Browsing by Author "Rajini, D"

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item: Article-Full-text
Analysis of issues in sustainable water management of irrigation systems: case of a developing country
(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2021) Sirimewan, DC; Mendis, APKD; Rajini, D; Samaraweera, A; Manjula, NHC
Purpose Sustaining the irrigated agriculture, while conserving the natural eco-system, are the two main objectives of sustainable water management (SWM) in irrigation. Achieving both the objectives simultaneously is a complex task in most developing countries. This requires a holistic approach of understanding the issues in irrigation water management (IWM) from social, economic and environmental perspectives. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse the issues towards the SWM of irrigation systems in Sri Lanka to help maintain a stable relationship between the aforementioned two objectives. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative interview survey was selected as the research strategy to achieve the research aim. 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts in IWM sector to collect data in the Sri Lankan context. Data were analysed using code-based content analysis, based on directed approach. Findings Findings revealed the issues in SWM in terms of efficiency of irrigation infrastructure; equity of water distribution; environmental integrity and economic acceptability. Most of the issues were related to the inefficiency towards SWM of irrigation systems. Conflicts among water users, especially the people in downstreams aggravated the problem of equity of water sharing. Depletion of groundwater and waterlogging were the major issues towards environmental integrity. Loss of water happened due to the issues in different irrigation infrastructure components hindering economic acceptability. Originality/value Theoretical contribution includes an analysis of issues in IWM from a sustainability perspective. Practical implications include an overview of deficiencies in the SWM to generate appropriate strategies to achieve sustainability for decision-makers such as policymakers in the irrigation sector in developing countries similar to Sri Lanka.
item: Conference-Full-text
A culture-based solution for construction and demolition waste management in Sri Lanka: a literature review
Mendis, APKD; Samaraweera, A; Kumarasiri, DMGBT; Rajini, D; Madhuwanthi, HAS
Construction projects consume bulky amounts of materials, natural resources, and energy and at the same time generate unacceptable level of solid wastes. There are strategies implemented in order manage the construction and demolition wastes in Sri Lanka. However, most of those have become unsuccessful due to the policy makers being unable to consider the cultural factors stemming from socio-economic factors, while implementing such strategies. Thus, this paper aims at deriving a culture-based solution for construction and demolition waste management in Sri Lanka. This aim is achieved through a broad literature review. As per the extent literature, the main cultural manifestations describing the cultural context of Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste management include values, attitudes and behaviours. Accordingly, Sri Lankans hold many positive values, however majority of attitudes and behaviours are of negative in nature. According to literature, these cultural manifestations exists in a hierarchical order with attitudes being influenced by values and behaviours being influenced by attitudes. Nevertheless, positive values of Sri Lankans are not reflected through the attitudes and behaviours of C&D waste management, requiring thorough empirical studies to justify the dynamisms of value-attitude-behaviour hierarchy in Sri Lankan context. In addition, if these cultural manifestations related to C&D waste to be managed, a reverse cycle to the value-attitude-behaviour hierarchy should be considered, which is introduced as ‘cycle of culture management’ through this paper.
item: Conference-Full-text
customer relationship management in facilities management: a study of office buildings in Sri Lanka
(Ceylon Institute of Builders, 2018-06) Herath, HMPK; Rajini, D; Rathnayake, U; Jayasena, N; Sandanayake, YG; Gunatilake, S; Waidyasekara, KGAS
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a strategy used by the business organisations in order to optimise the service efficiency in the current competitive business environment. The aim of CRM in Facilities Management (FM) is to build an acceptable long-term relationship with customers and users of the facility for long term sustainability. Though CRM in FM is an area gaining importance, the CRM practices in FM is still unclear. Therefore, this study intends to develop an understanding of the current CRM practices in FM in Sri Lankan Office buildings focusing on the tenants, identify the issues and propose strategies to overcome them. The case study approach was adopted as the research method and the required data were collected from both the management and tenants of the selected cases. The data collection was done through semi structured interviews whereas the analysis was conducted through code-based content analysis. The results of the study showed that CRM in FM in Sri Lankan office buildings sector is at a low level and there are different issues related with CRM process, employees who involved in providing customer services and the technology used for CRM. The identified common issues were unavailability of a mechanism to evaluate CRM process or tenants to give their feedback, the FM employees’ poor communication skills, ineffectiveness of manual processes used for some CRM activities and the like. Conducting customer satisfaction surveys, training and development on CRM practices, periodical tenant meeting, etc. are the proposed strategies to overcome those issues. It was also established that the current CRM practices can be enhanced by implementing the identified strategies, with the effort of all the parties involved in service provision for tenants in Sri Lankan office buildings. The results of the study guide the industry professionals to improve the CRM practices related to FM in Sri Lankan office buildings.
item: Conference-Full-text
Factors affecting environmental health and safety in healthcare sector
(Ceylon Institute of Builders, 2013-06) Saranga, B; Rajini, D; Sandanayake, YG; Fernando, NG
Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) is a discipline, which involves creating a culture of health, safety, and environmental protection in a workplace. It provides workplaces that are injury-free and incident-free for all employees, visitors and contractors, as well as enhances the wellbeing of those parties and local communities. Therefore, EHS has a direct impact on morale of stakeholders, employee productivity as well as on organisational performance. Healthcare facilities are specific from others, and customers and workers in healthcare sector are exposed to huge amount of harmful contaminants compared to other working environments. There are many EHS issues that can be identified in healthcare sector, and inability to control such issues will become an epidemic to the whole society. Various factors determine the EHS condition of an organisation such as ventilation, lighting levels, noise, and design of workstations, safety measures in emergencies, to name few. Having a better understanding on those factors will enable the maintenance of effective EHS practices so that the negative impact of poor EHS practices can be minimized. Hence, the financial goals and objectives of the organisation can be achieved. Even though, such importance is there, studies on EHS is hardly found and a less attention has received to this subject. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to critically evaluate the factors affecting EHS in healthcare facilities. A comprehensive literature review was carried out to identify the EHS factors. Five environmental factors and eight occupational health and safety related factors were identified through the review and they be used to study the critical factors affecting EHS of healthcare facilities in future research agenda.
item: Conference-Abstract
Factors affecting environmental health and safety in healthcare sector
Saranga, B; Rajini, D
Environmental Health and Safety (EITS) is a discipline, which involves creating a culture of health, safety, and environmental protection in a workplace. It provides workplaces that are injury-free and incident-free for all employees, visitors and contractors, as well as enhances the wellbeing of those parties and local communities. Therefore, EHS has a direct impact on morale of stakeholders, employee productivity as well as on organisational performance. Healthcare facilities are specific from □ □ □ rs, and custordevcockers in healthcare sector are exposed to huge amount of harmful contaminants compared to other working environments. There are many EHS issues that can be identified in healthcare sector, and inability to control such issues will become an epidemic to the whole society. Various factors determine the EHS condition of an organisation such as ventilation, lighting levels, noise, and design of workstations, safety measures in emergencies, to name few. Having a better understanding on those factors will enable the maintenance of effective EHS practices so that the negative impact of poor EHS practices can be minimized. Hence, the financial goals and objectives of the organisation can be achieved. Even though, such importance is there, studies on EHS is hardly found and a less attention has received to this subject. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to critically evaluate the factors affecting EHS in healthcare facilities. A comprehensive literature review was carried out to identify the EHS factors. Five environmental factors and eight occupational health and safety relatedfactors were identified through the review and they be used to study the critical factors affecting EHS of healthcare facilities in future research agenda.
item: Conference-Full-text
Risks associated with physical asset management: a Literature review
(Ceylon Institute of Builders, 2018-06) Thatshayini, P; Rajini, D; Weerasinghe, AS; Sandanayake, YG; Gunatilake, S; Waidyasekara, KGAS
Accelerated physical asset operations in organisations are necessitated in order to sustain within the competitive business environment. These asset operations involve a number of risks. The management of risks associated with physical assets as well as their operations is an essential element of Physical Asset Management (PAM). Although there is a growing interest in PAM around world, a lack of consideration of risks associated with PAM is evident. However, it is believed that a proper understanding of these risks is essential for effective Physical Asset Risk Management (PARM). Accordingly, the aim of this paper was to review the existing literature to investigate the risks associated with PAM. A comprehensive literature survey referring data sources, and a subsequent desk study were carried out in order to achieve the above aim. The study identified thirty-five risks, which could be categorised under six (06) groups as 'physical failure risks', 'operational risks', 'risks associated with natural environmental events', 'risks associated with the factors outside the organisations’ control', 'stakeholders related risks' and the 'risks associated with different lifecycle phases of assets'. Giving a prior concern for the identified risks and reviewing the exposure level of each risk towards PAM will support the organisations to evaluate the risk levels and make decisions on risks mitigation. This will provide the organisations with a smooth operation of physical assets and numerous benefits associated with it.