Senior Lecturer (G I)
BA (Jaffna), MA (Colombo), PhD (AIT)Social Studies
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
RG GS
Contact:
Colombo Regional Center, Department of Social Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, The Open University of Sri Lanka.
Office: +94112881014, Ext: 2411
E-mail: nsmor@ou.ac.lk
Dr. Neavis Morais is a Senior lecturer in economics and development studies. He obtained his PhD from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. Previously obtained an MA in Economics from the University of Colombo, and a BA in Economics from the University of Jaffna. He has held positions as the Head of the Department of Social Studies and as the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Last Updated on 9 months
Areas of Specialization:International Trade, Global Political Economy.
Research interests:Microenterprise development, Social enterprise, Livelihoods
Affiliations:Member of Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) and Sri Lanka Economic Association (SLEA).
Contributions:Resource person in different discussion forums and events.
He has participated as a resource person in different academic events and forums nationally and internationally. The areas of contribution include, curriculum development, seminars and talks on contemporary economic issues.
Conference and workshop participation.
He has participated in several national and international conferences and presented research papers. He has also represented the University in many international conferences and workshops organized by the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP), Global Development Network (GDN), FAO and IFAD.
Teaching at other National and International Universities
He has served as a visiting academic and adjunct faculty for postgraduate programmes conducted by national and international universities. His contribution includes teaching modules on international business, global business strategies and business research methods for MBA and DBA programmes. In addition, he has served as an advisor to many research projects on a range of topics that include, capital market governance, livelihood diversification, microenterprise development, social enterprises, organizational culture, training and development and supply chain management.
Course Coordination:Teaching and coordination of courses.
He has extensive teaching experience in the fields of Economics, Development Studies, and Business studies. Courses he teaches include International Economics, Global Political Economy, Development Economics and contemporary economic thought and public policy. In addition, he has been involved in designing study programmes and course units, and actively involve in quality assurance processes of the courses offered by Social Studies Department.
Researches:Contribution to national policy related research
He has contributed as a co-researcher in a project for formulating National Youth Policy for Sri Lanka (2013), a collaborative project between the Ministry of Youth Affairs and the Open University of Sri Lanka. He also contributed as a co-researcher in a national level study to formulate National Human Development Report, by the UNDP (2014). Previously contributed as a coordinator in a research study on the ‘status of female employment in the private sector of Sri Lanka (2004), commissioned by the ministry of women affairs.
Research Supervisions:Thesis supervision and evaluation
He has supervised several masters and doctoral research projects. Some of the topics include: Inter-connectivity of access to finance and microenterprise development as critical factors in employment generation in Sri Lanka; Women Empowerment through microcredit and self-employment; Livelihood capabilities and microenterprise development in a post-war context: A study on women-led microenterprises in the Northern province of Sri Lanka.
He has also supervised several research projects of postgraduate students enrolled in the MA in Development Studies, and Master of Business Administration programmes, and contributed as a reviewer of doctoral theses of local and international universities and reviewed many research articles of reputed journals, such as Development in Practice (DiP).
Publications:Journal Publications
He has published in the areas of development economics and business studies that include livelihoods and market analysis, microfinance, microenterprises, social enterprises, and sustainable business management.
The Impact of Access to Finance on Firm Performance: Evidence from Microenterprises of Sri Lanka. Liyanage, M.L.D.C.J., Morais S.N., Abeysinghe S. and Wickramasinghe, C.N. International Journal of Accounting & Business Finance. Vol.9, No.2, December 2023 Issue. pp. 1 – 17.
Social Enterprises and Impact Investments: A study on challenges and perspectives of social enterprises and impact investors in Sri Lanka, N.Morais, and N. Nanayakara. Sri Lanka Journal of Management Studies, Faculty of Management Studies, OUSL. 2023.
An Analysis of How Hygiene and Motivational factors influencing overall job satisfaction while working from home. Sri Lanka Journal of Management Studies, Faculty of Management Studies, OUSL. Neavis Morais and Buddhika Galpothdeniya. 2023
Sustainable Reporting: An analysis of disclosure practices of selected business organizations in Sri Lanka, by Dilrukshi Abeyratne and Neavis Morais. Sri Lanka Journal of Management Studies | Volume 3- Issue I, June 2021.
Understanding Worker Motivation in the Tea Plantation Industry of Sri Lanka. Arumainayagam K, and Morais S. N. VISTAS Journal, Volume 13, Issue 1 2020. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, The Open University of Sri Lanka.
Impact of Training and Development on Employee Performance: A Study of Managerial Level Employees in the Apparel Industry by Prasadi Siriwardena, & Neavis Morais. Colombo Journal of Advanced Research, Vol.1. No.2, 2019
A Study on the Effect of the Hygiene Factors on Overall Job Satisfaction of the Employees in Airline Industry. N Morais, & M Rupasinghe. Colombo Journal of Advanced Research 1 (1), 147-161 2019
The Sustainability of Community Managed Water Supply Schemes in Sri Lanka. N Morais, & C Fernando. Colombo Journal of Advanced Research 1 (1), 162-191, 2019
Morais, N. & Ahmad, M. M. (2010) Sustaining Livelihood in complex emergencies: Experiences of Sri Lanka. Development in Practice. Vol 20, no.1, pp 5-17.
Morais, N. & Ahmed, M. M. (2011). NGO-Led Microcredit Interventions in Conflict Affected Areas: Potentials and Challenges. Journal of International Development 23: 629–640
Other publications and monographs
Co-authored ‘A training manual for Youth Workers” published by the Professional Youth Workers Association (PYWA), Sri Lanka.
Co-authored the National Human Development Report for Sri Lanka (2014), UNDP, Sri Lanka.
Emergency Market Mapping and Analysis (EMMA) for Credit Market in the selected districts in the north of Sri Lanka, Oxfam GB.