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This paper aims to analyze the current state of tourism in Sri Lanka and make practical suggestions for the future.

The paper is written in the context of a strategic question: “how might post-war Sri Lanka develop inbound tourism?” An analytical approach is taken to discuss potential growth of tourism in Sri Lanka from 2013 to 2016.

26 years of war affected tourism in Sri Lanka negatively and a dramatic turnaround came when the war ended in 2009. In 2012 most tourist generating countries indicated significant growth. In 2012 Sri Lanka passed two milestones in its tourism history by emerging as a “Million Tourist Destination” and a “Billion Dollar Export Income Earner”. However, from 1,005,605 tourists in 2012, the number who utilized tourist services and facilities is established as 725,000. Sri Lanka is now aiming to attract 2.5 million tourists by 2016. The paper debates that this target is not realistic.

To further develop tourism, Sri Lanka must develop a practical plan with realistic targets. In conclusion, the authors suggest a ten-point plan.

This paper aims to learn from the present and plan for the future. A former Marketing Director of the national tourism authority of Sri Lanka joined hands with an international hospitality and tourism educator to co-write this paper to advocate for a practical approach in forecasting realistic targets for tourism growth in Sri Lanka.

This paper aims to analyse the current state of tourism in Sri Lanka and make practical suggestions for a shared vision.

The paper is written in the context of a strategic question: “how might post-war Sri Lanka develop inbound tourism?” An analytical approach is taken to discuss the practicality of the tourist arrival target of 2.5 million tourists to Sri Lanka by 2016.

Achieving the 2.5 million tourist arrival target in 2016 is not realistic and should be revised to a more manageable two million target. Macro level changes since the end of the war in 2009 should be taken into consideration in preparing a new master plan. Assuming that continuous peace will be there for a long time, is simply not sufficient. Rebuilding the social economic foundation of the society has to be faster and must be the top agenda point for Sri Lanka. This is an essential ingredient for long lasting peace and a healthy and sustainably developed tourism industry in the future.

Addressing six key challenges and incorporating six key strategies identified in this paper should be helpful in developing a new master plan. Debating with and getting inputs from all major stakeholders of the tourism industry is recommended to ensure sustainable tourism development.

This paper provides thought-provoking practical tips from three well-experienced leaders of tourism industry, hotel industry and hospitality education.

This paper aims to document the views of a Sri Lankan hotelier/tourism educator on the essential ingredients needed to ensure the future success of tourism in Sri Lanka.

The paper is based on an interview covering eight questions in the context of a strategic overall question: “how might post-war Sri Lanka develop inbound tourism?”

Sri Lanka celebrates two milestones in 2012 – reaching one million tourists and US$ one billion annual income level from tourism. However, it is evident that the key to the future success of tourism in Sri Lanka is simply a “balancing act”. Various important aspects and initiatives should be carefully and strategically balanced now and in the long run so as to ensure that future tourism targets can be attained in a sustainable manner. In conclusion, 12 suggestions are made to reflect where balancing is most needed.

Tourism in Sri Lanka has the potential to emerge as a major export income earner. To further develop tourism, Sri Lanka must balance identified and important aspects and then find innovative and practical solutions.

An international hospitality and tourism educator and a Sri Lankan journalist collaborate in writing this question and answer style paper. The approach taken should be of interest and use to all stakeholders of tourism in Sri Lanka.

The sustainability of the construction industry is associated with the productivity, profitability and competitiveness of the firms, which are significantly affected by inefficient site supervision and labour management approaches. This study aims to use a case study with mixed methods to evaluate the site supervisory characteristics in labour management, labour performance assessment and labour productivity measurement towards developing meaningful guidelines in polishing construction supervision attributes.

Well-developed modern apprenticeship elements were applied to 62 construction supervisors who were selected using the snowball sampling method, and their relevant competency characteristics were assessed using a comprehensively developed grading mechanism connected with useful training manuals/tools. Academic reviews, experts’ consultations and other meticulous mixed approaches were applied at different stages of the research plan’s sequential layout.

The mean performance scores of supervisors indicate proficient-level grades in the competency characteristics related to applying efficient labour management procedures and developing-level grades in designing productivity measurement tools, performing assessments on efficiency and productivity and proposing enhancement practices on efficiency and productivity for site operations. The findings point to a modern generalised guideline that establishes the ranges of supervisory attributes within the scope of the study. The validity, reliability, adaptability and generalisability of the findings were assured by using pertinent statistical tests and professional assessments.

Though the study’s conclusions/findings are primarily applicable to the construction environment of a developing country comparable to the Sri Lankan context, they will considerably impact current/future industrial practices in various other countries and emerging industries.

The research has produced a conceptualised modern tool that guides determining the capacity levels of supervisory attributes for carrying out labour management, labour performance assessment and labour productivity measurement aspects in construction. The research has opened a pump that inflows new values of highly workable supervision features for strengthening the site management structures and filling the industry’s knowledge vacuum in the methodical execution of apprenticeships.

Productivity increase is correlated with profitability, sustainability and competitiveness of the construction firms. Recent studies reveal that the primary causes of productivity decline are poor usage of scientific and technological advances, ineffective supervision strategies and poor apprenticeship facilities/opportunities. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to evaluate how well construction supervisors can utilise fundamental science and technological concepts/ideas to increase the efficiency and productivity of construction activities.

A new strategic layout was designed with the use of potential training guide tools. Based on the designed layout, a new supervisory training programme was developed, and 62 construction supervisors were selected, trained and evaluated in line with six parts of competencies and the relevant learning domains. An assessment guide with different levels of descriptions and criteria was developed through literature analysis and expert interviews. The research tools were verified using comprehensive approaches.

The overall mean values of supervisors’ performance scores indicate proficient-level grades in the competency characteristics related to taking measurements, generating drawings/designs using manual techniques and computer-aided tools, involving Bill of Quantities (BOQ) preparations and preparing training plans/materials for improving the competencies of labourers on estimation, measurements and understanding drawings. Their proficiency was notably lower in the use of information and communication technology application tools in construction tasks compared to others. The findings point to a modern generalised guideline that establishes the ranges of supervisory attributes associated with science and technology-related applications.

The study outcomes produce conceptualised projections to restructure and revalue the job functions of various working categories by adding new definitions within the specified scope. This may result in constructive benefits to upgrading the current functions associated with urbanisation, sustainability and society. The implementation of the study’s findings/conclusions will have a significant impact on present and future practices in other developing nations and developing industries, even if they are directly applicable to the Sri Lankan construction industry.

Up to certain limits/stages, the study fills not only the knowledge gap in the field of creating protocols and application techniques connected to lifelong learning and skill enhancement/upgrading but also the existing gaps in work attributes and roles of construction supervisors associated with the utilisation of fundamental science and technological concepts/ideas towards reinforcing sustainable and productive site operations.

The effect of dynamic capabilities on operational excellence and the moderating effect of environmental dynamism on the relationship between operational excellence and dynamic capabilities in the apparel industry in Sri Lanka were investigated while developing new psychometric scales to assess operational excellence and dynamic capacities constructs.

We followed the exploratory sequential research design with a mixed-method research approach, aligning with the pragmatic research philosophy. Thus, both qualitative and quantitative research methods were followed.

Dynamic capabilities positively affect operational excellence, and environmental dynamism moderates the relationship between operational excellence and dynamic capabilities in the apparel industry in Sri Lanka such that when a higher environmental dynamism exists, a weaker positive relationship exists between dynamic capabilities and operational excellence. The two main dimensions of the operational excellence construct are continuous improvement of sustainable operational performance and sustainable competitive advantages. It empirically confirmed that sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capabilities are the three main dimensions of the dynamic capabilities construct.

This study was limited to the apparel industry in Sri Lanka. This research phenomenon should be explored in other industrial sectors worldwide to generalize the findings. The practitioners in the apparel sector may improve the organizational dynamic capabilities to achieve operational excellence and keep a strong positive relationship between dynamic capabilities and operational excellence in a highly dynamic environment if they address out-of-family situations with out-of-the-box thinking.

We generated two new empirical findings: (1) dynamic capabilities positively affect operational excellence, and (2) environmental dynamism moderates the relationship between dynamic capabilities and operational excellence. Also, we introduced validated new scales for assessing operational excellence and dynamic capabilities.

The objective of this chapter is twofold. It first introduces the theme of the book. There are many ways of looking at socially responsible investment (SRI). It can be viewed as a financial product where the financial performance is the outmost important aspect and cannot be compromised. Or it can be regarded as a force for change to promote and stimulate a more sustainable development. In this chapter we provide a literature review on SRI especially on the notion of the impact and how it has been addressed so far in the literature. The second objective of the chapter is to provide an overview of the volume by introducing each chapter.

This chapter reviews the literature on SRI as well as the chapters included in this volume.

If SRI is about making a change toward sustainability, we ought to study its societal and environmental impacts. Although scholar articles on SRI have gained importance in the two last decades, very little is known on its impact. Research has developed from a narrow concern with negative screening and divestment in isolated cases to a rigorous analysis of its financial performance across a range of ethical and ESG issues. While we have identified some studies that are beginning to explore the potential impact of SRI for society, this remains a crucial area to explore.

The chapter contributes to the debates on the societal impact of SRI, a debate that needs to be continued even if or just because it raises some fundamental questions that are complex and difficult but also necessary to advance SRI.

In Sri Lanka women make up the majority of the country's population. However, there is a concern that many women are subjected to any form of violence at home which is known as family violence, or in Sri Lanka which is identified as domestic violence. As such domestic violence is one of the topics that have gained attention in Sri Lanka under the major topic of gender-based violence (GBV). Sri Lanka also imposed prolonged lockdowns, travel/mobility restrictions, social distancing, and other health measures/restrictions to control the speedy spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a consequence, the life of women was unfavorably impacted. A increase in the number of domestic violence cases against women during public emergencies – here referred to COVID-19 – is one of such negative impacts. Therefore, this study intends to examine the adequacy of the existing laws of prevention of domestic violence in Sri Lanka and investigate the appropriateness of the available judicial mechanism including its preparedness in achieving the proper protection support for the women victims of domestic violence during public emergencies. To reach that goal this doctrinal research study heavily engages in a descriptive and detailed analysis of legal rules found in primary sources such as domestic statutes, international treaties, statistics, government circulars and regulations and case law, etc., in respect of the issue of domestic violence against women during public emergencies with specific reference to Sri Lanka. Secondary resources such as print and electronic text material are also utilized in the completion of this study.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues have recently received much attention. This research investigates the daily performance of socially responsible investment (SRI). To do that, the authors construct portfolios consisting of the SRI, non-SRI, and matched non-SRI. The portfolios can be compared with the market benchmark based on α adjusted asset pricing models. Due to using high-frequency data, the authors use ARCH/GARCH to deal with time-varying volatility. Moreover, the authors also utilized Fama–MacBeth pooled regression to confront the SRI stocks and the non-SRI counterpart. In sum, the findings of this study confirm the superior performance of the value-weighted (VW) SRI portfolio against the market. On a head-to-head basis, the SRI yields a higher return than the non-SRI. The results are robust in the quarterly analysis. It is essential for investors that put their money in socially responsible (SR) portfolios to either promote sustainable development or chase a return on it.

Purpose – To discover how SRI develops in the Asian context.

Methodology/approach – Extended search of SRI initiatives analyzed with Scandinavian neo-institutional approach on how ideas travel and Buddhist Economy.

Findings – Chinese SRI-initiatives imitate western peers, but the imitation results in partial isomorphism that will probably have a weak influence on Chinese companies in ESG.

Research limitations/implications – A limitation of the study is a lack of information and transparency on Chinese homepages.

Practical implications – Chinese SRI is in an early state, and will need back-up and push to become active if it will be able to influence Chinese companies.

Social implications – It is important to have a critical stance, and not trusting optimistic statements about SRI in China as a mean to integrate ESG activities in Chinese companies.

Originality/value of chapter – One of the first overviews and critical analysis of SRI in China.