ABSTRACT

Entrepreneurs are the wealth creators of an economy, and hence business start-ups are always encouraged. Although it is often suggested that entrepreneurial intentions are strong predictors of entrepreneurial action, all intentions do not necessarily translate into action as there is an “intention-action gap” when nascent entrepreneurs fail to act on their intentions. This study aimed to explain the gap between entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial action and identify the determinants of the intention to action translation by surveying the final year undergraduates from different degree programs at a major public university in Sri Lanka. The research focused on the effects of demographic, psychographic, and environmental factors to explain the intention-action gap. Data were collected using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was circulated online among the entire final year undergraduate student population of the University of Peradeniya. Four hundred and fifty-three undergraduate students (n=453) responded to the survey. Hierarchical OLS regression with the main effect model and an interactions model was used for the data analysis. Results found that of the respondents who had entrepreneurial intentions, 32% had taken some actions towards starting a business. The results also revealed a positive relationship between entrepreneurial intention and action and there were positive effects of gender, perceived competence in entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial environment in the faculty, and entrepreneurial education on entrepreneurial actions. Furthermore, it was found that progressing from entrepreneurial intention to action was more robust for male undergraduates compared to female undergraduates. Therefore, to promote entrepreneurship, introducing entrepreneurship courses, introducing programmes to improve entrepreneurial skills and competencies and promoting an entrepreneurial culture in the Faculties could be recommended. Keywords: Entrepreneurial intention, Entrepreneurial action, Hierarchical OLS regression, Students

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Merging two distinct disciplines, the term Entrepreneurial Marketing (EM) is used to describe the marketing process of small firms pursuing opportunities under limited resource conditions and uncertain market circumstances. The aim of this study was to explore the Entrepreneurial Marketing approach adopted by Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in a selected divisional secretariat division of Sri Lanka. A sample of 90 SMEs was selected using disproportionate stratified random sampling and data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Results revealed that the majority of the SMEs exhibit a moderate level of adoption of EM, while showing the highest and lowest level of adoption towards value creation and innovativeness respectively. Results also revealed that there is a significant relationship between business size, business age and education level of the business operator and the level of adoption of EM. Further, as per the findings, the overall EM and three EM dimensions (value creation, proactiveness and innovativeness) has a positive correlation with the sales growth of the business. Therefore, relevant policy directions and conducting training sessions for SME operators in relation to EM is recommended.

This paper examines the impact of the Easter Attack, which took place in Sri Lanka, after the thirty-years of brutal civil war, on the Hotel and Travel Sector. As the hub of the Tourism Industry, the stock performance of the Hotel and Travel Sector is observed and investigated with the major objective of finding the impact of the Easter Attack and testing the Semi – Strong Form Efficiency of the Hotel and Travel Sector since three out of eight bombings has taken place in Hotels. The Event Study Methodology has been used to analyze the data and investigate the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH). With the Market Model implication, the Abnormal Returns is calculated by using daily stock prices on thirty-three (33) companies belong to Hotel and Travel Sector, and for the Market Return data, the daily All Share Price Index (ASPI) is taken into account. For 41 days Event Window, which includes 100 days Event Timeline, Graphical presentation of Average Abnormal Return (AAR) and Cumulative Average Abnormal Return (CAAR) and t - Statistics analysis is guided for analyzing the event. The findings of this study have shown a quick drop in both AAR and CAAR has been shown. It provides evidence for Semi – Strong Form efficiency on the event day in the Hotel and Travel Sector Stock prices since the market efficiently and negatively responded regarding the event of Easter Sunday Attack since the quick drop on the event day and the significant t-statistic at 5%. Nevertheless, a few days after the event were also showing significant results but declining continuously due to maybe investors’ over-reaction situation. However, Semi – Strong Form Efficiency could not be proved because it takes considerable time to adjust stock prices. In practice, investors will be able to trade stocks in a market except for the possibility of beating the market in the future. Keywords: Easter Sunday attack 2019, efficient market hypothesis, event study methodology, hotel and travel sector, Sri Lanka