PERCEIVED FACTORS FOR THE 
EFFECTIVENESS 
OF 
ONLINE LEARNING 
FOR 
LICENSED COMMERCIAL BANKS 
IN 
SRI LANKA 
 
 
 
 
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 
IN 
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 
 
 
 
Munasinghe T. A. L. L. 
Department of Computer Science and Engineering 
University of Moratuwa 
December 2008 
 
  
 
PERCEIVED FACTORS FOR THE 
EFFECTIVENESS 
OF 
ONLINE LEARNING 
FOR 
LICENSED COMMERCIAL BANKS 
IN 
SRI LANKA 
 
 
By 
 
Munasinghe T. A. L. L. 
 
Supervised By 
Dr. Sanath Jayasena 
 
This Dissertation was submitted to the Department of Computer Science 
& Engineering of the University of Moratuwa in partial fulfillment of the 
requirement for the Degree of Master of Business Administration. 
 
Department of Computer Science & Engineering 
University of Moratuwa 
December 2008 
 
  i 
 
DECLARATION 
 
“I certify that this dissertation does not incorporate without acknowledgement any 
material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any university to the best of 
my knowledge and believe it does not contain any material previously published, 
written or orally communicated by another person or myself except where due 
reference is made in the text. I also give consent for my dissertation, if accepted, to be 
made available for photocopying and interlibrary loans and for the title and summary 
to be available to outside organizations. 
 
 ...........................................................................  
T. A. Lasantha Lakmal Munasinghe 
08th February 2009 
 
 
I hereby recommend that the dissertation prepared under my supervision by Mr. T. A. 
Lasantha Lakmal Munasinghe entitled “The Effectiveness of Online Learning for 
Licensed Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka” be accepted in partial fulfillment of the 
requirement for the Degree of Master of Business Administration in Information 
Technology. 
 
 ...........................................................................  
Dr. Sanath Jayasena 
Supervisor of the Project 
Senior Lecturer 
Department of Computer Science and Engineering 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  ii 
 
Abstract 
 
The Effectiveness of Online Learning for Licensed Commercial Banks in Sri 
Lanka 
 
The main focus of this research is to measure the effectiveness of online training in 
banking industry. The study includes any kind of training program which comes under 
the computer based training, and it examines the effectiveness of these training 
programs with respect to their current involvement in the bank. The study also 
includes a discussion on how these trainings contribute to employee satisfaction. The 
findings are based on responses from questionnaires distributed among banking staff 
of selected banks in printed form and by email. The information gathered is subjected 
to a statistical analysis to derive conclusions. 
 
This research is based on the timely requirement of the industry, factors extracted 
from previous research work, and expert views. The major factors looked at in this 
study are, background of the employee related to the bank and its training, type of 
materials offered in a computer based training, the kind of subjects selected to be 
offered in computer based training, perception of participated employees, provided 
infrastructure facilities, and banks contribution to the training programs. 
 
This paper focuses on a selected sample of licensed commercial banks in Sri Lanka to 
identify the current level of usage of online learning mode and the effectiveness of 
online mode of learning for their staff training. It aims to also discuss how this mode 
can contribute to employee satisfaction in different banks. 
 
As per the findings from this research work, the author claims that the effectiveness of 
online mode of learning considerably depends on training materials, participants 
contribution, subject area and ICT infrastructure used in a training program. Also, 
there is a significant level of employee satisfaction gained by offering online learning 
mode of training programs in a bank. 
 
 
 
  iii 
 
Acknowledgement 
 
My foremost thank goes to my supervisor Dr. Sanath Jayasena, without him, this 
dissertation would not have been possible. I thank him for his patience and 
encouragement that carried me on through difficult times, and for his insights and 
suggestions that helped to shape my research skills. His valuable feedback contributed 
greatly to this dissertation at all times. 
  
I am grateful to my lecturer and Head of Department of Computer Science & 
Engineering, Ms. Vishaka Nanayakkara who introduced and helped me to the 
Research Skills subject. Her valuable ideas, encouragement provided, and pushing me 
at difficult times has motivated me greatly during this research. 
 
I also thank Mr. Kithsiri Samarasinghe, who advised me and helped me in statistical 
analysis and various other aspects of my research. He is the one that I can always 
count on to discuss the tiniest details of a problem, and that knows all the statistical 
computer tools inside-out. 
 
My sincere thanks go to all the people who serve in both Computer Science and 
Engineering Department office of University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka for all the 
support guidance and excellent cooperation given during the past two years.  
 
Last but not least, I wish to thank many individuals, friends and colleagues who have 
not been mentioned here personally in making this educational process a success.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  iv 
 
Table of contents 
 
Abstract .......................................................................................................................... ii 
Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................ iii 
Table of contents ........................................................................................................... iv 
List of Tables ................................................................................................................ vi 
List of Figures .............................................................................................................. vii 
 
Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 
1.1.Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 
1.2.Research Background ..................................................................................... 2 
1.3.Problem Domain ............................................................................................. 2 
1.4.Research Objectives ....................................................................................... 4 
1.5.Importance of the Study ................................................................................. 4 
1.6.Chapter Summary ........................................................................................... 5 
Chapter 2: Literature Review ..................................................................................... 6 
2.1.Introduction .................................................................................................... 6 
2.2.Online Learning from Organizational Perspective ......................................... 7 
2.3.Online Learning Implementations from the Industry ................................... 10 
2.4.Sri Lankan Situation ..................................................................................... 12 
2.5.Chapter Summary ......................................................................................... 13 
Chapter 3: Methodology of the Study ...................................................................... 14 
3.1.Research Framework .................................................................................... 14 
3.1.1.Conceptualization ................................................................................. 14 
3.1.2.Parameterization ................................................................................... 15 
3.1.3.Elements of the Research Design ......................................................... 17 
3.2.Hypothesis .................................................................................................... 19 
3.3.Sample .......................................................................................................... 20 
  v 
 
3.4.Methods of Data Collection .......................................................................... 21 
3.4.1.The Questionnaire ................................................................................. 22 
3.4.2.Methods of Data Analysis..................................................................... 23 
3.5.Chapter Summary ......................................................................................... 23 
Chapter 4: Data Analysis .......................................................................................... 24 
4.1.Introduction .................................................................................................. 24 
4.2.Reliability Analysis ...................................................................................... 28 
4.3.Descriptive Statistics Analysis ..................................................................... 29 
4.4.Frequency Analysis ...................................................................................... 30 
4.5.Inferential Analysis....................................................................................... 37 
4.5.1.Hypothesis Analysis ............................................................................. 37 
4.5.2.Formulated Hypothesis ......................................................................... 38 
4.6.Correlations Analysis ................................................................................... 38 
4.7.Chapter Summary ......................................................................................... 41 
Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations ..................................................... 42 
5.1.Conclusion .................................................................................................... 42 
5.2.Recommendations ........................................................................................ 43 
5.3.Limitations of the Study ............................................................................... 45 
References ................................................................................................................... 46 
Appendix A: Questionnaire ...................................................................................... 51 
Appendix B: Management Questionnaire ............................................................... 58 
Appendix C: Descriptive Statistics – Individual Variables .................................... 60 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  vi 
 
List of Tables 
 
Table 1: Parameters of the Research ............................................................................ 15 
Table 2: Rates given to questionnaire responses ......................................................... 24 
Table 3: Statistics of the questionnaire distribution and responses received ............... 25 
Table 4: Reliability Analysis – Case processing Summary ......................................... 28 
Table 5: Reliability Statistics ....................................................................................... 29 
Table 6 : Descriptive Statistics – Grouped Variables .................................................. 29 
Table 7: Variable Statistics .......................................................................................... 30 
Table 8: Frequency analysis table – Effectiveness ...................................................... 31 
Table 9: Frequency analysis table – Materials ............................................................. 33 
Table 10: Frequency analysis table – Participant’s Contribution ................................ 34 
Table 11: Frequency analysis table – Subject Area ..................................................... 35 
Table 12: Frequency analysis table – ICT Infrastructure ............................................. 36 
Table 13: Formulated hypothesis table ........................................................................ 38 
Table 14: Descriptive correlation analysis ................................................................... 39 
Table 15: Cross Correlation Analysis .......................................................................... 39 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  vii 
 
List of Figures 
 
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework ................................................................................ 14 
Figure 2: Design in the Research Process .................................................................... 18 
Figure 3: Elements of Research Design ....................................................................... 19 
Figure 4: Percentage of Questionnaires returned ......................................................... 26 
Figure 5: Distribution of responses received from each bank ..................................... 26 
Figure 6: Percentage of Participated Training Programs ............................................. 27 
Figure 7: Use of Different Types of Training Materials .............................................. 28 
Figure 8: Frequency analysis graph – Effectiveness .................................................... 32 
Figure 9: Frequency analysis graph -   Materials ......................................................... 33 
Figure 10: Frequency analysis graph -   Participant’s Contribution ............................ 34 
Figure 11: Frequency analysis graph -   Subject Area ................................................. 35 
Figure 12: Frequency analysis graph – ICT Infrastructure .......................................... 36