This event was organized by the Faculty of Management studies, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka - Mihintale, Anuradhapura District.
I got aware of this event in March of 2017 by seeing a poster at my University, National School of Business Management (NSBM): Green University in my School of Business (SOB) building notice board.
And accordingly, I followed the website given in the poster and gathered the initial information required for the participation of the relevant symposium.
The website is given below.
It was on March 27th and the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka created a special website, Twitter account, Facebook account, and a "Google +" account.
Using the relevant website registration, submission, required downloads and contact information was provided to the external viewers.
This research symposium was organized to identify and study in the fields of accountancy, finance, economics, entrepreneurship, human resource management, information systems, marketing, supply chain management, operations, Total Quality Management, tourism, hospitality and event management.
The community who organized this event was Prof. Ananda J. Patabendige, a leading professor in Business economics. He was the founder - head of the department of commerce and financial management and the founder - Dean of the faculty of commerce and management studies of the University of Kelaniya. He is an expert in Economics Management and business mathematics. His research areas are factor market distortions, employment, and industrialization. The image below is him.
The conference was chaired by Dr. K.G.A. Udayakumara, Dean faculty of management studies of Rajarata University. The image below is him.
Conference co-chair was Dr. H M B P Ranaweera who is a senior lecturer, Department of business management of Rajarata University, Sri Lanka. The image of him is below.
Conference secretary was Mrs. C.T. Gamage, a senior lecturer, department of accountancy and finance, of Rajarata University. The image of her is below.
The website was provided with registration fees and also an online submission portal of the relevant bank payment slip to the symposium.
And also a separate guideline for the requirement for submissions, submission formatting and it's online upload portal was provided.
There was a separate link to download abstract format, author's registration form, and a symposium poster.
And also contact information for the relevant parties was also provided.
By using the online references I was able to gather and formulate a basic plan to achieve my objectives and goals relevant to preparing research to submit to the symposium.
By March 31st of 2017, I shared this event among our colleagues at my university via email and facebook page for our batch.
And also I sent my first email to the event team requesting information for the participation in 31st March via email. The same day they sent me the link for the website of the event and of the relevant attachments.
Again since I was confused of the process I requested for information with related to the registration forms and they provided me with a reply email on how this research submission works.
The process is as follows,
(01) First, the student should submit the abstract in a summary to the relevant online links.
(02) After that, the reviewer's comments and evaluations are sent back to consideration with an ID where the student's given approval or rejection.
(03) After that, the student will have to send the relevant amended abstract and registration forms to 1st undergraduate Research Symposium email links if accepted.
By this same period I was studying for the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka (IBSL): Intermediary level (IABF) examinations subjects of Survey of Financial system (26th of March) and Financial Clients Management (09th of April). These subjects were studied with the purpose of achieving an academic background in the banking and finance sector of Sri Lanka. And also I was completing my second year at my audit firm and due to unexpected illnesses and many personal issues, my annual leave was almost over. And also I was in the last semester of my degree program so the workload was pretty high. But anyway I decided to submit for the relevant symposium taking a risk due to the requirement of participating in an event which would allow me to grow my skills related to research and presentation. I was also doing my final year research project parallelly therefore it was my final year research. It was due on 2nd April 2017. Therefore it was on par with the research symposium submission which was due on 31st March.
The abstract as per the request of the symposium requested only 350 words and also a format gave prior.
Whereas in the degree program they requested in a format used by the relevant university (University, College of Dublin) affiliated with our local university. (NSBM: GU).
My both abstracts were made parallel and I made sure they were all made according to the requirements of the relevant institutions.
I prepared my relevant submission abstract in project management and allocation of resources. The relevant sources for academic material were gathered from various entities of sources.
Title of the abstract is "A study on the relationship between project selection criteria and resource allocation of knowledge workers with special reference to KPMG: Sri Lanka"
As per the request of the symposium 5 keywords of the research article was needed.
The requested keywords are,
(01) Project Management
(02) External statutory audits
(03) Knowledge workers
(04) Project selection
(05) Organization strategy
I was doing an external statutory audit at Ekala, Ja-Ela, Gampaha district by then.
I was notified on April 03rd that my abstract was received and is accepted for review by the symposium secretariat.
And was told that I will be informed about its acceptance as soon as possible.
Then as time passed I started my introductory level research on the relevant title and its aspects. I gathered some researches done by a peer student at my audit firm who's from University of Sri Jayawardanapura ( a proposal ), A research done by a senior employee from our firm from University of Colombo and a final year complete research from a senior of our university, UCD, and NSBM: GU.
I also downloaded several research articles from Emerald insight and University College of Dublin (UCD) E-Library. And also I used several study texts related to human resource management and project management. I also referred to several websites for information.
By the time parallelly I was building on my research at my final year of the degree program. I was guided by Dr. Ravi Dissanayake from the University of Kelaniya - Department of Marketing. He constantly provided feedback on my research through emails and meetings.
Accordingly, my degree program and the banking exams came close to an end.
On April 24th I sent an email requesting notification of acceptance of my research abstract. There was no reply.
On May 4th I received a notification of acceptance of abstracts. They provided a feedback form with minor corrections. It contained an evaluation of the abstract form. And in that email, there was a request of submitting the completed final submission on 6th May 2017.
By then there was one issue. In our final research in the degree, it was only an extended proposal. And therefore only the introduction, Literature review, and research methodology were discussed.
But as per the request of the research symposium, it should be a fully fledged completed research containing a data collection, data analysis, and a conclusion. Therefore what I did was I tried to summarise these factors in a manner in which the relevant information is studied personally for the sake of submitting and participating for the symposium.
And by 7th of May, I was able to submit the abstract, full presentation and author's registration. And on 8th May I was confirmed of the receipt by the secretary of the conference.
And then I was busy with my work and also I worked on the finalization of my research at the degree.
By May 17th I received the finalization and approval of the research from the symposium secretariat.
On May 18th I was told that the symposium date was extended up to 14th June. Therefore I started paying and completing the relevant work related to the symposium.
The final submission of the research was due on the 7th of June. I received my invitation and the agenda of the event on 9th June. It was due on 14th of June.
I was provided with an invitation, the panel arrangement and powerpoint presentation outline to creating your presentation.
So I applied for leave the whole week of 12th June to 18th June to finalize both researches.
By 14th June morning, around 5 am me and my mother left for Anuradhapura in order to participate in the event.
We carried food from home for breakfast. Due to the workload, I had to complete the relevant presentation during the morning session at the premises prior to attendance.
The agenda of the event is as follows.
The registration occurred in the faculty theatre of the university.
The event started off with the usual traditional lighting of the oil lamp. And then the welcome address by the dean of the faculty, Dr. K.G.A. Udayakumara. It was addressed by the vice chancellor Prof. Ranjith Wijewardana.
Then one of the most valuable aspects of the symposium keynote speech by professor Ananda J. Patabendige.
The title and contents of the keynote speech can be identified as follows.
The issue of educated youths' unemployment and remedial measures
By Professor Ananda J. Patabendige
As per the speaker, the purpose of the keynote speech is,
(i) Provide undergraduates to face challenges without hesitation in the job industry.
(ii) Lack of academic literature in the relevant area.
(iii) The government, private sector and even Small Medium Enterprises (SME) failed to build a job market.
As per the writer, there is "open" unemployment of 4.6%.
According to the understanding of the writer and his research paper his observations reflects that in developed countries lesser academic qualifications, it is hard to find jobs. But in developing countries higher the qualifications it is hard to find a job.
Another reason for job losses is the deterioration of product quality. When local product quality is deteriorated the suppliers are determined to import quality goods creating job losses.
And also the speaker pointed out that since 1977 onwards Sri Lanka was considered neo-liberalized business sector.
As per this analysis, it was evident that the private sector should be the driving force of growth in the economy.
As per the keynote speech job generation of the private sector is extremely low.
By the time the speech of Professor Ananda J. Patabendige's was over the vote of thanks was provided by the secretary of undergraduate research symposium.
After that, all the students and the relevant parties were provided with a refreshment.
Then the technical sessions started.
The relevant technical sessions were built on the following panels.
Panel A - Accountancy and Finance
Panel B - Human Resource Management I
Panel C - Human Resource Management II
Panel D - Marketing, Supply Chain Management, Operation, and Total Quality Management
Panel E - Economics, Entrepreneurship, Information systems, tourism, hospitality and event management.
I was assigned to Panel D.
There were 5 presenters at the relevant auditorium. There were 3 panelists involved. The panel chair was Dr. (Mrs.) G.K. Balankulama and the panel members were Mr. WMPGR Pushpakumara and Dr. DMC Dassanayake.
The presentation was done in 12 minutes by me. [15 minutes]
Overall the feedback was mediocre.
They praised the use of concepts from workplace practices, new concepts from project management and data collection.
The overall evaluation is,
Feedback 01 - Always establish a proper literature foundation (research articles you referred in the preparation of the research) and a review to the relevant independent variables and on what basis the relevant weights were established for the dependent variables discussed in the research. [Which was not evident in your research]
Feedback 02 - Establish a proper flow among the chapters of the research and show in the relevant presentation a clear idea to the readers of your research. [Which was not evident in your research]
Feedback 03 - Use proper firm and solid research methodologies to analyze the qualitative information gathered during the research process. [Which was not evident in your research]
After the event was completed we were provided with lunch and the event was concluded.
For me, it was a great learning experience to improve my skills and develop as a student.
And also I am thankful to the University of Rajarata and the team behind the event in participation.
University of Rajarata, University of Wayamba, University of Sri Jayawardanapura and the University of Kelaniya participated in the event.
I was the only private university student who represented the undergraduate symposium.
And I am forever thankful for the Rajarata University for providing me with the opportunity to participate in the event.
The following is the acknowledgment of the research to conclude the article.
The job opportunity I have as an associate trainee at KPMG: Sri Lanka was a great opportunity for learning academics, professional and career development. Therefore, I consider this opportunity as a very valuable part of my career. I am also thankful to giving me this opportunity to meet so many wonderful and talented professionals who led me through this job opportunity.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Mr. Reyaz Mihular (Managing Partner of KPMG: Sri Lanka), my group partner Mr. Dhammika Rajapakse, My group senior manager Mr. Azeem Uwais, my group manager Ms. Sandreen Weldt and my group assistant manager Mr. Nishantha Adhikari for giving the opportunity to take part in the audit division of KPMG: SL as a trainee associate. I would also like to give a special thanks to the human resources division of KPMG: Sri Lanka and my group colleagues for the patience, guidance, enthusiasm, encouragement and constructive criticism in the completion of the research which is incomparable.
I would also like to thank Dr. Ravi Dissanayake (the University of Kelaniya – Department of Marketing), my research supervisor for also constantly supporting me with valuable guidance and insights through emails and even through meetings in completing the research and his patience, guidance and enthusiasm are incomparable and immensely valuable.
And also special acknowledgment goes to Dr. Paul Humphreys who conducted the project management module (BMGT2003L), Dr. Eva Lee who conducted the Human Resource Management: Strategy & Policy (HRM2001L) for the batch 19 of Bsc. In Management at National School of Business Management (NSBM) and also I would like to thank Ms. K.G.G.S. Karunathilaka for conducting the Human Resource Management module for the Higher Diploma in Business Management Batch of 14.1 at National Institute of Business Management (NIBM) which was the academic aspects related to the conducted industrial research. The staff of NSBM for constant communication and research should also be thanked for immense support provided throughout the completion of the industrial research. This is an opportunity for me to highlight and improve my conceptual skills, knowledge, and attitudes.
My special thanks go to my friends and colleagues at NSBM: GU, my parents, and family for their support and great encouragement throughout my study.
I perceive this a big milestone in my career development. I will strive to use gained skills and knowledge in the best possible way to the enhancement of my career and academics.
These learnings will be taken to consideration in a positive manner to achieve desired career objectives.
