Sri Lankan State Research Articles

Value Co-Creation and Co-Destruction in Online Education during the Covid19 Pandemic: Special reference to Sri Lankan State Sector Universities

Journal of Business & Technology (JBT) is an open-access journal published by the Department of the Commerce and Financial Management of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. The journal follows a double-blind peer-review process and is published bi-annually (January, July). JBT aims to publish scholarly research, critical reviews, case studies, practitioner reviews and technology reviews in the fields of business and technology.

Disaster Preparedness in Sri Lankan University Libraries: Before COVID-19

ABSTRACT This study explores the necessity of developing disaster risk reduction plans and increasing the level of preparedness for disasters for academic libraries in Sri Lanka. It examines some of the different types of disasters; natural, man-made, and hybrid, which can occur in university libraries. Informants were the librarians of all 15 Sri Lankan state universities. The methodology is mixed-method with data gathered through questionnaires and interviews. In this study, the researcher considered the likelihood of occurrence of various types of disaster and their potential impact on university libraries. The results reveal that fire is the most expected disaster. Results highlight the importance of disaster risk reduction plans for university libraries and emphasise that every library should adopt a plan to safeguard its legacy. This study was conducted in 2019, thus infectious diseases were identified as an ‘unlikely to occur’ disaster category. However, events of 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, indicate a need for librarians to also rethink providing continuous library services during disasters such as pandemics.

COVID-19: The Crossroads for Sinhala–Muslim Relations in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s ethnic civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, and the government of Sri Lanka comprising the majority of the Sinhalese Buddhist community came to a bloody end in May 2009. Muslims, whose political and civil society elite had largely supported the Sri Lankan state and security forces, welcomed the end of the war and the defeat of the Tamil Tigers given the history of the community with the LTTE. The expectations by the Muslims (and other communities) that peace would return to the country, were quickly dashed as it appeared that a new extremist Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist movement targeting religious minorities especially the Muslims would emerge as the country grappled with post-war reconciliation. The rise of anti-Muslim rhetoric, hate speech, and incitement to violence against the community has pushed some Muslims to think that they have become the new focus for Sinhala-Buddhist extremists in the wake of the defeat of the Tamil Tigers. With suspicions of the complicity of the state apparatus in the anti-Muslim campaign, there are serious concerns around the role and place of minorities (non-Sinhala and non-Buddhist) in the future makeup of the country. While there is no concrete evidence on the state’s support for such an action, it is clear that the reluctance of the state to bring to justice those responsible for hate speech and incitement to violence since 2009 raises some serious questions about impartiality. In addition, with the increase of detentions and scrutiny of the Muslim community’s post-Easter Sunday attacks and the recent treatment of the Muslim community in the response to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, including shutting down of key Muslim towns and the enforcement of forced cremations (which goes against Islamic teachings of dignified burials), there is much to ponder of an anti-Muslim strategy being mainstreamed and institutionalized by the state. This paper will seek to situate the present response to the COVID-19 pandemic by the state and its particular actions affecting the Muslim community amid a wider backdrop of a rise in anti-Muslim hatred and action. In order to understand this, the paper will seek to understand the reasoning behind why Muslims who supported the war against the Tamil Tigers, have now become the enemy for Sinhala-Buddhist extremists. It does this through primary and secondary data gathering including interviews conducted between July 2020 and February 2021. In so doing this paper will explore the development of Muslim political and religious identity by looking at a historical perspective. This paper makes the argument that a holistic approach needs to be developed to avoid a new conflict taking place in Sri Lanka and to avoid violent Islamist extremism taking hold.

Research Productivity of Sri Lankan Universities in the International Ranking Systems and Mandatory Contribution of Librarians

The objective of this study is to investigate the research productivity of the Sri Lankan state universities depicted in reputed international university ranking systems during 2015-2020 and to identify the areas that can be used to develop the research productivity of the state universities. Research–related scores of the Sri Lankan state universities from 2015-2020 in four ranking systems (THE, QS, SIR, and URAP) were analysed. The study established that the research productivity, impact, and collaboration are the major aspects considered by the ranking systems. Only a few universities are ranked and the scores have a considerable scope to be improved. Several recommendations are made on how the university librarians can support the improvement of research-related related rankings. This is the first study on research productivity scores of Sri Lankan state universities based on international ranking systems. Hence the findings will be useful for the university policymakers in Sri Lanka as well in other countries with similar educational contexts.

Association Between Job Satisfactions upon the Dimensions of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour: Evidence from Administrative Staff of State Universities in Sri Lanka

Research on job satisfaction has focused on the effect of job satisfaction on organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) in general. This study explore the association between job satisfaction and dimensions of OCB based on the administrative staff of Sri Lankan state universities in Sri Lanka. The focus of this study was to analyze the effect of job satisfaction on dimensions of organizational citizenship behaviour of administrative staff of 15 state universities in Sri Lanka. Established questionnaires were used to collect data. A total of 168 questionnaires were used for the analysis. The data was analyzed by SPSS package.. it can be concluded that that job satisfaction predict all the five dimensions of OCB such as altruism, conscientiousness , sportsmanship, courtesy and civic virtue. Keywords: altruism, conscientiousness, courtesy, job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, sportsmanship DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/13-3-03 Publication date: January 31 st 2021

Wastewater Treatment and Management in Health Sector of Sri Lanka

Hospitals are highly populated facilities that function 24 hours a day. They generate a large amount of wastewater through various sources which are very complex and hazardous. Furthermore, the emission of healthcare wastewater into the cities sewerage, rivers and groundwater pollute the entire system. Therefore, disposal of healthcare wastewater without adequate treatment can cause short and long-term ill-effects to the public's health. An onsite wastewater treatment would give a dual benefit of preventing the release of hazardous materials into other sources and bring the wastewater into the consumption cycle. At present, most countries utilize the treated wastewater to reduce the consumption of potable water. However, the literature review and preliminary studies revealed that wastewater management is poorly practised in the Sri Lankan healthcare sector. Therefore, this paper aimed to identify the extent of wastewater treatment, utilization and management in Sri Lankan state sector hospitals. The aim of the paper was achieved through a literature review and questionnaire survey. The required data were collected from nine state hospitals in Colombo. Findings of the study revealed that a high quality of wastewater treatment and efficient reuse of reclaimed water is a big challenge for the healthcare sector due to the complex nature of the wastewater process, higher cost of treatment and poor management. Moreover, it was found that currently wastewater generated from the state hospitals are discharged directly into the city's sewerage without any treatment. Finally, this paper discusses the current level of wastewater treatment, utilization and management in the state hospitals and identifies the critical barriers for the lack of poor practice of wastewater handling.

Role of technology anxiety within UTAUT in understanding non-user adoption intentions to virtual learning environments: the state university lecturers' perspective

Aim of this study is to examine the significance of technology anxiety within the UTAUT framework by determining VLE adoption intentions of Sri Lankan state university lecturers. A developing country like Sri Lanka can potentially expand higher education sector potentials through ICT integration into the state universities. Thus, understanding lecturer's perceptions about educational technologies such as VLEs is valuable. An online survey tool was used for data collection. # 219 valid responses were obtained. Data analysed using structured equation modelling. By adding technology anxiety as an external component (i.e., affection) to UTAUT factors (mainly cognitive and behavioural), this study enhanced the response power of the framework. Further, the theorised relationships between UTAUT factors and technology anxiety would fulfil the gap in the lack of literature that connects affective, cognitive components to predict technology adoption. Results revealed that performance expectancy and facilitating conditions have positive correlations with VLE adoption intention, while technology anxiety confirms its significant negative effect on the same. Further, it was found that technology anxiety has positive effects on both performance expectancy and effort expectancy although only PE indicate a mediation effect. The effect of technology anxiety on all hypothesised relationships was moderated by lecturer's age and gender.

Developing employability skills through peer-assessment

The development of employability skills is becoming an increasingly important topic in higher education today. According to Alsop (2015), graduates are deficient in key workplace skills such as oral communication, critical thinking and teamwork. Situation in Sri Lanka too is not different. Ariyawansa (2008) and Chandrakumara (2015) argue that graduates who pass out from Sri Lankan state universities do not have required professional skills such as communication, negotiation, interpersonal, teamwork, analytical and intellectual skills. Various programmes have been introduced to enhance the employability skills of the graduates. Learner-centred alternative assessment methods which are more integrated into teaching and learning have drawn much attention in the recent past due to various benefits they offer. Among the alternative assessment methods, peer – assessment has become popular in higher education at present. Peer-assessment not only creates a learner centred assessment method but also helps students develop various skills including employability skills. Drawing a sample of ninety-one (N-91) undegraduates from a humanities and social sciences faculty of a state university in Sri Lanka, the present study was conducted to examine the potential of peer-assessment to enhance the employability skills of the graduates. Learner perception about the potential of peer-assessment to enhance the employability skills was examined using a closed-ended questionnaire, open-ended questionnaire, focus group discussions, one-to-one interviews and written reflections. Participants of the present study generally held positive perception about peer-assessment and believed that peer-assessment helped them enhance various employability skills including teaching skills, independent evaluative skills, professional collaboration and teamwork, communication skills, negotiation skills, critical thinking skills and analytical skills. Therefore, this paper concludes that peer-assessment is an appropriate viable form of alternative assessment and recommends teachers, educators and material writers in higher education institutes to consider using learner centred peer-assessment in their courses in order to enhance the employability skills of the students.

Role of technology anxiety within UTAUT in understanding non-user adoption intentions to virtual learning environments: the state university lecturers' perspective

Aim of this study is to examine the significance of technology anxiety within the UTAUT framework by determining VLE adoption intentions of Sri Lankan state university lecturers. A developing country like Sri Lanka can potentially expand higher education sector potentials through ICT integration into the state universities. Thus, understanding lecturer's perceptions about educational technologies such as VLEs is valuable. An online survey tool was used for data collection. # 219 valid responses were obtained. Data analysed using structured equation modelling. By adding technology anxiety as an external component (i.e., affection) to UTAUT factors (mainly cognitive and behavioural), this study enhanced the response power of the framework. Further, the theorised relationships between UTAUT factors and technology anxiety would fulfil the gap in the lack of literature that connects affective, cognitive components to predict technology adoption. Results revealed that performance expectancy and facilitating conditions have positive correlations with VLE adoption intention, while technology anxiety confirms its significant negative effect on the same. Further, it was found that technology anxiety has positive effects on both performance expectancy and effort expectancy although only PE indicate a mediation effect. The effect of technology anxiety on all hypothesised relationships was moderated by lecturer's age and gender.

Historical Consciousness and Transitional Justice in Post-War Sri Lanka

Abstract Historical consciousness is a decisive factor in Sri Lanka with regards to the relationships between Sinhala and Tamil ethnic communities. It functioned as a great divide between these two communities. It was also used as a “charter of right” in order to impose one community’s claim on the other. This has become increasingly problematic in the post-war context after the violent hostilities between the Sri Lankan state and Tamil insurgents ended in 2009. Sinhala-Buddhists, who were politically dominant and identify themselves as the legitimate possessor of the island, desire to consolidate their dominance in the Tamil North and reckon historical knowledge as an effective tool for that end. The historical narrative that Sinhala Buddhists endorsed beginning in the early 20th century proved to be insufficient in countering the rising power of a Tamil counter narrative. Attempts have been made since the mid-1980s to produce a new historical narrative that is capable of challenging Tamil political claims. Although this effort was not fully successful, partial success was achieved during and after the war between the Sinhala dominated state and Tamil insurgents. The new historical consciousness that emerged out of this process proved to be extremely problematic in the context of the growing need for transitional justice for the war-affected Tamils in the North.

Beyond Liberal Peace in Sri Lanka: Victory, Politics, and State Formation

In 2009, the war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ended through a military victory for the government. Features of the post-war peace—including persistent militarization, strengthened nationalism, and communal violence—have commonly been attributed to a failed attempt at liberal peacebuilding followed by an authoritarian backlash. In contrast, this study shows how the post-war peace has been shaped by historical processes of state formation aimed at consolidating the Sri Lankan state. The article takes a long-term approach to analysing peace in Sri Lanka through the lens of state formation. The analysis centres on four key aspects: (1) post-war security, (2) state–minority relations, (3) socio-economic aspects, and (4) electoral politics. We conclude that there are currently few signs of any substantial state reform that would accommodate the continuous demand for social justice and minority rights that has spurred violent conflicts in Sri Lanka.

CHALLENGES AND CONSTRAINTS TO ENHANCE THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF A DEVELOPING COUNTRY: EVIDENCE FROM SRI LANKA

This study through an exploratory approach review the challenges and constraints faced in enhancing entrepreneurship education in developing countries using Sri Lanka as a case study. Previous studies on the subject matter is very scarce and even in international journals only few papers appeared on entrepreneurship education in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to study the current entrepreneurship education system in Sri Lankan state universities with reference to challenges and constraints and to propose an action plan to raise entrepreneurship education in Sri Lanka to be in par with that of developed nations so that these universities can act as the centerpieces of business innovations and entrepreneurship development. This paper employs an exploratory study approach by analyzing current entrepreneurship education system in Sri Lanka by reviewing secondary data such as various journals and government publications to build the arguments and recommendations outlined. Among constraints and challenges for the development of entrepreneurship education, lack of resources, lack of entrepreneurial skills in lecturers, poor stake-holder engagement, weak government policies and industry � university gap are common to most developing countries. In addition with its free education policy, Sri Lankan universities are faced with strict university entrance procedures and lack of selection of desired courses for majority of students. Findings of this study and salient suggestions will be an invaluable toolkit for policy makers to design effective strategies for entrepreneurship education in developing countries.

CHALLENGES AND CONSTRAINTS TO ENHANCE THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF A DEVELOPING COUNTRY: EVIDENCE FROM SRI LANKA

This study through an exploratory approach review the challenges and constraints faced in enhancing entrepreneurship education in developing countries using Sri Lanka as a case study. Previous studies on the subject matter is very scarce and even in international journals only few papers appeared on entrepreneurship education in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to study the current entrepreneurship education system in Sri Lankan state universities with reference to challenges and constraints and to propose an action plan to raise entrepreneurship education in Sri Lanka to be in par with that of developed nations so that these universities can act as the centerpieces of business innovations and entrepreneurship development. This paper employs an exploratory study approach by analyzing current entrepreneurship education system in Sri Lanka by reviewing secondary data such as various journals and government publications to build the arguments and recommendations outlined. Among constraints and challenges for the development of entrepreneurship education, lack of resources, lack of entrepreneurial skills in lecturers, poor stake-holder engagement, weak government policies and industry � university gap are common to most developing countries. In addition with its free education policy, Sri Lankan universities are faced with strict university entrance procedures and lack of selection of desired courses for majority of students. Findings of this study and salient suggestions will be an invaluable toolkit for policy makers to design effective strategies for entrepreneurship education in developing countries.

Mother as Witness: Poetry by Tamil Women in Sri Lanka

In the three decade long civil war between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government terrible atrocities were committed on the minority Tamil community by both the parties involved. This period of Tamil nationalism saw constructions of Tamil nation which were grounded on the construction of an ideal “Tamil Woman.” The period also witnessed a variety of cultural responses, including those by women poets. This paper broadly tries to elucidate how poetry was used to act as a witness to the experiences of the Tamil women during the Sri Lankan Civil War and how they responded to the Tamil nation making process. This paper will argue that the witnessing of war is “gendered” as can be evidenced in the critical reading of poetry written by Tamil women in Sri Lanka. Specifically the paper will look at how the figure of the mother has been used in this gendered witnessing. Different kinds of motherhoods were mobilized in Sri Lanka through the course of the war, namely the valiant mother who encourages her children to die for the country, the suffering mother and the mother who resists power for the sake of her children. One of the key constructs of women in Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka was of the figure of the “Veerathayar” – the brave mother, who is the reproducer of the nation. In the context of a war fought over competing nationalisms, the figure of Veerathayar was constructed through reimaginations of the mythic characters from the old legends and classics. A much more radical positioning of the mother figure was seen in the 1980s with the construct of “social motherhood.” Even though social motherhood appealed to the naturalized and essentialized construction of women as mothers, it also revealed the transgressions of the Sri Lankan State and the LTTE which otherwise valorized the nurturance role of mothers. Set against this context, the paper will examine how the figure of the “mother” has been used by Tamil women in their poetry to write their experience of the conflict. This is done through a critical reading of their poetry by giving attention to the ways through which they have used the construct of mother to subvert the dominant notions of being an ideal “Tamil Woman” as perpetuated by Tamil nationalism.

ACCEPTANCE OF MOBILE LEARNING BY HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN SRI LANKA: AN UTAUT2 APPROACH

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that might influence the intention and use behaviour of M-learning systems by students in higher education in Sri Lanka. The theoretical model for this study was primarily drawn from Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2). Following variables included from UTAUT2 such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, habit, facilitating condition and hedonic motivation and age, gender and internet experience used as moderate variables for this study to find behavioural intention and use M-learning. Instrument was developed using validated items from past literature. Data for this quantitative study were collected from undergraduate and postgraduate students from 453 Sri Lankan state universities by self-administering and Web-form during third quarter of 2019. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to see the insights from the valid data using Microsoft excel 16, IBM’s SPSS 22 and AMOS 22. Proposed hypotheses were validated using SEM technique in this study. After analysing the data, it was found that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, habit, facilitating condition and hedonic motivation had an influence on Sri Lankan students’ behaviour intention to use M-learning, and these relationships were moderated by the demographic characteristics such as gender and age. The adoption of an M-learning system in Sri Lankan higher education is fairly low. Hence, investigation of what determinants might be contributing for adoption is important to enhance the learning experience of students and help them improve their knowledge. This paper contributes by defining the factors that influence the acceptance and use of M-learning systems by students of higher education in Sri Lanka.

Evaluation of electronic health information systems in the Sri Lankan state health sector: a cross sectional study

Introduction: Over the past years, the state health sector witnessed the development and deployment of many intuitional based, electronic Health Information Systems (eHIS) in Sri Lanka. These eHIS have been implemented with varying degree of maturity and some show the potential to be scaled-up. However, some initiatives had been limited to pilot implementations and failed to scale up for sub-national to national level. The objectives of the evaluation were to assess the scaling up potential of the eHIS, provide recommendations to the national digital health strategy and enlist the systems in a global digital health marketplace i.e. Digital Health Atlas, for higher visibility and review. Methods: The MAPS toolkit was used as the primary evaluation tool, owing to its strong focus on digital health interventions scale-up. It was mapped with the eleven guiding principles of the National Health Information Policy strategic action plan which was assumed to be the closest available digital health strategy at the time of this evaluation, as there was no explicit digital health strategy for the country. Furthermore, the MAPS toolkit was logically mapped to the Principles for Digital Development for interpretation. The questionnaire was adopted with minor changes to suit local settings and validated by a panel of experts. The tool was administered to the managers of the currently implemented eHIS by three trained Interviewers. Data were randomly verified for quality assurance. Evaluated systems were enlisted in Digital Health Atlas, Sri Lanka country page. Results: 22 data points of 18 exclusive systems participated in the evaluation. Majority of the systems evaluated had a national scope (75%), and a very few projects had a subnational (12.5%) and institutional level scope (12.5%) but implemented at the institutional level. Nearly 60% of them had a financial contribution from the Ministry of Health while 25% had both financial as well as human resources. Nearly 91% of the systems have tested their products for usability with anticipated user groups. Further 86% of the systems had a demonstrated efficacy with 96% stating that the system has demonstrated effectiveness. Therefore, it was assumed that the slow scale-up progress was due to implementation issues rather than usability issues. Majority of the systems had a formal partnership with the Ministry of Health/Government entities. However, the formal partnerships with implementing partners, technology partners and service providers were not up to the standards. The formal partnership with marketing (communications) partner and evaluation (or research) partner was not identified by many systems. Majority of the systems have considered potential economic costs for scaling up the eHealth project. Nearly 46% (22.7% documented) have identified the total cost of ownership over the next five years, to reach their projected scale. Another 46% (18.2% documented) have identified key elements of the cost associated with scaling up the project. With regards to strategic choices regarding partners who offer sustainable funding for scaling up, 41% (9.1% documented) have explored diverse funding streams. However, nearly 59% have not identified and mitigated risks for a transition plan which may have affected the scaling-up. Conclusion: The enterprise-level digital health strategy and blueprint with action plan needs to be finalized to be able to address critical issues related to governance and monitoring of these systems. National level digital health governance mechanism needs to be resumed and re-established. Areas such as mechanisms for expanding human resource capacity and strategies for project team member retention should be strengthened further. A national enterprise level interoperability layer is a grave necessity. The enlisted systems in Digital Health Atlas can be case studies for the global community on Sri Lankan experience.

L2 Learners’ expected ideal English as a Second Language (ESL) Teacher

This study investigated the expected ideal English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher of the L2 learners in Sri Lanka. ESL teacher is a key person in the ESL classroom in Sri Lanka. School is the primary spot for the vast majority of the L2 students to start their L2 learning in Sri Lanka. This investigation was led among 30 Sri Lankan state funded university students by utilizing the mixed method. There were non-English majors among the participants and participation was voluntary. The questionnaire data were analyzed by utilizing SPSS and group discussion information were analyzed through categorization technique. The results of the questionnaire analysis showed that, L2 students expect their ESL educators to have good skill in using English language, be well prepared, have the capacity to motivate the students and possess great individual characteristics. Furthermore, through the group discussion, it was identified that most of the students lost their inspiration because of the personality and teaching ability of the ESL teacher at school. More significantly, these students feel motivated to begin their L2 learning later because of a motivating ESL instructor either in a tuition center or in an institute. Indeed, the findings recommend that the qualities and ability of the ESL teacher in an L2 classroom are critical in motivating the L2 students in Sri Lanka. These findings can be applied for the advancement of the selection of English Language teachers in Sri Lanka.

DOES ANXIETY IMPEDE VLE ADOPTION INTENTIONS OF STATE UNIVERSITY LECTURERS? - A STUDY BASED ON MODIFIED UTAUT FRAMEWORK

Purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of technology adoption in higher educational contexts. More precisely, this study would examine the significance of technology anxiety within the UTAUT framework in determining VLE adoption intentions of non-users from the perspective of Sri Lankan state university lecturers. A developing country like Sri Lanka can potentially expand higher education sector potentials through ICT integration in the state universities. Thus, a better understanding of university staff attitudes and perceptions about educational technologies such as VLEs is essential for effective use of these technologies which intern offer prolific payoffs. Quantitative methodology was used for primary data collection. QuestionPro online survey tool was employed to send out questionnaires of which returned with 219 valid responses. A unit of the sample was a university lecturer who fit to survey criteria of Non-VLE usage. SPSS and AMOS software was used to analyze data in terms of descriptive and hypotheses testing using structured equation modelling. By adding the technology anxiety as an external component (i.e., affection) to UTAUT factors (mainly cognitive and behavioral), this study enhanced the response power of the framework in determining adoption intention of non-users in the study context. Further, the theorized relationships between UTAUT factors and technology anxiety would fulfil the gap in the lack of literature that connects affective, cognitive components to predict technology adoption in the presence of demographics such as lecturer’s age and gender. Results of the study reveal that performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, has a positive correlation with VLE adoption intention, while technology anxiety confirms its significant negative effect on the same. Further, it was found that technology anxiety has positive effects on both performance expectancy and effort expectancy although one variable (PE) indicate a mediation effect. However, the effect of technology anxiety on all hypothesized relationships was moderated by lecturer’s age and gender. Article visualizations:

Exploring undergraduates’ money-management life: insight from an emerging economy

PurposeUndergraduates are expected to be future leaders responsible for business and nations. Given that sound financial decision-making is critical to their success in their careers and lives, it is important to understand the money-management behaviour of undergraduates. In the context of developing countries, the body of knowledge on money-management behaviour is dominated by functional financial literature and there is little research on factors beyond this. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring economic, social and psychological factors that influence money-management behaviour of undergraduates in a developing nation (Sri Lanka) and how undergraduates respond to these influences.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a qualitative exploratory approach. Data collection was carried out using focus group discussions and individual interviews amongst undergraduates in a leading Sri Lankan state university.FindingsThe results indicate that undergraduates adopted both careful and risky money-management approaches. The subthemes, specifically identified under economic, social and psychological factors, revealed how undergraduates responded to each of these factors and the influence of contextual and cultural differences in their money-management behaviour.Research limitations/implicationsFindings of the study revealed the importance of promoting innovative educational strategies to change the dependability mindset of undergraduates and to promote stress-management strategies that will assist them to enhance their personalities and creativity in making financial decisions. Theoretical and practical implications and future research directions are provided.Originality/valueThe literature scores in developing context are limited to exploring the existing pattern and the levels of the functional financial literacy. This study has deepened the authors’ understanding of how the developing context affects undergraduates’ response to the factors relating to their money-management behaviour. The findings from this study will be useful to government, financial institutions, educational institutions, parents and those who have a keen interest in encouraging healthy money-management behaviour in undergraduates.

Island journeys: fisher itineraries and national imaginaries in Colombo

ABSTRACTThis paper explores questions of mobility, ethnicity and spatial imaginaries in Sri Lanka through the experiences of fishermen in Mutuwall, a neighborhood of Colombo. While scholars of Sri Lanka have explored the historically contingent nature of Sri Lanka’s island-identity, this paper engages with the contemporary construction of island-ness through ethnographic fieldwork with twenty-first century residents of the city. Through fishers’ accounts of their pre-war itinerant lifestyles and their experiences living in the coastal High Security Zone during the civil conflict, this essay juxtaposes the free movement of fishers before the war with the heavily restricted movement they experienced at the height of the tensions between the Sri Lankan state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Fisher itineraries can be understood as dovetailing with state imaginaries of island-wide sovereignty even as they challenge it by describing subaltern movement through space. Ultimately, this paper suggests the importance of contemporary modes of ‘doing’ Indian Ocean studies.