A CASE STUDY OF LEADING MANAGEMENT FUNCTION

AT

COATS THREAD EXPORTS (PVT) LTD

Course of Study : MBA Weekend - General

Subject Code : MBA 5103

Subject : Management Process & Practice

Group No: 2.5

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Table 1
Individual Team Member Contribution Matrix
Registration
Name Focus Area
Number
• Theoretical background of Dynamics of
Behavior in Organization.
2020/MBA/WE/119 EKSH Siriwardhana • Critical evaluation of Dynamics of
Behavior in Coats Sri Lanka
• Recommendations and Conclusions
• Introduction to the organization.
• Theoretical background of Leadership
2020/MBA/WE/123 P Vathsalyan • Critical evaluation of Leadership in Coats
Sri Lanka
• Recommendations and Conclusions
• Theoretical background of Motivating
Employees
2020/MBA/WE/073 APEN Mendis • Critical evaluation of the Motivating
Employees process in Coats Sri Lanka
• Recommendations and Conclusions
• Theoretical background of Managing
Communication
2020/MBA/WE/096 MH Prageeth • Critical evaluation of Managing
Communication Process in Coats Sri Lanka
• Recommendations and Conclusions
• Theoretical background of Leading Teams
• Critical evaluation of Leading Teams
2020/MBA/WE/077 MAHP Nawarathna
Process in Coats Sri Lanka
• Recommendations and Conclusions

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Acknowledgement
We take this opportunity to express our gratitude to those who gave an idea to do the
case study in Leading which is a people related management function and provide the support
in collecting information.

First, we would like to thank Dr. R Senathiraja, Prof. B Nishantha, Mr. Chandana L Aluthgama
for providing guidance to design and prepare this case study through the Course Outline and
briefing in Lectures.

Also, we would like to thank Mr. Ajith Edirisinghe, Operations Director and Mr. Nuwan
Jayaweera, General Manager HR of Coats Thread Exports (Pvt) Ltd to give consent to do the
case study in their organization and provide company information for the success of analysis
and helping throughout this study.

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Contents

Acknowledgement ..................................................................................................................... iii

List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... vi

List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ vii

1. Introduction to the Organization ......................................................................................... 1

1.1. Goals and Culture Framework ........................................................................................ 2

1.2. Growth Mindset............................................................................................................... 3

2. Theoretical Background ...................................................................................................... 4

3. Critical Evaluation of Leading Management Function ....................................................... 5

3.1. Dynamics of Behavior in Organization ........................................................................... 5

3.1.1. Attitudes and Perceptions ............................................................................................ 5

3.1.2. Job Satisfaction ............................................................................................................ 6

3.1.3. Organizational Commitment ....................................................................................... 7

3.1.4. Personality and Behavior ............................................................................................. 7

3.1.5. Learning and Problem Solving Styles ......................................................................... 7

3.1.6. Stress and Stress Management .................................................................................... 8

3.2. Leadership ....................................................................................................................... 8

3.2.1. Levels of Leadership ................................................................................................... 8

3.2.2. Coats Leadership Capability Framework (LCF) ......................................................... 9

3.2.3. Leadership Styles ....................................................................................................... 11

3.3. Motivating Employees .................................................................................................. 12

3.3.1. Work Environment .................................................................................................... 12

3.3.2. Motivational Techniques ........................................................................................... 12

3.3.3. Rewarding Methods ................................................................................................... 12

3.3.4. Goal Setting ............................................................................................................... 13

3.3.5. Employee Participation in Decision Making ............................................................. 13

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3.3.6. Job Designing ............................................................................................................ 13

3.3.7. Incentive Compensation Methods ............................................................................. 14

3.3.8. Employee Engagement .............................................................................................. 14

3.3.9. Measuring Employee Satisfaction ............................................................................. 15

3.3.10. Motivation during the COVID-19 Pandemic ......................................................... 15

3.4. Managing Communication with in the Coats Sri Lanka ............................................... 16

3.4.1. How the Coats Sri Lanka communication process works ......................................... 16

3.4.2. Different methods of communication channels used by Coats Sri Lanka ................. 17

3.4.3. Formal and informal communication with in the Coats Sri Lanka ........................... 17

3.4.4. Team Communication Channels with in the Coats Sri Lanka................................... 18

3.4.5. Feedback and Learning at Coats Sri Lanka ............................................................... 19

3.4.6. Crisis Communication at Coats Sri Lanka ................................................................ 20

3.5. Leading Teams .............................................................................................................. 20

3.5.1. Requirement of Team Work ...................................................................................... 21

3.5.2. Goals Setting.............................................................................................................. 22

3.5.3. Types of Teams ......................................................................................................... 22

3.5.4. Virtual Teams ............................................................................................................ 23

3.5.5. Team Processes.......................................................................................................... 24

3.5.5.1. Stage of Team development................................................................................... 24

3.5.5.2. Team Norms........................................................................................................... 24

3.5.5.3. Managing Team Conflicts...................................................................................... 24

3.5.5.4. Styles to Handle Conflict ....................................................................................... 25

4. Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 27

5. Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 29

6. Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 30

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List of Figures

Figure 1 - Coats Global Presence ............................................................................................... 1

Figure 2 - Coats Goals and Culture Framework ........................................................................ 2
Figure 3 - Coats Growth Mindset ............................................................................................... 3
Figure 4 - Management Process - Functions of Management .................................................... 4
Figure 5 – Employee Value Proposition at Coats Sri Lanka...................................................... 6
Figure 6 - Levels of Leadership ................................................................................................. 9
Figure 7 - Blanchard's SLII Leadership Styles Model ............................................................. 11
Figure 8 - Coats Sri Lanka Communication Process ............................................................... 16
Figure 9 - Coats Sri Lanka Communication Channels ............................................................. 18
Figure 10 - Coats Sri Lanka Team Communication Channels................................................. 19

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List of Tables

Table 1 - Individual Team Member Contribution Matrix .......................................................... ii

Table 2 - Types of Teams ......................................................................................................... 21
Table 3 - Type of Virtual Teams .............................................................................................. 23
Table 4 - Snapshot of Critical Evaluation ................................................................................ 26

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1. Introduction to the Organization
Coats Thread Exports (Pvt) Ltd, here after refer as Coats Sri Lanka is part of Coats PLC,
the world’s leading industrial thread company which is a FTSE 250 listed company (COA) in
London Stock Exchange and a constituent of FTSE 4 Good Index.

Figure 1
Coats Global Presence

Note. Adapted from Coats Group PLC

Coats PLC have a workforce of 17,000 in more than 50 countries, across six continents around
the world recorded $1.4bn Group revenues in 2019. Coats yarns and threads are getting used in
more than 100 countries by 40,000+ global customers and brands to meet the design
specifications they require.

Coats Sri Lanka operates in the country as the leading thread supplier for more than 4 decades
since 1978 from the inception of the garment industry in Sri Lanka. Coats Sri Lanka started its
operation in Sri Lanka with the name of Tootal Thread as a dealer for selling sewing thread.
Coats Thread Exports (Private) Limited Registered as BOI Company in 1993. Coats Sri Lanka
obtained leading and world recognized certifications such as OekoTex in 1996, ISO 9000 in
1997, “Garments Without Guilt” (GWG) in 2009, Global Recycled Standard(GRS) and
OHSAS 18001:2007 in 2019 and finally the ISO 45001:2018 in 2021. Coats Sri Lanka is one

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of the multinational company operates with several ethical, sociological, environmental and
health or safety standards providing direct employment for more than 700 people and supplying
major portion of thread or yarns requirements of the apparel industry.

1.1. Goals and Culture Framework

As Coats Sri Lanka is part of a true multinational company operates in Europe, US and
Australia, which maintains high level business standards and procedures to be an ethical
company. Coats Sri Lanka follows the detailed Goals and Culture framework across the
organization.

Figure 2
Coats Goals and Culture Framework

Note. Adapted from Coats Group PLC

• Vision – Deliver value to customers, employees and shareholders.

• Foundations - These are critical and all of our work must be built upon them
• Principles - A guide to how we behave

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 o Energy for change - Being prepared to try new things that we will succeed and
grow
o Respectful and inclusive - Providing a safe, respectful and inclusive environment
in which everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed
o Freedom to operate - Providing a framework within which everyone in the
company is empowered to do their job and success is celebrated
o Openness and honesty - An ethical culture which is free from politics and where
constructive criticism can be given and received freely
o Positive teamwork - Working together with a great network of people around the
world to achieve common goals
• Priorities - These are the basis on which decisions are taken and priorities are set
o Customer experience - Provide an end to end superior customer experience
o Digital first – Convert any task or activity be done by digital tools
o Simplification – Reduce complexity in structure and operation models.
o Innovation - Be creative and courageous in all aspects of our day job
o Talent - Attracting, retaining and developing top talent is a business priority

1.2. Growth Mindset

Figure 3
Coats Growth Mindset
Coats Sri Lanka believe that the people are
the biggest asset for the company than the
technology or the infrastructure. Therefore
significant amount of money and time are
getting invested on people for talent and
development. Coats Sri Lanka is focusing
on Growth Mindset Model which
demonstrates a hunger for growth through
learning, courage and resilience in order to
evolve in a dynamic context.

Note. Adapted from Coats Group PLC

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2. Theoretical Background
Management can be defined as “attainment of organizational goals in an efficient and effective
manner through planning, organizing, leading and controlling organizational resources” (Daft,
2016). Daft (2016) has identified planning, organizing, leading and controlling as the main
functions of management.

Figure 4
Management Process - Functions of Management

Note. Obtained from Daft (2016)

• Planning - Planning means identifying goals for future organizational performance and
deciding on the tasks and use of resources needed to attain them. In other words, Managerial
planning defines where the organization wants to be in the future and how to get there.
• Organizing - Organizing typically follows planning and reflects how the organization tries
to accomplish the plan. Organizing involves assigning tasks, grouping tasks into
departments, delegating authority, and allocating resources across the organization.
• Leading - Leading is the use of influence to motivate employees to achieve organizational
goals. Leading means creating a shared culture and values, communicating goals to people
throughout the organization, and infusing employees with the desire to perform at a high
level.
• Controlling - Controlling means monitoring employees’ activities, determining whether
the organization is moving toward its goals, and making corrections as necessary.

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3. Critical Evaluation of Leading Management Function
Leading is the third element and core of the management functions in any organization.
To maximize efficiency and to achieve organizational goals, leading to business management
plays a key role. Guiding the subordinates towards the goal and to ensure their growth is one of
the many functions leading covers. Dynamics of Behavior in Organizations, Leadership,
Motivating Employees, Managing Communication and Leading Teams are the key processes
of the leading function. Each of these processes will be briefed in separate chapters in this case
study.

3.1. Dynamics of Behavior in Organization

People are considered as the most valuable resource in an organization. People in an
organization differ in many ways. Understanding these differences and managing differences
is an important role of managers when leading employees to attain organization’s goals and
objectives. At Coats Sri Lanka also, managers and employees bring their individual differences
to workplace each day and these differences in their attitudes, personality and so forth affect
how they behave and work. Managers at all levels of Coats Sri Lanka try their best to manage
these differences among employees of the company effectively to keep them focus on attaining
the company’s goals and objectives.

3.1.1. Attitudes and Perceptions

Attitudes and perceptions of employees are critical aspects of understanding the
behavior of employees. At Coats Sri Lanka, employees carry different attitudes and see the
same thing in different ways due to the dynamics in their personality levels, values, interests
etc. However, managers are committed to develop and cultivate positive attitudes among
employees towards work. Coats Sri Lanka believes a person with right positive attitude can be
trained and developed the way the company wants. At Coats Sri Lanka, during the recruitment
process, more weightage is given to the soft skills and behaviors of a person. During the
induction program and training with trainers, company culture and expected attitudes are
systematically cultivated among employees. During on the job training, employees are closely
monitored by peers and superiors and employees with noticeable variations in terms of attitudes
are being taken for special one to one discussion and counseling by the managers. Usually
managers are maintaining well emotional bond with the employees which supports to maintain
the positive attitudes consistently.

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Two attitudes that might relate to high performance of employees are job satisfaction and
organizational commitment. By striving hard to change employees with negative attitudes,
Coats Sri Lanka has been able to maintain a higher level of job satisfaction and organizational
commitment in its employees.

3.1.2. Job Satisfaction

“Job satisfaction reflects the degree to which a person finds fulfillment in his or her job”
(Daft, 2016). At Coats Sri Lanka, Managers believe that job satisfaction is extremely important
because they think satisfied employees deliver maximum benefits to the organization. To
further improve the job satisfaction, Coats Sri Lanka ensures a better and safe work
environment and provides employees clear instructions along with IE targets linked with
incentive schemes. Superiors always make sure to behave ethically without bullying or
harassing subordinates and they always give freedom to operate and voice out when facing
issues. Well-developed employee value proposition, providing everyone with an equal
opportunity to develop and succeed, Zero tolerance on compliance or ethical violations and
immediate correction actions, better leave quota which is beyond minimum requirements,
better salaries than the other companies in the surrounding with several other facilities such as
annual family get together, family gifts, health care facilities, special loan facilities, recognition
of employees’ kids achievements etc. are some other activities and benefits provided by the
Coats Sri Lanka to enhance employees’ job satisfaction.

Figure 5
Employee Value Proposition at Coats Sri Lanka

Note. Adapted from Coats Group PLC

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3.1.3. Organizational Commitment
“Organizational commitment refers to an employee’s loyalty to and engagement with
the organization” (Daft, 2016). At Coats Sri Lanka, majority of the employees are loyal to the
company and they consider themselves as a part of the company. They always say “we” when
talking about the company.

3.1.4. Personality and Behavior

“An individual’s personality is the set of characteristics that underlie a relatively stable
pattern of behavior in response to ideas, objects or people in the environment” (Daft, 2016). At
Coats Sri Lanka, people with different personality levels and traits are working together and
managers effectively cope with the challenge of bridging personality differences among
employees to make sure the smooth functioning of organization. Coats Sri Lanka uses the
Predictive Index (PI) behavioral assessment or personality test during the recruitment phase to
understand the fitness of a person as an employee to Coats Sri Lanka. Coats Sri Lanka keep on
promoting the culture or behaviors align with the 5 principles of Respectful & Inclusiveness,
Freedom to operate, Openness and Honesty, Energy for change and Positive Teamwork from
the beginning until it gets embedded among them. As each individual know their objectives and
what they gain at the end, manager’s role is to bring the people who’re deviating to back to the
track in the common journey.

3.1.5. Learning and Problem Solving Styles

Employees differ in the way they learn, solving problems and making decisions. Like
in any other organization, Coats Sri Lanka also consists with employees with different learning
and problem solving styles which determines how they approach problems and their learning
strength. Coats Sri Lanka carry out various types of training programs to facilitate learning.
Coats Sri Lanka uses the 70:20:10 Rule for developing the people. When new employees join,
they are given a trainer and facilitate them to work with experienced workers to learn. In every
3 months they are subjected to training evaluation to identify slow learners and provide
counseling. And also managers do not hesitate to take the ideas and opinion of employees when
making decisions and they always ensure that all the employees are part of the decision making
process of the company.

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3.1.6. Stress and Stress Management
“Stress is an individual’s physiological and emotional response to external stimuli that
place physical or psychological demands on the individual and create uncertainty and lack of
personal control when important outcomes are at stake” (Daft, 2016). Stress levels have gone
up in many organizations in recent years. Although stress is not always negative, managing
stress at workplace is important since people’s responses to stressors vary according to their
personalities, the resources available to cope with stress and the context in which stress occurs.
As Coats Sri Lanka has a robust forecast and planning strategy, they rarely get stressful
situations in the operation. However advance notification by foreseeing the future requirements,
early warning and preparedness and link such extra work efforts to benefit both company and
employees in a win-win manner are some actions taken to diffuse the stress in the system by
the management.

3.2. Leadership
Leadership defined as the ability to influence people toward the attainment of
organizational goals. The attitudes and behaviors of leaders shape the conditions that determine
how well employees can do their jobs; thus, leaders play a tremendous role in the organization’s
success. Depending on the situation and the organizational environment, different styles of
leadership can be effective to achieve the goals (Daft, 2016).

3.2.1. Levels of Leadership

Coats Sri Lanka have 4 Levels of Leadership which is similar to the Collins’ Level 5
Leadership. These 4 Levels of leadership are based on employment hierarchy or employment
structure in the organization as follows (Figure 6),

• Individual Contributor – Shop Floor employees and the non-supervisory staff

members.
• Frontline Managers – Supervisors who lead the shifts, executives who lead the certain
functions and teams and the department managers.
• Middle Managers – Usually manager’s manager, Divisional or sectional leaders such
as Head of the Departments and General Managers..
• Senior Leaders – Country Based Directors, Managing Directors of countries and
Clusters, Functional Directors from the Central or Coats Group and Group Executive
Team(GET).

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In addition to these, there are situational leaders or project/ task based leaders getting selected
or nominated based on the situations or ongoing projects in the organizations.

Figure 6
Levels of Leadership

Level 5 - Level 5
Executive Senior Leaders

Level 4 - Effective Leader Middle Managers

Level 3 - Competent
Manager Frontline Managers

Level 2 - Contributing
Team Member
Individual Contributor
Level 1 - Highly Capable
Individual

Note. Good to Great, by Jim Collins Note. Coats Sri Lanka LCF

3.2.2. Coats Leadership Capability Framework (LCF)

Coats Sri Lanka have their own Leadership Capability Framework (LCF) with 8 main
leadership capabilities as follows,

Acting with Building One Delivering Driving

Integrity Team Results Innovation

1. Acting with Integrity - Engages ethically and responsibly with all stakeholders. Ethics
(with our people, with partners), personal integrity, health and safety (our people, our
customers/consumers), environmental sustainability, community involvement.

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2. Building One Team - Collaborates across organizational and geographical borders.
Collaboration, pride, openness and transparency, harness diversity, think globally and act
locally.
3. Delivering Results - Accountable for driving outcomes. Sense of urgency, delivers on
promises, goal setting, high performing teams, ownership
4. Driving Innovation - Translates deep internal, customer, consumer and market insights
into outcomes. Commercial acumen, boldness and risk taking, curiosity, creativity and
continues improvement (spotting opportunities), external stakeholder relationships, market
awareness and benchmarking.

Leadership Managing Process Balanced

Change Excellence Judgement

5. Leadership - Develops and inspires others to be their best. Self-insight, humility, personal
development, influencing others, coaching and developing others, Accessibility
6. Managing Change - Drives and navigates transitions with confidence. Positive thinking,
resilience, coping with ambiguity, sustainable business practices.
7. Process Excellence - Demands quality every time. Quality, efficiency, personal
sustainability, learning, mastery and expertise.
8. Balanced Judgment - Makes astute judgments with an eye to the future. Decision making,
future focus, breadth of thinking, focusing on what matters, intellectual horsepower and
learning agility, framing complexity.

These capabilities of individuals are getting evaluated during the recruitment process of
managers or leaders category job roles and during annual performance review process which
will be one of the step for career progression or promotion within Coats Sri Lanka.

Each of these 8 capabilities have “Definition”, “Key themes”, “Want to see”, “A cut above”,
“Don’t want to see” guidelines in detailed manner to ensure the individuals and their superiors
clear understanding what the company expects from them.

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3.2.3. Leadership Styles
Figure 7
Blanchard's SLII Leadership Styles Model

Coats Sri Lanka uses the Blanchard's

Situational Leadership II (SLII) Styles Model
with 4 leadership styles depend on the
situation or sense of urgency and the people to
be lead. If the situation is very critical and
repetitive, leader will choose the directive
style to manage the situation to get quick
solution or results. Team members’
knowledge, skills, technical competency and
the experience are other main factors for the
leader to choose the leadership style to be
followed. There are occasions leader will
apply combination of two or more styles
within the same team.

Note. Obtained from The Ken Blanchard Companies (2021)

Leadership style varies depends on the Levels of leaderships as follows,

• Individual Contributor – Mostly Directive or Coaching

• Front Line Managers – Less Directive and more of Coaching or Supporting.
• Middle Managers – Rarely Directive, less Coaching or Supporting. Some extent
Delegate.
• Senior Leaders – Mostly Delegate.

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3.3. Motivating Employees
“Motivation refers to the forces either within or external to a person that arouse
enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a certain course of action” (Daft, 2016). One secret for
success in organizations is motivated enthusiastic employees. But, with a diverse workforce, it
is a challenge for managers to motivate employees toward common organizational goals
because motivation may differ for each person. According to Daft (2016), there are models and
theories built in order to understand the employee motivation.

3.3.1. Work Environment

According to the answers of the questionnaire provided to the management of Coats Sri
Lanka, it is stated that Coats Sri Lanka is committed to provide a safe and healthy working
environment. The concept of the culture at Coats Sri Lanka is called the “One Team One Coats
Sri Lanka Family Culture”, also employees are given better working environment in terms of
infrastructure.

3.3.2. Motivational Techniques

“It is the responsibility of managers to find the right combination of motivational
techniques and rewards to satisfy employees’ needs and simultaneously encourage great work
performance” (Daft, 2016).

Coats Sri Lanka use several techniques in order to increase the employee motivation. Some of
them are as follows;

• Winning mind programs

• Growth mind set training
• Diversity and inclusiveness
• Recognitions and rewarding

3.3.3. Rewarding Methods

According Daft (2016), there are two types of rewards; intrinsic rewards and extrinsic
rewards. Intrinsic rewards are the feelings of fulfillment that an individual experiences when
performing a specific action. Promotions, praise, and salary raises are examples of extrinsic
incentives, which are provided by someone else, usually a manager.

Coats Sri Lanka have strong incentive schemes and bonus schemes directly link with monthly
and annual earnings. This promotes the productive and positive culture to create competition

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among the employees. In addition to these, additional contributions beyond routine jobs or tasks
rewarded through other rewarding mechanisms.

“The rewarding is given through recognition as well”, says the management of Coats Sri Lanka.
Coats Sri Lanka have several recognition programs such as spot recognition by front line
managers in respective areas, monthly recognition at Operations Center Meeting, recognition
at annual award ceremony. Machine Operators/ Shop Floor employees are praised in common
forums, which is an intrinsic reward. Token of appreciation linked with some gifts or monetary
benefits are given as extrinsic reward. Staffs & Supervisors are given token of appreciation
along with certificate or medal. Selecting for some learning programs. Executives and managers
are recognized at Annual Executive briefing. Selected nominees and winners rewarded.
Additional contributions and special achievements will be linked with what and how part of the
performance appraisals to support the ratings and promotions.

3.3.4. Goal Setting

According to Edwin Locke and Gary Latham's goal-setting theory, managers can
improve motivation and success by setting realistic, demanding targets and then providing
timely input to help people monitor their progress toward achieving those goals (Daft, 2016).

In Coats Sri Lanka, during the final quarter of the previous year, company goals for next year
are set and agreed. This is translated to individual goals and objectives at different levels of
employment. Each and every member get a maximum of 5 -7 measurable goals to focus
throughout the year which directly link with annual salary increment, bonus schemes and
promotions or carrier enhancement. Goals are monitored daily basis through set of KPIs and
reviewed monthly, quarterly and annually.

3.3.5. Employee Participation in Decision Making

Coats Sri Lanka usually form cross functional teams from different levels of
employment including shop floor operators. Everyone is given an equal opportunity to give
their views and participate in decision making.

3.3.6. Job Designing

The application of motivational theories to the structure of work in order to improve
efficiency and satisfaction is known as job design. Work simplification, job rotation, job
enlargement, and job enrichment are popular approaches to job design (Daft, 2016).

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Coats Sri Lanka have strong industrial engineering platform to evaluate the processes and work
on continuous improvement journey. TRA – Task Risk Assessment is one of the mechanism to
evaluate the risks associate with the work area / job design and tasks carried out. This is usually
carried out jointly by employees, supervisors, trainers and Industrial Engineering Department
by evaluating the assessment findings and comparing against the best norms/standards in best
sites in Coats Sri Lanka or similar industries, management will change the design of the jobs
and workloads.

3.3.7. Incentive Compensation Methods

Various forms of incentive compensation are constantly being used by businesses to
inspire workers to achieve higher levels of success (Daft, 2016).

In order to motivate employees to higher levels of performance, several intensive compensation

methods are used in Coats Sri Lanka. Incentive schemes for output, efficiency and service
achievements pay with monthly salary, annual bonus link with sales achievement, thirteenth
month salary, and flexibility on changing shifts with colleagues are given for machine
operators, staff and supervisors.

Annual bonus and salary increase link with personal goals and company goals achievement,
thirteenth month salary and flexible work hours are given for the executives and managers in
Coats Sri Lanka.

Reward schemes are also arranged for special achievements or additional contribution on
Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) activities, innovations and collaborations in team
projects.

3.3.8. Employee Engagement

Employee engagement refers to people who enjoy their jobs and are happy with their
working conditions, contribute enthusiastically to team and organizational goals, and feel a
sense of belonging and loyalty to the company (Daft, 2016).

Coats Sri Lanka work with ‘One Team One Vision’ concept. Employees are given the freedom
to talk to their suggestions, opinions and grievances to the different levels of the management
directly or indirectly or in anonymous way. Coats Sri Lanka not only focus the employees, but
Coats Sri Lanka also give special focus for the family members of the employees and the society
where our employees are coming from. This make everyone to feel part of a family within the
organization and in the community. Along with these emotional bonds, better work
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environment, remuneration, other facilities and recognition/ rewarding mechanisms keep the
employees engage more with the company and management.

3.3.9. Measuring Employee Satisfaction

Coats Sri Lanka does annual Employee Engagement Survey (EES) conducted by
Kenexa and Great Place to Work Survey (GPTW) to measure the satisfactory levels of the
employees. In addition to these, feedback from the interviews conducted by the third party
auditors such as JAFF (Joint Apparel Association Forum) for GWG Certification and audits by
the buyers. Coats Sri Lanka won the “Gold Award” in Textile Manufacturing area for
“Excellence in Social Dialogue and Workplace Collaboration in 2018”

3.3.10. Motivation during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The management of Coats Sri Lanka claimed that Coats Sri Lanka was able to maintain
the motivation of employees during the pandemic.

Coats Sri Lanka ensure the job security to the employees during the pandemic. No salary
deduction or lay off was done during this period. “We closely work with the GN and PHI of
each village where our employees are coming from to ensure our employees are looked after
well.” claimed the management of Coats Sri Lanka through the questionnaire.

Coats Sri Lanka has changed the infrastructure within the factory based on the WHO and Health
personals (PHI, MOH) advice. Also, it provides necessary personal protective equipment and
sanitization facilities and COVID prevention kits for the employees’ family members to fight
against the COVID-19. Special company transport facility was arranged for those who used the
public transport. COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention Committee was formed
including employees from different levels and departments. All the employees go through
mandated screening of the temperature, Heart Rate & SpO2 level using the trained nurses every
8 hours. This is addition to the entry point temperature checking.

Through this procedure, Coats Sri Lanka has being able to reduce the fear of employees and
maintain the motivation through the message ‘We look after you during hard times’.

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3.4. Managing Communication with in the Coats Sri Lanka
“Communication” is the process by which information is exchanged and understood by
two or more people, usually with the intent to motivate or influence behaviour (Daft, 2016).
Effective communication is crucial for successful management.
Coats Sri Lanka communication process starts with setting up clear long term, medium term
and short term goals and objectives along with clear road map and process flow. Each and every
individual are given with clear objectives, procedure or process to follow and the update on the
outcomes in timely and well advance manner.
Coats Sri Lanka maintaining high quality and standards in the communications
especially in Formal communication. All formal communications are validated by senior people
prior to release and improper way of communications are dealt very seriously. Satisfactory
levels of communication methods and channels are used in Coats Sri Lanka.

3.4.1. How the Coats Sri Lanka communication process works

Figure 8
Coats Sri Lanka Communication Process

Massage
Sender
(Verbal and Non
(encode)
verbal

Feedback Channel

Receiver
(decode)

Communication usually is complex and the opportunity for sending or receiving the
wrong information or massages are innumerable. So that effective communication requires
sharing and achieving mutual understanding. Communication process with in Coats Sri Lanka
taking place in three levels such as group level, department level and team level.

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• Group Level - group goals and objectives are communicated to the local sites and
employees and also high level decisions, changes in polices, new products innovations and
latest updates are communicated.
• Department Level - communication between managers, supervisors including trade union
committee members, Daily update about trends and targets are communicated,
communication of management decisions and massages.
• Team Level - Leadership Team(Operations Director, Commercial Director & General
Manager HR) communication to Middle and Front Line Managers(Section/ Department
Managers & Executives) about Annual/ Monthly Targets, Updates from the meetings
between Cluster and Group Leaders, Company plans and New projects to be executed

3.4.2. Different methods of communication channels used by Coats Sri

Lanka
It is important for manages to understand that each communication has advantages and
disadvantages and that each can be an effective means of communication. Therefore Coats Sri
Lanka use many different channels to communicate to other managers or employees. Such as,
• Electronic – Emails, E-News Letters, Bulletins, Team Meetings, Town Hall Sessions
Via MS Teams, MS Video Streaming
• Printed Media – Notices, Memos, Banners and Posters. These are getting less and
moving to electronic media wherever possible.
• Verbal – Shift/ Team Briefings, Discussions/ Meetings, Toolbox Talks

3.4.3. Formal and informal communication with in the Coats Sri Lanka
Organization wide communication take place in three directions such as downwards,
upwards and horizontally. Managers are responsible for maintain formal channel of
communication in these three directions. Formal communication are those that flow with in the
chain of command and informal communication exist outside the formally authorized channels.
Coats Sri Lanka use both formal and informal communication channels in order to have
effective communication and to increase employee engagement which will lead to increase in
productivity.

17
Figure 9
Coats Sri Lanka Communication Channels

Formal Communuication Informal

Emails Pocket meetings

New Letter (Inside Coats Sri Toolbox Talks

Lanka)

Town hall sessions

Peoples Line (About people
joining, leaving, Promtions)

Stop Press (Update key

achievemnts,Projects,
Policeies,guidelines

Team Meetings

Both formal and informal communication channel are very important to Coats Sri Lanka
to transfer right information, plans, goals and objectives, ideas in both upwards and downwards
directions in the organization ladder. Coats Sri Lanka use open door policy and believe any
ideas are not bad ideas. There are pre define communication channels to approach different
levels of peoples. There are direct channels for Low level employee to approach the Group
CEO if he/she feel that’s the right level to be approached. In addition to this there are forum or
teams such as Innovation Teams, Kaizen Teams, and EHS Teams chaired to promote the people
to participate and get rewards on their additional contributions.

3.4.4. Team Communication Channels with in the Coats Sri Lanka

One of the special type of horizontal communication is team communication. So team
members need to work together to accomplish tasks and team structure will influence both team
performance and employee satisfaction. In Coats Sri Lanka communication in teams highly
recognized and widely used in making corrective decisions as well as in problem solving.

18
In Coats Sri Lanka Team communications are handled by respective Team leader or the
manager from the beginning of a project or during the period, prescheduled progress meeting
or communications is provided transparency and update about the progress of the company.
Company also have cross functional team communications in solving complex problems and
sharing information which is ultimately will result in each team performance and achievement
of company plans and goals. Coats Sri Lanka use below team communication channels in
managing day to day activities effectively and also for persuading and influencing people within
the organization.

Figure 10
Coats Sri Lanka Team Communication Channels

GET
(Group
Executive
KT Team) ET
(Kaisan (Enginearin
Team) g Team)

R&D FRT
(Fire
(R&D
Response
Innovation
Team) Team

VT PT
(Virtual (Project
Team) EHS Team)
(Enevironment
Health &
Safety Team)

3.4.5. Feedback and Learning at Coats Sri Lanka

Communication feedback evaluations are done at Coats Sri Lanka in all level of
management and also they encourage critical feedback from employees to learn and develop
capabilities of managers and subordinates. Coats Sri Lanka use suggestion boxes, employee
counselling to obtain employee feedbacks so that Coats Sri Lanka can review feedbacks to
improve the organization and facilitate to improve understanding with in employees and
management which ultimately result in building successful communication channels with the
organization.

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3.4.6. Crisis Communication at Coats Sri Lanka
Coats Sri Lanka have pre-defined communication channels to carry out effective and
correct communication to different stake holders (such as managers & executives, Supervisors
staffs, shop floor employees, Representatives of Branch and Parent Union, Govt officials(GNs,
PHI, Police, BOI, CEA)). Most of the communications are routed through HR Managers’ and
leadership team’s consent and opinions. Coats Sri Lanka carry out the Covid19 related
communication in following steps.
• Employees with MS Team / Email facility – Dedicated channel for covid19 related
communications.
• Yammer channels used to share the measures and procedures related to preparedness and
prevention from covid19 pandemic.
• Department level WhatsApp groups for within the department communication.
• With the support of Dialog GSM, group SMS circulated to each and every employee of
Coats Sri Lanka about the covid19 pandemic updates and the actions from the organization
such as factory closure times, re-opening periods, change in shift patterns, guidance to
obtain curfew passes and police clearances, alerts about the infected suspected people from
nearby areas.
• Ensure the database is up to date with all details related to employees and their
communication channels.

3.5. Leading Teams

A team is a group of people who work together to accomplish a common purpose to which
they are dedicated and keep each other accountable (Daft, 2016).

Since all tasks are highly interdependent in Coats Sri Lanka, the management has identified
that a team can be the best approach to ensuring the level of coordination, information sharing
and exchange resources & solving problem collectively to achieve goals. We identified
following teams in Coats Sri Lanka.

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Table 2
Types of Teams
Interacting time
No Type of teams Based on
period
1 Operations Team Factory Daily & Monthly
2 Commercial Team Head office Daily & Monthly
Factory & Head
3 Finance Team, Procurement Team Weekly
office
4 HR Team Factory Weekly
Covid19 Preparedness & Prevention Factory & Head
5 Daily & Weekly
Team office
6 Health & Safety Committee Factory Monthly
7 Fire Fighting Team Factory Quarterly
Audit Teams (ISO 9001, GIA Sub
8 Factory Quarterly
Committee, ISO 45001)
Process Improvement Teams (RFT
9 Improvement, Waste Reduction, Factory Weekly & Monthly
Kaizen)
Each departments having separate
10 teams to focus specific areas or Factory Monthly
specific objective.

3.5.1. Requirement of Team Work

First, there should be a clear team goals. Unless the team knows where they need to go,
teamwork will be chaotic at best. Then, they need a clear plan for improvement. Even with on‐
going teams, continuous improvement is a journey. Communication is also essential for a team
to function effectively. Without it, there will be inefficiency and frustration of the team
members. Positive team behaviors are also essential for team to be successful. Decisions should
be made using a defined approach. All team members should participate, and follow well‐
established ground rules. Finally, effective teams use the scientific approach.

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 In addition to effective strategies, other things are important for a team to be effective.
First, teams must have the correct people. These people must have the skills and knowledge
needed for their assigned tasks. They must also have the interpersonal skills and motivation
necessary to perform on the team. Finally, teams must have the proper resources to complete
their tasks. When selecting a team, Coats Sri Lanka considers above highlighted key
requirements.

3.5.2. Goals Setting

Majority of the High level and Tier 01 goals in Coats Sri Lanka are decided by the
Group level with central teams based on inputs from local teams. Based on these goals each
sectional heads decide the Tier 02, departmental and Individual Goals. Beginning of the year,
annual review meeting with key stake holders in each department to review previous year
results and discuss and agree New Year goals and the way to cascade down.
Each teams in departments & its members get set of Goals to focus during the year. This
communicated by the respective superior (M+1) in team briefing and one to one performance
review discussion. Department KPIs are briefed to all employees and published in Digital
screens along with trends.

3.5.3. Types of Teams

• Functional Teams - Most of the functional teams in Coats Sri Lanka are based on its
departments. They are Operations Team, Commercial team, Finance Team, Procurement
Team, HR Team.
• Cross Functional Teams - A cross-functional team is a team formed of members that
belong to different functional entities that are working together to reach a common goal.
These members have various functional skills and experience, and they come from
different sections within the organization & consists of members of different functional
areas, such as engineering, manufacturing or marketing. Following cross-functional teams
were identified in Coats Sri Lanka. Covid19 Preparedness & Prevention Team, Health &
Safety Committee, Fire Fighting Team, First Aid Team, Audit Teams (ISO 9001, GIA
Sub Committee, ISO 45001), Process Improvement Teams (RFT Improvement, Waste
Reduction, Energy Saving, Kaizen)
• Self-Managed Teams - This kind of teams are available in Coats Sri Lanka within
departments (Dye House, Finishing, Engineering, Ware House, Quality Assurance) or
shifts (Shift A, B, & C) to focus and meet specific objectives assigned to that. Teams are

22
 selected from multi-skilled members who rotate jobs to produce an entire product or
service or at least one complete aspects of or portion of product or service.

3.5.4. Virtual Teams

As Coats Sri Lanka is a multinational company, most of the teams are working virtually
from different geographical locations, such as China, India, Turkey, UK, Germany and USA.
Followings virtual teams are identified.

Table 3
Type of Virtual Teams
Type of the team
Regional Technical Managers
Central Planning Team
Colour systems Support Team
Sedo Master Support Team
Central IT Support Desk
Clusters Heads & MD
Countries
China, Bangladesh, India, Brazil & Sri Lanka
Bangalore, India & Sri Lanka
UK, India & Sri Lanka
Germany, UK & Sri Lanka
Singapore, India, UK & Sri Lanka
India & Sri Lanka

In addition to above some of the functions (Sales & Marketing, Procurement, Some part
of Finance & IT Support/Master Data Admins) in Sri Lanka are following the “Working from
Home” to ensure the Covid19 social distancing guidelines and as part of contingency measure
to reduce the exposure.

These teams are using the latest digital technology given by Microsoft Teams, Skype. So
interaction between these teams are happening very effectively. Most of the Systems SAP,
Colour Stitch and SEDO Master can be accessible via Coats Sri Lanka VPN.

Some issues were identified when working in virtual platform. Especially Internet band with
issues with the Sri Lankan Internet Service providers. Different time zones between locations,
arranging meeting lead people to work beyond office hours.

However, Coats Sri Lanka gives freedom on working hours for such group of people to ensure
the tasks are getting done effectively. Recording of the meetings are available in Clouds to
support people who couldn’t follow the sessions effectively.

23
3.5.5. Team Processes

3.5.5.1. Stage of Team development

Coats Sri Lanka threads uses Bruce Tuckman’s 5 Stages of Team Development model
with forming, storming, and norming, performing and adjourning stages. As there are occasions
same team is getting used for new tasks with minor changes, some of these stages will be very
quick and go straight to the performing stage.

3.5.5.2. Team Norms

A team norm is an unwritten code of conduct that team members follow to direct their
actions. Norms are useful because they offer a framework for determining what is expected and
permissible behavior (Daft, 2016). Coats Sri Lanka threads has centrally developed “Positive
teamwork norms” as follows,

They will always:

1. Treat each other/each team member with respect

2. Ensure that everyone participates, no one dominates
3. Remember that each team member has the right to be listened to and the responsibility
to be an active listener
4. Ensure individual and collective goals and roles are well understood by all members of
the team
5. Bring disagreements/differences of opinion into the open so they can be resolved.
6. Constructively challenge ideas, not the people that hold them
7. Ensure open issues are resolved then get aligned and speak with one voice

3.5.5.3. Managing Team Conflicts

Coats Sri Lanka has experienced different types of team conflicts such as Interpersonal
conflict, Inter department conflict, Task-based conflicts, Personality / behavioral conflicts,
Leadership conflicts. Lack of clarity on the tasks, objectives and gains.

Not believe the team vision and outcomes, Poor communication, Biasness, Unbalanced task
assignment, Resistance to change, Competition between team members are the identified cause
of conflicts in Coats Sri Lanka.

24
3.5.5.4. Styles to Handle Conflict
Coats Sri Lanka uses the “EASY” Process of conflict management.

E(mpathize)
- Ask sincere questions to better understand their point of view.
- The situation is diffused when you move away from a head-on collision and move next to
them to gain their perspective.
- Switching to empathy opens the door for them to let go and let their anger out of their system.
Once they’ve made their case, they can feel better about moving on in a more rational way.

A(sk)
- Get the information you need.
- What you want are just the facts: all the who, when, where, why, and how stuff.
- You may want to argue with all their facts, but acting on your own immediate response is
going to refuel this conflict.
- It takes a lot of practice, patience, and self-control to be able to put down your own emotions
to manage a conflict.

S(olve)
- If you have successfully empathized and asked questions, the conflict should have dissolved.
- Now it has transitioned into a productive conversation, one that allows you to resolve your
conflict.
- Resolve it in such a way that prevents the problem from happening again.

Y(es)
- Make sure you have indeed resolved the problem to that person’s satisfaction.
- Ask if the problem is solved, and when you get a “yes,” then you know you’re done.

Follow-up
- Keep the peace going forward & follow up and do what you’ve said.
- If you fail, accept that someone might be angry with you.
- Know that the other person might fail on their promises.
- Try to approach them with the process, rather than with anger.
- If you do get into another disagreement, do not bring up past arguments that have
already been settled & focus only on the topic at hand.

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Table 4

Snapshot of Critical Evaluation

Level of Existence in
Evaluated Area Practice
(High/Moderate/Low)
Vision & Mission High
Strategic Principles and Priorities High
Differences in Attitudes and Perceptions Moderate
Job Satisfaction of Employees High
Organizational Commitment of Employees High
Differences in Personality and Behavior Moderate
Differences in Learning and Problem Solving Styles Moderate
Stress and Stress Management Moderate
Levels of Leadership High
Leadership Behaviors and Characteristics High
Leadership Styles & Practices Moderate
Motivational Techniques Moderate
Rewarding Methods High
Employee Participation in Decision Making Moderate
Job Designing for Motivation Moderate
Incentive Compensation Methods High
Employee Engagement Moderate
Methods of Measuring Employee Satisfaction High
Methods Used to Improve Motivation During the Pandemic Moderate
Use of Formal and Informal Communications Moderate
Teams Communications High
Crisis Communication Moderate
Feedback and Learning Moderate
Team Goals Settings High
Define Tasks of The Team Members High
Stage of Team Development Moderate
Team Effectiveness Moderate

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 Managing Team Conflicts High

4. Recommendations
Based on the critical evaluation of the Leading Management Function of Coats Sri Lanka,
the following recommendations are given.

• Coats Sri Lanka can use Mayers-Briggs Type Indicator to evaluate the personality of
employees when recruiting. This will enable the company to identify the psychological
preferences, personality traits, problem solving styles and decision making styles of
individuals and to place them in matching positions. And also the company can identify
the individuals whose personality need to be shaped.
• Stress levels of factory employees can be further reduced by creating quiet rooms or
meditation centers where employees can take short calming breaks when they feel
necessary as they are always working in a noisy factory environment.
• Even though Coats Sri Lanka have the strong Leadership Capability Framework and
Behaviour Matrix, these are effectively working above the Frontline Manager levels in the
organization. Most of the staffs and employees in the production floor are working more
than 15 to 20 years in those roles which they feel as their comfort zones. This layer of
people don’t have any plan or vision on career progression or working towards the Growth
Mindset concepts. Coats Sri Lanka needs to give more attention on this layer of people to
change their minds positively towards the Growth Mindset concept to active involvement
in self-development, collaboration and innovation activities.
• Majority of the production floor employees are members of trade union for more than 2
decades. Changes in the strategy of the parent union and branch union leadership, lead
changes in the moral and mindsets of the unionized employees time to time. Coats Sri Lanka
effectively handling these situations in the recent past with the right leadership approaches
and relationship with the employees and union leadership. We recommend Coats Sri Lanka
leadership to arrange more learning and development opportunities to the current and
potential future leaders of the branch union to work together with the management.
• It is noted that the virtual meetings and working with minimum human contact reduces
employee motivation during the pandemic. Therefore it is recommended to use innovative
rewarding methods such as virtual parties time to time to improve the motivation.

27
• Coats Sri Lanka does not use a method to measure the individual employee motivation.
Therefore using a testing method, such as a designed questionnaire or interview in order to
measure the individual employee motivation just after the recruitment process is highly
recommended.
• In the Covid19 pandemic situation building contacts with low level employees was a big
challenge to Coats Sri Lanka, since most of the low level employees are coming from rural
places and lodged in Colombo area. Some are not using smart phones, laptops and no land
line connections available to communicate. Hence, it is recommended to establish proper
formal and personal communication networks to communicate with low level employees
and their closed relatives in order to manage communication in a crisis situation.
• When communicating though online there were many connectivity issues and bandwidth
issues in IT infrastructure. Therefore it is recommended to invest on upgrading IT
infrastructure with in Coats Sri Lanka.
• It was identified that the concept of teams has been implemented everywhere in Coats Sri
Lanka. It may high level or bottom level in the company hierarchy, they are practicing team
works & greatly believe, team works can achieve better outcomes rather than do individual
task.
• However, due to the very tight time targets given to achieve the team goals, the time taken
for team building such as forming, storming & norming are not sufficient, specially working
on virtual platform due to current pandemic situation. It may cause to develop stress among
team members. So it is recommended to allow sufficient time for the initial stages of the
team development.

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5. Conclusions
Coats Sri Lanka practices strong Leading Function across the company with the guidance
of detailed Goals and Culture Framework, Leadership Capability Framework, set of Policies
and Procedures developed centrally in UK as well as based on the guidance of Employers'
Federation of Ceylon and Local Legislations. Senior leadership is highly committed to the
implementation of the leading function in all levels of the employment hierarchy. Because this
function directly links with the human element of the organization which have several sensitive
and emotional elements can be affected very quickly. All the members of the leadership team
starting from the shift supervisors are trained on the basic supervisory or managerial skills and
techniques to handle the leading function in an effective manner.

There are predefined and anonymous feedback channels which can reach up to the top of
the Coats Group to evaluate the effectiveness of the Leading function. Growth mindset concepts
along with well-established communication channels supported by “One Team, One Vision”
theme and great, safe working environment are the core focus areas.

Even though there are Covid19 restrictions in physically visiting to Coats Sri Lanka
Factory, we gather enough information through sets of Questionnaires, Teleconferences,
Virtual Interviews and Review the sets of procedure and processes, to do our critical evaluation
of the Leading Management Function. Based on the critical evaluation on gathered information,
we identified some lapses in communication, team activities, behaviors of some employees,
motivating employees. We gave few recommendations to the management of Coats Sri Lanka
to improve the Leading Management Function in their organization.

In summary Coats Sri Lanka already have robust framework in terms of Leading function
in their organization. But there are few more focus areas as we recommended above will support
to enhance Leading to further levels.

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6. Bibliography
Coats Group PLC. (2009). Coats Sri Lanka Leadership Capability Framework.

Coats Group PLC. (2013). Coats Sri Lanka Leadership Capability Framework.

Coats Group PLC. (2014). Coats Sri Lanka MCD Line Manager Handbook.

Coats Group PLC. (2016). Team Recognition and Rewards Framework.

Coats Group PLC. (2014). Freedom to Operate: Leading Teams - A Step beyond Team Building
with the permission of www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com [Coats Sri Lanka
Management Capability Development Toolkit].

Coats Group PLC. (2014). Building One Team - Stages of Team Development [Coats Sri Lanka
Management Capability Development Toolkit].

Coats Group PLC. (2014). Building One Team - Positive Teamwork Norms [Coats Sri Lanka
Management Capability Development Toolkit].

Coats Group PLC. (2014). Making the Connection - Flexible Leadership [Coats Sri Lanka
Management Capability Development Toolkit].

Coats Group PLC. (2014). Building One Team - Best Practices for Team Communication at
Coats Sri Lanka [Coats Sri Lanka Management Capability Development Toolkit].

Coats Group PLC. (2014). Managing Virtual Teams - Tips for managing from afar [Coats Sri
Lanka Management Capability Development Toolkit].

Coats Group PLC. (2014). Five Dysfunctions of a Team - Team Assessment [Coats Sri Lanka
Management Capability Development Toolkit].

Coats Group PLC. (2021). Who are we. https://www.Coats Sri Lanka.com/en/About/Who-we-
are

Daft, R. (2016). Management (7th ed.). Cengage Learning.

The Ken Blanchard Companies. (2021). SLII Powering Inspired Leaders.

https://www.kenblanchard.com/Products-Services/SLII

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