Papers by Sivapalan Achchuthan
In today's highly competitive business environment, service quality has become one of the major d... more In today's highly competitive business environment, service quality has become one of the major determinants of customer satisfaction. It has also become the key to sustainable competitive advantage for mainly service dominant organizations as well as for the grocery retail sector. This study attempts to measure the consumers' perception on retail service quality and its impact on customers' satisfaction in supermarkets in Sri Lanka. In order to collect primary data, 168 retail shoppers from major super market outlets in Colombo district were contacted. The Retail Service Quality Scale (RSQS), which comprised of 27 retail service quality items under five dimensions namely, physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problem solving and policy has been used as the data collection instrument. The results of the study were shown that the retail service quality has a positive correlation with customer satisfaction. Further, 80 percent of the variation has been found which is also in the significant level. It means that, customer satisfaction in the retail super market is determined or influenced by the retail service quality. Therefore, service quality is viewed as strategic formula in the marketing practices among retail outlets to enhance the customer satisfaction in both developed and developing countries. Before we come to the general conclusions in the Sri Lankan context, studies among retail service quality should be taken in the various service industries. Further, the concept like retail service quality should be connected with customer loyalty, customer retention and brand equity to get the more insights in the marketing practices of the retail supermarkets. Additionally, we suggested to the future researchers or scholars to carry the research on the factor analysis in order to find out the applicability of RSQS in the Sri Lankan perspective
In today‟s highly competitive business environment, service quality has become one of the major d... more In today‟s highly competitive business environment, service quality has become one of the major determinants of
customer satisfaction. It has also become the key to sustainable competitive advantage for mainly service
dominant organizations as well as for the grocery retail sector. This study attempts to measure the consumers‟
perception on retail service quality and its impact on customers‟ satisfaction in supermarkets in Sri Lanka. In
order to collect primary data, 168 retail shoppers from major super market outlets in Colombo district were
contacted. The Retail Service Quality Scale (RSQS), which comprised of 27 retail service quality items under
five dimensions namely, physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problem solving and policy has been
used as the data collection instrument. The results of the study were shown that the retail service quality has a
positive correlation with customer satisfaction. Further, 80 percent of the variation has been found which is also
in the significant level. It means that, customer satisfaction in the retail super market is determined or influenced
by the retail service quality. Therefore, service quality is viewed as strategic formula in the marketing practices
among retail outlets to enhance the customer satisfaction in both developed and developing countries. Before we
come to the general conclusions in the Sri Lankan context, studies among retail service quality should be taken
in the various service industries. Further, the concept like retail service quality should be connected with
customer loyalty, customer retention and brand equity to get the more insights in the marketing practices of the
retail supermarkets. Additionally, we suggested to the future researchers or scholars to carry the research on the
factor analysis in order to find out the applicability of RSQS in the Sri Lankan perspective
Keywords: Customer Satisfaction, Service Quality, Retail Service Quality and Supermarkets.
Global Journal of Management and Business Research: A Administration and Management Volume 14 Issue 2 Version 1.0 Year 2014 Type: Double Blind Peer Reviewed International Research Journal Publisher: Global Journals Inc. (USA) Online ISSN: 2249-4588 & Print ISSN: 0975-5853
The primary aim of the study is to find out the significant mean difference in pay satisfaction a... more The primary aim of the study is to find out the significant mean difference in pay satisfaction among personal characteristics of the school teachers as gender, age, family size, subjects for teaching, educational qualification, work place and work experience. Further, secondary objective is to suggest the government authoritative bodies to enhance pay satisfaction, which will give the long term value to the Northern Province, Sri Lanka in terms of social, economical and political development. The study employs independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA (f-test) to test the operational hypotheses. The survey method used in this study is a questionnaire and a total of 360 usable responses were obtained using simple random sampling technique. Findings revealed that, there is a significant mean difference in pay satisfaction among family size, subjects for teaching, educational qualification and working experience.
Public Policy and Administration Research www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online) Vol.3, No.4, 2014
The primary aim of the study is to find out the significant mean difference in financial stress a... more The primary aim of the study is to find out the significant mean difference in financial stress among personal characteristics of the school teachers as gender, age, family size, subjects for teaching, educational qualification, and work experience. The study employs independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA (f-test) to test the operational hypotheses. The survey method used in this study is a questionnaire and a total of 360 usable responses were obtained using simple random sampling technique. Findings revealed that, there is a significant mean difference in financial stress among subject for teaching, educational qualification and working experience of the school teachers in the northern province of Sri Lanka. In contrast, we found that, there is no significant mean difference in financial stress among gender, age level and family size. Further, we suggested that, Governmental bodies should have the responsibility to control the financial instability in the Northern Province and as well as all island through the better policy drafts in the monetary and fiscal aspects.
Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.5, No.7, 2014
The primary aim of the study is to find out the impact or influence of pay satisfaction on financ... more The primary aim of the study is to find out the impact or influence of pay satisfaction on financial stress among the school teachers in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Further, secondary objective is to suggest the government authoritative bodies to reduce the financial stress through the better level of pay satisfaction, which will give the long term value to the Northern Province, Sri Lanka in terms of social, economical and political development. The study employs Multiple Regression Analysis to test the operational hypotheses. The survey method used in this study is a questionnaire and a total of 360 usable responses were obtained using simple random sampling technique. Findings revealed that, pay satisfaction has the influence or impact on the financial stress. Especially in the pay satisfaction dimensions, financial stress is negatively influenced by pay level and benefits as expected. In contrast, financial stress is positively influenced by the pay raises. Further, dependent variable as financial stress is not influenced significantly by the pay structure and administration. Researchers suggested that, Ministry of Education should come up with proper policy draft regarding to the pay structure and administration. Meantime, Government should conduct the continuous survey among school teachers in terms of financial, occupational stress, work related satisfaction and also performance evaluation. This study would hopefully benefit to the policy makers, and practitioners of Sri Lanka as well as other countries.
Green Marketing Practices and Customer Satisfaction: A Special Reference to Leather Goods
Global Journal of Management and Business Research Accounting and Auditing Volume 13 Issue 3 Version 1.0 Year 2013, Dec 5, 2013
Annamali Business Review, Volume 04, special issue 01, july – December, 2013, ISSN: 0974- 1690, 74-78.
International Journal of Business and Management; Vol. 9, No. 1; 2014
Various international organizations and foreign advisors suggested that developing countries shou... more Various international organizations and foreign advisors suggested that developing countries should focus primarily on foreign direct investment (FDI) as a source of external finance. In this context, the main purpose of the study is to find out the impact of foreign direct investment on economic growth in the Sri Lankan Perspective. Data on the foreign direct investment and economic growth from the year 1990 to 2011 were collected for the study purpose. Further, the results revealed that, there is no significant impact of FDI on the economic growth, which is in lowest level. Only 4.3 percent of the variance in the dependent variable has been found. In contrast, we found that, in the Sri Lankan context, there is a long run equilibrium relationship between FDI and economic growth rate. Statistical findings on the basic regression analysis, Co integration test and Granger causality test show the contradiction in terms of the findings. Meantime, scholars in the econometrics stated that, Co integration test generally is applied among time series data. Due to that, Co integration test give the insights to the findings in terms of long run view. Finally, we have suggested that, the Sri Lankan Government and Central Bank of Sri Lanka jointly should take the necessary action to focus on the infrastructure development through the FDI to get the economic growth in the long term view. Meantime, FDI should be directed to agricultural actives to get the food sufficient aspects in the local and globalized level.
International Journal of Business and Management; Vol. 8, No. 21; 2013 ISSN 1833-3850 E-ISSN 1833-8119 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education
The purpose of the study is to find out the significant mean difference in the capital structure ... more The purpose of the study is to find out the significant mean difference in the capital structure among the corporate governance practices, and secondary objective of the study is to suggest the listed Manufacturing companies in the Sri Lankan context to adopt corporate governance practices towards the capital structure.
International Journal of Business and Management
The primary aim of the study is to identify whether there are any significant mean differences am... more The primary aim of the study is to identify whether there are any significant mean differences among demographic variables such as gender, age group, faculty, teaching language and experience of university teachers employed at the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka on the usage of electronic information resources (EIR). The study employs independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA (f-test) to test the operational hypotheses. The survey method used in this study is a questionnaire and a total of 75 usable responses were obtained using stratified random sampling technique. The t-test revealed a statistically significant difference between the mean number of usage of electronic information resources and gender (t = 5.099, p < 0.05) with the highest mean value of male university teachers. According to the f-test, there are significant mean differences among age group, teaching language and experiences of teachers on the usage of electronic information resources, whereas mean usage of electronic information resources do not differ significantly among five different faculties (F = 2.075, p > 0.05). This study would hopefully benefit to the academicians, researchers, policy makers, and practitioners of Sri Lanka as well as other countries.
Advances in Management & Applied Economics
In the corporate finance, the decision on the capital structure and its components is viewed as o... more In the corporate finance, the decision on the capital structure and its components is viewed as one of the most extensively researched area. In this context, researchers carried out the study on liquidity and capital structure in the Sri Lanka Telecom Plc. Data on the Liquidity and Capital Structure from the year 2005 to 2011 were collected for the study purpose. Regression analysis was used to answer the research question as what extent the Liquidity influences on Capital Structure of the Sri Lanka Telecom Plc. Findings reveled that, the decision making on the capital structure is highly depending on the liquidity management of the Sri Lanka Telecom Plc. Due to that, the firm should focus on the liquidity management to take the decision on the capital structure which should lead to the firms value in the long term perspective.
International Journal of Management, Aug 15, 2013
Asia has enjoyed a remarkable growth performance since the end of World War II. Both income per c... more Asia has enjoyed a remarkable growth performance since the end of World War II. Both income per capita and labor productivity in most sectors have rapidly increased toward advanced economy levels. In this context, we have formulated the research questions as to what extent contribution of Agricultural, Industrial and Service sectors influences on the economic growth rate in terms of fixed price?. This study was conducted in Sri Lankan perspective, especially on economic growth structure. Data on the economic growth structure from the year 1970 to 2010
International Journal of Technological Exploration and Learning (IJTEL), Jun 15, 2013
This Study presents a new model of personal demographic factors and entrepreneurial intention amo... more This Study presents a new model of personal demographic factors and entrepreneurial intention among undergraduates. Quantitative approach was utilized in this study; the survey instrument in the form of close-ended questionnaire was developed for the purpose of collecting the main data for the study. The study was limited to Management undergraduates in Jaffna University, Sri Lanka. Therefore, Stratified proportionate sampling method was adopted to select respondents. Independent sample one-way Anova (f-test) and independent sample t-test (t-test) were used to identify the significant mean difference between the levels of Entrepreneurial intention across the personal demographic factors. Based on the finding, both male and female management undergraduates have approximately same level of entrepreneurial intention respectively 4.316 & 4.253. And also business experience holders among management undergraduates have the highest level of entrepreneurial intention than the management undergraduates who have not the business experience as expected. In addition, Undergraduates who are in second year; third year, first semester; third year, second semester; final year have the same level of entrepreneurial intention approximately. Finally, we recommend to the government, non government organization, financial institutions, educators, and policy makers to give the motivations in terms of financial and marketing aids. And also, industrial training should be given to the undergraduates to enhance the practical knowledge in the industrial cultural.
Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, Jul 1, 2013
This research focuses on the research question as what extent the export and import influence on ... more This research focuses on the research question as what extent the export and import influence on Economic growth in the Sri Lankan Perspective. Data on the economic growth, export and import from the year 1970 to 2010 were collected for the study purpose. The results revealed that, the export and import have the significant positive relationship with each other, and also, both export and import have the significant impact on the economic growth. Further, the export and import have been associated by 98 percent, which denotes that, there is a strong positive association between export and import. We have suggested that, the small medium enterprises should be motivated towards export orientation. Meantime, the restrictions in the import of the raw materials to the industries should be implemented in the flexible way through the fiscal and monetary policy. In the further research, the performance of the external sector should be tested in the srilankan context to identify the cues in the export and import sector development and its policy framework.
Management and Administrative Sciences Review ISSN: 2308-1368, Jun 15, 2013
The purpose of this study is to find out the significant difference between personal demographic ... more The purpose of this study is to find out the significant difference between personal demographic variables on customer perception towards relationship marketing, especially in the domestic private commercial banks in Jaffna district. The frame work is tested using one-way ANOVA (f-test), independent sample t-test (t-test) to find out the significant difference among all these variables. One hundred and fifty questionnaires have been circulated to customer of the private commercial bank but 68% of customer handed over the questioner. Systematic quasi-random sampling method has been adopted. The results of this study show that there is a significant mean difference in the customer perception towards relationship marketing across the income level and preferred banks of the customers. In contrast there is no significant mean difference in customer perception of relationship marketing across the age, gender, occupation of the customers. It means that whether male or female customers, senior or young customers, and customers in the government sector, self-employment or private sector, they have the same level of perception towards relationship marketing approximately. Researchers have suggested that the banking institutions in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka should focus on the personal demographic variables as monthly income, educational background and preference of the customers to create the strategic decisions in the operational and corporate level to increase the market share.
Research Journal of Finance and Accounting www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1697 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2847 (Online) Vol.4, No.3, 2013
The main objective of the study is to find out the impact of corporate governance practices on Wo... more The main objective of the study is to find out the impact of corporate governance practices on Working capital management. Secondary literature reviews and Secondary data collection methods were used to conduct the study. Twenty five listed manufacturing firms were selected as sample size in Colombo Stock Exchange for the period from 2007 to 2011. Multiple Regression Analysis was utilized to find out the significant impact of corporate Governance practices on the Working Capital Management. The results revealed that there is a significant impact of corporate Governance practices on current liabilities to total assets in working capital management. In contrast, the cash conversion cycle and the current assets to total assets are not influenced by the corporate governance practices. Based on the findings, we recommended to the policy makers in the corporate governance practices to establish the models of corporate governance that must be suitable to the manufacturing sector in Sri Lanka to ensure the survival, solvency, and profitability of the business.
European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) Vol.5, No.5, 2013
Purpose of this study is to formulate the unique model to the entrepreneurial intention among und... more Purpose of this study is to formulate the unique model to the entrepreneurial intention among undergraduates. We reviewed the existing studies in the field of entrepreneurial intention in the Asia, Europe, Africa and cross cultural perspective. Based on the review of literatures in the entrepreneurial intention, we have formulated the unique model as entrepreneurial Intention for entrepreneurial Career. Based on the Model creation, the entrepreneurial motivation is the recognized as the key fact to enhance the entrepreneurial intention among undergraduates in the globalized level. Meanwhile, this model is unique and highly suitable to the Asian perspective. Researchers or scholars in the field of entrepreneurship can utilize this model to predict the influence of the entrepreneurial motivation on the entrepreneurial intention among undergraduates.
Information and Knowledge Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-5758 (Paper) ISSN 2224-896X (Online) Vol.3, No.2, 2013
The main objective of the study is to find out the significant difference between corporate gover... more The main objective of the study is to find out the significant difference between corporate governance practices on working capital management efficiency in listed manufacturing firms in SriLanka. Secondary literature reviews and Secondary data collection methods were used to conduct the study. Twenty five listed manufacturing firms were selected as sample size in Colombo Stock Exchange for the periods . Independent sample oneway Anova (f-test) and Independent sample t-test have been utilized to find out the significant difference between corporate governance practices on working capital management efficiency. The results revealed that there is no significant mean different between the levels of working capital management efficiency among corporate governance practices as board committees, board meetings and proportion of non executive director except board leadership structure. Based on the findings, we recommended that the effective policies in the working capital management must be formulated through the corporate governance practices in the listed manufacturing firms in SriLanka.
Developing Country Studies www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-607X (Paper) ISSN 2225-0565 (Online) Vol.3, No.3, 2013
The concept of budget deficit has become a major social and political issue. Fiscal policy and it... more The concept of budget deficit has become a major social and political issue. Fiscal policy and its indicators play an important role in the design and execution of fiscal policies by the government of many countries. The main purpose of the study is to find out the impact of fiscal deficit on economic growth in Sri Lankan perspective. Data on the Fiscal deficit and economic growth from the year 1970 to 2010 were collected for the study purpose. The results revealed that, there is no significant impact of fiscal deficit on the economic growth. And also, there is no significant relationship between fiscal deficit and economic growth in the Sri Lankan economic perspective. Finally, we have suggested that, government of SriLanka should heavily focus on the infrastructure development to enhance the economic growth level through the effective fiscal policy frame work.
3rd International Conference on Business and Information 2012, university of Kelaniya, Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century, Serirs in Economics & Entrepreneurship, November , 2012. pp- 77-90
This Study presents a new model of entrepreneurial motivation and examines the impact / influence... more This Study presents a new model of entrepreneurial motivation and examines the impact / influence of entrepreneurial motivation on self employment intention. Both quantitative and qualitative approach were utilized in this study, in the quantitative approach, the desirability of self employment, feasibility of self employment, tolerance for risk and perceived government Support to predict intentions for self employment was examined in a sample of 117 management undergraduates at University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. In the qualitative approach, especially three final year students (one male & two female students) and three scholars in the entrepreneurship academic field (Two male senior lecturers & one female senior lecture) from the Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce were interviewed by the researcher with the help of the structured questions. Separate questions for students and scholars who are involved in the entrepreneurial field were prepared by the researcher to support to the findings of quantitative analysis. Based on the quantitative and qualitative study, the entrepreneurial intention level of the management undergraduates are in the weakest level. There are so many barriers for the lowest level of intention, such as problems in the financial assistance, lack of infrastructure facilities, lack of technological facilities, lack of awareness in the entrepreneurial field, lack of support from governmental and nongovernmental organizations in the Jaffna district, cultural burdens, lack of research focus in the entrepreneurial field etc. Based on the findings from both quantitative and qualitative approach, we recommend to the government, non government organization, financial institutions, educators, and policy makers to provide the financial, marketing, social, technological infrastructures to the management undergraduates to enhance the entrepreneurial intention level.
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Papers by Sivapalan Achchuthan
customer satisfaction. It has also become the key to sustainable competitive advantage for mainly service
dominant organizations as well as for the grocery retail sector. This study attempts to measure the consumers‟
perception on retail service quality and its impact on customers‟ satisfaction in supermarkets in Sri Lanka. In
order to collect primary data, 168 retail shoppers from major super market outlets in Colombo district were
contacted. The Retail Service Quality Scale (RSQS), which comprised of 27 retail service quality items under
five dimensions namely, physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problem solving and policy has been
used as the data collection instrument. The results of the study were shown that the retail service quality has a
positive correlation with customer satisfaction. Further, 80 percent of the variation has been found which is also
in the significant level. It means that, customer satisfaction in the retail super market is determined or influenced
by the retail service quality. Therefore, service quality is viewed as strategic formula in the marketing practices
among retail outlets to enhance the customer satisfaction in both developed and developing countries. Before we
come to the general conclusions in the Sri Lankan context, studies among retail service quality should be taken
in the various service industries. Further, the concept like retail service quality should be connected with
customer loyalty, customer retention and brand equity to get the more insights in the marketing practices of the
retail supermarkets. Additionally, we suggested to the future researchers or scholars to carry the research on the
factor analysis in order to find out the applicability of RSQS in the Sri Lankan perspective
Keywords: Customer Satisfaction, Service Quality, Retail Service Quality and Supermarkets.