To identify and acknowledge behaviours supporting diversity and equality at workplace: A study on Marks & Spencer

BUSINESS RESEARCH
PROJECT

Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................1
1.1 Research Proposal............................................................................................................1
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................................4
2.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................4
2.2 Literature review..............................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................6
3.1 Research Approaches.......................................................................................................6
3.2 Methodologies..................................................................................................................6
CHAPTER 4: DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS..............................................................8
4.1 Data collection..................................................................................................................8
4.2 Data analysis, presentation and discussion.......................................................................8
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................23
5.1 Conclusion......................................................................................................................23
5.2 Recommendations..........................................................................................................23
CHAPTER 6: PERSONAL REFLECTIVE STATEMENT..........................................................25
6.1 Reflect on research methods used in project..................................................................25
6.2 Consider research methods that could have been used..................................................25
6.3 Areas for further research...............................................................................................25
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................27
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................29
OVERVEW OF THE RESEARCH...............................................................................................29
SECTION 1: Research aims, questions and objectives.................................................................29
Research title........................................................................................................................29
Research aim........................................................................................................................29
Research Objectives.............................................................................................................29

Research Questions:.............................................................................................................30
SECTION 2: Major reason behind selecting this topic.................................................................30
SECTION 3: Literature sources searched......................................................................................30
SECTION 4: Activities and time scale..........................................................................................31
Work breakdown structure...................................................................................................31
Gantt chart............................................................................................................................31
SECTION 5: Approaches and methodologies of research............................................................32
Approaches to research methodology..................................................................................32
Method to conduct research..................................................................................................33
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................34

TITLE: “To identify and acknowledge those behaviours which support aspects of diversity and
equality at workplace in an appropriate manner”. A study on Marks & Spencer.
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Research Proposal
1) Overview of the research
Diversity and equality in a company assure that staff members are to be treated equally and
also they are provided the right treatment to perform work at workplace (Cottrill, Denise Lopez
and Hoffman, 2014). This research proposal is based on M&S, a UK based retailer of cloth and
food that perform their activities globally. This proposal is going to mention about research title,
objectives, aim and question. Also, literature source to support objectives will be discussed.
Other than this time scale will be mentioned and overview of research methodology will be
provided.
2) Research Aim and Objectives
Research aim
“To determine and understand behaviours which denotes the support towards equality
and diversity in an organisation”. This research aim has the purpose to acknowledge those
factors which assure that elements of diversity and equality are incorporated in M&S.
Research Objectives
 To understand concepts of diversity and equality in business organisation.
 To determine appropriate strategies used by management in M&S to support D&E in
their workplace
 To acknowledge various benefits gained by an organisation while maintaining diversity
and equality at their workplace
Research Questions
 What do you understand by concepts like diversity and equality in context with a
business organisation?
 What can be potential strategies used by management in M&S to support D&E in their
workplace?
 What are the various benefits gained by an organisation while maintaining diversity and
equality at their workplace?
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3) Reasons for choosing this research project
Major reason of working on this topic is to determine what is right behaviour for
maintaining diversity and equality in an organisation. This topic will help in identifying those
practices which can create inequality in a firm due to which overall performance of firm can be
hindered. Thus, manager of a company is needed to formulate various strategies so that equality
and diversity can be maintained in proper manner (Glatthorn and et. al., 2018). Also, this topic
will benefit the researcher in learning and understanding information about right behaviour,
managing diversity and equality etc. This will help the researcher in performing future researches
appropriately.
4) Activities and Timescales
Work breakdown structure
This is basically project deliverable that assist in dividing a bulky project into small
chunks of manageable section. In this technique, a project is bifurcated into small sections so that
each activity can be given proper consideration and work can be performed in desired manner
(Kirton and Greene, 2015).
Gantt chart
This is basically a visual and graphical presentation of a project in the form of tasks along with
their time period so that all the work can be completed within expected time. This chart
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Illustration 1: Work-breakdown structure

breaks down a project and denotes the required time to accomplish work. By this, project
manager is able to perform those task before which are on priority. By this, overall efficiency of
a project is maintained (Adamson and et. al., 2016).
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Illustration 2: Gantt chart

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
It is related to scholarly paper that include the current knowledge involving theoretical
contribution and substantive findings to particular research field. Under this part, information is
gathered by using secondary sources like books, articles, internet sources, journals etc. It is easy
and cost saving to collect information from using secondary sources (Altman, 2018).
2.2 Literature review
Diversity and equality in a business organisation
According to opinion of Dr. Kelly S. Meier (2019) Diversity is range of the ethnic,
generational and cultural differences present in workplace. On the other hand, equality is treating
all the staff members with the equal consideration, race, disability and some other factors. In
United Kingdom, organisations are legally needed to be fit practices which assure discrimination
is eliminated and also equality met with the expectations at workplace. In an organisation, it is
necessary to treat all staff members equally and provide them opportunities regardless of their
gender, disability, race etc. that may be discriminated against. On the other hand, having diverse
workforce, company can provide wide range of resources, skills and ideas to business to provide
it competitive edge (Ashe and Nazroo, 2017).
Strategies used by management in M&S to support D&E in their workplace
On the basis of Diane Lynn (2020), At workplace, Equality and diversity are necessary to
healthy and growing an organisation. employing the people of all races and gander can make
company stronger. On the other hand, sometimes diversity arises issues which negatively impact
on performance level of employees along with company. To support the equality and diversity,
Marks & Spencer uses some strategies at workplace which mention below:
Put equality policies- It is necessary that everyone in company should be fairly treated in
daily activities and the work related decisions such as hiring, promotion training etc. There is a
need to Marks & Spencer to develop effective discrimination policies and also information all
employees regarding the policies of equality (Kirton and Greene, 2015).
Use objective criteria- At the time of recruitment, training and promoting, Marks &
Spencer should be assuring about the clear objective criteria and make decisions on the basis of
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merit. Conduct audit or encouraging the group decision making id there is concern regarding
manager and specific team (Konrad, Yang and Maurer, 2016).
Benefits gained by an organisation while maintaining diversity and equality at their
workplace
According to Lynn, D. (2019) In order to perform work appropriately, it is important for
a company to treat their workers in equal manner. If workers will not be treated equally and feel
discriminated in terms of race, gender, religion, caste, nationality etc. then it is not possible for a
firm to maintain right kind of behaviour in an organisation. Diversity and equality in a company
is very essential as it help the workers in getting fair opportunities so that no employee can feel
discriminated. By this, overall productivity of Marks & Spencer will be high and company will
be able to achieve expected outcomes. But, if diversity and equality will not be maintained then
workers will not be happy and unleashing their full working potential will not be easy.
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