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Monday, August 17, 2020

A STYLE OF GROWTH OF COMPUTER AND INTERNET SECURITY BREACHES IN SRI LANKA

 

A STYLE OF GROWTH OF COMPUTER AND INTERNET SECURITY BREACHES IN SRI LANKA

 Abstract

 Background

This paper represents the views towards the Computer & internet Security Breaches . Internet Security Breaches has Become the Trend in Modern Society .For this study  I Refer the “An analysis of the Growth of Computer and Internet Security Breaches” As the Base Article  regarding the Analyze of the Computer & internet security breaches. 

 Methods

This paper surveys recent literature and in the field of Cyber crime, intending to find out the computer & internet security breaches . In order to gather primary data it is expected to use the Questioner.

 Results

In this paper, researchers find that recent literature and the objectives of analysis computer & internet security breaches, and limitation of the cyber crime. and finally analyze the A style of growth of computer & internet Security breaches.

Discussion and Conclusion

This exploratory study investigates the usefulness of the budgets, limitation of the budgets and how to enhance the usefulness of the budgets.

 

Key words

Computer and Internet security breaches, diffusion model, bad innovation, types of crimes, growth patterns of crimes

 

 

Chapter 1 Introduction

 

1.1 Introduction

In the recent past it is very common to hear Cyber crime issues and breaches relating to the Internet Security among world. Cyber crime appears to have become a serious problem at internet security. Internet security can be breached by the way of hacking, Stolen laptop/computer, Passwords compromised, Theft by insider/employee, Missing back-up tape. Cyber crime can be done collectively or individually. There has been much discussion about the impact of new technologies on internet security breaches.

 

1.2 Background of the study

Information security “breaches” take many forms. These include lost or misplaced disks or backup tapes, stolen laptops and cell phones, hacked data, improperly secured websites, data lost or stolen in transit, information taken by rogue employees, misdirected mail, and many other forms. California data suggest that most are accidents, rather than the result of deliberate attacks, and many are not so much “breaches” as incidents in which data may — or may not — have been compromised. Most of these incidents do not involve the Internet or other digital technologies. In fact, many involve lost or misplaced information or equipment, rather than theft.

 

Breaches occur in a wide variety of settings,

 

Including many industry sectors, government agencies, universities, and the not-for-profit community.

It appears that only a small percentage of breaches actually involve any harmful use of data. There are many reasons for this, including:

 

  • Many incidents described as information security breaches involve no effort to misuse data at all. Data may be lost, rather than stolen, or obtained incidental to the theft of some other valuable commodity and discarded or destroyed without ever being accessed (for example, a laptop that is stolen for the value of the machine and immediately wiped clean so that it can be used by someone else).

 

  • Not all attempted misuses are successful; industry efforts to detect and block fraudulent charges and illicit access to accounts are highly successful. The financial services industry, for example, intercepts and blocks many fraudulent credit card charges.

 

  • Even the portion of those efforts to misuse personal information that are successful usually result in no financial or physical harm to consumers. The most recent data available indicates that 67% of victims of identity-based frauds report suffering no economic loss and paying no out-of-pocket expenses. The costs were usually paid by businesses, andultimately by all consumers.pe

 

Information security breaches are among the least common ways that personal information falls into the wrong hands. In 2005, for the half of victims of identity-based frauds who reported knowing from where their information had been obtained, the most common source of personal information, by a factor of two to one over any other category, was “lost or stolen wallet, checkbook or credit card.”5 Family members and relatives along with friends and neighbors make up half of all known identity thieves.6 Consumers often end up unwittingly providing thieves with access to sensitive data by failing to secure their own data, by responding to fraud schemes, such as phishing and pharming, and by careless use of their personal information.

 

Security Breaches (2005)

 

1.3 Objective of the study

Overall Objective

 

The overall objective of the study is to evaluate the A style of growth of computer and internet security breaches in Sri Lanka.

 

Specific Aims

  • To Find out the existing internet security breaches among listed companies in Sri Lanka.
  • To Find out the relationship between Internet Security Breaches and Growth of computer among business.

 

Chapter 2 Literature Review

2.1 Summary of the base article

 

This study uses to analyze the growth rates of different types of computer and Internet-related crimes. The Security Breaches is an appropriate diffusion because it is capable of modeling two opposite behaviors: (1) acts of attacks and imitation of attacks and (2) deterrence acts to prevent such attacks. . This study was used to analyze various types of attacks. The results indicated that growth patterns of computer and Internet crimes differ in growth patterns and that a relationship exists between occurrences of such security breaches and uses of certain security technologies. Thus, for example, financial fraud and denial of service are growing at a faster pace. The study also found, for example, that an increase in virus-related incidents does not necessarily increase anti-virus software use.

 

2.2 Literature Regarding the Topic

 Computer and Internet-related crimes show no signs of abatement. A 2003 survey conducted by the CSI/FBI reports that 75% of surveyed firms and agencies detected computer security breaches and acknowledged financial losses as a result of computer breaches [Power, 2003]. CERT/CC [2003] reports computer security vulnerabilities nearly doubled in 2002 with 2437 separate holes reported in 2001 and 4129 reported in 2002. Following the same trends, the number of reported incidents also increased significantly with 52,658 documented in 2001 and 82,694 in 2002. Through the continual monitoring of hundreds of Fortune 1000 companies, Riptech found that general Internet attack trends are showing a 64% annual rate of growth .

 

Neumann [1999] states that costs of cyber crime are difficult to measure; however, these costsare reasonably substantial and growing rapidly. Garg et al. [2003] attempted to quantify the financial impact of IT security breaches by using event-study methodology. They came to the same conclusion: IT breaches are extremely costly. Lukasik [2000] claims that cyber crime costs are essentially doubling each year. The problem becomes even more complicated when oneconsiders that these crimes are underreported. Ullman and Ferrera, [1998] mention that, according to FBI estimates, only 17 percent of computer crimes are reported to government authorities.

 

 Previous studies that focused on computer or information systems security issues lack empirical results on how different these security breaches are from one another and what their growth patterns are. Such empirical studies are important because some attacks enormously and rapidly disrupt the Internet infrastructure for a length of time, thus resulting in millions of dollars in losses. For example, the “Code Red Worm” virus infected more than 250,000 systems around the globe in nine hours on July 19, 2001, and its estimated total global economic impact was as much as $2.6 billion [Householder et al., 2002].

 

The growth of computer and Internet security breaches can be studied from an innovation diffusion perspective [Rogers, 2003]. Innovation diffusion literature is usually concerned with good innovations and thus biased towards good innovations. The study of bad innovations such as security attacks can alert readers to the fact that innovations are not always good and what actions need to be taken to prevent such bad innovations. The present study uses the concept of bad innovations by using the modified Gompertz model [Pitcher et al., 1978] which is capable of capturing attack incidences as well as deterrent activities. Based on past experiences, it can be inferred that not all attacks deserve the same attention and not all attacks may show the same type of growth rate. It is important to know how these various crime rates are growing. This question needs to be investigated empirically. Although estimation with a sparse set of data at an earlier stage of growth is challenging, past studies proved it to be useful. In this paper, we focus on different types of attacks, how these evolved, whether different types of attacks evolved similarly, and how deterrence effects are working.

 

The study is preliminary in nature for a number of reasons. Literature is almost non-existent on this topic. Data on different types of security breaches are sparse [Power, 2002]. One of the most referenced studies of security breaches, the CSI/FBI computer crime and security survey by Richard Power, contains only a few years of recent data [1996-2002]. Modeling such security breaches during the early stages of data availability is difficult but extremely critical. Analysis withsparse data is, however, not uncommon in research literature. For example, marketing literature reports the forecasting of sales of new products with as few as five years of data [Mahajan and Peterson, 1985]. The dynamic behavior of hundreds of good innovations shows similar characteristics during the early phases of growth as observed across many types of products [Bass, 1969; Mahajan et al., 1985; Jepson, 1976]. Previous works on forecasting from early data

with a small number of data points include Lawton and Lawton [1979], Tigert and Farivar [1981], Kalish and Lilien [1986], Wright, Uprichard and Lewis [1997]. Lilien et al. [1981] and Dalal et al. [1998] updated parameter estimates for a new product by using data on similar products or expert judgment in a Bayesian framework. Sultan et al.[1990] used meta-analysis-based prior information with a few data points on a new product to obtain more robust posterior estimates.

 

In the absence of prior information and data on Internet attacks, we use traditional diffusionmodels. Previous research reports that the shape of sales curves of many innovative products during the growth phase is similar [Mahajan et al., 1985]. Sales of new products in the earlyphases tend to grow extremely rapidly. This high growth rate tends to decrease over time andfinally the diffusion matures and tapers off, as newer technologies replace older ones. Previous research also found that while exponential or logistic curves are adequate for modeling purposes in the growth phase, they are not adequate to model many innovations at an earlier stage. A small error at an early stage can result in a large effect on later time period forecasts [Martino, 1972].

 

Modified Gompertz curves, such as the General Sales Growth Curve [Lieb Associates, 2001], are reported which describe the data well and yield good curve fitting and forecasting of new innovations in the early growth phases [Jepson, 1976; Lakhani, 1979]. The Gompertz curve could be a good fit for innovations which rapidly increase in the beginning and then taper off slowly. The point of inflection of the growth curve occurs at 33% of total potential diffusion. Such a model isused in the present study of bad innovations [Pitcher et al., 1978]. In addition, the model’s explanatory power helps to understand how these attacks are developing and what factors are behind such attacks.

 

 

Types of breaches

Some of the important security breaches since 2001 are the results of the following attacks [CERT/CC, 2003]:

·         Multiple vulnerabilities in the Internet Software Consortium's Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) server,

·         Sadmind/IIS worm (a worm that exploits a vulnerability in Solaris systems and

       subsequently installs software to attack Microsoft IIS web servers),

·         Code Red worm (a self-propagating malicious code that exploits IIS-enabled systems),

·         SirCam worm (a malicious code that spreads through email and potentially through unprotected network shares), and

·         Nimda blended threat (a combination of worm, viruses, and other codes that propagates itself via several methods, including email, network shares, or through an infected web

 

 Chapter 3 Research Method

3.1 Data Collection and Methods

Source of data

Researchers are expected to use both primary and secondary data. The primary data will be used to bridge the research gap in the existing literature. The main source of data is the data which collected from questionnaires. Separate questionnaire is designed for the Analyze the style of growth. And a separate questionnaire is designed for the analyze the computer and internet security breaches . Other than that, many academic journals and articles will be used as sources of data.

 

Collection of data

A separate questionnaire is designed for the analyze the style of growth and analyze the computer and internet security breaches.. In the first section of questionnaire is designed to collect demographic information such as designation, gender, age, Industry and etc. From next part onwards it is being asked the view point of computer crimes.

Besides the information gathered from the questionnaires it is expected to use various documents available in the university web sites as the secondary data source.

 

3.2 Population & sample

 

Population of this study contained all listed companies in the sri lanka . The reason for the selection of listed companies in sri lanka for this study is due to the information accessibility. The study sample of 40 participants will be generated by using stratified sampling methods.

 

 3.3 Data Management

 

The collected data will be fed to the SPSS software which is one of the best soft ware’s to analysis data, especially in quantitative nature. All the questions in the questionnaires are available in SPSS windows with the given answers and will be coded accordingly. All the questionaries’ themselves available reference numbers, therefore the easy access to the information is highly protected. The information feeding process to SPSS is done in highly accurate manner. One person entered data to SPSS, and another person has to recheck the accuracy of data. Third person has confirmed the accuracy of the coding system.

 

Data Analysis Strategies

 

Secondary data, which were collected through a comprehensive review of literature as detailed in the literature review of this proposal, analyzed to identify gaps in the existing body of knowledge on the issues pertinent to the research topic. The research gaps identified were used as a basis for reaffirming the relevance of the research problem, developing the research.

 

Primary data will be collected using questionnaires and analyze quantitatively. It is expected to analysis data by using SPSS software. For all demographic questions it is panned to generate frequency analysis. The factor analysis is also going to be tested. More importantly it is expected to carry out parametric and non- parametric analysis as appropriately to identify the significance relationships in the collected data. Other than that reliability test, t- tests, post hoc tests, regression analysis also going to be tested.

 

Chapter 4 Data Analysis

 

Mostly though, previous studies lack empirical results on how different types of attacks grow or provide reliable models of such attack growths. This understanding is important. Some attacks enormously and rapidly disrupt the Internet infrastructure for a length of time, thus resulting in millions of lost dollars. For example, the infamous "Melissa" virus in 1999 infected thousands of computers with rapid speed, causing an estimated $80 million in damages [CCITS, 2002]. The growth process can be studied from an innovation diffusion perspective [Rogers, 1991]. The four main elements in the diffusion process are:

1. the innovation (good or bad),

2. channels of communication,

3. time, and

4. the social system.

 

Although imitative and deterrence acts constitute the background of any attack scenario, the rates of imitation and deterrence may not be the same. When the rate of instigation increases it may mean an overall increase in deterrence rate as more and more security products will be developed. As these products come onto the market, attackers find ways to bypass these products and refine their attacks, which in turn leads to more refined security products. This cycle of reinforcing attack and deterrence continues.

 

Secanario1: Relative increase in net instigation rate is related to relative increase in

deterrence rate.

 

Thus, preventive measures are assumed to be thoroughly outweighed by attacks. Therefore, it is expected that the value of c, the net rate of instigation will be much higher than the value of q, the rate of deterrence or inhibition.

 

Scenario 2: Values of the net rate of instigation, c, will be much higher than values of q, the rate of inhibition for computer and Internet-related bad innovations, i.e., digital crimes and security breaches.

 

Although reported computer crimes are of many types, not all of them are equally popular, due to economic, political, technical and a variety of other reasons. At the beginning, hacking was done primarily for intellectual satisfaction, to break a system. In recent times however, financial profit considerations are one of the main reasons for computer crimes.

 Scenario 3: Not all computer crimes and security breaches show similar growth rates

 Security tools or defensive cyber weapons include encryption, authentication, access controls, firewalls, anti-viral software, audit tools, and intrusion detection systems [Denning, 2000]. Although new security tools are being developed (for example, biometrics and digital IDs) and security technologies are increasingly used by many firms, it is useful to investigate whether and how usage is related to attacks that occur. Thus, denial of service attacks, proprietary information theft, and system penetration attacks should lead to more use of intruder detection software, encryption, and firewalls; virus attacks should lead to more antivirus software use and encryption.

 Secanario 4: The more security incidents happen, the more security technologies are used

 4a. system penetration attacks should lead to more use of intruder detection software,encryption, and firewalls

4b. denial of service attacks should lead to more use of intruder detection software,

 encryption, and firewall

4c. proprietary information theft should lead to more use of intruder detection software,

encryption, and firewalls

4d. virus attacks should lead to more antivirus software use and encryption use.

Table shows the distribution of the respondents who reported attacks by industry sector. The distribution did not change much over the four year period.

.

 

 

Industry sector

    %

Manufactring

40

Service

10

Banking

20

Insurance

10

Other

20

 

Result

The figure captures the fit of the power function of the relationship between q and

c. The function is: q = .089c(2.19) (R2 = .66). An increase in net instigation rate is greater than the corresponding relative increase in inhibition rate. This result is consistent with results obtained from other types of crimes [Pitcher et al., 1978]. The moderate fit and the positive value of c support Proposition 1.

 

Values of net instigation rate, c, will be much higher than values of inhibition rate,

q, for computer and Internet-related bad innovations, i.e., computer crimes and security breaches. The R2 value from the model fits are high (.80-.99). The values of q and c are

different, for each type of security breach, with values of c much higher than q. When c> q, overall impact of net instigation is more than the inhibition rate and vice versa. The results are again consistent with the results obtained from other types of crimes

 

Not all computer crimes and security breaches show similar growth rates. The pair of values of q and c, as obtained from each run, is very different for each type of crimes, thus confirming Proposition 3. Of these viruses, financial fraud, and theft of proprietary information are projected to be significant and costly in the near future. Denial of service is rising rapidly. Telecom fraud, active wiretapping, laptop theft, and unauthorized insider access will be lower. By comparison, the rest of the crimes are projected to be at a moderate level of intensity.

Conclusion

 

Of the four propositions explored in this study, three (Propositions 1-3) were strongly confirmed while the remaining one (Proposition 4) was partially confirmed. In summary, the results of this study led us to conclude that

·         Relative increase in net instigation rate is related to relative increase in inhibition rate which implies that the increasing attack incidences will force organizations and governments to come up with means of preventing or reducing them

 

·         For computer and Internet-related attacks (bad innovations), the values of net         instigation rate is higher than values of inhibition rate, implying more efforts and resources need to be applied toward inhibiting attacks;

·         Different computer crimes and security breaches grow at different rates, which implies that all these crimes should not receive the same level of attention because some crimes are likely to spread more rapidly than others;

·         Real world practice does not always follow the common notion that as more attac incidents occur, more security technologies are used. This finding may imply that organizations and governments do not necessarily spend money on security measures in proportion to the frequency of attack incidences. Ninety percent of respondents in the  2002 survey, for example, used anti-virus software; however, at least 10-15% of  respondents did not detect any virus, due probably to non-use or ignorance [Power,  2002]. Viruses are among those attack incidents that caused financial losses.

 

 This article is a first attempt to identify the nature of growth of various computer and  Internet related crimes, using a sparse set of data. First, a model was selected for bad innovation modeling which can represent both imitative and inhibitive behaviors in attacks. Next, the model was used to derive and compare various types of attack statistics with a sparse set of data

 

 

 

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A Style of growth of computer and internet Security Breaches In sri lanka

 

This questionnaire is only foe the use of information in the Academic Module of Artificial Neural Network Which Coming under the Degree Programme of B.Sc Accounting (Special) Degree Part IV Of the university of Sri Jayewardenepura.

This Questionnaire was design to find out the A style of growth of computer and internet security breaches in sri lankan business. We would be greatful if you could complete the questionnaire  below and  provide your honest answers. The information only used  for the Academic purpose   and we ensure the confidentiality of information provided by you

1.      Gender                        Female                                    Male   

 

2.      Age

20 – 30 Years                          

30 – 40 Years                          

40 -55 Years                           

Above 50 Years                      

 

   3 Which Sector Belong to your Company

            Private Sector                                                                          Government               

 

  4 Industry Type of Your Company

    Manufacturing                    

    Service                               

    Banking                              

    Insurance                            

    Other                                  

 

 5 Education Level

    Passed G.C.E   Ordinary Level                  

    Passed G.C.E   Advance  Level                 

    Graduate                                                                                                     

    Professional Qualification                          

 

 

6 Can any Employee Access to the internet in your company

 

    Yes                         

    No                          

 

7 How many employees  use internet in your company During the office  Hours

 

   0 -50 Employees                             

   50 -75 Employees                           

   75 – 100 Employees            

   Above 100 Employees                    

 

8 Level Of knowledge Regarding the Internet and Information Technologies

 

  High Level                                                                           

  Middle Level                                    

  Law Level                                        

  No Knowledge                                                                     

 

9   Purpose of the use of internet during the office time

 

     Business Purpose                          

     Social Network                             

     Educational Purpose                     

    Communication Purpose                            

 

 

10 Which Website Have you allow to Access by your Office PC

 

     International Web Site                                          

     Social Media                                                         

     Online Shopping                           

     Business related Web site                          

 

11 To what extend does your organization provide corporate access to the internet ?

 


     Stand alone dial up access only                            

     LAN/WAN dial up access                                                            

     LAN /WAN direct/permanent connection                        

     Other                                                                     

 

 

 

12   Do your Organization have a computer security awareness programme for all       employees using information Technologies.

 

       Yes                                                                                                No      

 

 

13   Has your organization experienced any unauthorized use of its computer  system within the     past years

 

       Yes                                                                                   No      

 

14   Does Organization have a written policy on the security & misuse of computing facilities

 

 


       Yes                                                                                   No      

 

15   Of the Following Passed  G.C.E  Ordinary Level which do you fell will increasingly impact on your organization over the next five years

 


Hacking and use of malicious   code             

Theft                                                               

Fraud                                                              

Greater Use of encryption                              

Other                                                                                                                          

  

 

 

   

 

 

   

  

 

 

 

“An analysis of challenges in introducing performance measurement systems in small and medium scale tourism and leisure industries in Sri Lanka”

 


“An analysis of challenges in introducing performance measurement systems in small and medium scale tourism and leisure industries in Sri Lanka”


ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to identify and analyze the constraints that small and medium scale hotels of the Sri Lankan leisure industry face in introducing performance measurements systems. This report has been prepared in view of the radical development and growth that has taken place with the end of the three decade long civil war of the country.

With tourism being one of the main sources of foreign revenue generators to the country, the government now aims at positioning the island nation as a top tourist destination in the world. In achieving this, the government has initiated various tourism developmental projects that would enable to cater to the growing tourism demand.

Thus this report prepared aims to identify how to effectively monitor and evaluate the performance of small and medium scale hotels of the Sri Lankan leisure industry. The findings of this study wishes identify and introduce a unique set of performance measures that would be required when measuring the achievement of both financial and non-financial goals. This report also tries to identify the challenges of introducing the same.

This study will be done by selecting a sample size of 100 SLTDA (Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority) registered two star and unclassified hotels of the Southern and Western provinces of Sri Lanka.

Key words: Performance measurement systems, challenges of introducing performance measures

 

 LITERATURE REVIEW

 

2.1 Introduction

Performance measurement systems were traditionally used by organizations as a control mechanism to achieve its financial goals and objectives. As identified by Ittner and Larcker, 1998, performance measurement systems are critical for long term strategic planning and for the evaluation of achievement of these long term goals. Studies reveal that traditional performance measurement systems were purely focused on financial and quantitative measures and were criticized due to its inability to identify the implications of non financial, qualitative performance measures on an organization’s performance (Fitzgerald and Moon 1996; Ittner and Larcker 1998).

 

2.2 Dependent variable:

“The challenges of introducing performance measures in the tourism industry”

 

2.3 Non-traditional performance measures

Harris and Mongiello 2001, points out that the recent developments and increased competition of the hospitality and leisure industry has given rise to the need to incorporate more effective operational and business decision making activities. As argued by Harris and Mongiello (2001), despite a hotel being thought of as a service, a hotel offers three different types of industrial activities namely Rooms, beverage and food exhibiting different business orientations; hence, calling for a diverse set of performance indicators.

As revealed in several studies it would be most effective to incorporate multi-dimensional performance measures along with performance measurement models for a more comprehensive approach (Kaplan and Nortan, 1992; Fitzgerald et al., 1991; Johnson and Kaplan, 1987).

 

2.4 Challenges

Therefore, it is evident from above that, international hotel companies have now begun to focus their attention on performance measurement and strategic implementations evaluating both financial and non-financial aspects (Evans, 2005).

Despite understanding the role of non-financial performance measures on an organization’s performance, Hussain and Gunasekaran’s, 2002, studies reveal that these non-financial performance indicators do not receive the same degree of emphasis as financial performance indicators and adds on to say that non-financial indicators that are directly contributing towards achieving financial goals are placed greater emphasis than non-financial performance indicators that do not have a direct impact on profitability (Ex: Social and environmental responsibility).

 

2.5 Independent variables:

The overall performance of a hotel firm should not be evaluated purely on financial performance measures as it would not give a holistic view. The overall product offered by a hotel is in the form of a service. Thus, this service rendered is a combination of offering which is in the form of staff service, creation of a unique guest experience, concern towards environment/sustainability whilst building long term relationships with the aim of creating repeat guests. Therefore, a hotel’s offering would meet criteria of brand recognition, sustainability, and new developments whilst understanding the influence of special task forces on the hotels performance.

Therefore, having identified from previous studies that there are internal/external and quantitative/qualitative factors affecting a hotels performance, this study tries to identify the impact of the following independent variables on a hotel’s overall business performance.

 

2.5.1 Impact of Intangible Assets

In identifying non-traditional performance indicators, the study of intangible assets and its impact on business performance is important. As Carmeli and Tishler (2004) argue, intangible assets are more likely to create a competitive advantage than tangible assets. However, the limited recording of intangible assets has become a major hindrance in measuring the true performance of a business (Brooking, 1996; Van Der Meer-Kooistra and zijlstra; 2001). Considering the increased awareness of this aspect, Studies of Cater and Cater, 2009; Cohen and Kaimenakis, 2007; Ittner, 2008; etc has identified that there is a link between intellectual capital and business performance.

In applying the above findings on the tourism industry of the service sector, it is evident that a hotel’s performance is dependent on the degree of customer satisfaction which is based upon a hotel’s efforts in creating a unique guest experience. Considering the nature of service, a hotel’s intangible assets which are in the form of brand name, customer satisfaction (rating), and star rating play a major role in winning a customer.

Fung So et. al; (2013) in their studies states that, from a hotel’s perspective, a strong brand would enhance the property’s market value (O’Neill and Xiao, 2006), financial performance (Kim and Kim, 2005; Kim et al., 2003; Kwun and Oh, 2007), and other key performance indicators such as average room rate, occupancy, revenue, and return on investment (Forgacs, 2003), where, customer’s brand loyalty would be the indicator of brand strategy success. Findings of Fung So et. al; (2013) also reveals that when customers identifies themselves with the brand psychologically, they tend develop a strong  attachment to the brand, that would result in a favorable evaluation of the brand and its offerings.

Considering the above, it is important to identify such variables and assess the challenges these intangible assets will post as a key value driver on a hotels performance.

Finally, the management should keep in mind to identify the ‘key’ intangible resources affecting business performance as all intangible resources do not equally contribute towards high business performance (Walsh et al; 2008) .

 

2.5.2 Influence of environmental and sustainability aspects

 

Environmental and sustainability aspects are the talk of the day with the government imposing new laws and restrictions on industries. Hence this gives rise to the need for a firm to adhere to these laws and restricts which could also benefit a firm in achieving its long term vs. short term goals. For example at the present context a hotel managers performance will be measured not only in terms of the amount of profits achieved but also on the savings achieved in terms of water consumption, the carbon foot print of the resort, waste  management etc.

Hence giving rise to the need to develop performance measures in assessing the above.

Findings of Wadongo et. Al; 2010 revels that, despite performance indicators relating to the community/environment being given less emphasis by hotel firms, these indicators should be considered due to the growing concern for environmental and community impact on an organization’s activities. Studies also revealed that, with the effort towards rating a hotel on eco-tourism and waste management, a hotel firm should also be more conscious of the impact of its business activities on the environment. In observing the recent developments of the tourism industry within the country, a growing trend towards obtaining HACCP and Green globe certifications has been identified, giving rise to a new performance driver, a challenge that every hotel try achieve . Therefore, it is important that hotel firms introduce suitable performance measures to measure the impact of environmental and sustainability aspects on business performance whilst identifying challenges of introducing same.

However Kang et. Al; 2012, states that Not all hoteliers are willing to invest in such green initiatives as they are not convinced if such investments will be financially beneficial. Furthermore, their findings also reveal that there is a positive relationship between the level of environmental concern and willingness to pay a premium for hotels’ green initiatives. Thus, making it important to assess if the target clientele will be willing to pay extra for the green initiatives implemented (Ajzen 1991).

 

2.5.3 Influence of New Technology

 

Similarly, the impact of new technological developments on a business should be evaluated as the effects of this are spread across all sectors irrespective of the nature of business. These radical technological developments have gives rise to new opportunities, which is a challenge that every firm should constantly meet. In view of a hotel, this involves the automation and integration of, reservation systems, front office systems, accounting systems, HR systems etc. Phillips and Louvieris; 2010, states that, digitization should enable quick retrieval of financial and management information that enable greater operational control. Their studies further ads on to say that when digitizing performance measurement systems all systems should be integrated so as to provide a holistic view.

Stemming from above, it is also important for a hotel to understand the use of internet and social media as a platform to reach out to its target and potential customers and as a means of shaping brand image. As per Gretzel and Yoo (2008), three fourths of travelers would consider online consumer reviews when planning out a trip.

For example, studies of Tuominen, 2011; reveal that it is necessary for a hotel to consider the visibility and existence a hotel would receive on the Trip Advisor popularity index as hotel properties are ranked and presented based on the order of the popularity received. The popularity ranking which is purely based on guest reviews would directly influence the purchasing decision of a potential guest.

Self-service technologies are other recent developments within the hospitality and tourism industry. Haemoon Oh et. Al; 2013 defines that; a self-service tourist is a traveler that experiences a wide range of technology applications online and offline, before (information search), during (actual visit) and after the visitation. Haemoon Oh et. Al; 2013 findings further states that tourism operations managers need to understand that some customers desire interaction with the service provider that is very critical in developing a sense of loyalty towards the hotel firm. Their research also identifies the importance of maintaining a right balance in terms of self service technology and staff deployment.         

Considering the above, in the present era of internet and digitization, it is important for a firm in the tourism industry to evaluate the impact of new technology in business performance along with the challenges of implementing same.

 

 

2.5.4 Influence from special task forces (stake holder/ External forces)

 

Similar studies were carried out by Pickworth (1994) in relation to the hotel industry and findings reveals that apart from internal factors, external forces such as political, economical, legal and social/cultural factors also have a direct bearing on hotel productivity and overall performance. Studies of Baker and Riley, 1994; David et al., 1996, Sasse and Richardson, 1996; further identifies that the impact of these external variables on hotel performance should be measured in quantitative measures unique to the industry, rather than on qualitative grounds. Ex: guest nights, bed occupancy, staff to guest ratio etc.

Despite above findings, studies of Kilic and Okumus, 2005; reveals that participating managers of hotel firms did not perceive crises or volatile political and economic conditions as key factors affecting hotel performance. He further adds on to say that, as per studies of Altinay et al. 2000; Clements and Georgiou, 1998, political unrest in Cyprus has been a key barrier towards the development of the Cyprus tourism industry, thus, highlighting the need to evaluate the influence of stakeholder groups on hotel performance.

Imran et al 2014, in their findings state that people develop ‘place attachments’- a positive or negative relationship developed with a place, creating an emotional bond with it (Alam, 2011; Kyle, Mowen, Absher, & Havitz, 2006). Similarly, Lee (2008) states, with users that have positive perceptions about environmental conservation and benefits of tourism, the sustainable use of the environment can be increased. Imran et al 2014 further states that, factors such as ecological understanding, education and knowledge sharing, availability of resources and opportunities, adaptive legislation and regulations, and collaborative planning and management could enhance stakeholders’ perceptions on the environment and help to form policies that can help narrow the ‘knowledge-action-impact gaps’.

Applying above, on a local context, SME hotel firms should identify the influence of religious groups, environmental activists, social groups, customer groups etc on hotel operations, where this gives rise to the need to identify how well a hotel meets with the expectations of these task forces when running a hotel.

 

2.5.5 Attractiveness of the Location

 

The location of a hotel also plays a major role on overall performance. As identified by Newell and Seabrook, 2005; location sub factors have been identified as more important than economic sub factors when making a hotel investment decision. Studies also reveal that site attributes were the second most important sub factors that include factors such as hotel visibility, proximity, infrastructure, convention facilities etc, where these factors are also identified as demand generating facilities. As per Newell and Seabrook, 2005; hotel investors are conscious of geographic diversification to reduce property specific occupancy risk.

In applying the above on a local context, the performance of beach side hotels will be negatively affected during the monsoon season while the performance of hotels in Kandy will be exceptional during the period in which the Kandy Perehara takes place. Similarly for example, a hotel situated in a unique location of historic value would be generating rather consistent results throughout the year than a hotel situated in a relatively less attractive location. In such a situation it would be most appropriate to assessing the performance by comparing against other hotels which are similar in terms of location, nature, size and capacity.

Findings of Cuervo-Cazurra et al 2013, reveals that the total benefits a firm of a particular location achieve will comprise of the location advantage, that arise from the ability to access external resources available and unique to that particular location and scarce elsewhere. Their study further reveals that, location resources would comprise of tangible and intangible assets that are semi-permanently tied to a location that would include educated labor, technological infrastructure, good regulations, network of competitive firms etc. Their findings conclude that location advantage can be developed through the interaction of social actors operating at different levels that often contradict, thus providing with new insights.

 

 

List of References

Paul Phillips and Panos Louvieris (2005), Performance Measurement Systems in Tourism, Hospitality, and Leisure Small Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Balanced Scorecard Perspective, Journal of Travel Research 2005 44: 201; pp.201-2011.

Sophia Imran; Khorshed Alam; Narelle Beaumont (2014), Environmental orientations and environmental behaviour: Perceptions of protected area tourism stakeholders, Tourism Management 40 (2014), 290-299.

 

Hao-Chen Huang; Wenyi Chu; Wei-Kang Wang (2007), Strategic Performance Measurement and Value Drivers: Evidence from International Tourist Hotels in an Emerging Economy, Routledge, pp.1111-1127.

 

Álvaro Cuervo-Cazurra; Pablo Martin de Holan; Luis Sanz (2013), Location Advantage: Emergent and guided co-evolutions, Journal of Business Research, pp 508-515.

 

Christopher D. Ittner, David F. Larcker, Marshall W. Meyer (2003), Subjectivity and the Weighting of Performance Measures: Evidence from a Balanced Scorecard, The Accounting Review, pp 725-758.

 

Billy Wadongo, Edwin Odhuno, Oscar Kambona, Lucas Othuon (2010), Key performance indicators in the Kenyan hospitality industry: a managerial perspective, Benchmarking: An International Journal, pp.859-875.

 

Wen-Cheng Lin, Wen-Shiow Hsu, Li-Hua Huang (2013), Measure of the Balanced Scorecard evaluation factors for hot spring hotel industry: The Expert System Application, Business and Information 2013, pp.c993-c1003.

 

Hasan Kilic and Fevzi Okumus (2005), Factors influencing productivity in small island hotels- Evidence from Nothern Cyprus, International journal of contemporary hospitality management, pp.315-331.

 

Kyung Ho Kanga; Laura Stein; Cindy Yoonjoung Heo; Seoki Lee (2012), Consumers’ willingness to pay for green initiatives of the hotel industry, International journal of hospitality management, pp.564-572.

 

Graeme Newell and Ross Seabrook (2006), Factors influencing hotel investment decision making, Journal of property investment and finance, pp.279-294.

 

Haemoon; Miyoung Jeong; Seyhmus Baloglu (2013), Tourists' adoption of Self-Service Technologies at Resort Hotels, Journal of Business Research, pp.692-699

 

Ines Cruz (2007), How might hospitality organizations optimize their performance measurement systems?, International journal of contemporary hospitality management, pp.574-588.

 

Pasi Tuominen (2011), The influence of trip- Advisor consumer generated travel reviews on hotel performance, University of Hartfordshire Business School working paper (2011).

 

Josee St-Pierre and Josee Aidet (2011), Intangible assets and Performance- Analysis on manufacturing SMEs, Journal of intellectual capital, pp.202-223

 

Krystin Zigan and Dia Zeglat (2010), Intangible resources in performance measurement systems of the hotel industry, Facilities- Emerald publishing Limited, pp.597-610

 

Md Mostaque Hussain and A. Gunasekaran (2002), Management accounting and performance measures in Japanese banks, Managing service quality, pp.232-245.

 

Ricardo Hernandez-Mogollon and Gabriele Cepeda-Carrion, Juan G Cegerra-Nevarro, Antonio Leal-Millan (2010),The role of cultural barriers in the relationship between open-mindedness and organizational innovation, Journal of Organizational change management, pp.360-376.

 

Peter P. Yuen and Artie W. Ng (2012), Towards a balanced performance measurement system in a public health care organization, International journal of health care quality assurance, pp.421-430.

 

Li- Jen Jessica Hwang and Andrew Lockwood (2006), Understanding the challenges of implementing best practices in hospitality and tourism SMEs, Benchmarking- An international journal, pp.337-354

 

Kevin Kam Fung So; Ceridwyn King; Beverley A. Sparks; Ying Wang (2013), The influence of customer brand identification on hotel brand evaluation and loyalty development, International Journal of Hospitality Management, pp. 31-41.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JAT Holdings PLC

  ABSTRACT   This report presents a comprehensive analysis of five consecutive annual reports of JAT Holdings PLC, a leading company...