India-Russia nuclear ambitions and mounting tensions in Sri Lanka

At the onset, I wish to draw the attention of the public to an article I wrote titled “Indian Nuclear Power Generation and the impact on Sri Lanka” on May 23, 2012 and published in the Daily Mirror Business Section.

When fear and greed take over stock market...

There is an old saying that the market is driven by just two emotions: Fear and greed. Although this is an oversimplification, it can often be true. Succumbing to these emotions can have a profound and detrimental effect on investors’ portfolios and the stock market.

Moving from crisis to resilience : How to be decisive and get business done

Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “Nothing is more difficult and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.” He recognized that a few critical decisions put leaders to the test. In turbulent times, some leaders make tough choices with courage and conviction.

India’s daughter leaves a legacy of hope for others

We all know just how horrible news on its own can be – the usual round up covers everything from natural disasters...

Macroeconomic Road Map for 2013

The policy-makers face a challenging balancing act with difficult trade-offs in formulating the Macroeconomic Road Map for 2013. They need to address the following objectives:

Think like Warren Buffett

Back in 1999, Robert G. Hagstrom wrote a book about the legendary investor Warren Buffett, entitled ‘The Warren Buffett Portfolio’. What’s so great about the book and what makes it different from the countless other books and articles written about Warren Buffett is that

Surviving in times of crisis : Survival amidst crisis - Learning from Richard Branson

How do you survive in the face of stiff competition? How do you stay afloat in the time of crisis? What business survival strategies can you implement in trying moments?

Employee fired for being too attractive – Sexual discrimination at work?

The meaning of sexual discrimination at work took a new turn recently when in a high profile case in the USA, a female...

When customer service makes all the difference

Addressing a group of company executives, Warren Buffett once said, “It might take 20 years to build a reputation of a business and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

Global extraction and reserves of oil and gas

As exploration for oil and gas, which are nonrenewable resources, get more difficult, it is imperative that the flow rates and recovery factors have to be increased in the existing fields.

Sri Lanka hosts UN Global Compact Regional Meeting

Global Compact Network Ceylon hosted the United Nations Global Compact Local Network Regional Meeting for Asia & Oceania in Colombo...

Long-term innovation to deliver sustainable profits, jobs

Today for many companies globally it has become an addiction to pursue short-term growth initiatives at the expense of long-term innovation that would generally generate sustainable profits and jobs.

Increased focus on large tax payers

President Mahinda Rajapaksa who’s also the Minister of Finance and Planning presenting budget proposals for 2013, in Parliament on 08th November 2012, stated that, the government introduced far reaching reforms in the 2011 budget,.....

Are IEA oil forecasts unrealistic?

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has provided an unrealistically high oil forecasts in its new 2012 World Energy Outlook (WEO) according to Gail Tverberg and reported in the Oil Voice Magazine of December 2012.

How interest rates affect stock market

During the past week, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka lowered its policy rate. This resulted in the Colombo Stock Exchange showing significant gains. On December 12, 2012, the policy rates were lowered and this resulted in the All Share Price Index (ASPI) increasing

Surviving in times of crisis : Successful change management needs solid action plan

In all business organisations, there are often two types of work. There is the normal delivery process, where the main business of the organisation is done. Then there are the change activities, whereby necessary change is made to the business and the way it is done.

Revolutionizing Sri Lanka’s hospitality industry rupee

Robert Cross, a Revenue Management (RM) guru who pioneered RM in the late 80s explains about RM

Emerging markets, developed economies to face bigger challenges in 2013: Jim Walker

ET Now: Do you think given the kind of policy measures the Government of India has recently announced, Indian economy could once again reclaim levels of 6% to 7% GDP growth?

Revolutionizing Sri Lanka’s hospitality industry rupee

Here the vision would be to build the strategic approach to optimize the revenue performance of the hotel industry, and to keep with the overall tourist arrival goals in Sri Lanka, enhancing profitability of the hotel properties.

It all starts and ends with competitive advantage

If you want to start a successful business or survive in business, you’ve got to have some degree of advantage over your competitors. Otherwise, why would anyone ever buy from you?

Investing tips from Lynch, Graham, Buffett

The long fierce bull faced by Sri Lankan equities, which brought yields down was due in part to fundamentally steady economic growth, rising profits and investor sentiment.

Has Apple lost Steve Jobs streak?

He was the corporate world’s perfect eccentric geek – brilliant in his capacity to grasp changing consumer needs and trends and...

Why pension, provident funds should invest in capital markets?

Pension funds may be defined as institutional investors, which collect, pool and invest funds contributed by sponsors and beneficiaries to provide for future pension entitlements of beneficiaries (Davis 2000).

Surviving in times of crisis - Business strategy, tactics always go together

Last week, we dealt about the implementation of business strategy. Same day, a reader who was a marketing executive asked me a question which led me to believe he didn’t know the difference between strategy and tactics.

Software Piracy...Is the risk worth it?

Last week the police raided a financial institution, which they say, was suspected of using pirated software.   In the process they confiscated...

Singapore strike reflects dual strains

A rare protest over wages in Singapore by a group of bus drivers recruited from China has caused a public stir, highlighting the city-state’s heavy reliance on migrant workers as tensions rise over the influx of foreign labour, The Wall Street Journal said.

Governance Heritage and Sustainability

I attended the above book launch on 15 November 2012 at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute in Colombo. It was significant that this august gathering consisted of retired public servants, academicians and diplomats and professionals of the past.

Loss-making SOES: Impact on people, employees & political leadership

Recent media headlines have featured large losses incurred by state-owned enterprises (SOEs). CPC, CEB, SLTB and Sri Lankan Airlines/Mihin Air have all recorded unsustainable losses. A very large share of these losses, particularly those of the CPC, CEB and SLTB, can be attributed to pricing policies that do not reflect costs.

Indian tea industry makes major moves on quality side

The Indian tea industry has adopted a comprehensive plan to upgrade quality and increase production to meet the growing domestic and overseas demand, The Economic Times reported.

Balanced outlook for global oil palm industry

In recent years, many countries around the world have been tapping renewable resources to secure stable sources of energy. This tendency has been spurred by high fossil fuel prices, rising demand for energy and increasing concerns about the implications of fossil fuels on global climate (FAO).