Sri Lankan SME sector needs more Family-oriented Business Research

Article by Professor Nalin Abeysekera:

We can see the role of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector is growing despite many obstacles. Specially Sri Lanka youth always taking the initiative on this with many different ventures with creativity and innovation. Anyway, still the recognition of the sector from the general public is questionable and needs to have a different approach from the level of school education. I believe Sri Lanka should be more proactive in creative entrepreneurial orientation among people.

It can be observed that outside sources such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently approved a $100 million loan by considering boosting the Sri Lanka SME sector. Even though there are obstacles there should be certain approaches to assist them with mentoring. As per statistics SME sector contributes 52% to Sri Lankan GDP and 45% of our workforce engaging the SME sector.

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We also need to understand the role that women play in the Sri Lankan economy. There should be some strategies to have female empowerment and we need to think of changing attitudes with different campaigns  In order  to drive the country for success the role of females in Sri Lanka should be redefined. Even we can have some best practices and success stories of different regions as well. Sri Lanka should focus more on investing in research. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka is spending only less than 0.12 % of its total GDP on research and development and there is an essential requirement to increase this amount as a national policy. If you want to discuss the development of the country there should be better reading of some important indicators such as how much money you are investing in research and development and how the government is helping needy people with different approaches. 

Research for family -oriented -SME

And also by looking at most of the studies  done in Sri Lanka in SMEs, it can be observed that there is a need to focus more on ‘Family Business orientation” as it is embedded in our culture. In this scenario, the entrepreneurial behaviour, attributes and characteristics of a family business can be seen as different from other businesses.  I was really fortunate to have a discussion on same with one of the best scholars in  Sri Lanka on Family business research Professor Pradeep Dharmadasa, attached to the Department of International Business, Faculty of Management and Finance, University of Colombo. He has explained the need to have an extensive discussion on the society ( to conduct more research, seminars and workshops etc )  on the family business in Sri Lanka and how most of the countries in the globe have done some studies with more practical implications. Professor Dharmadasa has done his Ph.D. Study in the Faculty of Business, Technology and Sustainable Development, Bond University, Queensland,Australia . His title of the study was “Organisational Learning, Innovation and Performance in Family-Controlled Manufacturing Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Australia” . And more importantly one of his research outcomes was that  “the effect of formal planning and innovation on firm performance of family, SMEs were stronger than for non-family SMEs”. Hence there is a need to conduct a replicate study in Sri Lanka to study our context as well..We can see many positives as many academics in Sri Lanka lead many areas of studies with scholarly value with practical implications. I believe we need to explore more studies in the context of Sri Lanka, with a focus on both academic and practitioner-oriented approaches. It’s essential to develop more case studies that incorporate indigenous values and practices unique to our country. Additionally, these studies should be conducted in Sinhala and Tamil, as expressing ideas in one’s mother tongue is crucial for fostering creativity and imagination. By grounding research in our own cultural and linguistic context, we can better understand the challenges and opportunities faced by Sri Lankan SMEs and drive meaningful development.

It is evident that 75% of those in the SME sector primarily speak Sinhala or Tamil. Trying to implement strategies that overlook this reality will fail to effectively reach this large portion of the population. To truly connect with and empower these entrepreneurs, we must embrace the value of our own languages. While learning from global best practices is essential, it’s equally important to apply these lessons in a way that resonates with local contexts, using Sinhala and Tamil as key tools for communication and innovation. This approach will help us reach those who are currently underserved.

Conclusion

Recent developments in politics and the economy have opened a strategic window for Sri Lanka, creating opportunities in both local and global markets. To fully capitalise on these opportunities, it is essential to adopt proactive measures. As mentioned earlier, the SME sector plays a crucial role in this, and many scholars are eager to contribute through research. However, for this potential to be fully realised, stronger collaboration between the industry and the government is needed. By working together, they can effectively harness these opportunities and drive sustainable growth

(The writer is a Professor in Management Studies at the Open University of Sri Lanka and You can reach Professor Nalin Abeysekera on nalinabeysekera@gmail.com.)