Understanding Business and management
Understanding Business and management
1. Introduction and Research Background
1.1 Background and rationale
Sainsbury is one of the biggest supermarket chains in the UK. The business was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. There are 171000 employees employed in the company from different spheres and sectors of life and has 1400 shops in different locations (Sainsbury’s, 2023). It means diverse employees work together to achieve a common objective. Diverse employees mean people from different ages, gender, background, ethnic group, race, religions and sexual orientations.
The business interacts with people and customers from all over the world, making it crucial for the company to understand diversity. With time, organisations and businesses have grown and spread, leading to recruiting and hiring people from different areas and spheres. Along with that, there have been immigration and movement of people all over the world, leading to people from different ethnicities and cultures, and backgrounds coming together in surrounding regions.
Being a company that is widespread and employs people from all over the nation and world, diversity management holds a great role for the organisation. There is a need for a diverse workforce in order to have a better understanding of the customer’s needs and demands. It also helps in making the customer feel satisfied and happy by undertaking proper diversity management practices.
Managing the diverse workforce in an organisation can get really difficult for a business. It is because the lack of proper practices and means, along with knowledge, makes it hard for the management to assess and undertake the right means for managing the diverse workforce in the company. This makes it crucial to assess the right diversity management practices along with identifying the true influence that it has on the working of the organisation (Kollen, 2021).
Recruiting an employee from a different culture or background is not sufficient until the company has the right means or follows the right practices to manage them. It is because a wrong action can lead to harming the sentiments of the respective culture or offend people, which would cause harm to the reputation of the company landing it in legal trouble. This makes it critical to assess diversity management by undertaking the right practices and identifying the impact it has on the organisation as a whole.
There has been much research conducted about diversity management but there is not much information available with respect to an organisation such as Sainsbury. The researches that are available fail to assess or offer an understanding of the true impact that diversity management holds for a large retail business in-depth. It is crucial so that the company can identify the best or most impactful diversity management practices and the role it has in the working of the organisation. This can help in eliminating the issues in the business, offering better productivity and outcome for the organisation.
The research is on the line of identifying the impact that diversity management in a company by researching the true situation, making it relevant and authentic with the academic field. It is within the context of the subject matter, but an in-depth discussion would be carried out.
The aim of the research is to assess the impact of diversity management within an organisation: A study on Sainsbury’s, UK.
Objectives
The research objectives are:
- To assess the role of diversity management in the workplace.
- To identify the benefits and limitations of diversity management within an organisation.
- To analyse the way diversity management practices impact organisational performance at Sainsbury’s, UK.
- To recommend the different practices and strategies enforced by Sainsbury’s, UK for managing diversity.
2. Literature review and evaluation
Diversity management
Diversity is defined as the things which make one different or unique. It is the state of variety which can be in terms of background, personality or life experiences. According to Ardakani et. al. (2016), different criteria such as race, age, gender, physical ability and sexual orientation are some of the internal factors while geographical region, personal habits, work experience and marital status are external factors. Elements such as work, management, department and work location form part of organisational dimension that can help in a better understanding of diversity management. Diversity management can be defined as the practices that are undertaken or implemented in an organisation to maintain diversity making the workforce stronger while reducing the differences that may persist in the organisation.
The role of diversity management on employee and organisation
The role of diversity management in employees and organisation
Diversity management plays a crucial role in the employees in an organisation. It helps in creating an inclusive work environment and productive work environment that makes everyone feel valued and important in the organisation. Diversity management is closely related to perceived organisational performance. The leaders in the company play a key role in implementing human resource strategies and creating awareness about diversity management practices and policies (Alshaabani et. al. 2017).
They help in aligning the views of people towards other people that are different from them. The HRM of the company pays attention to diversity and recruit people from different culture and background helping in targeting the different types of customers of the business. Diversity management helps in balancing the different types of employees that are working in the company creating a better work environment both for the employees and the customers of the business.
The role of diversity management is critical in an organisation as it ensures that all the employees are considered equal and treated fair and are judged on the basis of work done by them rather than on any other ground. Diverse employees take learning from their experience and help to incorporate them into the organisation. It helps in building creativity and innovation, which in turn helps in bringing better results for the company (Turi et. al. 2022).
The benefits and drawbacks of diversity management
Diversity management has its own benefits and disadvantages in terms of the way it is incorporated into the organisation. One of the key benefits of diversity management is that it helps facilitate the recruitment of talented and skilled labour in the company. A lot of people like to work in organisations that have a diverse workforce. It is because this helps them in learning and growing. For a business that is spread globally or for a company to become a global name, it is necessary to be authentically diverse. This means that the business must incorporate true strategies that develop diverse workforce in the organisation. Diversity management helps in generating higher employee engagement and helps in retaining employees in the organisation in the longer run (Gomez and Bernet, 2019). Employees feel more trusted and engaged when the employer supports diversity, making them feel more comfortable in discussing more ideas and viewpoints.
But there can be some disadvantages of diversity management if proper practices are not implemented in the organisation. There can be issues with communication as different people from different cultures and backgrounds may speak different languages and behave in different ways, which can be offensive to one another. There may also be the possibility of partiality or favouring with the management or the senior employees favouring people from certain backgrounds or cultures or being discriminated against by other people from certain races or sexual preferences.
The different practices of diversity management implemented in an organisation
The best practice for incorporating diversity management is the commitment of the top management. The management should have a vision, and the same should be shared with the employees for better clarity. The management and senior executives should incorporate policies and plans and undertake actions that can help eliminate workplace diversity (Tamzid and Parves, 2017). They need to make diversity part of the company’s objectives and ensure adequate steps are taken towards it. Efforts need to be made to incorporate people from a different diverse background which are deserving and can be worthy for the organisation as a whole. Ensuring there is a safe environment for different types of employees and developing inclusion programs can be really effective. The management should set goals and should hold people and employees accountable for the change. The human resource department should make efforts to seek out different mindsets on different levels and for different departments in the organisations showcasing a combined effort for managing diversity in the workplace.
3. Research Methodology
- The research methodology establishes the guidelines for how the research will be carried out, making it a crucial component of the research project. This covers the approach, design, data collecting, sampling, and data analysis used in the study.
- Research philosophy:
- Research philosophy states the way the data would be collected for the purpose of the study (Tamminen and Poucher, 2020). With respect to the aim of the research, the use of realism philosophy would be most suitable. It is because it will take into account the human element and the events that occur in a natural setting. It is crucial as diversity management differs from person to person and the human element that would have an impact on the research study.
Research approach and strategy:
The research approach and strategy outline the method of thought that was employed to carry out the investigation. The deductive approach is used for this research to collect data from both primary and secondary sources. Understanding the effects of diversity management within an organisation will be aided by this making it suitable for achieving the research objectives. It would involve collecting data and analysing them to set the stated objectives of the research.
Research Method
The research method states the type of data that is collected and used for the study. These can be of two types – qualitative and quantitative data (Brannen, 2017). Quantitative data is one that uses statistics and numbers, which is countable. The qualitative data is more in-depth and helps in identifying the what, how or why with respect to the research topic. Based on the need of the research, a mixed method using both qualitative and quantitative data would be used for the purpose of the research. This would be because it would help in bridging the difference or gap that both of them offer by presenting a more logical approach that is supported by data and numbers. Also, the data and information collected from each of the methods can help in understanding the other in a better way.
Research Design
Any research that collects data will be of tremendous benefit since it will enable the researchers to gather the pertinent data and derive some meaning from it (Flick, 2017). Both primary and secondary methods would be used in order to carry out this investigation. The quantitative and qualitative approaches will be used as the way of primary data collection. With relation to the quantitative approach, a questionnaire would be used to enable the gathering of crucial data for the study. For the study, the researcher would use survey questionnaires for quantitative data, while interview questions would be used for qualitative data. A well-structured and simple questionnaire would be shared with the employees working at Sainsbury in the different locations through the online medium. It would be because the business and stores are spread in different regions, and it is physically not possible to visit them. Also, an online survey is a more cost-effective method of data collection. For collecting the interview response, the use of telephonic method would be undertaken. It is because a face-to-face interview is not feasible, and a telephonic interview can be conducted in less time making it time effective.
Online publications, published studies, and reputable journals would be employed in the secondary data collection process (Walliman, 2021). The use of relevant keywords such as diversity, diversity management, the impact of diversity management, and diversity management in organisation would be used to search relevant content and material which can help in gathering key information for the research study.
Data gathering and analysis depend heavily on sampling. Convenience sampling will be used for the purpose of conducting this study. This is due to the fact that choosing the respondent is an important duty that must be completed in a way that meets the requirements of the research (Stratton, 2021). Also, this would make the process easier for the researcher. The sample selected would be the people working at Sainsbury. In order to ensure that the sample is justified and offers true and relevant information, the researcher would collect the survey questionnaire data from 70 employees working at different stores and locations of Sainsbury. This would be employees from different ethnicities, cultures, sexual orientations and backgrounds. For collecting the telephonic interview, 15 officials working as managers and senior-level positions at Sainsbury would be reached out to.
Regression analysis, among other analytical and statistical tools, would be used to examine the main data in order to derive a meaningful conclusion from the information gathered through the survey questionnaire method. The use of thematic analysis would be used for analysing the data collected through the telephonic interview method (Terry et. al. 2017). In order to provide complete legitimacy to the research, it would be assured that only approved and confirmed publications were used for the secondary data and that all the material was correctly examined.
4. Planning and Ethical considerations
Ethical consideration
The pressure that a participant or individual may feel with regard to filling out the form or their identity being disclosed is a significant ethical problem that has been raised with the research. Prior to performing the research, informed consent from each respondent will be obtained without the use of coercion of any kind. The respondent would get proper disclosure that participation in the study is optional and that neither their information nor their response will be linked to any personal information. The research’s goals and methodology will be explained to the respondents (Arifin, 2018). This would guarantee that the research didn’t have any unintended consequences.
Potential limitations of the study
One of the potential limitations of the study can be the knowledge and understanding of the researcher in terms of the research design or methodology. The researcher has limited knowledge which may hamper the design of things. Access to limited information with regard to Sainsbury is another limitation, as this may create an issue with collecting data. The limited time offered and available with respect to conducting the study can also be a huge limitation making one conduct things at a faster pace (Theofanidis and Fountouki, 2018).
The researcher is aware of the shortcomings and has assessed the different methodologies available to identify the one that would help in satisfying the research objectives in the best possible way. The researcher took the time to plan and design things and would keep on working on the right skills that would be required to conduct the study in a successful way. The researcher would meet with the management of Sainsbury and try and gather all possible relevant information beforehand to ensure that the research would be aligned based on the objectives of the study.
Gantt chart
References
Alshaabani, A., Hamza, K.A. and Rudnák, I., (2021). Impact of diversity management on employees’ engagement: the role of organizational trust and job insecurity. Sustainability, 14(1), p.420.
Arifin, S.R.M., (2018). Ethical considerations in qualitative study. International journal of care scholars, 1(2), pp.30-33.
Brannen, J., (2017). Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches: an overview. Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research, pp.3-37.
Flick, U. ed., (2017). The Sage handbook of qualitative data collection. Sage.
Gomez, L.E. and Bernet, P., (2019). Diversity improves performance and outcomes. Journal of the National Medical Association, 111(4), pp.383-392.
Köllen, T., (2021). Diversity management: A critical review and agenda for the future. Journal of Management Inquiry, 30(3), pp.259-272.
Sainsbury’s (2023) Stores.sainsburys.co.uk. Available at: https://stores.sainsburys.co.uk/ (Accessed: April 21, 2023).
Stratton, S.J., (2021). Population research: convenience sampling strategies. Prehospital and disaster Medicine, 36(4), pp.373-374.
Tamminen, K.A. and Poucher, Z.A., (2020). Research philosophies. In The Routledge international encyclopedia of sport and exercise psychology (pp. 535-549). Routledge.
Tamzid, M. and Parves, M.T., (2017). Human Resource Management Policies and Diversity Management (A Case Study on Sainsbury’s). Human Resource Management, 8(4).
Terry, G., Hayfield, N., Clarke, V. and Braun, V., (2017). Thematic analysis. The SAGE handbook of qualitative research in psychology, 2, pp.17-37.
Theofanidis, D. and Fountouki, A., (2018). Limitations and delimitations in the research process. Perioperative Nursing-Quarterly scientific, online official journal of GORNA, 7(3 September-December 2018), pp.155-163.
Turi, J.A., Khastoori, S., Sorooshian, S. and Campbell, N., (2022). Diversity impact on organizational performance: Moderating and mediating role of diversity beliefs and leadership expertise. PloS one, 17(7), p.e0270813.
Walliman, N., (2021). Research methods: The basics. Routledge.
Know more about UniqueSubmission’s other writing services:
