Seylan totally service-oriented: Kapila Ariyaratne

Seylan Bank recorded an impressive 1 H performance with a Profit after Tax of Rs 1.021 billion for the 6 months ended 30 June 2012.  This is a strong testament and proves beyond doubt that the strategies adopted and operational improvements are yielding the desired results.

From start up to growth stage – nurturing a business into expansion

For most women-owned (or otherwise) small businesses, the startup phase is often considered the most critical. Yet, as most have found later on, the critical phase actually commences when the business enters the phase of growth. The growth stage can be challenging, even though the startup...

Maliban Lemon Puff relaunched; BNS Brand Ambassadors

Maliban Biscuit Manufactories (Pvt.) Ltd. recently announced the relaunch of one of its flagship brands, Maliban Lemon Puff. Bathiya Jayakody and Santhush...

Are patients free to select ‘best’ specialists in town?

The recently debated burning question as to whether foreign medical specialists have a right to work in the private hospitals in Sri Lanka leaves an open-ended question.

Tokyo bourse invites Lankan corporates to list

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), which is the third largest equity/stock market in the world, with a total market capitalization of US$ 3.3 trillion, has expressed interest to have Sri Lankan listed corporates in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) to be listed in the TSE as Japanese Depository Receipts (JDRs), stated Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Japan, Admiral (Rtd.) Wasantha Karannagoda.

Electricity and petroleum sector reforms: Let consumer be the king

In the past two years, rarely has a week passed without a news item which highlighted the losses, poor quality of products and services, inefficiencies and possibly corruption in the electricity and petroleum sectors.

Mission statement: Pie in the sky or bread on the table?

From the many discussions with various executives, I found we share a common curiosity of the many lofty mission statements which many companies are known to have come up with.

Selecting stocks: Which is better, fundamental analysis or technical analysis?

When you are making an attempt to analyze securities and make investment decisions, the strategies you use will most likely find themselves in two very broad categories:

Emirates, Qantas enter global aviation partnership

Emirates and Qantas yesterday announced a new global aviation partnership that will give customers a seamless international and Australian network...

Uncertainty in Sri Lankan tea business continues

Global tea prices are set to stay strong through 2012, with demand driven by growth in Asia, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Is higher allocation of funds for education, a viable demand?

It is encouraging to learn, through various statements made by representatives of Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA )  on their prolonged strike, that  university academics are keenly interested in getting themselves  involved in  various issues pertaining to the wellbeing of the  people of the country and designing policies to deal with them.

THE MOST IMPORTANT MANAGEMENT SECRET: The Pygmalion Effect

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us — Oliver Wendell HolmesInterestingly enough, ancient Greek mythology creates an archetype for a present day social phenomenon with an artist named Pygmalion.

INVESTING: Asset allocation, diversification and rebalancing

Even if you are new to investing, you may already know some of the most fundamental principles of sound investing.How did you learn them? Through ordinary, real-life experiences that have nothing to do with the stock market. For example, have you ever noticed that street vendors often sell seemingly unrelated products

Munchee emerges ‘Best Employer Brand’ at CMO Awards

Munchee, the flagship brand of the Sri Lankan confectionery powerhouse, Ceylon Biscuits Limited was awarded the prestigious title, the ‘Best Employer...

Global palm oil boom raises conservation concerns

Palm oil was once touted as a social and environmental panacea — a sustainable food crop, a biofuel that could help to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and a route out of poverty for small-scale farmers.

Fol toppee and fan cake – so what?

In the recent past I read with great interest a project initiated by the government encouraging people to speak English. Saw the ‘Master Blaster’ Sanath and the Sprint Queen Susanthika on TV giving encouragement to the concept: Speak any way you can; forget grammar and pronunciation; the intention is to communicate.

Lankan stock market roiled by scandal

Sri Lanka’s stock market, once a darling of investors, has seen its value plummet 26 per cent in the past year and now faces a crisis of confidence after its regulator quit in a storm of controversy.

P/E ratio- what you need to know

The price-earnings ratio (P/E) is hands down the most popular ratio among investors. Value investors have long considered the price-earnings ratio a useful metric for evaluating the relative attractiveness of a company’s stock price. Made popular by the late Benjamin Graham, who was dubbed the ‘father of value investing’ as well as Warren Buffett’s mentor, Graham preached the virtues of this financial ratio as one of

Take ‘hands-off’ approach to managing your team

The concept of ‘managing your team’ is not intuitive for many managers and for some it even cuts against the grain of what they think they should do as bosses. A high-functioning team can’t be created by decree. Real teams - ones that do collective work - perform well not when the boss demands it, but when their colleagues expect it.

DIMO launches ‘My Service’

As part of its continued commitment to customer satisfaction, the authorised distributor for Mercedes-Benz in Sri Lanka – DIMO is launching...

Leadership lessons from Olympics

With a little British pomp and a lot of British pop, London brought the curtain down on a glorious Olympic Games to a close. However, it was some of the great athletes at those games more than the pomp and the pop that really made a lasting impression on everyone by doing things out of the ordinary. 

Growing belief in Agroforestry

Commercial agroforestry, aimed at integrating tree crops with agricultural crops and animals to increase land productivity, is the way to go towards enhancing timber and food production.

Trading practices and conduct of a stockbroker

The stockbroker (investment advisor) and the stockbroker firm are the two primary relationships you will have when you begin your journey to investing. As an investor, choosing a broker is one of the most important decisions you’ll have to make.

Simply put, good incentives bring good results!

Money, which has always been considered great for buying stuff, is also useful for keeping score and might help people make better decisions. New studies have claimed that without any kind of incentive, people’s decisions may seem irrational and have little logical connection.

Delivery 2.0: New challenge for governments

McKinsey & Company, the leading management consultancy, has undertaken a great deal of work in assisting governments around the world to improve...

Transparency & efficiency, vital to sustain investments- Halpin

In the backdrop of a shift in economic momentum towards the East on a global scale, competition for investment has increased drastically; investment which will prove crucial to Sri Lanka’s future economic prosperity.

Can Sri Lanka follow India’s Natural Rubber story?

Is Sri Lanka satisfied with the award-winning NR productivity of about 1250 kg/ha? Although the national productivity in 2011 had been 1558 kg/ha, research yields much higher than this and the Indian national yield is 1835kg/ha. Are we not interested in boosting our productivity by year 2021 (10 years) to 2000 kg/ha?

Greening jobs in Sri Lanka: Getting things started

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) defines the concept of green jobs as encompassing two basic elements. The first involves, “averting dangerous and potentially unmanageable climate change and protecting the natural environment which supports life on earth.” 

SLT posts Rs.3.3bn operating profits in 1H

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the pioneer telecommunication services provider in Sri Lanka, released its group and company financial results for the six months ended June 30, 2012, recording a Rs.3.36 billion group operating profit, a growth of 15% year-on-year (YoY)

Tourists need Lankan skies to be safe

Come December 2012, there is a centenary celebration of a little known event that set off a stellar trail of aviation in Sri Lanka. The old Race Course was the venue; limited records indicate that a German aviator did the maiden flight in our paradise isle.