Adaptability and Responsiveness is a highly acclaimed characteristic in business world.  Changing customer needs and mounting competition can only be won by managerswho can lead their workers to respond the changers in an agile manner.

There is growing recognition of the fact that biological resources and diversity are vital to humankind’s economic and social development. It is accepted that diversity is a global asset of tremendous value, and that it needs to be preserved fo

Matthew Arnold’s famous poem, Dover Beach, ends with a rather despairing couplet, “Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, / Where ignorant armies clash by night.”

In April the World Bank governors endorsed two historic goals: to end extreme poverty by 2030 and to ensure that prosperity is shared. It will take a lot to end poverty: strong growth, more infrastructure investments, increased agricultural prod

Some time back I attended a London Business School (LBS) Management Lab session, where the topic for discussion was, why some countries manage to achieve economic prosperity that helps them to escape the perils of poverty, while many other countries

TIMWOOD is an acronym for the famous Seven Wastes identified by Toyota, presented in a user-friendly manner by Taiichi Ohno, the then Chief Engineer at Toyota. They are the basics of what we learned in.....

The last time Sri Lanka built a breakwater to protect its fleet of ships, the teardrop-shaped island off the coast of India, was called Ceylon and was still under colonial rule.

A Chinese proverb tells us that it is wise to learn from y our own mistakes but wiser to learn from the mistakes of others. Asian leaders should take this advice to heart as they juggle between policies for social welfare and economic dynamism.

A significant contraction in finance costs enabled Hayleys Group subsidiary, Dipped Products...

This article draws from a new Research Working Paper by the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) titled ‘Incentivizing Foreign Investment in Sri Lanka and the Role of Tax Incentives’ by Anushka Wijesinha, Raveen Ekanayake and Ga

It has been claimed that the recent wage increase granted to plantation sector workers has pushed the cost of production of Sri Lankan teas to the highest in the world, The wage increase,

From today onwards for seven weeks, we will be talking about leadership. For all who lead others or aspire to lead others, this short course could be a good guide. We have taken the concept from the best seller ‘The Leadership Challenge’

A growing and well performing market is vital for both investors and borrowers to maximize their returns. This growth can help improve investor confidence as well as uplift the economy as a whole by mobilizing savings to the most important investment

Whether in Sri Lanka, Vietnam or Bangladesh, where a deadly factory collapse has killed over 500 people, the garment factory...

 “Why does the Shinkansen (Japan’s bullet train) travel much faster than an ordinary train?” was a question posed to us during a training programme in Japan. None of our answers ranging from technology to the tracks were corre

Asia’s rise is increasingly considered a foregone conclusion, yet the extent to which the region will prosper hinges on its ability to feed its voracious, ever-increasing appetite for energy.

 While the opportunities are being created to optimize the utilization of the new airport through Free Trade Zone, Industrial Park, Convention Centre etc. it is also necessary to look at what could be done from the existing opportunities both to

Today, we recap what we have studied during the past few weeks.  If you ever hear your executives whine about the competition, you will want to read this book.

Being a successful investor requires skills similar to those of a successful chef. Every cookbook stresses the need to read the recipe before beginning, make sure you have all the ingredients and do not deviate from the recipe until you have practice

Europe has always been a centre of celebration for human rights, whether for minorities, lesbian, gay, bisexual...

The  recently-launched  2013  Economic  and  Social  Survey of Asia and the Pacific of ESCAP is forecasting subdued growth of 6 per cent for the region in  2013  - up from 5.6 per cent in 2012.

Rubber industry analysts have said some time ago that, natural rubber (NR) prices are likely to take a dip after 2012 due to the acceleration in normal production on account of massive new planting undertaken across the major natural producing countr

Turbulent times have hit both Europe and emerging country economies. The competition for a share of the consumer’s wallet is becoming more severe. In Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne’s parlance, the Red Ocean is becoming more and bloodier.

We often boast of our ‘Sri Lankan smile’ and the friendliness of the Sri Lankans, but all is not well with the Sri Lankan service quality. According to many foreign business visitors, Sri Lanka’s hotels are the worst offenders.

A lot has been said about the current state of our external relations with the West. While the fallout of all this is often exaggerated, many of us know that diplomacy plays a direct role in addressing the root cause of insecurity and improving relat

On a recent visit to the Galle Fort, supposedly one of the most ‘IT’ places around, I was struck by...

The government is to be commended for its highly courageous decision to adjust electricity prices towards cost-reflectivity.

In the wake of the execution of Sri Lankan housemaid Rizana Nafeek on 9th February 2013, accused of smothering an infant in her care in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the human rights of migrant workers have come to the forefront of the policy dis

In our previous instalments we said that the Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) is a systematic way to challenge the conventional logic of competition in a given industry and  to expand the market by attracting ‘non-customers’,

When stock markets become volatile, investors get nervous. In many cases, this prompts them to take money out of the market and keep it in cash. Cash can be seen, felt and spent at will and having money on hand makes many people feel more secure.