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    Audience Acculturation as an Organizational Control Strategy: Transferability of Japanese Management Practices to Sri Lankan Workers: Case Study of Harness Lanka Ltd
    (University of Kelaniya, 2005) Rathnasiri, C.; Pallewatta, R.
    This paper aims to examine the role of culture building process of an organization and its influence on the effectiveness in establishing desired organizational controls. It further highlights the function of organizational culture ’alien’ or ‘indigenous’ in effecting behavioural control in employees with a view to achieving common goals of the organization. The acculturation or ‘training on culture’ is significant as this phenomenon is studied in the context of Japanese management culture prevalent in the organization that supplies a high security component to a leading supplier, to Toyota Corporation Management controls refer to sum total of all formal and informal arrangements designed to monitor and direct current actions of organizational participants directed at achieving organizational objectives. Control mechanisms in organizations are instrumental in motivating, monitoring, measuring, the sanctions and actions of managers and employees (Macikntosh, 1994). They include formal apparent mechanisms and informal intangible mechanisms. Formal ones are management structure, operational controls, reward systems, budgeting, standard operating rules and procedures, strategic planning system, etc. Informal mechanisms are leadership and organization culture. The control techniques and procedures are outputs of leader’s control orientation and the specific organizational culture (Hopper and Mackintosh, 1993). This research in the form of a case study with grounded theory approach illustrates the culture building mechanisms and the control function of culture. The research site is a Board of Investment approved export-oriented Japanese investment managed by a Sri Lankan CEO whose culture blinding initiatives are phenomenal. It has been vividly illustrated as to how elements of trust, self – control and voluntary control of employees ensure superior performance. The product that is produced is unique as it requires extra effort of diligence and gilt-edged precision. While maintaining these requirements, the employees are able to achieve performance targets easily. The management structure is also unique - CEO and workers, no managers are found in the hierarchy. This facilitates the CEO’s direct involvement in building the culture that regulates behaviour of employees in the desired direction. It is also evident that transferability of Japanese management elements has been quite successful. In summary, the case provides a sound illustration about the importance of acculturation process and the instrumentality of organizational culture in effecting management controls.
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    Heritage site management problem in developing countries: a case study on Temple Town Bishnupur, District Bankura, west Bengal, India
    (University of Kelaniya, 2013) Chatterjee, N.D.
    The prerogative of cultural geography is to analyse how space, place and landscape are shaped by culture. It focuses on people‟s relationship to the natural world and the modification of that natural landscape into cultural landscape. Cultural landscape is tangible outcome of the complex interaction between human groups with its own practice, preferences, values, aspirations and a natural or modified environment (Knox & Manston, 1987). This interaction is time and space specific. Thus each and every place has its own cultural identity. This identity may become a resource for the further development of that place. So is happen in case of the „temple town‟ Bishnupur. Geographically it is located between 22057‟15” N to 23012‟32”N latitude and 87031‟46”E to 87024‟11”E longitude. The place significance of Bishnupur is historically rooted. It was the capital of Malla dynasty. The Malla kings patronise many handloom and cottage industries including Silk, Tasar, Conch shell carvings, Bell metal, Patachitra etc. Along with this the Malla kings constructed many terracotta and brick made temples as religious symbols. Malla reign faced many ups and downs for several times. Naturally many cultural practices imprinted their material and non material culture to the indigenous Bishnupur culture. The terracotta temples witnessed as piece of evidence of that aculturation process. The temples of Bishnupur and surrounding areas were constructed in 16th or 17th century. The temple architecture of neighbouring state Orissa has a great impact on the temple of the study area. Incarnation of Mughal and South Indian style of temple can also be found (Santra, 1998). The Mughal, Parsic, Indo-Parsic, Hindu classics, Buddhist style and the mythological influences are prominent in terracotta ornamentation. Beside that the influence of Portuguese architecture is prominent (Dasgupta 1980). Thus mixture of tangible or natural resource and intangible resource in form of religious beliefs makes temples as a part of cultural environment which becomes a resource base for tourism. But it is very difficult in the developing countries to promote tourism because in most cases supply of basic needs get priority in the national planning programmes. Thus the architectural heritage sites like Bishnupur though having good tourism potentiality could not get proper priority at Local, Regional, National and International level. The present paper is trying to address such questions related to the management of heritage sites in the developing countries.