; Bray, Jeff; Keevill-Savage, IzzyThe integration of technology in Higher Education has witnessed substantial growth in recent years. While extensive research has explored the collective educational implications of Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) at universities, there remains an incomplete understanding of its effects on individual students when viewed through the lens of Person-Environment misfit theory and technostress. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining the impact of student and university misfit when adopting TEL and technostress on students' performance, satisfaction, and motivation. Utilizing a quantitative survey, we gathered data from a sample of 332 Higher Education students in the UK. The results reveal the significant influence of student and university misfit in adopting TEL on academic performance, satisfaction, and motivation. Moreover, the findings highlight the mediating role of technostress in these intricate relationships. Our research indicates that technostress stems not from the use of technology itself but from the misfit between students and the university learning environment. To address this, universities should enhance students' sense of belonging by offering additional pastoral and academic support. Moreover, providing training to boost students' digital confidence and skills is crucial. Creating a psychologically healthy technology-enhanced learning environment will ensure a more pleasant learning experience, alleviating student technostress.Item The Nexus between Co-production and Willingness: Business Counselling in the Microfinance Sector(2020) Abeysekera, RuwanMicrofinance plays a vital role to alleviate poverty through the development of micro enterprises. Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) provide services such as micro credit, savings, insurance, and business development services (BDS) to its clients. BDS are non-financial services such as business training, market linkages, and information services which are provided by Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) to its clients. BDS help owner managers improve sales and profits and enable MFIs to achieve higher loan repayment rates and higher potential for client retention. The counsellors of MFIs provide BDS to owner managers of micro enterprises. This study focuses on the co-production of BDS where a counsellor of MFI and the owner manager of a microenterprise engage in the co-production of services. For a successful co-production, the client (i.e. owner manager in this study) has to a play an active role by exercising three client factors, namely ability, clarity of the role, and motivation. Thus, the objective of this study is to explore how the client/owner manager motivation (i.e. willingness) affects the co-production of BDS in counselling within a microfinance setting. A multiple case study method was used to conduct the present study by choosing six Sri Lankan MFIs as cases, where the selection of cases and respondents was based on a purposive sampling method. A counsellor and an owner manager representing each MFI were interviewed for data collection and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings show that economic factors, sanctions, and contextual factors influence the willingness of owner managers to co-produce BDS with counsellors of microfinance institutions (MFIs). The findings contribute to knowledge and practice domains related to microfinance.Item Trainer expertise in business training: evidence from the sri lankan microfinance institutions(2020) Abeysekera, RuwanMicrofinance Institutions (MFIs) provide business training to its clients in order to improve their knowledge and skills so that they can manage their businesses effectively and efficiently. MFIs can also experience better loan repayment rates due to the provision of business training. Thus, business training is important to both MFIs and clients. To deliver business training successfully, the expertise of the trainers matters significantly. Hence, the objectives of this study are to define the expertise, to identify how expertise could help clients in their business ventures, and to identify strategies used by trainers to transfer their expertise. The case study method was used to carry out this study and six Sri Lankan MFIs were used as cases. One manager, one trainer, and one owner manager/client from each MFI were selected for interviews and hence, 18 in depth interviews were conducted to gather data. The findings reveal that the trainers’ expertise consists of business knowledge and experiential knowledge. Trainers use business knowledge to provide subject knowledge such as financial literacy and business plan preparation. Experiential knowledge is used to create networking opportunities and to provide subject knowledge as well. Further, the trainers use strategies such as interactive training and communication to transfer the expertise. The findings of this study would be useful to microfinance practitioners, policy makers, and it further contributes to the knowledge domain of microfinance.Item Social entrepreneurship: concepts and research areas(Open University of Sri Lanka, 2019) Abeysekera, RuwanSocial entrepreneurship is an emerging phenomenon that provides innovative solutions to persisting social problems such as poverty, lack of access to education, clean drinking water and human rights which were previously overlooked by businesses, governments and non-governmental organizations. The concept of social entrepreneurship has not been defined properly, and hence, is a contested concept. Further, given that it consists of many sub-concepts, it is defined as a cluster concept. Social enterprises engage in social entrepreneurship and they try to achieve sustainability by using business models. Being a new discipline, social entrepreneurship presents many opportunities in research. This paper discusses the important concepts in social entrepreneurship and potential research areas for prospective researchers.Item Co-Production Related To Business Counselling in the Microfinance Sector as a Demonstration of Social Cooperation: An Interpersonal Relationship Approach(2020) Abeysekera, RuwanMicrofinance Institutions (MFIs) provide services such as microcredit, savings, insurance and Business Development Services (BDS) to low income people in order to start new businesses and expand existing businesses. MFIs cater to micro enterprises. A microenterprise is defined as an owner-managed business that has fewer than 10 employees. The studies show that micro enterprises not only need micro credit, but also BDS in order to grow their businesses. This study focuses on BDS. BDS are non-financial services such as management training, vocational training skills, marketing assistance and technology access provided to owner managers by MFIs. MFIs could provide BDS to owner managers/clients using business counselling. A good relationship between the counsellor and the client can be considered a defining feature of any successful counselling intervention. This interpersonal relationship enhances co-production of BDS in counselling. Therein, the objectives of this study are; to identify the factors that enhance the interpersonal relationship between the counsellor and the client in microfinance settings that result in enhanced co-production, to identify how interpersonal relationships enhance co-production, and to understand how organisational factors affect interpersonal relationships. The multiple case study method was used to conduct the study and six (6) Sri Lankan Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) were chosen as cases and data was collected by holding in depth interviews. Findings show that factors such as the expertise of the counsellors, social interaction, similar attitudes, intensity of contacts, and power distance influence the relationship between the counsellors and the clients. As a result of the enhanced interpersonal relationships between counsellor and client, parties exchange personal and communal favours thereby further enhancing co-production as well as improving the provision of information by clients. The findings further reveal that interpersonal relationships could be affected by the organisational factors such as the type of MFI and type of linkages. Therefore, the findings of this study will enable MFIs to improve the counselling intervention and will further contribute to the microfinance knowledge and practice domains.Item Exploring Factors Affecting the Effectiveness of Business Training in the Microfinance Sector: Using the Industrial Marketing Purchasing (IMP) Approach(2020) Abeysekera, RuwanMicrofinance institutions provide business training to its clients/owner managers to start and expand businesses. The literature reveals that business training given by MFIs helps improve the performance of both the MFIs and its clients (i.e., Owner managers of microenterprises). In effect, due to business training, MFIs can have improved loan repayment rates, client retention, and client satisfaction, while the owner-managers can have better sales, profits, and skills. However, despite the importance of business training to both MFIs and owner-managers' performance, there is a dearth of research undertaken to explore the effectiveness of business training intervention in microfinance setting. In this study, effectiveness is defined in terms of the impact of business training on the performance of MFIs and owner-managers (i.e., training – performance dyad). Hence, the purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the factors affecting the effectiveness of business training given by the MFIs in Sri Lanka. A multiple case study method was used to carry out the study. The study was guided by the Industrial Marketing Purchasing (IMP) group framework. Thus, the study looks at how operating environment, atmosphere, interacting parties and the interaction process affect the effectiveness of the training intervention. The findings reveal that lack of money and low client demand for the operating environment influence training effectiveness. Further, it was identified that factors such as better loan repayment and new venture creation motivate the MFIs to provide business training, whereas better business knowledge and business performance motivate the owner-managers to receive business training. These motivators are part of the atmosphere that has a bearing on the effectiveness of business training. The findings further show that the characteristics of the interacting parties (i.e., trainers and trainees in this study) could affect business training effectiveness. Thus, the trainer's expertise, trainer being internal or external, and trainer being full time or part-time can influence the training-performance dyad. Further, the owner-managers' expertise and organizational structure could also affect the effectiveness of training. Several factors enhance the interaction between trainers and owner-managers. They are the trainer's expertise and the owner-manager/client, trainer readiness, communication, follow-up procedures, feedback, and owner manager's willingness. Further, location, duration of the training, charging a fee or not, the voluntary/compulsory nature of training, and the provision of subsidies also could enhance the interaction between the trainers and the owner-managers. Therein, this study contributes to the knowledge domain of microfinance. The findings are useful to practitioners and policymakers in microfinance as they can look at the IMP framework to identify factors that could enhance the business training-performance dyad. In this study, the client and the owner-manager are used interchangeably.Item Default risk and debt recovery strategies in microfinance: evidence from Sri Lankan microfinance sector(the Department of Accountancy, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, 2018) Kalpani, B.L. Wathsala; Abeysekera, RuwanMicrofinance Institutions (MFIs) contribute immensely to low income earning individuals by providing microcredit and other services such as insurance, savings and training to engage in income generating activities. Microfinance spurs entrepreneurship, alleviates poverty and empowers women. Since MFIs provide microcredit to low income earning individuals who cannot provide collateral, there is a significant risk involved in lending. Hence, MFIs need to have good recovery strategies to maintain better loan portfolios. Thus, the objective of this study is to examine the default risk and debt recovery strategies adopted by Sri Lankan MFIs. Multiple case study method was used in this study as the research method and data was gathered using in depth interviews. Findings show that taking preventive actions such as quality screening, following up and critical monitoring, enhancing social capital, field officer portfolio tracking, providing Business Development Services (BDS), and using effective incentive systems can reduce the default risk. The debt recovery strategies identified by the present study are promise register, reminder letters, deductions form savings and guarantor’s income, and legal actions that could reduce the arrears in the status of default. The findings of this study contribute to both the epistemological and practical domains.Item Examining Counsellor Expertise: Evidence from the Sri Lankan Microfinance Sector(2020) Abeysekera, RuwanPosited in the context of the exacerbating conditions of the economic crisis, the shortage of financial resources in the small and medium-sized enterprise market, and the low standard of living of the population in a number of countries, microfinancing is one of the effective tools to stimulate entrepreneurship. Microfinancing is the issuance of small loans and other services, such as business development services (BDS), which also comprise components of financial literacy, business registration, market linkages, thereby serving as a reliable mechanism to support low-income individuals to start and grow their businesses and to alleviate poverty in the country. Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) use innovative techniques, such as group lending and gradually increasing loan sizes in order to provide these services. The systematic analysis of the existing scientific literature on microfinance revealed the lack of comprehensive research on the significance of counsellor expertise in the provision of BDS. Thus, the objectives of the present study were to understand the meaning of counsellor expertise, to see how counsellor expertise could help owner-managers in different areas of their businesses, and to examine how the organizational factors affect the expertise of the counsellors. A case study method was used to carry out the study. Accordingly, six MFIs were selected as cases, and a microfinance manager, a counsellor, and three owner-managers/clients from each MFI were interviewed to collect the data. The findings show that the counsellor expertise is twofold: business knowledge and experiential knowledge. It was evidenced that, while the business knowledge of counsellors helps owner-managers in record keeping, business plan preparation, and financial literacy, the experiential knowledge helps owner-managers in networking, business linkages, and different industries. The findings also reveal that the type of MFI, the type of linkage, and counsellor selection method influence the expertise of the counsellors. Therein, the findings are useful both to the practice and the knowledge domains in microfinance setting.Item Concepts and Implications of Theory of Co-production(Faculty of Management & Finance University of Colombo, 2015) Abeysekera, RuwanThe purpose of this paper is to present the concepts of co-production discussed in previous literature and to discuss its implications on research and practice. This is a theoretical paper. It identifies that the extant literature in co-production presents a number of research gaps that can be addressed in future research. These gaps exist in the areas of collective co-production, dyadic relationships and contextual factors. Moreover, the practicing managers and the policy makers can also use co-production concepts identified in this paper to implement in their programmes which offer diverse benefits to the programmes and the clients.Item Co-production in BDS: The evidence from the Sri Lankan Microfinance Sector(2020) Abeysekera, RuwanMicrofinance Institutions (MFIs), in addition to the provision of microcredit, also provide business development services (BDS) to owner managers in order to develop micro enterprises. BDS are non-financial services such as business training and access to information that help owner managers of microenterprises to develop businesses. In this respect, counsellors and trainers in MFIs co-produce BDS with owner managers. Co-production is the joint efforts of two parties, who together determine the output of their collaboration. The objective of this study therefore is to examine how co-production works in a BDS setting. A multiple case study method was used to carry out the study. Six MFIs were selected as cases and in-depth interviews were held with counsellors, trainers and managers to collect the data. The findings reveal that the expertise of counsellors, trainers and owner managers are the inputs for co-production. The outputs of co-production are twofold: MFI specific outputs and owner manager specific outputs. While MFI specific outputs are identified in better loan repayments rates, enhanced client satisfaction, and increased client retention, the owner manager specific outputs are denoted by better business knowledge, better sales, and profits. MFIs use counselling and training as modalities to co-produce BDS. There are a number of factors that affect the variability in coproduction including the readiness of counsellors and trainers, with a number of BDS provided under each modality. Therein, the findings of this study are beneficial to microfinance practitioners and policy makers. Furthermore, the findings also contribute to the knowledge domain of microfinance.