PurposeSustaining the irrigated agriculture, while conserving the natural eco-system, are the two main objectives of sustainable water management (SWM) in irrigation. Achieving both the objectives simultaneously is a complex task in most developing countries. This requires a holistic approach of understanding the issues in irrigation water management (IWM) from social, economic and environmental perspectives. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse the issues towards the SWM of irrigation systems in Sri Lanka to help maintain a stable relationship between the aforementioned two objectives.Design/methodology/approachQualitative interview survey was selected as the research strategy to achieve the research aim. 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts in IWM sector to collect data in the Sri Lankan context. Data were analysed using code-based content analysis, based on directed approach.FindingsFindings revealed the issues in SWM in terms of efficiency of irrigation infrastructure; equity of water distribution; environmental integrity and economic acceptability. Most of the issues were related to the inefficiency towards SWM of irrigation systems. Conflicts among water users, especially the people in downstreams aggravated the problem of equity of water sharing. Depletion of groundwater and waterlogging were the major issues towards environmental integrity. Loss of water happened due to the issues in different irrigation infrastructure components hindering economic acceptability.Originality/valueTheoretical contribution includes an analysis of issues in IWM from a sustainability perspective. Practical implications include an overview of deficiencies in the SWM to generate appropriate strategies to achieve sustainability for decision-makers such as policymakers in the irrigation sector in developing countries similar to Sri Lanka.
All business activities are subjected to risks such as technology failure, natural disasters, utility disruption and terrorism, etc. These risks may be potential to generate a crisis, which if left uncontrolled can become a disaster. Even a small business interruption will result in the reduction of revenues, loss in customers or reduction in market share and ultimately, the survival of a business. Therefore, Emergency Preparedness (EP) and Business Continuity Planning (BCP) play an important role in business resilience providing the capability to adequately react to operational disruptions, while protecting safety and welfare of people. Though EP and BCP form important elements of good business management and service provision, as per the literature, EP and BCP have often been overlooked and sometimes even been ignored. Therefore, this paper presents the findings of a comprehensive literature review carried out on EP and BCP concepts to fill the above research gap. The finding will help the researchers working in EP and BCP practices to understand how these concepts have been developed, how they are practiced in the industry and their importance in business survival.
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