Business

Scholar with an eye on customer satisfaction

Published

3 years ago

2023/07/28

Dr.Gehan Dhameeth,
Associate Professor of Business, Chair of the Business Department and Data Analytics Department – Wells College being interviewed by Himadri Seth of the School of Journalism, Ithaca College, New York.

What is your research philosophy, and how does it manifest in your publications and beyond?

Well, research philosophy – there are different research philosophies where scholars use different approaches to interpret phenomena related to the world. A couple of them that come to my mind would be the Positivist, Pragmatist, and Interpretivist. Essentially my approach is Positivism. Where we depend more on an empirical aspect of the research. We develop hypotheses, collect data, model and test models, and then interpret certain phenomena and how they work when it comes to interactions of the variables.

Can you tell me more about your research interests, particularly in consumer behavior, marketing analytics, and organizational strategy?

Different scholars have their scholarly sweet spots, so it comes based on where they come from. When I say where they come from, it could be their continuous research investment, and the other angle would be the corporate experience that they come with. So based on these two domains, where I come from, I would like to focus more on how consumers behave. The current study I am collaborating on is a research paper on customer satisfaction measurement modeling based on online customer reviews. So, that’s one area, consumer behavior, more specifically customer satisfaction, where my entire investment in scholarship is. The other two areas, marketing analytics, are also interesting because they help us perform budget optimizations, brand positioning, market segmentation, targeting, forecasting, marketing mix optimization, product feature selection, satisfaction measurements, etc. And then the third area was for me to learn more about how the two sides, if we were to conceptualize a company to be in the center, internally how employees would change their behavior when the overall corporate strategies change and at the same time, due to that exact strategy change, how externally the consumers also will change their behavior. Say, for example, throwing out a new product, consumers change, and employees will also have to change how they think, apply, and so on. So that’s why I thought these three areas to be interesting for me.

What are innovative teaching techniques that you use?

For all my classes, I use a student-centered teaching approach. One example that I would like to refer to here is that I use in my classes, more specifically marketing class, where I use case-method teaching. This case-method teaching has three stages. First is the analysis, then the goal and strategy, and the last stage is the implementation. Now in my class, the innovative technique that I use is inside the class; we complete the first phase, which is analysis, but at the stage of goal setting and strategizing, I let the students walk around the campus in groups, not more than four. They walk around, and then they come back with their strategy. The reason for that is that many studies have shown that when motion is associated with the learning process, students learn more, very effectively. So that’s one innovative technique I use in my marketing class when using the case-method approach.

Having held various positions at different schools over the years, how has your teaching philosophy evolved?

Well, first of all, my philosophy about teaching is that learning should be accessible to all individuals in this world regardless of their socio-cultural-ethnic background. So, what I do to take this knowledge to every individual in the classroom, I use a more student-centered teaching approach. How do I do that- I use a specific model unique to me, and I call it the 10-3-10 model. Interesting model. In every class, I use ten minutes of my time to do a lecture, then three minutes of interaction, and then another ten minutes of reflection. By doing that, I think I’m helping everyone to gain the expected knowledge as the objective of the class to walk out with. So that’s my teaching philosophy.

What advice do you have for business students today?

The first thing that we need to understand is that the whole world is changing, so whether you’re a business student or any other, you have to be able to embrace this change. Especially for business students, compared to my time at their undergrad level, it is imperative that you take at least a couple of data-driven classes because that’s the current world that we’re dealing with. So, data-driven decision-making, especially for business students, is critical today. So I advise taking at least a couple of data analytics classes and getting oriented to apply the analytical skills in the future after graduation. In addition, as I explained, you need to consider time management, people skills, and presentation skills, which go beyond your regular business class learning.

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Business

Super El Niño threatens to deepen Sri Lanka’s drought and economic woes

Published

8 hours ago

2026/09/4

Thilina Walpola

By Ifham Nizam

A potentially dangerous El Niño is gathering strength across the Pacific, with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warning that the climate event is expected to become very strong and continue into February 2027, raising the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and major disruptions to rainfall patterns worldwide.

The warning has particular significance for Sri Lanka, where communities in several agricultural districts are already facing severe drought, depleted water sources and shrinking farm incomes.

The WMO said yesterday that forecasts from its Global Producing Centres show an “exceptionally high likelihood of nearly 100%” that El Niño will persist through February next year. The organisation said this is the first time one of its El Niño/La Niña updates has been so unequivocal, reflecting strong agreement among forecasting systems.

The event, driven by exceptionally warm waters in the tropical Pacific, is expected to strengthen further in the coming months, reach very strong intensity and peak towards the end of this year. Its climate impacts, however, are expected to continue well into 2027.

According to Meteorological Organization

Sri Lanka is already experiencing the consequences.

A Reuters report published on Wednesday from drought-affected areas said rainfall deficits of between 85% and 100% have been recorded in important farming regions including Ampara and Monaragala.

Wells, tanks, rivers and lakes have dried up, while tens of thousands of people are depending on government water deliveries, with some remote communities reportedly waiting up to 23 days for supplies.

The drought is also rapidly becoming an economic problem for rural communities. Croplands have withered, livestock operations have been affected and farmers who have lost their harvests are being forced to seek daily-paid employment to survive.

The latest WMO outlook also warns that the consequences of El Niño will not necessarily be uniform. The severity and timing of impacts in individual countries depend on geography, season and other climate drivers, including conditions in the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

For Sri Lanka, the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) will therefore be crucial. The WMO expects a positive IOD to develop, with a September-November seasonal mean of about 0.9°C. This could modify the normal influence of El Niño on rainfall over the region.

That creates another potential risk for Sri Lanka: the country may have to prepare not only for continued drought but also for episodes of intense rainfall, flooding and landslides later in the year. Climate variability increasingly means that a prolonged water shortage can be followed by sudden and destructive rainfall rather than a gradual return to normal conditions.

For Sri Lanka, the warning should therefore be viewed as an economic and national-planning issue, not simply a meteorological forecast. Agriculture, drinking water, electricity generation, food imports, public expenditure and rural livelihoods could all be affected.

Business

ABC Trade & Investment – All-China Environment Federation partner to drive Sri Lanka’s green infrastructure and investment

Published

8 hours ago

2026/09/4

Thilina Walpola

ABC Trade & Investments (Pvt) Ltd, a leading homegrown conglomerate in Sri Lanka’s ICT distribution and diversified business landscape, has formally entered into a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the All-China Environment Federation (ACEF). The partnership establishes a collaborative framework aimed at accelerating new-energy development, water management, and environmental protection projects across Sri Lanka.

The agreement bridges advanced Chinese engineering capabilities, equipment, technical expertise, and investment resources with ABC Trade & Investments’ local operational strength, market insight, and project implementation skills. By pairing international technology with on-the-ground execution, the initiative is designed to address Sri Lanka’s long-term environmental and civil infrastructure priorities.

The MoU was signed by Amalrajah Jayaseelan, Director/CEO of ABC Trade & Investment (Pvt) Ltd, and Shi Xiang, Secretary-General of the Belt & Road Eco-Industry Cooperation Working Committee of ACEF. The signing took place during the China–Sri Lanka Environmental & Energy Exchange and Cooperation Meeting at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Grounds in Colombo, held under the theme “Empower Green Development, Jointly Build a New Pattern of China–Sri Lanka Environmental & Energy Industry.”

Business

Heavy buying interest slows down stock trading

Published

8 hours ago

2026/09/4

Thilina Walpola

By Hiran H. Senewiratne

The CSE yesterday was very active at the outset but later slowed down due to heavy buying interest noted for select stocks.Amid those developments both indices moved upwards. The S and P SL20 went up by 23.73 points. Turnover stood at Rs 2.44 billion with 10 crossings.

The crossings were: Renuka Foods 19 million shares crossed for Rs 502 million; its shares traded at Rs 25.30, Dipped Products 1.9 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 117 million; its shares traded at Rs 60.50, JKH 3.9 million shares crossed for Rs 78 million; its shares sold at Rs 19.70, Dialog Axiata 1 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 46.6 million; its shares traded at Rs 46.40, Tokyo Cement 500,000 shares crossed for Rs 39.5 million; its shares sold at Rs 79 and Watawela Plantations 800,000 shares crossed for Rs 34 million; its shares were Rs 42.50 each.

In the retail market companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Vallibel Finance Rs 281 million (3.3 million shares traded), Dipped Products Rs 114 million (1.9 million shares traded), Haycarb Rs 90 million (424,000 shares traded), Alumax Rs 42 million (2.6 million shares traded), HNB Rs 38.5 million (102,000 shares traded), Swisstec Rs 30 million (506,000 shares traded) and Sierra Cables Rs 34 million (880,000 shares traded). During the day 118 million share volumes changed hands in 17802 transactions.

It is said that mixed market reactions were noted during the day. Financial sector, especially Vallibel Finance, performed well, while the manufacturing sector, especially JKH and Hayleys , performed significantly.

Meanwhile, Co-operative Insurance Company announced the redemption of 1,100,000 cumulative redeemable preference shares issued in December 2020 to the Health Department Co-Operative Thrift & Credit Society.

The total redemption consideration of Rs 16.61 million, including a 9 percent per annum cumulative dividend, is set for settlement on August 31, 2026.

Yesterday the rupee was quoted at Rs 328.25/35 to the US dollar in the spot market, stronger from Rs 328.30/60 the previous day, while bond yields were somewhat steady, dealers said.