In the current highly volatile, uncertain and ambiguous operating environment, it is imperative to understand the consequences of such changes on business and the need for advances required in business and management. The pandemic 2020, made companies deal with unprecedented change. Businesses faced economic and operational uncertainties across every industry and sector. The ripple effect of these disruptions has been an exponential increase in perceived risk and uncertainty across a wide range of human activities. Hence, big and small companies have started reconsidering their business models, owing to a dramatic downturn in the global economy. Furthermore, in the face of such enormous difficulties, corporate executives, policymakers, and management gurus are under tremendous pressure to rethink methods for recovery, resilience, and adaptation to the new normal. The post- pandemic world promises to bring in more technological advances in businesses and a plethora of opportunities to review our policies, refocus our objectives, reimagining our institutions and being able to press the reset button.

This year in our international e-conference we invite research papers to provide insight into these pandemic times and the changes witnessed by the businesses. The conference will provide a platform to understand how businesses are mobilizing, stabilizing and returning to work. In the post covid-19 recovery, this conference aims to focus on comprehending the challenges faced, transformations undertaken, emerging opportunities, lessons learnt and the strategic recovery plans made by businesses, not only to survive but building resilience to navigate the future shocks. We invite prospective academicians, researchers and industry practitioners to present their original work in the form of conceptual and empirical papers that fit into the theme of the conference.

We welcome papers from different domains of marketing, general management & public policy, financial management, Entrepreneurship, International business & strategy, banking and insurance, supply chain management, human resource management, travel & tourism, artificial intelligence, impact of covid-19 to understand renewed focus and reposition of businesses in the wake of new normal.

The Department organized 7th NCBM-2020 on ‘Technology and Innovations: Changing the face of Business’ in January 2020 . It successfully organized its very first International E-Conference on Advances in Business and Management in March, 2021 with Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, University of Tehran and Emerald Publishing as academic partners and collaborators.

OBJECTIVES OF THE CONFERENCE

• To provide an International platform for the widespread dissemination of the recently emerged advanced research pertaining to Business and Management.
• To explore global alliance to enhance the quality and strength of the participants in the conference.
• To strengthen the network among young researchers and local and foreign management experts.
• To encourage dialogues between researchers and practitioners in conjunction with different research findings and implications.