New Horizons in Management, Leadership and Sustainability

Brand value is an important concept that provides a competitive edge for businesses. In this exploratory study, we argue that perceived quality is the single most important determinant of brand value for a given brand. Through secondary data analysis of 14 countries, we identified the brand value gap that exists between Sri Lanka and other nations within and outside the region. For this, we developed an aggregate measure that was defined as the mean per capita brand value (MPCBV). We found that Sri Lanka does not perform badly in MPCBV at the regional level, but compared to developed nations, Sri Lanka lags way behind, in part because developed countries are branded highly as nations. We proposed a conceptual framework to suggest avenues to increase the competitiveness of Sri Lankan products and services globally. Our conceptual framework demonstrates that the role of quality can be analytically generalized to any developing nation.

Corporate social performance (CSP) is a relatively new area of study that refers to the businesses’ relationship with people, organizations, communities, and the earth. The main objective of the present study is to identify the impact of CSP on the firm financial performance of the listed companies on the Colombo Stock Exchange. Further the study investigated the moderating effect of ownership structure on the above relationship. Data for the study was collected from 30 companies that are listed under chemical and pharmaceutical; beverage, food, and tobacco; hotel and travel; and manufacturing sectors for the 6-year period from 2013 to 2018. Return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA) were used to measure the firm financial performance. If firms have invested in pollution control methods, it is considered as they have satisfied corporate social performance. The sum of ownership percentage of the five largest investors was taken to measure ownership concentration. Data was analyzed employing regression analysis. The results of the study revealed that there is a significant positive impact of corporate social performance on the financial performance of the listed companies. Moreover, the study revealed that the ownership concentration negatively moderates the relationship between corporate social performance and a firm’s financial performance. The findings of the study help policy makers and regulators better identify how the ownership concentration is associated with firm incentives to engage in social performance which leads towards better financial performance.

The study explores the moderating role of firm size on the relationship between capital structure and performance of the Pakistani textile sector. The study extracted statistics from the annual reports of the textile firms listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) from 2010–2017. The study applies several panel data diagnostic tests and then projected a feasible generalized least square (FGLS) regression model for testing primary and moderated effects of firm size on capital structure-performance relation by taking asset tangibility as a control variable. The study outcomes depict that 65% of assets of Pakistani textile companies are financed by debt, suggesting that textile companies are functioning with high levels of financial leverage. The total debt ratio of firms is moderately highly leveraged, as the average value is around 65%. The research has important practical consequences that will help textile industry financial managers adopt the optimal mix of capital structure when debt borrowing could enhance performance.

The study aims to investigate the influence of innovative marketing strategy on the development of MSMEs in Sri Lanka. Primary data collection was adopted to collect data from owners of MSMEs by using questionnaires. A stratified proportionate random sampling method was utilized to select samples. A total of 686 valid questionnaires were collected from respondents. The researcher used exploratory factor analysis to identify the dimensions of factors and structural equation modeling to investigate the strength of the relationship among variables. The results of the study proved that MSMEs enhance their performance through innovative marketing strategy. In particular, the application of the innovative marketing strategy for MSMEs caused an increase in the internal process performance, customer performance and learning, and growth performance and financial performance. This research indicates that owners of MSMEs need to apply the innovative marketing strategy to develop their firms and to upgrade micro firms towards small and medium level.

This paper investigates how organizational culture influenced successful and unsuccessful operationalization of the balanced scorecard (BSC) in a clustered apparel firm in Sri Lanka, illuminating the influence of human and non-human actors. Actor-network theory (ANT) was adopted as the theoretical lens, incorporating a qualitative, case study approach; data were gathered from interviews and documentary evidence. The findings revealed that the cluster which possessed a hierarchical culture failed in operationalization of BSC, while the cluster which possessed a clan culture (friendly, team-oriented, and innovative culture) succeeded in operationalization of the BSC. The divisional leaders of the clusters were key actors who shaped their divisional controls. Middle-level managers and lower-level employees also influenced operationalization of the management controls from the grassroots level. Non-human actors such as ERP systems and training on the BSC influenced operationalization of the BSC. Our study also revealed the existence of a subculture within a cluster (Cluster X) that led it to fail BSC operationalization while illuminating that the other cluster, which did not have any subcultures, succeeded in operationalization of BSC.

This study examines the direct and indirect effects of informal-sector micro-entrepreneurs’ political and business connections on their self-efficacy and firm performance via the mediating role of perceived support from the institutional environment in an emerging economy, Sri Lanka. The findings using matched survey data from 635 entrepreneurs and their case officers reveal that micro-entrepreneurs’ utilization of business ties and political ties impacts firm performance through the mediated role of the perceived support from the regulatory and cognitive environments and self-efficacy. We argue that, for informal-sector micro-entrepreneurs, their business and political connections provide a crucial link to the formal institutional environment, thereby increasing their self-efficacy and performance.

Floriculture is a booming agribusiness in Sri Lanka, especially for women growers. Current understanding of women entrepreneurs in emerging economies remains limited despite the fact that women entrepreneurs are rapidly growing across the globbe. This research identifies the social reality of respondents and examines it objectively. The research used a mixed design, with questionnaire surveys. The interview sample was of floriculturists in the Western Province in Sri Lanka. The study found that 76% of the women sampled received support from their family and 16% support from other institutes. The results revealed that both strong ties and weak ties play a significant role in determining business growth for Sri Lankan women entrepreneurs.

This study examines how weak and strong network ties of micro-entrepreneurs influence their entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and thereby micro-enterprise performance, in the informal sector of Sri Lanka. Using matched data from 635 micro-entrepreneurs and case officers employed by the government, structural equation modeling is employed to test the hypothesized relationships. In line with social cognitive theory, findings confirm that, whereas weak ties lead to enhanced entrepreneurial self-efficacy, strong ties do not. Furthermore, weak ties predicted micro-enterprise performance through enhancing entrepreneurial self-efficacy. These findings provide new insights into an emerging yet under-researched area.

Micro- and small-scale ventures are known as vital vectors for the eradication of poverty and uplifting the livelihood of the community. Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in three dimensions – proactiveness, innovativeness, and risk-taking ability – provides insights into entrepreneurial behaviour of business holders. The present research is focused on the EO of business holders in turbulent environments towards business performance. The quantitative research was carried out with 92 business holders in an industrialized zone in Sri Lanka. The findings revealed that in a changing environment, the most vigilant EO dimension is risk-taking ability. In-depth analysis of risk-taking ability showcased that micro and small entrepreneurs in highly competitive platforms do not tend to go for high-risk projects. Thus it can be concluded that entrepreneurs in turbulent environments take calculated risks to thrive in the businesses.

Findings reveal that all responding companies typically take measures for environmental protection to comply with environmental legislation, the National Environmental Act, and with SLS ISO Environmental Management Systems standards. Compared to planning and pre-implementation stages of a business, the mainstream environmental management (EM) measures relate to the implementation stage. Listed companies strongly believe that these efforts also influence a positive company image and firm survival. Differences are identified between companies/sectors showing a greater potential for EM measures in environmentally highly sensitive sectors/businesses, i.e. Chemical and pharmaceuticals sector, poultry. This suggests that businesses must improve awareness among all personnel on legal compliance and standards observance.

Sustainability is vital for manufacturing organizations to address major environmental issues. In response to addressing environmental issues, firms need to adopt green human resource management (GHRM) practices to improve sustainable performance (SP). The purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine the relationship between GHRM practices (green selection and recruitment, green training and development, and green assessment and rewards) and SP. This study employed an explanatory, sequential, mixed-method design, using both quantitative and qualitative data. The results showed that GHRM practices have a positive relationship with SP, and major themes of green HRM practices emerged to explain SP. This study makes novel contributions to green HRM and sustainability performance but also adheres to inherent limitations and outlines directions for future research.

This research provides an empirical analysis to discover significant determinants of environmental management (waste treatment, energy reduction, recycling, remanufacturing, environmental design and environmental management systems) that managers may need in order to achieve environmental sustainability within their organization. The hypothesized relationships of this model are tested with data collected from 30 rubber manufacturing firms in Sri Lanka, using panel models during the period 2012–2016. The study found that, in general, environmental management does not significantly impact on business performance. It is also found that environmental investment weakened the relationship between environmental management and business performance. Analysis revealed that only two specific determinants of environmental management, furnace oil usage and environmental design, have a significant impact on performance of a firm.

Today’s context businesses are vulnerable to different risk situations. Challenges of disruptive change are one of the major risk components that have got adversely fastened to businesses. The present-day value of a business is judged through multiple dimensions, paying attention to economic, social, and environmental concerns. The core value of a business is not an undeviating measure of pure manufacturing performance but a much more in-depth commitment of a more focused strategic direction on sustainable economic development. Global megatrends (demographic transitions, urbanization, climate and resources, commodity cycles, technological disruptions, fragility and violence, shifts in the global economy, debate about globalization, and many other forces operating in the environment) and challenges are expected because any risk in macro circumstances leads to extreme disruptive challenges and gradual modification of risk in businesses, which will affect the change in equilibrium of businesses, and this will manifest in manufacturing processes. A better understanding of the linkages between these trends and the associated changes in economic, social, and environmental conditions is needed for survival of businesses in the long run.

Over the last two to three decades, a wide range of researchers has examined the determinants of economic growth using different methodologies. In the context of developing countries, political shocks and instabilities are found to be a major determinant of economic growth. Thus the main objective of this study is to examine determinants of real gross domestic product (RGDP) with a special reference to political instability, which is a less examined phenomenon in the local and international literature. The study employed secondary data from 1971 to 2016. RGDP was considered as the dependent variable, and foreign direct investment, inflation, population growth, fixed domestic capital formation, trade openness, political instability and the introduction of the open economy concept have been considered as explanatory variables. The regression results indicate that gross fixed capital formation, foreign direct investment and the introduction of the open economy in 1977 had a statistically significant strong positive impact on real GDP. Population growth rate, inflation and political instability were found to have no significant impact on Sri Lanka’s RGDP. These findings have significant policy implications.

The association between budget deficit and macroeconomic variables and the repercussions for macroeconomic instability has been among the most widely debated topics among economists and policymakers. This paper examines the association between budget deficit and selected macroeconomic variables in Sri Lanka, Malaysia and South Korea, 2000–2016. The explanatory macroeconomic variables are inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, debt and real GDP growth rate. A Granger Causality test was carried out to determine whether the selected variables’ impact on budget deficit was uni- or bi-directional. The comparative study considered panel analysis. Data were sourced from the IMF, World Bank and Central Bank of Sri Lanka annual reports. The Sri Lankan finding was that there was uni-directional causality between the variables. In the Malaysian study, there was no causality between budget deficit and the variables. In South Korea, the study identified uni-directional causality between the variables. The panel analysis suggested that debt and real GDP growth rate are significant variables in controlling a budget deficit. A country’s debt level is a significant variable in controlling the size of the deficit. In Sri Lanka, it is important to consider economic policy strategies implemented by Malaysia and South Korea to mitigate prevailing economic issues of a sustained sizable budget deficit, significant debt maturities, weaker public finances and higher domestic and foreign currency debt, all of which disrupt achievement of sustained economic growth.

This paper aims to describe the behavior of the All Share Price index (ASPI), which is the broader market price index of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). The behavior of the ASPI was simultaneously analyzed under three different perspectives: macroeconomic variables, elections, and the civil war. Monthly ASPI data collected from the Colombo Stock Exchange was utilized in this study as the dependent variable, along with the monthly data collected from the data library of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2017 as independent variables. Two dummy variables were incorporated to identify the impact of the elections and the civil war. A generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model was used in the process of estimating the parameters. All the models developed in this study were selected using the mean absolute percentage error and adjusted Pearson’s goodness of fit test. The key findings illustrate that the absence of war, presence of general and presidential elections, and the crude oil price have a positive relationship with the ASPI, while the presence of provincial elections, imports, exports, and the exchange rate have a negative relationship. The results revealed that during the post-war period, the conditional heteroscedastic nature of the ASPI cannot be found. The study concluded that even the termination of the civil war created a sudden rise in the ASPI and a positive condition where investors can come and invest in Sri Lanka, along with that the economical status of the country and the political status and the events of the country have their influences on the stock market.

With the advancement of the Internet, social media have become an integral part of our lives, impacting on every aspect of society, and especially in higher education. Thus, understanding the impact of social media on students’ academic performance is inevitable. Social media in higher education has been researched by many, but the impact on students’ academic performance has not been addressed sufficiently, particularly in Sri Lanka. Hence, the objective of this study is to examine the impact of social media on students’ academic performance. A comprehensive model has been formulated and validated using data collected from 320 undergraduates. The measurement model analysis provides adequate construct validity and reliability, and the structural model provides a good model fit. Of the ten hypotheses, nine are supported. The findings reveal that integrating social media in teaching and learning can assist in enhancing students’ academic performance.

The concept of entrepreneurial university (EU) is renowned as a major driver in establishing an ecosystem conducive for a country’s development. The purpose of our study is to explore how the entrepreneurial leader builds an EU through assessing the role of a Vice Chancellor in the implementation of this concept in a Sri Lankan state university. Qualitative approach (a case study) is adopted using interviews with current and former Vice Chancellors of the University of Delta which was supported by documentary evidence. The Triple Helix Model is applied to illuminate the leaders’ role in building an EU. Accordingly, it was revealed that Vice Chancellors contributed in building an EU through acting as the key collaborating agents that link the university, government, and industry while integrating these sectors into a single platform; being creative and innovative; strengthening staff; and providing leadership for projects to raise quality of higher education. Finally, all these actions link together in building an EU which ensures production of graduates possessing entrepreneurial behavior and convergence of academic entrepreneurship while securing quality and sustainability of the higher education institution.

This chapter explains the imperative of linking with micro small medium enterprises (MSMEs) as vital contributors to the process of commercialization of new knowledge discovered in the higher education sector. Higher education in management has the greatest challenge to equalize graduates’ knowledge and skills with existing employment opportunities. MSMEs are job creators in the economy and contributors to sustainable development. If the education system of higher education in management does not withstand future needs, this will impair the social, economic, and environmental conditions of the country. To sustain the balance in these three pillars of sustainability, management graduates who will be future managers should be educated well with the needed skills and knowledge through a sustainable curriculum, which can be enriched with the linkage with the MSMEs during study, a milestone for business startup, employment opportunities, and industry intakes.

Employees are emotional beings. At work, however, employees are supposed to intentionally suppress their emotions, even though this is a difficult task. Negative emotions in the workplace are neglected, even though positive emotions tend to get reinforced with ease. As emotions are a factor that affect job engagement, people who are driven by enthusiasm are often involved in their work and motivated by the work itself, bringing more positive results for organisations. This study examines envy, one of the rampant negative emotions in the workplace, and its impact on job engagement. The study was conducted on a sample of 162 academic staff members working as full-time academics in private higher educational institutes in the Colombo District. Data were collected through a standard and validated questionnaire survey. The results of the study found that there is a significant impact of feeling envied by others and feeling envious of others on emotional and cognitive engagement. However, there is no impact of feeling envied by others and feeling envious of others on physical engagement. The study illustrated that feeling envied by others and feeling envious of others are negatively associated with emotional engagement, whereas feeling envied by others and feeling envious of others are positively associated with cognitive engagement. The study proposes that managing employee envy is worthwhile because it leads them to better engage themselves in their work role physically, emotionally and cognitively.

Today, new technologies, digitisation and artificial intelligence create demand within organisations for different skill sets as well as new ways of working. On the world stage, the Asian region is expected to grow fastest in human resource (HR) analytics due to rapid digital transformation. HR analytics enables organisations to make evidence-based strategic business decisions that lead to achieving a sustained competitive advantage. Hence, HR analytics will be an innovative addition for the effective talent management of organisations. Although some organisations practice HR analytics, it is observed that the adoption and diffusion of HR analytics are still sluggish in emerging markets. In this chapter, we apply diffusion of the innovation theory to examine the factors that affect the adoption and diffusion of HR analytics in Sri Lanka as an empirical context. The objectives are to understand the current state of HR analytics, identify the challenges and barriers to implementing HR analytics and build a model for the successful implementation of HR analytics.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting has been the subject of a growing amount of research. However, there are many challenges and opportunities associated with emerging market multinational companies (EMNCs) that have yet to be addressed. This paper aims to make contributions to this under-represented area, i.e. how EMNCs manage sustainability reporting in outward foreign direct investment (FDI), helping both practitioners and researchers to address challenges that these EMNCs may face. This paper addresses this research gap by selecting China, a leading emerging economy. We review the key strands within the field of CSR reporting and the status quo of CSR research in China. In developing new significant areas of enquiry, we draw on a specific context, the Australian mining industry, to further highlight differences in, for instance, legitimising strategies between Australia and China. We illuminate challenges facing Chinese MNCs in managing CSR reporting when conducting outward FDI. We propose areas where CSR research could be developed in the context of Chinese MNCs.

The main objective of this study is to examine the nature and level of compliance with corporate governance best practices in Sri Lankan listed companies using a constructed corporate governance index (CGI) and to examine the relationship between corporate governance and corporate performance. In addition to the main objective, this study examines 18 subsamples in different sectors and identifies the differences in compliance level in the selected sectors. This is a quantitative study based on the annual reports of 133 public listed companies in Sri Lanka in 18 different sectors for the period 2009–2016. The constructed CGI covered five corporate governance categories: board of directors, shareholders, chief executive officer (CEO) and management, communication and disclosure, and stakeholders. The findings indicated that the mean compliance level of corporate governance in the study period was only 54.27 (out of 100), and there is a significant difference of mean compliance levels among the different sectors considered. The results also indicated a significant positive relationship between financial performance in terms of return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA) with the level of compliance with corporate governance principles and a negative relationship with market performance in terms of Tobin’s Q with such principles. The analysis further revealed a positive relationship between the stakeholder subindex, the CEO and management subindex and the communication and disclosure subindex and corporate financial and market performance indicators. The findings of this study are expected to have significant policy implications.

Sri Lanka, despite being a middle-income country, performs outstandingly in health-related indicators to be on par with the developed world. However, despite continuous political commitment, together with the dedication of health professionals, it still has not been able to reach the desired level in nutritional indicators. The opportunity of improving maternal nutrition without being an economic burden to the country is worthy of study.

The training module was identified as a useful tool in training primary health care workers on nutritional counselling with a significant difference in pre and post-training counselling skills (t = 17.48, df = 26, p = 0.000). Counselling through a public health midwife (PHM) was successful in improving the dietary diversity of pregnant mothers and the family support they received.

Nutritional counselling of pregnant mothers and their family members was an effective intervention in improving the DD of pregnant mothers. Training of primary health care workers was one of the effective interventions in improving pregnancy nutrition, which can easily be incorporated into the existing health care system. However, this may require identifying a monitoring mechanism on the implementation of family counselling at the community level.

Though both democracy and development are two conventional words in the modern world, the interrelation between them is crucial. Democracy is one of the state principles that can act as an important catalyst to making development more viable. We can consider democracy as a process where development is the output. Economist Amartya Sen defined development as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy. And democracy is the process of institutionalization of that freedom. So the correlation between democratization and development is quite inherent. Sen’s view is now widely accepted: development must be judged by its impact on people, not only by changes in their income but more generally in terms of their choices, capabilities and freedoms. We should be concerned about the distribution of these improvements, not just the simple average for a society. Democracy is ‘that institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people’s vote’ (Schumpeter J, Capitalism, socialism and democracy. Harper Perennial, London, 1942). However, recently diverse winds of democracy are blowing that are affecting the trend of development. This paper explores the current state of interrelation between democracy and development based on secondary data and empirical knowledge. It develops a compact understanding about the contemporary interrelation between democracy and development.

The study explores the influence of Buddhist philosophy as a motivator for sustainability reporting (SR) by companies, in a developing country setting. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with managers of listed and non-listed companies in Sri Lanka, a country ingrained in Buddhist philosophy for over two and a half millennia. The findings indicate that corporate social responsibility has been practised in Sri Lankan society since ancient times. The beliefs, thinking patterns and mindset of listed and non-listed company managers, born and raised under Buddhist background, is heavily influenced by Buddhist teachings of ‘kamma’, rebirth, conservation, empathy and social sustainability. Evidenced in the study is the translation of personal values to corporate values as the motivation for sustainability projects and SR. Contrary behaviour demonstrated by a large conglomerate and a subsidiary of a multinational company indicated that these companies did not appreciate the local values and beliefs inspired by Buddhist philosophy.