?Famous author Stephen Phinker, a finalist in the Pulitzer Prize, in his book ‘Blank Slate’ argued that what we perceive as real is sometimes distorted by our own expectations. This is the basis of optical illusion. 

Last week we reviewed Section One of the business plan – ‘Strategic Direction’. Today we move on to Section Two – ‘Objectives and Goals’. 

?A few retail scandals capture the public’s attention faster than a high-profile product recall. Even more so when it comes to products we put in our mouths. 

?Retirement is a big word whichever way you look at it. Almost all of us know in the back of our minds that someday, it will creep up upon us; somewhere beyond the yonder, there is the day when we say good bye to what we have...

The Path Goal theory was initially developed by Robert House to explain workplace leadership behaviours.

This is the New Year season, which we celebrate on a grand scale.

The spirit of good neighbourliness is a cherished attribute particularly when nations share natural resources.

? In our April 2015 World Economic Outlook, we forecast global growth to be roughly the same this year than last year, 3.5 percent versus 3.4 percent.    This global number reflects an increase in growth in advanced...

?AFP: Chinese President Xi Jinping headed to Islamabad yesterday to unveil a US$ 46 billion investment plan that Pakistan hopes will end its chronic energy crisis and “transform” the country into a regional economic hub.

Earlier this month (11 April 2015), the New York Times published an article on a decade’s experience with the UK Freedom of Information Act entitled “From A to Z (Asteroids to Zombies), the British Just Want the Facts.

?In 2011, I listened To Lee Kuan Yew officially launch his book titled ‘Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going’ at the St Regis Singapore. He spoke passionately of the need to promote meritocracy. 

?When it comes to searching for a new job, a “flexible approach” to work is a job attribute that job hunters look for and employers have responded by using remote working as a selling point to attract such individuals into their work forc

Entrepreneurs and business managers in small companies are often so preoccupied with immediate issues that they lose sight of their ultimate objectives. For them, that’s why preparation of a strategic plan is a virtual necessity.

?Have you ever stopped to consider that your day-to-day meals, particularly the packaged/processed food, contain varieties of added substances, which are made of synthetic chemicals?

Business savvy Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinge speaking at the American Chamber on Wednesday observed that the quality of a nation’s manpower resources is one of the most important factor determining national competitiveness. 

?In the early 1950s Honda Motor Corporation was still a small Japanese company struggling to rise through the ashes of the Second World War. Headed by Soichiro Honda, a highly-driven young entrepreneur, the company had gained a reputation for making

?The Central Bank at its latest review meeting held this week has expressed its opinion stating that the current behaviour of the bank interest rates to be inconsistent with the prevailing inflation and other macro monitory fundamentals.

?The government has announced the complete liberalization of Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in a desperate attempt to make something of the inherited white elephant. The investment is sunk.

In 2008, Malini Agarwal, a young Indian woman, starry eyed as any other Indian girl about Bollywood and all its glamour, started a blog from her home. It was meant to be a hobby. 

In an article published in Sunday Island of April 25, 2008, Dr. G.T. Dharmasena, former Director General of Irrigation and a consultant to United Nations Project Services in Sri Lanka (UNOPS) stated,

?Reading some of the views expressed by the Planters’ Association Chairman, it is quite apparent that the tea industry is in dire straits giving a symptomatic impression that viability is being seriously threatened. 

Drawing open the curtains to what is the festive month of April in many parts of Asia and the world, on 02 April, one hundred forty two students were slaughtered in Garissa University College in Kenya by al Shabab:  an al Qaeda-linked Somali ter

?It is a truth universally acknowledged that money does not grow on trees. It is also however accepted that with prudent investment and a modicum of financial planning, you can develop your finances.

?The Uma Oya project, conceived as an important segment of the Accelerated Mahaweli Programme (AMP), was studied for the development of water resources for hydropower development by the...

?For too long now, regions outside the Western Province have been characterized as ‘lagging’ and in need of a boost. But has the terminology itself contributed to the problem?

Negotiations pertaining to the renewal of the collective agreement between the plantation trade unions and Employers’ Federation had commenced, recently. 

“One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes... and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.” 

?Small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) make up a large part of Sri Lanka’s economy, accounting for over 80 percent of all businesses. These are found in all sectors of the economy and provide employment for people of different skills.

?Sri Lanka has various levels of trade agreements (TAs) with both India and China. A new TA with China was mooted in 2014 and the appetite for that continues in the new presidency and policy context of 2015.

?Nearly six years since the end of the war, Sri Lanka is struggling to get any impressive increase in foreign direct investment (FDI). The only notable increase in FDI has come in the...