Papers by Niranjala Tennakoon
Sri Lankan Journal of Banking and Finance, Dec 30, 2022
Covid-19 became a global challenge even though the African Region's people were less affected as ... more Covid-19 became a global challenge even though the African Region's people were less affected as per reported statistics. The pandemic hit all economies resulting in the deterioration of critical economic indicators. It is evidenced by the abnormal fall of the prices in different sectors, such as energy, mining, agriculture, aviation, and travel industry, and in the financial markets, followed by abnormal unemployment across many sectors. This paper reviewed the impact of COVID-19 on the key economic processes in the African Region. Specifically, it looked at examining the role of leading global institutions in mitigating the economic impact of the pandemic to the countries of the African Region and the role of global institutions in uplifting the African economy. Due to a limited number of researches on the impact of Covid-19, data collection methods are the same as those applied in other systematic reviews. Reporting standards established by other social science journals; the evaluation, statistical and meta-analytic literature; and expert opinions. Two independent reviewers abstracted the study, reconciled it with the development team, and provided feedback. The covid-19 pandemic hit several economic areas such as agriculture, mining, aviation industry, and financial markets. African countries took several initiatives to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in collaboration with global
MENTOR The Journal of Business Studies, 2024
Women empowerment is imperative to the socioeconomic well-being of not only women but also the fu... more Women empowerment is imperative to the socioeconomic well-being of not only women but also the future generation of a nation. On the other hand, cooperatives: the "silent giants", are independent social entities with closer proximity by rural women. Despite the long-lasting importance and its greater recognition of both aspects in the economic pursuit, hardly a single study has tested the contribution of cooperatives in boosting women empowerment in the context of rural women. Thus, the present study examines the contribution of cooperatives, in particular their social, economic, political, and environmental contributions, towards inspiring rural women empowerment. A randomly drawn sample of 2600 female members representing 152 Sri Lankan cooperative societies covering all the rural administrative districts (except Jaffna) was surveyed. The guided survey was instrumentalized with a self-administrative questionnaire of 50 items. The results generated empirical evidence on the cooperatives' critical role in enhancing rural women empowerment. Notably, the social, economic, political, and environmental contributions find crucial in affecting the economic, social and political empowerment of rural women. However, the study fails to generate sound evidence to support the role of age, level of education, and experience on the established relationships. Implications are drawn to promote the awareness and engagement of rural women while enhancing functions and diversity of activities on the part of policymakers.
MENTOR The Journal of Business Studies, 2023
Promoting Employee Transition to Entrepreneurship (ETE) is one of the many channels to boost the ... more Promoting Employee Transition to Entrepreneurship (ETE) is one of the many channels to boost the entrepreneurial development of any nation. ETE in developing countries needs further attention from scholars to broaden its determinants. Within the theoretical frameworks of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP),
the current study studied the determinants of ETE intention. Randomly drawn employees from Sri Lankan private and state institutions made the sample (n = 218). The instruments with acceptable reliability and validity properties measured the study variables. Attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, harmonious passion, obsessive passion, and ETE intention were scaled on a seven-point Likert scale. Structural equation modeling analyzed the data. The findings showed that employees' ETE intention is positively affected by all the tested variables other than perceived behavioral control. Notably, the results demonstrated that obsessive passion had a beneficial impact on ETE intention, although it is often thought to influence behavioral intentions negatively. Thus, the study suggests that the ETE can emphasize any nation's entrepreneurial development by shaping employees' attitudes, perceived social influences, favorable interests, and even adverse interests to form a combined force to promote start-ups. The study's implications demonstrated the
ability to model the ETE by integrating various theoretical frames that predict behavioral intentions.
International Journal of Commerce and Management Research, 2018
The power of the religiosity over employee engagement remain unaddressed in the academic context.... more The power of the religiosity over employee engagement remain unaddressed in the academic context. The aim of this study was to test the association between the religiosity and employee engagement. A quantitative study was performed with the participation of a general sample extracted from the Sri Lankan institutions. The cross sectional study gathered data on religiosity and engagement using a 10 items-three component measurement and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) with 9 items respectively. The Pearson's product movement correlation analysis and least square linear regression analysis analysed the data over which the hypothesis were tested. The results revealed a strong and positive relationship between religiosity and employee engagement. Future investigations are suggested to incorporate other possible influencers and alternative methodologies.
International Journal of Commerce and Management Research , 2018
The power of the religiosity over employee engagement remain unaddressed in the academic context.... more The power of the religiosity over employee engagement remain unaddressed in the academic context. The aim of this study was to test the association between the religiosity and employee engagement. A quantitative study was performed with the participation of a general sample extracted from the Sri Lankan institutions. The cross sectional study gathered data on religiosity and engagement using a 10 items-three component measurement and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) with 9 items respectively. The Pearson's product movement correlation analysis and least square linear regression analysis analysed the data over which the hypothesis were tested. The results revealed a strong and positive relationship between religiosity and employee engagement. Future investigations are suggested to incorporate other possible influencers and alternative methodologies.
Proceedings of the 7th CIPM International Research Symposium – Sri Lanka , 2023
Transition to Entrepreneurship (TE) is a more concrete and viable path to enhance entrepreneurial... more Transition to Entrepreneurship (TE) is a more concrete and viable path to enhance entrepreneurial initiatives with greater resilience. However, less is known about the ability of employees' inner drives to affect a transition, particularly when viewed through the lens of different generations. Based on the Trait Theory of Entrepreneurship, the current study investigated how self-efficacy can instill TE when mediated by entrepreneurial propensity and moderated by age generations. A field survey gathered data to perform a quantitative assessment of research hypotheses. Participants included employees of public and private institutions with significant career stability. Pre-validated instruments were tooled to measure the study variables on a seven-point Likert scale. The structural equation modelling analysed the data in the Smart PLS package.
The findings were impressive, demonstrating the significant potential of self-efficacy to influence TE decisions. Entrepreneurial propensity was found to partially mediate the link between self-efficacy and TE. However, a remarkable difference in the strength of these associations was observed among different generations. Specifically, generations Y and Z appear to hold stronger ties, while, the relationship is relatively weaker in
generation X. The implications suggest focusing on employees' inner traits as penetrators to boost entrepreneurial moves.
International Journal of Research, 2019
This research tests the potential differences in subordinate’s engagement based on variations in ... more This research tests the potential differences in subordinate’s engagement based on variations in the gender match of the supervisor – subordinate dyad. A quantitative study is performed with the data of 234 respondents. Rresults reports a significant variation in subordinate’s engagement based on gender match of supervisor-subordinate dyad. The outcomes unveiled a significant positive association between subordinate’s engagement and gender match of supervisor-subordinate dyad. Engagement factor grows in greater when the gender of supervisor-subordinator dyad mismatches.
Wayamba Journal of Management
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted individuals, corporations, and society as a whole. Due to the glob... more The COVID-19 pandemic impacted individuals, corporations, and society as a whole. Due to the global health crisis, businesses were obliged to redefine Human Resources Management (HRM) to recruit and engage the finest personnel to achieve organizational goals. The epidemic brought forth a slew of hitherto unforeseen job circumstances. Thus, we explored the obstacles that HR managers faced and how they capitalized on the possibilities presented by the crisis. We adopted a qualitative method to learn about HR practitioners' experiences managing HR during the pandemic. The thematic analysis evaluated the data from 17 in-depth interviews. The resultant themes showed that switching from commuting to telecommuting, bridging the digital divide, driving through the uncertainty, managing the infodemic, remaining vigilant, hunting, engaging, and enriching the talent, sizing up the elbow grease, and nurturing trust are all challenging. Participants disclosed the opportunities for embracing e-HRM and the forefront of technology, bolstering the wrinkles, and flourishing the talents. The paper's theoretical contribution was to uncover newly emerging HR issues and possibilities. These insights will be crucial for HR practitioners in capitalizing on the positive aspects of the crisis while confronting the constraints.
Wayamba Journal of Management, 2021
E-learning, the product of technology and education, has emerged as a powerful medium of learning... more E-learning, the product of technology and education, has emerged as a powerful medium of learning particularly in the higher education sector. Significance of e-learning in educational services has led to a massive growth in the number of e-learning courses and systems offering different types of services followed by the COVID 19 pandemic. Thus, evaluation of e-learning -systems is critical to ensure successful delivery, effective use, and positive impacts on learners. Survey data of Sri Lankan university student’s sample tested the research hypotheses. Quantitative assessment of determinants of PLS-SEM results confirms 81.7% explanatory power of the predictor variables in explaining the variance of E-Learning Success among which Instructor Quality, Learner Quality, Service Quality, Support System Quality and Technical System Quality found significant predictors. Implications invite revisiting the theoretical models to assess the e-learning effectiveness by incorporating multifarious factors while developing e-learning system of multifractality found critical for the success of any electronically driven learning experience.
Sri Lanka Journal of Economic Research, 2020
Gamification; use of games in the non-gaming contexts is satisfactorily tested for many contexts ... more Gamification; use of games in the non-gaming contexts is satisfactorily tested for many contexts including education, training and performance. But the gamification was hardly tested for its moderating effect on established relationships. Hence, the aim of this research was to assess the moderating effect of the gamification in manipulating the association between work stress and employee performance. Using quantitative approach, a field survey of randomly selected 310 non-managerial employees from Sri Lankan commercial banks was conducted. Results confirmed the moderating effect of gamification towards work stress and employee performance relationship. Implications suggest to employ gaming elements in controlling the possible adverse effect of work stress on the employee performance.
Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, 2021
Organizational Resilience (OR) as a construct and as a socioeconomic challenge is gaining uprisin... more Organizational Resilience (OR) as a construct and as a socioeconomic challenge is gaining uprising attention. Yet, a better understanding of the term in terms of what it is and what it isn't is still far behind. The present study is aimed at revisiting the definitions of OR for elucidating the scope of it. A systematic review of selected journal articles of 30 years (1990-2020) indexed in SSCI was performed. Both identifying and distinguishing facets of definitions were reviewed qualitatively and presented. Findings indicate that OR is a multidimensional construct that possesses several features that distinguish it from other similar constructs. The study concluded that the OR is about an organizational philosophy comprised of diverse competencies to manage challenging environmental events in a continuous and progressive way. Implications suggest that any conceptualization of OR should primarily centre on the long-term continuous process of meeting the challenging environmental occurrences rather than a set of discrete capabilities to respond to a devastating event.
Sri Lanka Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities , 2022
Economic sustainability, one among the Triple Bottom Lines (TBLs), perhaps the most attractive an... more Economic sustainability, one among the Triple Bottom Lines (TBLs), perhaps the most attractive and popular dimension of sustainability, is the long-term standpoint of an establishment in terms of financial and marketing measures. The realization of the value of economic sustainability is a far-felt need for practitioners because of its sense of stability. Despite the theorists' immense contribution to offering a theoretically sought definition and workable measures, the concept remains ambiguous in its application. This review examined the evolution of economic sustainability as a construct in terms of its definitions and measures. A desk review of the published literature in leading journals was performed. Each contribution was assessed against the properties of available theoretical bases to unearth the theoretical lapses. Findings include research gaps and associated directions for future studies in bridging the identified gaps.
Sri Lanka Journal of Economic Research , 2021
The lack of initial capital has long been reported as a prominent barrier for entrepreneurial sta... more The lack of initial capital has long been reported as a prominent barrier for entrepreneurial start-ups. Contrary to this, crowdfunding is treated as a “magic hand” for solving the numerous financial demands of netizens. Yet, knowledge on crowdfunding has not been tested for its capacity to affect start-up intentions. Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the present study aimed at assessing the impact of Awareness of Crowdfunding (ACF), the Perceived Parental Influence (PPI), and the Internet Familiarity (IF) on Start-up Intention (SI). The quantitative inquiry, in the deductive paradigm, deployed a field survey to test the hypotheses. A sample of interns was randomly drawn based on the management faculty of a state university of Sri Lanka (N = 236). A self-administrative questionnaire served as the data collecting tool while a five-point Likert scale ranked the responses. Results of structural equation modelling confirmed the claims. Awareness of crowdfunding and perceived parental influence significantly predicted the start-up intention of interns. Theoretically, findings imply the potentiality of modelling awareness of crowdfunding as a predictor of start-up intention while these confirmed the predictive role of perceived paternal influence towards start-up intention empirically. The results call for implementing sound awareness programmes on crowdfunding for potential and early-career entrepreneurs.
THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE AFRICAN ECONOMY AND THE ROLE OF GLOBAL INSTITUTIONS: A REVIEW, 2022
Covid-19 became a global challenge even though the African Region's people were less affected as ... more Covid-19 became a global challenge even though the African Region's people were less affected as per reported statistics. The pandemic hit all economies resulting in the deterioration of critical economic indicators. It is evidenced by the abnormal fall of the prices in different sectors, such as energy, mining, agriculture, aviation, and travel industry, and in the financial markets, followed by abnormal unemployment across many sectors. This paper reviewed the impact of COVID-19 on the key economic processes in the African Region. Specifically, it looked at examining the role of leading global institutions in mitigating the economic impact of the pandemic to the countries of the African Region and the role of global institutions in uplifting the African economy. Due to a limited number of researches on the impact of Covid-19, data collection methods are the same as those applied in other systematic reviews. Reporting standards established by other social science journals; the evaluation, statistical and meta-analytic literature; and expert opinions. Two independent reviewers abstracted the study, reconciled it with the development team, and provided feedback. The covid-19 pandemic hit several economic areas such as agriculture, mining, aviation industry, and financial markets. African countries took several initiatives to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in collaboration with global
Sri lanka journal of social sciences and humanitis, Feb 28, 2022
Sri Lanka Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
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Papers by Niranjala Tennakoon
the current study studied the determinants of ETE intention. Randomly drawn employees from Sri Lankan private and state institutions made the sample (n = 218). The instruments with acceptable reliability and validity properties measured the study variables. Attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, harmonious passion, obsessive passion, and ETE intention were scaled on a seven-point Likert scale. Structural equation modeling analyzed the data. The findings showed that employees' ETE intention is positively affected by all the tested variables other than perceived behavioral control. Notably, the results demonstrated that obsessive passion had a beneficial impact on ETE intention, although it is often thought to influence behavioral intentions negatively. Thus, the study suggests that the ETE can emphasize any nation's entrepreneurial development by shaping employees' attitudes, perceived social influences, favorable interests, and even adverse interests to form a combined force to promote start-ups. The study's implications demonstrated the
ability to model the ETE by integrating various theoretical frames that predict behavioral intentions.
The findings were impressive, demonstrating the significant potential of self-efficacy to influence TE decisions. Entrepreneurial propensity was found to partially mediate the link between self-efficacy and TE. However, a remarkable difference in the strength of these associations was observed among different generations. Specifically, generations Y and Z appear to hold stronger ties, while, the relationship is relatively weaker in
generation X. The implications suggest focusing on employees' inner traits as penetrators to boost entrepreneurial moves.
the current study studied the determinants of ETE intention. Randomly drawn employees from Sri Lankan private and state institutions made the sample (n = 218). The instruments with acceptable reliability and validity properties measured the study variables. Attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, harmonious passion, obsessive passion, and ETE intention were scaled on a seven-point Likert scale. Structural equation modeling analyzed the data. The findings showed that employees' ETE intention is positively affected by all the tested variables other than perceived behavioral control. Notably, the results demonstrated that obsessive passion had a beneficial impact on ETE intention, although it is often thought to influence behavioral intentions negatively. Thus, the study suggests that the ETE can emphasize any nation's entrepreneurial development by shaping employees' attitudes, perceived social influences, favorable interests, and even adverse interests to form a combined force to promote start-ups. The study's implications demonstrated the
ability to model the ETE by integrating various theoretical frames that predict behavioral intentions.
The findings were impressive, demonstrating the significant potential of self-efficacy to influence TE decisions. Entrepreneurial propensity was found to partially mediate the link between self-efficacy and TE. However, a remarkable difference in the strength of these associations was observed among different generations. Specifically, generations Y and Z appear to hold stronger ties, while, the relationship is relatively weaker in
generation X. The implications suggest focusing on employees' inner traits as penetrators to boost entrepreneurial moves.