General Management
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Item Owner- Manager Values and Business performance: An Empirical Analysis of Manufacturing SMEs in Sri Lanka(2011) Pushpakumari, M.D.Small and medium sized sector is increasingly recognized as the prime vehicle for economic development in both developed and developing nations. In most of the countries in the world, the level of economic dependence on Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) has increased in recent years. Therefore, every government of a country emphasizes more the importance of the SME sector and at the same time this scenario has also led the government to place emphasis on enterprise assistance programs and policies to develop this sector. However, the effectiveness of these policies and programs depend on a thorough understanding of owners/managers and how they operate. Particularly, within this context owner-managers? personal values are considered very important. The literature in this area shows that a considerable attention has been devoted to the personal traits of owner-managers/entrepreneurs of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Nonetheless less attention has been given to their values, particularly outside of a western context. However, as values are instrumental in the decision making and have implications for the owner-manager?s behavior and approach to managing the organization, the aim of this research is to empirically investigate the relationship between personal values and the business performance of SMEs. The research also fills gaps in empirical research on values and business success in SMEs within the Asian context. Data for the research were obtained from a mail survey using a questionnaire distributed to owner-managers of SMEs of the manufacturing industry in a developing Asian country - Sri Lanka. Analyzing data employing non-parametric statistical techniques (Kruskal-Wallis test) it is found that there is a significant relationship between the personal values of owner-managers and business performance of SMEs. The findings and implications of this study could provide some useful insights to fill the gap in contemporary research and contribute to literature which can be useful to owner-managers and managers of SMEs.Item Factors of Human Capital towards Business Performance of Women-Owned Small Enterprises: A Study in Matara District, Sri Lanka(2011) Ganewatta, G.K.H.; Rathnayake, R.M.In today?s context, managing business successfully is not an easy task. Many people who begin the process of starting a new business fail to achieve their goals, although others are quite successful . It has been recognized that women owned firms were more likely to fail, and had lower levels of sales, profits, and employment than those owned by men . Human Capital is arguably the most valuable asset held by any organization today. Prior research showed that human capital attributes in particular those of the business owner, have been argued to be a critical resource that affects small business performance. However the amount of investigations linking performance of women entrepreneurs and human capital are very limited in Sri Lanka. Therefore this research is is an empirical investigation of the impact of factors of human capital on the business performance of small enterprises managed by women entrepreneurs. The main objective of the study was to determine the impact of human capital and to what extent factors of human capital contribute to performance changes of small enterprises managed by women. A secondary objective was to find the most influencing human capital factor in formulating a composite index of human capital. This study considered seven factors of human capital as independent variables and business performance as dependent variable. The strength of the relationship between variables and the level of statistical significance were assessed using Correlation coefficient and the Multiple regression procedure . The findings of the correlation analysis showed that human capital is highly correlated with performance. With regard to regression analysis, only two human capital variables i.e training, and previous entrepreneurial experience, were significantly positively influencing for performance. Other five factors; education level, education area and previous occupation, entrepreneurial skills and parents or husband owns a business were not significantly affecting for performance. Thus, this study reveals that level of education, area of education as not influential factors to enhance performance of women entrepreneurs in small scale enterprises, but training and experience as more important factors. It suggests that, even without formal education women can be directed to do businesses and their performance can be improved by giving proper training. Therefore the results of this study have practical implications for managerial practice and small business development. The regression model which explains the influence of factors of human capital towards the human capital index showed that education area as the most influential factor and education level as the least influential factor in formulating a composite index of human capital.Item THE IMPACT OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL ON THE FIRM PERFORMANCE AND INVESTOR RESPONSE: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF SELECTED SECTORS IN COLOMBO STOCK EXCHANGE(2010) Kehelwalatenna, S.; Gunaratne, P.S.M.Intellectual capital (IC) is recognized as a strategic asset which gives competitive advantages by driving organizations for superior performance in the modern day knowledge-based economies. The purpose of this study is to investigate, empirically, the relation between IC, and firm performance and the response of investors. In this respect, the study has been conducted using data drawn for 2002 to 2006 from listed financial services and manufacturing sector firms in Sri Lanka. The Pulic?s Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) has been employed to measure the IC together with the measurements of value creation efficiencies of capital employed, human capital, and structural capital of selected firms. The researchers use the Pearson?s correlation analysis and construct regression models to investigate the said relationships. Results of the main analysis show that IC is positively associated with firm performance, and investor response. In addition, it is found that the level of importance placed by investors on three components of value creation efficiencies (physical capital, human capital, and structural capital) has not been uniform. Moreover, the results of the extended analyses further confirm some of the above associations with few exceptions. The study is novel and original in its approach to determine the value addition in the VAIC model. In this regard, current study brings the assumptions of the stewardship theory in alternative to both economic value addition and value addition according to the stakeholder theory. Moreover, the results may extend in understanding the role of IC in creating corporate value and building sustainable advantages for companies in developing countries as the findings in developed economies and emerging economies cannot be generalized to developing nations, since country-specific factors and technological advancements influence significantly in determining the level of IC.Item Impact of Gender on Effective Utilization of the Microfinance Credit Facilities in Sri Lanka(2011) Pushpakumara, W.P.N.Microfinance institutions can play vital role in giving solution this poverty problem especially in developing countries like Sri Lanka. Microfinance Institutions generally provides savings, credit facilities and some other services like providing education, technology, insurance etc. Experience shows that microfinance can help the poor to increase income, build viable businesses, and reduce their vulnerability to external shocks. It can also be a powerful instrument for self-empowerment by enabling the poor, to become economic agents of change. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) provide credit facilities to poor with no collateral or having a minimum security. Therefore the recovery of loans is at a higher risk to maintain the sustainability of the MFIs. So that it is important to analyze to whom the credit facility is given, for what purpose and returns earned from that program as well as the recoverability of the loan. Therefore this research focus on the qualities between genders about micro financing expectations to identify better gender to focus on developing these habits. Sample units were selected from the District of Kurunegala and the sample comprised 150 individuals who are currently engage in microfinance credit scheme and 50 individuals who are about to start their Microfinance projects. Equal number of men and women were included in the sample. Primary and secondary were collected from the borrowers and MFIs using a questionnaire, interviews and institutional records to analyze the attitude towards credit scheme, their repayment habit, saving patterns and the performance of microfinance projects. In this study, the researcher assesses the performance of men & women in microfinance credit schemes to find out whether men or women will achieve the microfinance goals favorable manner. The research finding shows a favorable impact of achieving microfinance goals by women rather than men. Women show a good record of repayment of loans, increase of their savings and earn more capital return than men.Item Working Capital Management and Firms' Performance: An Analysis of Sri Lankan Manufacturing Companies(2011) Lingesiya, Y.; Nalini, S.Management of working capital refers to management of current assets and of current liabilities. Firms may have an optimal level of working capital that maximizes their value. Prior evidence has determined the relationship between working capital and performance. This study extends the literature. The working capital was determined by the cash conversion cycle and position of working capital, indicated by the current ratio, quick ratio, and stock to current assets. The performance was measured in terms of profitability by return on total assets, and relationship between working capital management and profitability was investigated by using panel data analysis for a sample of 30 listed manufacturing companies for the period of 2006 ? 2010. Estimated equation by the panel data method to obtain the estimates of the parameters of pooled model was applied for explanatory variables to measure their effect on firm performance. Results indicate that high investment in inventories and receivables lead to lower profitability and current assets to total assets lead to higher profitability. The results conclude that a strong relationship between working capital management and performance.