International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPRC)

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    Implementation of an Online Results Issuing System in the Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya
    (International Postgraduate Research Conference 2019, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Ranaweera, H.R.M.P.; Fernando, P.N.D.; Karunarathne, W.V.A.D.
    The Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies of the University of Kelaniya, has implemented a Student Information System that is capable of handling complex administrative processes; from student registration to the issuing of final examination results. This will immensely benefit the students and the staff alike and will help streamline the processing of information. Currently student examination results are handled by a central location and marks are fed into the system by a single user in the Faculty Office. This is a time-consuming endeavor and tends to create a lot of inefficiencies and has limited data retrieval capabilities. This process not only delays the issuing of the results, but also has no traceability if needs arise for tracking for any errors or duplicity. Also, the current system possesses no method of retrieving data for research purposes and decision-making purposes for academics and administrators. This manual process causes prolonged turnaround time, unnecessary document transferring, inability to track delays, complications in data entry and report dispatch. A newer mechanism was required to address the issues faced. Efficient data retrieval for research purposes and decision making was also considered important. The objective was to design, develop and implement an online result issuing system that would benefit diverse parties: students, staff, administration and the environment. Data entry will be done by the examiners themselves, right after the marking of papers; ensuring data integrity in order to overcome unnecessary delays and errors. Further this will permit progress tracking for top management. The efficacy, transparency and ability to avoid human error and delays would support decision making by enabling the top management to analyze the time taken, quality and quantity of work done by the students as well as the examiners. Furthermore, the students would experience the convenience of accessing their results as soon as they have been issued whether they are present at the university or not. In addition to seeing the final grading for the relevant semester, they would be able to self-evaluate their academic performances based on the report they can view indicating their semester GPA through four years in a graph. Additionally, this online system would prove to be environmentally friendly with the reduction of paper printing. This web-based application was developed using open source scripting languages and databases: PHP, HTML 5, CSS, JavaScript, Ajax and MySQL. The system is hosted on the faculty premises and available 24/7 from anywhere. The system supports both windows and Mac operating systems via desktop and mobile devices and is accessible on IOS and Android devices, using any commonly used modern web browser with use of a log-in. This would mean the staff and student would no longer require a complex processes and lengthy timelines for the issuing of examination results
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    Business Failure of Small and Medium Enterprises - A Review
    (International Postgraduate Research Conference 2019, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Jayasekara, B.E.A.; Fernando, P.N.D.; Ranjani, R.P.C.
    Small and Medium enterprises are back born of developed and developing economies around the world. However the sector has not provided desired level of contribution and suffers from high failure rate in worldwide. The main purpose of this study is to critically evaluate the causes of failure of SMEs based on literature. The objectives of this study is to determine the causes of failure of SMEs, critically evaluate the literature on small and medium business failure theories as well as lessons that could be learnt from the existing literature and to determine the methods of improving the business success to achieve sustainable economic development. The methodology used this study to review literature systematically using sample of 95 studies selected from most relevant articles published from 1968-2016 and critically appraised and synthesized findings qualitatively. The Small and Medium business can be failed due to an inability to achieve certain goals due to activating opposition forces, tensions between assets against liabilities, limited access to finance, unbeatable competition, isolation, inadequate staff, wrong pricing, lack of co-operation, technical insolvency, inability to satisfy principal stakeholder’s aspirations, losses to creditors, cessation of operations, termination due to under performance, involuntary change in both the ownership and management of the business owing to poor performance, unable to meet liabilities, not made profit for the previous three years, sale of the firm or personal decision by the owner to accept employment with another firm, fall in revenue, rise in expenses becomes insolvent ,unable to attract new debt or equity funding, cannot continue to operate under the current ownership and management, exiting the economy or not meeting the “performance threshold” of the market, owner’s personalized management style, end state, liabilities exceeds the value of the company’s available assets, decline and deterioration of financial performance, revenue does not sufficiently exceed costs, decline performance, deviation from goals, continuous performance lapses, inability of a business to meet its financial obligations, economic failure, venture failure, outcomes less than the expectations, poor management practices, overtrading, lack of additional resources, resource insufficiency, unbalance of the resources and opportunities in the organizational life stages, lack the necessary skills or versatility, entrepreneurs lack of strategic management knowledge, entrepreneur’s lack of vision, threat rigidity, strategic persistence, lack of will, lack of turnaround strategies and inability to respond effectively and make necessary adjustments to reverse the downward spiral of decline triggered by external factors. The literature recommend, failures can be mitigate through improving business management skill of the entrepreneurs, continuous concentration on cost reduction, quality improvements, service / product innovation; breakdown organizational barriers between departments; create close relationship with customers and suppliers, eliminating layers of management ,creating flatter organizational hierarchies, transform to advanced latest technology, global focus and enhancing human resource skills and obtain decisions based on the group discussions. The findings of the study useful in identifying practices to be avoided and in aiding educators, consultants, and SME business support agencies in meeting the needs of the business community