http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/10503 2026-01-07T06:17:54Z http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/10551 The Audit Expectations Gap and the Role of Audit Education: Evidence from Sri Lanka Kumari, J.S.; Ajward, A.R.; Dissabandara, D.B.P.H. The study examined the status and impact of audit education on the audit expectation gap, as existence of such a gap is noted to be harmful to the accounting and auditing profession. Accordingly, undergraduates of a regional national university in Sri Lanka (in three categories as: undergraduates who had not followed an auditing course, who had followed a basic auditing course, and who had followed an advanced auditing course) and professional auditors were selected and a questionnaire survey that included statements on the duties of the auditors was administered. The results of the independent sample t-test indicate the existence of an audit expectation gap in the Sri Lankan context; and that audit education had an effect in reducing such a gap. However, further analysis indicated that only an advanced auditing course had resulted in minimizing such expectation gap (particularly in reducing the unreasonable expectation gap) compared to who had followed a basic auditing course. These findings are expected to have significant educational policy implications. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/10549 Investor Sentiment and Asset Pricing: A Review Gunathilaka, C This paper reviews literature on asset pricing and investor sentiment. It provides a fair accumulation of evidence with an objective of showing how productive has been the effort of modelling market sentiment in pricing assets. Research efforts in modelling non-standard investor behaviour have been successful in explaining aggregate predictability. However, despite the financial innovations and discussions on investor sentiment that happened in US markets, empirical work in emerging markets is still preliminary. The paper inquires the extent that the existing asset pricing models price the assets in the economy. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/10548 Impact of Perceived Desirability, Perceived Feasibility and Performance Expectancy on Use of IT Innovation: Technology Adoption Decisions and Use Behaviour Moghavvemi, S; Phoong, S.W.; Lee, S.T. Theoretical perspectives from the field of entrepreneurship can be used to examine entrepreneurs’ intention to use IT innovations. This study collected 412 completed survey responses from entrepreneurs and used structural equation modelling to test the proposed technology acceptance decision model. The results showed the significant effect of perceived desirability, perceived feasibility and performance expectancy as the salient antecedents of intention to adopt and use IT innovation. This study examined the effect of external factors which prevent or facilitate the adoption and use of new technology. The moderating effect of the propensity to act is examined and the results indicated that when the individual propensity to act is high, taking action becomes more desirable and feasible. This study revealed that, in the current IS environment, individuals adopt and use a new system due to the attractiveness of the system and perceived feasibility, which are derived from intrinsic interest and affective beliefs. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/10538 Impact of Lean Utilization on Operational Performance: A Study of Sri Lankan Textile and Apparel Industry Gunarathne, G.C.I.; Kumarasiri, W.D.C.K.T. The increasingly competitive local and international market for the Textile and Apparel industry has forced the manufacturers to adopt practices that lead to cost reductions and improve Operational Performance (OP). According to Gamage et al. (2010) lean had been initiated to fulfill this requirement. Yet it was crucial to be aware whether Lean Practices would essentially have a positive impact on OP. This research was therefore conducted to identify the relationship between Lean and OP and the impact Lean utilization creates on the OP levels. The objectives also covered the identification of issues that hinder the ability to derive the expected benefits and suggesting how Lean could be used effectively to attain the expected OP levels. A survey questionnaire was used to gather data from Textile and Apparel factories that met the criteria of possessing Lean manufacturing as the standard of operation for more than a period of one year, to ensure adequate time to gain results on an impact on the OP measurement criteria identified in the model. This was studied in a sample of thirty medium to large scale factories registered in the Board of Investments. Data were specifically gathered on Lean utilization under three constructs, Just in Time (JIT), Waste Elimination (WE) and Flow Management (FM) extracted from literature. OP was measured through 12 Key Performance Indicators identified from industry. Descriptive Statistics, Multiple Regression Analysis and Correlation Analysis were employed to analyze the data. Results indicated that there is a positive relationship between Lean Utilization and OP in the Textile and Apparel industry. WE techniques utilized in the industry had a highly significant relationship with OP compared to JIT and FM. Also it was evident that lack of awareness of the human factor, lesser number of studies and consultancy expenses has hindered their ability to gain expected outcomes. The study encourages WE techniques such as elimination of bottlenecks and would support the management in long term decision making. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z