The times are changing. With Internet access and electronic reading devices, visiting the library is no longer a necessity for today's students. The library has changed a great deal over the past decade, due to changing demands from researchers, teachers, and learners and the onset of a digital revolution of library holdings. Digital transformation is powered by disruptive digital technologies, insights, and processes. The key focus of digital transformation is on transforming for the digital age by influencing customer experience, innovation, and efficiency. The big challenge with digital transformation is 'how fast and how far should organizations go on their digital transformation path'. Digital transformation journey is complicated and involves varied objectives, complexities, and covers a vast area. It requires a coherent and well-organized digital strategy to effectively address technology and process transformation together with supporting governance and delivery models.

Purpose of the study: The study is focused to investigate the impact of board diversity on firm performance through board meetings based on listed manufacturing companies listed at the Colombo Stock Exchange in Sri Lanka. Methodology: Bio-demographic diversity of Board measured by gender, age and race, and job-related diversity measured on functional, education and organizational tenure. Firm performance measured through Tobin Q and Return on Sales. The number of board meetings conducted per year was taken as a mediating variable. Listed manufacturing companies at Colombo Stock Exchange from 1985 to 2019 were the population from which twenty-eight firms that have been operating from 2013 to 2017 were filtered as the sample. Required data was collected by annual reports, published financial documents, and on which gender index, age index, race index, functional index, education index, and organization tenure index were calculated separately. Multiple regression analysis was used to measure the direct and indirect impact of board diversities on firm performance. Main findings: The regression result indicated a significant positive impact of gender diversity on firm performance; however age and race diversities had an insignificant impact. Further, the impacts of functional, education and organizational tenure diversities to firm performance were negative. Finally, the study found a significant indirect impact of bio-demographic and job-related diversities on firm performance through board meetings confirming the mediating effect of the board meeting. Implications: Policymakers and authorizes listed manufacturing firms should identify the escalating trend of women participation, educational improvement in the director board and ought to take necessary actions to maintain appropriate diversity levels in terms of bio demographic and job-related to enhance the firm performance. The novelty of the study: There is a lack of research literature discussing the impact of board diversity on firm performance with the mediating effect of the board meeting.

No abstract

Purpose of the study: Individual investor’s behavior is extensively influenced by biases that are highlighted in the growing discipline of behavioral finance. The present study sought to investigate the influence of socio-economic factors (i.e., investors’ age, gender, education, profession, and income), trading sophistication factors (i.e., trading experience and trading frequency), and self-reflection on herding bias in investment decision-making in Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). Methodology: The study adopted descriptive and explanatory research designs. It was a census of all 243 individual investors registered with CSE as of September 2020. Sampling was done applying proportionate stratified random sampling technique and data was gathered using self-administered semi-structured questionnaires. The analysis was conducted using means, standard deviations, and regression. Main Findings: The results show that herd behavior is mostly seen among females, having less educational qualifications, who are engaged in the finance field professions, those who are with a very low monthly income, low experience, and who trade less frequently. Self-reflection can be seen in herding bias. On the other hand, age does not impact on herding bias of investors. Applications of this study: This study will be helpful to financial intermediaries to advise their clients. Moreover, the results of the present study facilitate individual investors to realize their herding bias by its’ determinants in the pursuit of making sensible and effective financial decisions. Novelty/Originality of this study: This study gives a unique insight into the investors’ profile corresponding to herding bias under consideration. It not only updates the evidence on herding bias but also highlights which factors are the most influential on herding bias in the Sri Lankan context. With the peculiar scenario in Sri Lanka, this paper contributed to the behavioral finance field as a reference for individual investors and financial advisors.

After 30 years of war in Sri Lanka, the demand for real estate has increased tremendously across the nation. Similarly, numerous real estate sub-sectors have avidly participated in the worldwide boom. However, with failures and poor functioning of many investment projects, the industry's risk management reputation has been put in jeopardy, followed by the coronavirus (COVID-19). Though it is less popular among Sri Lankan property developers, risk management strategies in development projects have become a pressing requirement. This paper's goal is to look at commercial property development risk elements from the perspective of a real estate developer in relation to Social, Economic, Environmental, Technological, Political, and Pandemic Risks. The research first evaluates risk variables using a super decision software model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), then prioritizes the most important risk factors, and lastly examines effective risk management measures for successful real estate developments. The data collection has been carried out using interviews through telephone conversations with the help of a structured questionnaire. Accordingly, 35 risk factors have been assessed altogether. For the three projects, the synthesized values were 1.0000, 0.510763, and 0.604037, respectively. Based on the analysis of superMatrix calculation, project A is regarded as the best alternative project in such circumstances. Pandemic Risk, Economic Risk, and Political Risk have all had a significant impact on the primary risk criteria. Therefore, COVID-19 Pandemic Risk Emergence, Workforce Availability, Duration, Delays in Council Approval/License Approval Process and Natural Disaster Impact were identified as the highest influenced sub-risk factors. Identifying the risk factors on this avenue will also help in making better investment decisions while increasing the unpredictable nature of the real estate field and future satisfaction of loan team investment goals within the country.