ORGANIZATIONAL

BEHAVIOUR
A CASE STUDY BASED ON HAYLEYS PLC
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3

DIVERSITY IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVUOIOUR......................................................3

HAYLEYS PLC.........................................................................................................................3

DESCRIPTION OF THE SITUATION.....................................................................................4

ANALYSIS OF CONTRIBUTING FACTORS........................................................................5

CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................6

REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................7

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1- – Core values of Hayleys PLC...................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Diversity inside a company may be defined as a larger variety of options available in the
industry, allowing for a stronger emphasis on consumer demands (Byrd,2014). This paper
discusses Hayleys PLC and how the firm encourages diversity to foster innovation in its
goods and services and requires a varied staff to foster an awareness of various cultures.
Hayleys PLC experienced diversity difficulties due to the ethnic and cultural variety of its
employees, obstacles, cultural disparities, gender discrimination, and an age gap inside the
firm

DIVERSITY IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

A useful description of organizational behavior might be characterized as a study that focuses
on understanding human behavior in organizational contexts (Hogan, 2012).. When
companies are seeking people with certain abilities and expertise, they need to hire such
individuals; who have a deeper understanding of the industry. To enable understanding of
various cultures, a varied workforce is required, so the organization's culture and
environment are more malleable in changing market conditions, and there may be greater
knowledge of customers (Byrd & Scott, 2014).

By applying varied people, methods, and tactics, we can get the most out of our different sets
of skills. Different cultures and languages may cause difficulties that pertain to inter-team
cooperation and overall morale, while, at the same time, fresh ideas in the organization might
make it difficult for advancement to occur (Powell, 2010).

HAYLEYS PLC
Hayley PLC, which employs 32,000 people with several different business sectors including
agriculture, manufacturing, and services, each has a sector-specific industry. In addition,
Hayleys is the first listed business in Sri Lanka to exceed USD 1 billion in yearly revenue. To
successfully drive profitability in such a diversified organization, Hayleys demands advanced
knowledge of all aspects of business, as well as financial integrity, operational and financial
performance in each of their various subsidiaries, sectors, and groups(the ABOUT US, The
World of Hayleys, 2021).

Up until now, Hayleys has been depending on a series of different business apps. The
financial staff gathered and aggregated data manually to analyze the company and operational
performance within a specific industry, across several subsidiaries, or throughout the whole
group (ABOUT US, The World of Hayleys, 2021).

Hayleys took a strategic group-level decision in 2011 to deploy SAP ERP solutions in various
subsidiaries to spur company growth and increase reporting harmony. “SAP is our strategic
platform since it provides outstanding support across a wide variety of our industry verticals,”
Hayleys Group Executive Director Sarath Ganegoda says (ABOUT US, The World of
Hayleys, 2021).

DESCRIPTION OF THE SITUATION

In the organization, diversity concerns related to ethnicity and culture came up. Sashikala a
Ph.D. holder is one of my colleagues, and she was Sri Lankan Jaffna Tamil raised in Canada
who was hired as a Product Development Manager. At her job, she had to deal with
communication hurdles, cultural disparities, gender discrimination, and generational gaps. It
is possible that various forms of cultural diversity are due to variations in the individuals
employed in the business, and also based on why some employees perceive themselves as
better than others. Differences in cultural backgrounds may result from a wide range of
factors, including ethnicity, language, financial level, gender, ethnicity, ability, culture,
sexual orientation, or any other imaginable factor.

Cultural dominance and gender were established in the firm, with 99% of the people being
Sri Lankans and 80% being male executives. However, in this case, the supervisor and the
head of a department are both male, and so only men will be included in most decisions.
Hayley PLC is exclusively focused on developing creative methods to draw in clients and
grow revenue.

Nonetheless, Sashikala was faced with the problems which stem from discrimination,
prejudice, and even racism. Some of the circumstances in the workplace develop violent, with
confrontation among employees. This crisis reaches a boiling point and diversity training was
not provided to her. Because others at the employment had biased opinions about ethnicities,
colors, and cultures, Sashikala experienced workplace discrimination. Although management
in the firm has implemented some rules and regulations with regard to diversity, the company
itself does not have a high level of acceptance. This results in mandatory training to make the
diverse personnel feel more comfortable in their environment.
ANALYSIS OF CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
Several variables are affecting the situation of Sashikala. Here are a few of the major issues
and how Hayley’s solved the matter

ETHNOCULTURAL AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES

As there was no tolerance or acceptance for individuals in the workplace, there were
variations in ethnicity and culture in the workplace. Hence, Hayleys PLC concentrated on
policy and training to accommodate a wide range of diverse cultures.

COMMUNICATION BARRIERS

There were communication difficulties because the firm was recruiting immigrants from
various countries, and Sashikala could only speak English with a Canadian accent so team
members didn't feel supported by her. Thus Hayleys PLC had to put more effort into
employee communication training to help them get a boost in confidence and to allow them
to continually develop in the workplace.

GENDER BIAS

Additionally, she had to contend with difficulties linked to the gender discrimination that is
based on the common cultural variety as she was the only female heading a team of 20 male
executives under her. There were difficulties when it came to how men and women were
being treated in the workplace, which went against some of the conventional gender norms.
Hayleys PLC ensured that the employees have to do their tasks so that there would be no
gender-related conflict.

THE GENERATIONAL GAP

Also, there was a generation gap within the management of the firm, because as a company it
had diverse companies; as a result, Sashikala had to deal with difficulties from the senior
employees. There was personnel from teens to elderly people in the corporation, thus there
were noticeable generational disparities. Hayleys PLC encouraged after gathering hours for
the team to encourage and remove barriers with the generations and bring all of them to a
common ground.
CONFLICTS

Due to the disputes in the company, Hayleys, PLC had faced difficulties. The management
has shown concerns about prejudice, racism, and discrimination but the organization has not
implemented any long-term measures to alleviate these problems. Hayleys PLC made sure to
address the diversity training requirements in the diverse workplace.

Hayleys PLC is now valued its people and proudly added saying “Strength in Diversity,

”
Empowered by Equality and Driven by Sustainability (ABOUT US, The World of Hayleys,
2021).

Figure 1- – Core values of Hayleys PLC

Source – Hayleys PLC, About Us

CONCLUSION
Thus, it is determined that Hayleys PLC has now officially been recognized as an
organization that supports diversity, but the corporation has to become more knowledgeable
about various cultures by making its organizational environment more accommodating. Also,
it is recommended that Hayleys PLC conducts a management review to ensure that situation
analysis is improved and to help their workers. Hence, to provide equitable treatment and
procedures to its employees, Hayleys PLC must establish rules and regulations based on
cultural diversity.
REFERENCES
Byrd, M. Y., & Scott, C. L. (2014). Diversity in the Workforce: Current Issues and Emerging
Trends. Routledge.

Hayleys PLC. 2021. ABOUT US, The World of Hayleys. [online] Available at:
<https://www.hayleys.com/about/> [Accessed 1 August 2021].

Hogan, M., 2012. The Four Skills of Cultural Diversity Competence. Cengage Learning.

Powell, G. N. (2010). Managing a Diverse Workforce: Learning Activities. SAGE

Publications.

Zalis, S. , 2017 The Truth About Diversity — And Why It Matters. Available at
<https://www.forbes.com/sites/shelleyzalis/2017/11/30/the-truth-about-diversity-and-why-it-
matters/#750cae7f66e7> [Accessed 1 August 2021].