External communication of Hayleys DPL with the Sri Lankan government.

EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS OF HAYLEYS DPL
WITH THE SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT

Executive summary

DPL which was established in 1976, is a subsidiary of Hayleys PLC which is one of the biggest conglomerates in Sri Lanka. They manufacture rubber gloves for household, Industrial and medical purposes.

In this report we have discussed the methods used by DPL when communicating with government institutions and their effectiveness. We have also discussed the barriers they face and solutions to overcome them at least up to some extent.

We commenced our research with a company visit to Dipped Products PLC and conducted an interview with three top level employees. During the interview a questionnaire was given out to gather the information on how they communicate with the government and the problems that they have to face. We also referred their website and their 2015/16 annual report.

 For communication purposes Dipped products PLC mainly relies on written documents, emails and phone calls. The main barrier we found out for communicating effectively is the time delays.

 DPL uses chemicals that are categorized under explosives and alcoholic substances, which they have to get special permission for when importing and clearing. It becomes an even more difficult task as the authorities in charge are not cooperative when it comes to the approval procedures. To overcome this barrier, the organization appoints former government employees to deal with the government institutions and they also assign separate individuals to deal with different organizations.

Another problem they face while going through the documentation process is giving bribes to get the work done fast. To overcome this problem they have introduced a system called Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) which allows them to communicate with those organizations online.

Even though they face barriers along the way, DPL is improving their communications by finding solutions with time and they continue to carry out their communication activities with the government as efficiently and effectively as possible.

 

 Introduction

 This report focuses on the communication activities that Dipped Products PLC carries out with the government for various purposes. It also discusses the methods they use and how effective they are, along with the barriers we identified and the recommended actions that can be taken in order to overcome them.  

With a mission of striving to become the global hand protection provider in the world, dipped products PLC is a rubber glove manufacturer, which operates in Sri Lanka. Incorporated in 1976, it is a subsidiary of Hayleys PLC, one of Sri Lanka’s biggest conglomerates. It accounts for 5 percent of household and industrial gloves worldwide and is ranked amongst the world’s largest manufacturers in the hand protection industry.

          The main products on Dipped products PLC are natural and synthetic rubber gloves used for household, industrial and medical use. In addition to manufacturing plants, it maintains Rubber and tea plantations in Sri Lanka and has its marketing arm situated in Italy.

 

 Literature Review

 Rothwell (2001) has defined communication as a transactional process of sharing meaning with others. Further, communication can be divided according to the users of the information delivered through communication as internal and external. Internal communication is the process of exchanging information among the people of different level or internal participants within the organization while external communication is an informal exchange of information and messages between an organization and other organizations, groups or individuals outside its formal structure as explained by businesscom (2013)

Van Riel, Fombrun, and Cees B. N Van Riel (2007) has defined corporate communication as the set of activities involved in managing and orchestrating all internal and external communications aimed at creating favorable starting points with stakeholders on which the company depends.

Effective Communication is a two way sharing process which involves one party sending a message that is clearly understood by the receiving party as explained in What is effective communication? Definition and meaning, (2016) .When communicating with different parties there are several factors that hinder the communication process which are known as barriers. A communication barrier is defined by Cleary and Cleary (2008) as any factor which hampers or prevents the smooth flow of the message from the sender to the receiver. Kemoni (2004) identified that some of these factors have to do with the sender of the message and others with both the sender and the receiver.

Dipped Products PLC has to interact with a number of different stakeholders but the government occupies a very special place in its communication activities. Government communication is essential to the organization at its start-up, for logistical activities and financing.

 

Findings

INSTITUTION	PURPOSE	METHOD USED	BARRIER
1.     Department of The Registrar of Companies	·        Establishing the the organization under the relevant Acts ·        Verify the availability of the name	Written documents And letters.	Long processes and Extra fees.
2.     Inland Revenue Department	·        Paying taxes	Face to face and Documents	Time delays
3.     Board of     Investments	·        Clearing cargo	Written documents Letters Phone calls EDI	Huge time delays Giving Bribes
4.     Ministry of Agriculture	·        Permission to Import chemicals	Written documents Phone calls	Not cooperative
5.     Ministry of Defence	·        Permission to Import chemicals	Written documents	Huge time delays
6.     Department of Import and Export	·        Getting the letter of Recommendation	Letters Written documents	Time delays Many levels of Hierarchy
7.     Department of Excise	·        To get permission to Import alcoholic Substances.	Letters Written documents Phone calls	Time delays

 

 

 Discussion

       DPL being the fourth largest glove manufacturing company in the world, has to have a lot of interaction with government institutions. Their main methods of communicating are written documents, e-mails and phone calls. They face a lot of problems when going through the communication process.

           As DPL is a BOI approved company (a Company which is 100% export oriented, and has foreign investments), DPL has to deal with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) when going through the cargo clearance procedure. We found out in the interview that DPL has to pay bribes in order to minimize the time delays. As a solution, DPL has started to use effective means of communication such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), apart from written documents, when dealing with this institution

          DPL being a rubber glove manufacturing company, has to import Calcium Nitrate which is a chemical used in the manufacturing process. In order to import Calcium Nitrate which is classified as a dangerous and explosive chemical in Sri Lanka, DPL should get approval from The Ministry of Agriculture and The Ministry of Defence (The Calcium Nitrate they use has a lesser Nitrogen content and therefore, is not explosive). The company has to face barriers when communicating with the Ministry of Agriculture, as it’s not very responsive. It also has to face delays when obtaining approval from The Ministry of Defence as well.

                 Another chemical used in the manufacturing of gloves is methanol, which is an Alcohol. DPL should hand over the letter of recommendation issued by the Department of Excise, to the Department of Import and Export Control, in order to import this chemical. This procedure involves a lot of individuals as the structure of the Department of Import and Export Control consists of multiple levels of hierarchy; thus leading to delays in obtaining approval.

        For example, when dealing with the department of Import and Export control, it takes around two weeks to get one document approved. Another instance is when communicating with the Ministry of Defence as the secretary who approves the documents does so only on Mondays and Wednesdays.

 

 Conclusion 

          The purpose of this report was to find out the effectiveness of the methods used in communicating with government institutions. Every organisation, in order to achieve their goals and objectives, should communicate with the Government. Written documents and letters are mainly used in communicating. Phone calls and Emails are also used in some instances.

          Communicating with the government effectively will help the organisation to build their brand name, maximise profit and learn new techniques and technology to make high quality products bearing a low cost, but many barriers exist when communicating.

          The main barriers that exist are the time delays in almost every institution cause of the hierarchy. Giving bribes and paying extra fees is also another problem they face. DPL also needs to get special permission in order to import some chemicals that are used in the production process. According to the information we gathered from DPL, communicating with most of the government institutions is a difficult task.

          Switching to electronic media methods and appointing specialized people to interact with the government institutions are some of the remedies they use in order to avoid these barriers and ensure effective communication.

 

 Recommendations

            The main barrier that was present in most of the government institutions was the time delay that DPL faces when going through the documentation process. For this DPL has appointed separate individuals who have experience in dealing with those specific departments.

            As a recommendation, they can also hire employees from those different departments to speed up the documentation process. This can be done mainly in departments with the hierarchy problem.

            When dealing with some departments, giving bribes is an issue that DPL faces. To solve this, they have switched to electronic media channels; especially the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) as it is fast and there are no bribes involved.

            Dipped products PLC is also finding solutions along the way for other barriers they face rarely like language barriers and technological barriers.

 

 References

 

1. Dipped Products PLC, Annual Report 2015/16
2. DPL (2016) Dipped products PLC. Available at: http://www.dplgroup.com/ (Accessed: 15 July 2016). 
3. Cees, van Riel;Van Riel, Cees B.M.;Fombrun, Charles J.. 2007., Essentials of Corporate Communication. [online]. Routledge. Available from:<http://www.myilibrary.com?ID=91806> 18 July 2016
4. Kemoni, H.N. (2004). Melvin DeFleur’s information communication model: Its application to archives administration. African Journal of Library, Archives & Information Science, 14(2), 167-175
5. Cleary, S. and Cleary, ra (2008) The communication handbook: [a student guide to effective communication]. 2nd edn. South Africa: Juta Academic.
6. Rothwell, J.D. (2004). In the company of others: An introduction to communication. (2^nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill
7. businesscom (2013) Differences between internal and external communication. Available at: http://thebusinesscommunication.com/differences-between-internal-and-external-communication/ (Accessed: 26 July 2016)
8. What is effective communication? Definition and meaning (2016) in Available at: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/effective-communication.html (Accessed: 26 July 2016).

 

 

 Appendix

01.Questionnaire used at Dipped Products PLC in order to obtain information on the topic.

• 1)    Explain briefly about the history of Dipped Products PLC.
• 2)    For what purposes do you communicate with the Government?
• 3)    What are the channels and the methods used for communication?
• 4)    Are the methods used for communication effective?
• 5)    What are the barriers that the organization has to face when communicating with the Government?
• 6)    What are the methods that were used to overcome those barriers?