Impact of Workplace Diversity on the Performance of Employees: A Case Study of Thai Airways

This dissertation explores the impact of workplace diversity on employee performance in Thai Airways. It includes a literature review on diversity management, conceptual framework, research methodology, data analysis, and recommendations. The study found that diversity inclusion practices in Thai Airways have a negative impact on employee performance. Recommendations have been put forward to address these issues and improve job satisfaction.

Running head: DISSERTATION
Impact of Workplace Diversity on the Performance of Employees: A Case Study of Thai
Airways
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Acknowledgement
I want to thank all the people who helped me in every possible way to conduct the research
study. They not only helped me to realize my potential and strength, but also to implement it in
the best way to conduct the research. I also want to express my gratitude towards my mentor for
his incessant supervising and wonderful guidance, as it helped me to finish the study in time. The
total support and guidance provided by my mentor has not only assisted me with my research but
that would also help me in throughout my life to develop my personality. I would also like to
express my gratification for all the survey respondents who spent their priceless time to fill up
the survey form on the research topic. Lastly, I want to thank my family and friends, who
provided me with continuous encouragement to carry out my study.

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Abstract
Workplace diversity is a major issue in the modern world. With globalization in effect, many
companies are now operating as multinationals and have employees coming from different
nations. Thai Airways is one such multinational air transport carrier, which has its headquarters
in Thailand. However, many employees of Thai Airways belong to different countries, such as,
China, Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea etc. Thus, workplace diversity is a major issue in this
company. This research study explored the diversity inclusion practices of Thai Airways to
evaluate the situation and its impact on the employees. 50 employees were chosen through
simple random sampling and a survey was conducted to get an insight about the diversity
inclusion practices of the company and its impact on the employees. It has been found from the
survey that majority of the employees are not satisfied with the diversity practices of the
company and there are differences and unfair treatment in Thai Airways. It has been found
through a quantitative analysis that unfair treatment has negative impact on the employee
performance. Thus, recommendations have been put forward to address these issues in Thai
Airways and improve the job satisfaction of the employees and their performances.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................6
1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................6
1.2 Background of the Study.......................................................................................................6
1.3 Background of the Company.................................................................................................7
1.4 Rationale of the Study...........................................................................................................8
1.5 Problem Statement.................................................................................................................8
1.6 Research Aim.........................................................................................................................9
1.7 Research Objectives:.............................................................................................................9
1.8 Research Questions................................................................................................................9
1.9 Research Hypotheses...........................................................................................................10
1.10 Significance of the Study...................................................................................................10
1.11 Structure of the Research Study........................................................................................11
Chapter 2: Literature Review.........................................................................................................12
2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................12
2.2 Conceptual Framework........................................................................................................13
2.3 Concept of Diversity and Diversity Management...............................................................13
2.4 Approaches Adopted in Diversity Management..................................................................15
2.5 Theories of Diversity...........................................................................................................16
2.6 Dimensions of Workforce Diversity....................................................................................18

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2.7 Factors Leading to Workplace Diversity.............................................................................20
2.8 Benefits and Disadvantages of Managing Workplace Diversity:........................................21
2.8.1 Benefits.........................................................................................................................21
2.8.2 Disadvantages...............................................................................................................22
2.9 Challenges of Managing Workplace Diversity....................................................................23
2.10 Summary............................................................................................................................24
Chapter 3: Research Methodology................................................................................................25
3.1 Research philosophy............................................................................................................25
3.2 Research purpose.................................................................................................................26
3.3 Research approach...............................................................................................................27
3.4 Research design...................................................................................................................27
3.5 Research strategy.................................................................................................................28
3.6 Data collection process........................................................................................................29
3.7 Sampling method.................................................................................................................29
3.8 Data analysis technique.......................................................................................................30
3.9 Research limitation..............................................................................................................30
3.10 Ethical Consideration.........................................................................................................30
Chapter 4: Data analysis and findings...........................................................................................32
4.1 Discussion............................................................................................................................32
4.1.1 Demographic data.........................................................................................................32

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4.1.2 Non-demographic data......................................................................................................35
Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations...............................................................................45
5.1 Linking to the objectives.....................................................................................................45
5.1.1 Linking to the first objective.........................................................................................45
5.1.2 Linking to the second objective....................................................................................46
5.1.3 Linking to the third objective.......................................................................................47
5.2 Recommendations................................................................................................................47
5.3 Limitation and future scope of the study.............................................................................49
References......................................................................................................................................51
Appendix........................................................................................................................................55

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Diversity in workplace is a key factor for determining the success of any organization as
it ensures manifestation of itself in determining a great reputation for any organization thereby
resulting in the enhanced opportunities and profitability for the workers. As put forward by Hunt,
Layton & Prince (2015), diversity within a workplace encompasses race, age, gender, religion,
ethnicity, citizenship status, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, education,
socioeconomic background and the mental or physical disabilities of the people. Diversity in
workplace is more prominent in the multinational companies. This particular research study will
help in exploring the aspect of workplace diversity and its impact on the employee performance.
The study will however be conducted in context of Thai Airways, one of the flag carriers of
Thailand. It is a multinational organization that comprises of employees belonging to the
different cultures and the countries that brings in diversity at the workplace. Since the first day of
joining the company it emphasizes on the development of the workforce capacity through
recruiting diverse employees for enhancing work and expertise. Hence, Thai Airways acts as
suitable choice for conduction of study based on impact of the workplace diversity on the
employee performance.
1.2 Background of the Study
Companies are becoming increasingly employee centric and so diversity has become one
of the key aspects within the organization. Employees acts as the ultimate asset within any

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organization with proven facts that the companies’ practices effective diversity management that
gave rise to the positive results both in terms of the employee performance and the
organizational profits. Most companies have experienced a changing trend in the form of diverse
employee pool that that works together with every passing day. Thus, workforce diversity has
become the buzzword in the present times with increasing number of organizations keen on
recruiting and having diverse workforce on board. Dora and Kieth (1998) mentioned that the
organizations have led to the discovery that diversity does not act as absolute phenomenon but a
constant process. On the other hand, Saxena (2014) puts forward a discussion that the workforce
diversity acts as one of the crucial necessities in the current changing environment of today while
managing it acts as challenge. Therefore, having invested on the workforce diversity
organizations often tries and finds out the influence of the workplace diversity on the
performance of the employees. Having diverse workforce however has its own challenges and
benefits have. It has therefore been found from the various researches that when a diverse
workforce is recruited as well as managed in the most effective and efficient manner and the
issues arising from them handled smoothly then it results in a positive impact on the performance
of the employees.
1.3 Background of the Company
The Thai Airways referred to state owned enterprise under administration of Ministry of
Transport and is one of the flagship carriers of Thailand that operated commercial flights not
only internationally but also domestically along with providing air related transport service. The
operation of the company comprises of the business unit related to core airline and the business
units supporting the airline business. The key business of the Thai Airways is air transport that

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included the transport of the cargo, passengers on the chartered and the scheduled flights for the
domestic and the international destinations. The business units of the company remain at the crux
of ensuring smoother operations of the business related to air transport that works in sync for
delivering highest level of comfort, safe and punctual operations that result in enhancing the
overall confidence of the customers.
1.4 Rationale of the Study
This particular study holds significance in two different ways. Firstly, the research paper
exploring effectiveness of the workplace will try in finding the factors that will influence the
employee performance of the organizations and how the diversity can lead to the establishment
of a supportive and positive work ambience that will enable employees in improving
productivity. Practice that leads to the promotion of diversity within workplace might also have
influence on work culture of the organization that contributes to the academic world through
addressing the factors that would influence the employee productivity through imposition of a
biased behavior. Secondly, the study holds practical implications for the Thai Airways. The
organization have also faced various controversies regarding the work culture and this particular
study will put across useful insights into work place diversity and its impact on production,
motivation and job satisfaction.
1.5 Problem Statement
The problem with workplace diversity has been mutual respect among the team members
and the conflict amongst the employees. Presence of racism, prejudice, discrimination and the

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lack of respect within the work environment results in conflict amongst the employees instead of
making them productive. This kind of animosity can give rise to a conflicting environment.
1.6 Research Aim
The aim of the research study lies in exploring the diversity factors within the workplace
of the Thai Airways. This involves the evaluation of the factors based on the productivity and
efficiency of employees. The research also involves putting across recommendation for
mitigating negative influence of the diversity practice within the organization.
1.7 Research Objectives:
The objectives of study include:
 Exploration of the factors that leads to the workplace diversity in Thai Airways
 Evaluation of the impact of the workplace diversity on the job satisfaction of the
employees in the Thai Airways
 Accessing the diversity practice of the Thai Airways and their influence on the work
environment and employees
 Recommending ways for improving the workplace diversity within organization for
better work ambience.
1.8 Research Questions
1. What are the factors of the workplace diversity that might impact the employee
performance in Thai Airways?
2. What are the issues with each of the factors in workplace diversity in Thai Airways?

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3. What practices are adopted by the Thai Airways for mitigating the issues of workplace
diversity?
4. What measures can be adopted by the Thai Airways in reducing the diversity incidences
and in improving the employee productivity?
1.9 Research Hypotheses
H0: Workplace diversity policies do not have any impact on employee job satisfaction in Thai
Airways
H1: Workplace diversity policies have a significant impact on the job satisfaction of employees
of Thai Airways
1.10 Significance of the Study
This study will enable the company as well the employees in understanding importance
of the workplace diversity and its impact on employee motivation and performance. The study
portrays how the company can implement a diverse workforce in creating a positive influence
resulting in productivity. There has been a number of research studies conducted on the impact
of the factors of the workforce diversity like the gender, age, caste, race, color, religion,
disability, culture and personality traits on the employee performance. This research would
further put forward a pathway for the organizations in considering the future research related to
workplace diversity.

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Introduction
Chapter 2
Chapter 5
Chapter 4
Conclusion & Recommendations
1.11 Structure of the Research Study
Figure 1: Dissertation Structure
Chapter 1
Literature Review
Chapter 3 Research Methodology
Presentation of Data
Analysis and Interpretation

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
This represents the second chapter of dissertation paper. The chapter focuses on the in
depth study of various approaches to diversity management that ensures in enhancing the
performance of the employees. The chapter puts across a detailed theoretical concept related to
the topic of the dissertation.
According to Okoro & Washington (2012), in present times, workplaces are becoming
increasingly diverse due to internationalization, globalization and the changing demographics.
Therefore, a common global phenomenon has been the diversity of the manpower that is
characterized by the gender, age, nationality, religion, tribal, political and logical affiliations.
Incorporation of workforce diversity allows the administration and manager in building
organizational culture of acceptance, tolerance and the respect for the privacy. In some of the
advanced countries like the United States of America massive number of employees migrates
across the world for annual recruitment. The differences amongst the employees are reflected on
the behavior that contributes in building their personalities. The way of thinking of each
individual should be considered and applied for the company benefit. There exists no workplace
or company that only employs the workers belonging to the same age. Companies employs
women and men, white or colored people, Non Arabs or Arabs and Muslim or non Muslim and
people with various ideologies and beliefs. This diversity ensures the conscious management of
each of the category for developing an integrated frame that would increase effectiveness and
help in gaining competitive advantage. Workforce diversity can lead to the functional stability

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and hence reduce the cost. Workforce diversity can lead to the increase in productivity at the
departmental and the individual level.
2.2 Conceptual Framework
Figure: Conceptual Framework of Workplace Diversity
Source: Created by the Researcher
2.3 Concept of Diversity and Diversity Management
Barak (2016) stated that diversity refers to the understanding that each of the individuals
is unique and ensures the recognition of the individual differences. These might include
dimensions of the ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, physical abilities,
and age, religious and political beliefs along with the other ideologies.
Kyalo and Gachunga (2015) stated that diversity management is necessary within
organizations so that it not only turns out to be the best and is the most capable of competing.

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The management of diversity makes it responsive towards technical moves depending on which
a set of approaches have been addresses that not only relates to diversity but the concept of
management of diversity.
According to Cascio (2015), one of key principles of diversity management within the
work environment lies in looking for the opportunities of diversity and achieving innovation,
growth and improvement. Another principle lies in imagining comprehensive futuristic strategy
through workplace diversity and thereby bringing in group of individuals having common vision
through the integration of hopes and values. The diversity management thus acts as the key of
strengthening the state of respect and dignity within workplace that also acts as vital factor for
determining the organizational success.
Figure 2: Diagrammatic Representation of Principles of Diversity
(Source: Sabharwal, 2014).

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2.4 Approaches Adopted in Diversity Management
1. Consultant/Practitioner Approach:
According to Lauring (2013), the approach focuses on positive aspect of how to make the
workplace diverse for increasing productivity. In this particular approach the organization focus
on how the diversity benefits the business. According to Madera (2013), organizations should
apply all possible means for finding since they find it difficult in finding qualified worker
possessing the required abilities and talent so they the suitable employees. The proponents of the
consultant approach of managing diversity believe that business can benefit in making the
workplaces increasingly divers in the following manner:
 Improves the utilization of competencies of all the employees
 Strengthens commitment between employee and organization and decreases the turnover
of the employees
 Enhances the image of the organization amongst the shareholders
 Allows for greater flexibility and adaptability in the fast paced and the changes
marketplace
 Retain and attract the talented employees
 Reduce cost associated with absenteeism, turnover and lower productivity
 Ensure the return on the investment from the various initiatives, practices and policies
2. The Mainstream Approach:
According to Collings, Wood & Szamosi (2018), the mainstream approach remains
supported by the self categorization and social identity theory. The social identity theory
describes the group behavior and membership within a specific group. On the other hand, the

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self categorization theory exists when the people stereotypes them through attribution of the
behavior, attitude and the other attributes often associated through membership of a specific
group. The theories also help in explaining how diversity requires to be managed both at the
macro and the micro level within the organization.
Thai Airways can adopt either of the approaches in determining the impact of workplace
diversity on employee performance.
2.5 Theories of Diversity
Kolb (2014) stated that at macro level or the organizational level of business, the goal of
the diversity management lies in moderating and observing relationship between the diversity
within workforce and performance. There are however, various macro level models for the
management of diversity. The model put across by Thomas and Ely focus mostly on relationship
that the workplace diversity have on the organizational outcomes.
Thomas and Ely Model: According to Sessler & Bilimoria (2013), it puts forward three
types of perspective have been put forward by the model for management of diversity at
organizational level. The perspectives include: access and legitimacy, learning and integration
and discrimination and fairness. Out of the three perspectives, it was found that the workgroup
functions best under leaning and integration perspective as it focused on generation of inter
group relation, thoughts of being respected and valued and making the employees feel positively
regarding racial identity within workplace.
On the other hand, Janssens & Zanoni (2014) stated that the proponents of the management of
the workplace diversity at micro level believe that the stereotypes and prejudices represent

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immediate precursors of discrimination within the work place. The decimation is either totally
eliminated or controlled through the control of stereotypes and prejudices.
According to Singh, Winkel & Selvarajan (2013), however some of the other theories of
managing diversity include:
Contingency theory: This theory puts across that management of diversity and the success
of the organization depends in the organizational attitude in various areas that includes multiple
areas such as the organization and the culture strategies, organizational environment and the
individual employees.
Goals theory: This theory puts forward across that conflict with organizations goals and lack
of clarity results in the difficulty of the acceptance by the individuals that leads to the lower level
of the organizational performance and thus requires the management in clarifying the goals
through the effective diversity management of diversity.
Learning theory: This theory states that the programs of diversity management acts as the
essential means of rethinking process and the basic task of organization through the elimination
of the unnecessary task thereby contributing to the improvement of performance within the
organization.
Psychology Organization theory: The theory puts forward practices that better suits the
employees looking for the simplified rules and procedures. This particular theory can be applied
to all positions within an organization.
These theories will help Thai Airways in better understanding workplace diversity and its
contribution towards improvement in employee performance.

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2.6 Dimensions of Workforce Diversity
According to Atyah (2016), there exist varied dimensions of diversity amongst
employees within organizations like Thai Airways that can be classified in two groups, the first
group is known as the virtual level and the second group is known as deep level. The virtual
level comprises of the following:
Gender: It has been found from various researches that there exists a difference between
the men and the women that influence the work performance. The researches have also put
across that men and women differ in their ability of solving problems, possession of analytical
skills, learning ability, social adjustment and motivation. It has also been found that there has
been increased rate of absenteeism amongst the women employees compared to men and so to
ensure enhanced productivity company requires development of the initiatives through
implementation of the flexible working hours.
Age: The challenges of older employees remain in the unwillingness and the inflexibility
of experimenting with different means of work. This can be overcome by paying them a little
appreciation and importance.
Ethnic Diversity: This refers to the kind of diversity that indicates the ethnic group that
the individual has been part of. To ensure this, it is necessary for organization to develop the
programs where minorities could progress and open the professional opportunities.
Cultural Diversity: This refers to the social and the cultural values within workforce. It
has been found from the various research that there indicates various differences between the
social and the cultural level.

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Educational Diversity: It has been found that lack of suitable vacancies has left
unemployed in spite of higher education and higher level of skills. This leaves them dissatisfied
leading to psychological disorders.
The deep level comprises of:
Values: They reflect preferences and the results get reflected in the person’s sense of
right or the wrong behaviors. This indicates the treatment of the people with integrity, respect
and the equal rights for everyone. This influences the trends and behavior and finally the
performance of an individual.
Trends: There exist a strong relationship between the behavior and attitude at work.
Thus, non positive trends carried by the workers leads to reduction in their satisfaction level
amongst employees thereby having a direct impact on the employee performance. It is therefore
important for the managers to understand the direction of the multidirectional trends for reducing
the negative impact.
Personal Features: The personal characteristics of individuals are flexibility,
motivation, cooperation, behavior and action at the work. The diverse labor force symbolizes
various personality traits so the managers need to employ features that serve organizations. This
is necessary since satisfied individuals would deliver better performance.
2.7 Factors Leading to Workplace Diversity
According to Guillaume et al. (2014), workforce diversity helps a company in expanding
to newer markets and at same time contributes in creation of differing viewpoints that helped the

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company in devising creative solutions thereby leading to increased productivity. Some of the
causes of the workforce diversity in Thai Airways are as follows:
Influence of Policies: The policies and laws implemented for elimination of
discrimination at the work place can result in work force diversity. Policies leads to the creation
of workplace atmosphere more open to the older workers and minorities thereby leading to the
development of diverse workforce.
Impact of Geography: An organization usually recruits the local workforce for
satisfying needs of the employees for maintaining production. When the population within the
area comprises of the diverse demographic, the company is forced to create workforce based on
population draw.
Impact of Globalization: A global economy is represented by people moving across
different parts of the world for finding work. Sometimes, the expertise required by a company
appeals to a global workforce thereby creating diversity.
Impact of Size: Diverse workforce has been the result company locations across different
parts of the world. Companies with the global locations might have the preference for using the
internal resources for helping the employees thereby leading to the creation of diverse workforce.
2.8 Benefits and Disadvantages of Managing Workplace Diversity:

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2.8.1 Benefits
According to Podsiadlowski et al. (2013), the benefits of diverse workforce can be compiled as
follows:
 Leads to lower cost due to lower turnover rate of employee
 Involves acquisition of the resources across multi-channel backgrounds
 Involves marketing the organizational trade mark thereby improving the image of the
community
 Increases the creativity amongst the employees
 Increases the effectiveness of the employees in solving business related to problems
 Enhance flexibility of organization thereby helping in adapting faster to environment
Saxena (2014) put across that workforce diversity in addition to performance improvement also
helps a company like Thai Airways in entering global markets and helps the organization in
responding to the rapid changes. Some of the additional benefits of work place diversity for the
organization include:
 The ability of attracting the best skills in labor market
 The ability of understanding the customer needs and improving the marketing ability of
organization
 Leads to an improved decision making
 Puts forward the ability of achieving higher performance within the organization.

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c
Figure 3: Reasons for Adopting Workforce Creativity
(Source: Garnero, Kampelmann & Rycx, 2014)
2.8.2 Disadvantages
According to Knights & Omanović (2016), management of diversity have certain
drawbacks, important amongst them are the lower levels of employee satisfaction, lower
cohesion between the teams, communication difficulty and emergence of various kinds of
tensions and conflicts. It was however found by the other researchers that managing diversity can
give rise to negative aspects like the feeling of uneasiness at the work thereby resulting in the
lack of agreement between the work teams thereby leading to a negative influence on the
performance or giving rise to the difficulty in communication between the workers due to the
barriers in language.
As put forward Podsiadlowski et al. (2013), some of the disadvantages of the diversity
management include:
 Workplace diversity often results in complexity, ambiguity and confusion in the work
 It also leads to the difficulties due to the inability of organization in fulfilling needs of
the individual employees

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 It also leads to the inability of organization in formulating policies, procedures and
strategies.
2.9 Challenges of Managing Workplace Diversity
In contrast to this, Ewoh (2013), stated that there are various challenges faced by Thai
Airways in trying to maintain workplace diversity. These are as follows:
 Inaccurate judgment related to diversity: It has been identified by the various
researchers that the workplace diversity acts as the weak point at the organizational level.
The diversity programs of the management in such cases should have the purpose of
reducing the negative outlook.
 Leads to ethnic superiority: Sometimes the individuals have superior opinions and they
believe that they have the best habit.
 Results in poor planning of career: There are certain cases when renowned companies
fail in providing career opportunities for employees with the diverse backgrounds. This is
particularly holds significance for the positions of senior leadership.
 Leads to hostility in the work ambience: There are times when the work ambience acts
non supportive to the employees with the diverse backgrounds such as gender, age or
racial differences.
 Political safety for the workers with the diverse background: At times, the people
belonging to the diverse background are often discouraged for aspiring to the advance
positions due to the lack of the knowledge for the rules of the work thereby making them
incapable of protecting themselves.

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Thus, It is to be noted that an organization must consider a basic plan in positive manner and
effective manner for meeting the challenges and for ensuring the effective diversity management
that will reflect positively on the performance of the organization for all employees.
2.9 Impact of workplace diversity on the motivation, job satisfaction and performance of
the employees
Guillaume et al. (2017) focused on the demographic differences in the organizations and
the factors that moderate the impacts of workplace diversity. The authors addressed the aspects
of relational demography, organizational diversity and work group diversity as significant factors
that affect the social integration, well being and performance of the employees in an
organization. Through the study, the authors found that some factors on which the management
of the organization has control over, such as, unit designs, strategies, human resource
management, leadership, individual and cultural differences, are the moderating factors that
mitigate the impact of workplace diversity. At the same time, the authors also highlighted that
there are some positive impacts of workplace diversity and when that works, there are benefits
for the organizations through better decision making, innovations, larger talent pool, and wider
consumer base, which can outweigh the negative impacts such as lower employee morale, poor
job performance and more conflicts, with some moderating factors in effect.
Lindsey et al. (2015) highlighted the aspect of effectiveness of the diversity training on
the employees of an organization. The authors explored the effects of methods, empathy and
motivation on the training on diversity methods, namely, perspective taking, goal setting and
stereotype discrediting. The study was conducted by applying an experimental research design
and the authors found that the diversity training effectiveness could be increased by increasing

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the motivational factors for the employees. The authors specified that perspective taking
behavior affect the attitude of the employees towards the LGB individuals and by inflicting the
sense of empathy and removal of the prejudices through the diversity training programs can
bring positive outcome in establishing a more sensitive and supportive work environment, in
which the employees would feel comfortable and increase their productivity. Thus, diversity
training programs are highly necessary in the organizations, especially for those that work as
multinationals.
Phillips et al. (2016) addressed the issue of diversity training on disability. This is another
important aspect due to the reason that almost in every nation, there is employment and labor
protection laws that state that every organization should have provision for the recruitment of
disabled employees and provide them support to help them. The authors highlighted that the rate
of unemployment is high among the disabled people as there is negative attitude towards
disability and purposeful misinformation due to prejudices. Thus, diversity training on the
disabilities of individuals can help to reduce the prejudices about disabilities and also help to
improve the intergroup relations. The authors suggested that the organizations should impart
training for increasing the awareness about facilities for the disabled employees and to improve
the attitudes of the existing employees towards the disables employees through empathy and
thus, it would help the organization to design effective diversity training programs for including
the diversity of disability.
According to Ng & Sears (2012), CEO social values and age are important moderating
factors that play a major role in the leadership styles and implementation of the organizational
diversity practices. The authors evaluated the effects of transformational and transactional
leadership styles of CEOs on the diversity policies and practices in an organization. The authors

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found that transformational leadership were more strongly related to the diversity practices in an
organization and the transactional leadership was more effective in the cases where the level of
CEO social values or age was relatively higher. Hence, following from the study, it can be
inferred that organizations should focus on implementing transformational leadership for having
effective diversity practices. The employees should be motivated to implement the diversity
inclusion practices.
Alexander, Havercome & Mujtaba (2015) explored a diverse organization, such as,
American Express, to address the workplace diversity in the modern world. The authors stated
that diversity is also required to gain competitive advantage in the market, although if the
organization has inefficient management, then the diversity will have a negative impact. Long
term competitive advantage comes for individual growth and success, and only diversity
inclusion and effective management of diversity can motivate the employees to enhance their
different skills and come together to bring success to the organization. In this context, it can be
said that there are instances of resistance to the diversity inclusion practices, that is, as there are
inclusion practices, there are resistances also. As highlighted by Thomas (2012), it is a human
nature to resist the change in the initial period. Due to the prejudices of the society, the initiatives
towards diversity inclusion also face resistance from the employees, especially for the diversity
trainings. It occurs mainly at the individual level or interpersonal level and on a cumulative level,
it affects the organizational culture and diversity inclusion programs. Thereby effective
management is required to handle the challenges of diversity resistance.
2.10 Summary

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There have been several studies conducted on the workplace diversity and its influence
on the employee performance. From the analysis of this particular chapter, the researcher derived
in depth information on the impact of workplace diversity on the performance of employees in
Thai Airways. The approaches and theories analyzed in this chapter aided the researcher in
reaching better conclusion to findings. The concept, factors and benefits, disadvantages and
challenges have enabled the researcher in developing better understanding of the impact of
workplace diversity on employee performance. This chapter is followed by research
methodology.

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Chapter 3: Research Methodology
Research methodology refers to the particular methods and techniques used for
identifying, collecting, processing and analyzing the information about the research topic
(Mackey & Gass, 2015). In other words, research methodology encompasses the steps of
identifying the relevant information type, collecting and processing the data and getting the
relevant findings. In this chapter, the researcher presents the strategies and steps of collecting,
and analyzing the data to address the research questions. Research methodology comprises of
research philosophy, research purpose, research approach, design, strategy, data collection
method, sampling, data analysis process and ethical considerations. This gives an idea about the
thought process of the researcher regarding how to carry out the study.
3.1 Research philosophy
Figure 4: Research onion

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(Source: Saunders et al., 2015)
According to the research onion described by Saunders et al. (2015), research philosophy
is the first step of any research study and methodology. This represents a set of beliefs of
assumptions in regards to the identification, collection and analysis of the data that is required for
addressing the research questions (Knobe & Nichols, 2013). Research philosophy is determined
by the nature and source of the knowledge. Interpretivism, positivism, realism and pragmatism
are most commonly used research philosophies. Under interpretivism, the researcher applies
analytical as well as interpretation skills to conduct a subjective study, while under positivism,
the researcher applies scientific functions and statistical tools on numeric data to conduct an
objective study (Hughes & Sharrock, 2016). Realism deals with perceived reality. And under
pragmatism, the researcher applies both the quantitative and qualitative methods of research
(Morgan, 2014). In the given study, the researcher applied pragmatism research philosophy. It
allowed the researcher to apply both the qualitative and quantitative research process and get a
more in-depth insight about the research topic, that is, the impact of workplace diversity on the
employee performance in Thai Airways, by exploring both the scientific and social and
humanitarian aspect.
3.2 Research purpose
As stated by Lewis (2015), research purpose states the reason or objective and goal of
conducting the study. The goal of the research can be either to explore a new aspect to the
research topic or to describe or explain the events leading to the cause and effect of the
phenomenon. Thus, there are two types of research purposes, exploratory and explanatory. As
highlighted by Bell, Bryman & Harley (2018), exploratory research allows the researcher to

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investigate a research topic in a new perspective, while in the explanatory research, the
researcher explains the cause and effect relationship between the variables of research for
addressing the research phenomenon and the events. In this study, the explanatory research
purpose was adopted, as the researcher investigated the impact of workplace diversity on the
work performance of the employees by applying hypothesis testing method.
3.3 Research approach
The direction of the study to be conducted is represented through research approach. It is
selected on the basis of the research objectives and research purpose. Inductive and deductive are
two types of research approaches. As highlighted by Singh (2015), inductive research approach
allows the researcher to generate new theory or perspective from the observations. On the other
hand, deductive approach allows the researcher to examine the research phenomenon through the
hypothesis testing on the basis of established theories.
In this study, the deductive research approach was adopted as the researcher evaluated the
research topic on the basis of existing theories. In other words, research hypothesis was created
with independent and dependent variables that incorporated the aspects of workplace diversity
and performance of the employees in Thai Airways. The direction of the study was maintained to
explain the causal relationship between the variables through testing of the hypothesis and hence,
inductive approach was not chosen as new aspects was not explored or generated.
3.4 Research design
As stated by Creswell & Poth (2017), research design represents the strategies and
actions taken by the researcher for collecting the data and analyzing those by applying suitable

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process. There are various types of research designs, such as, correlational, descriptive,
experimental and quasi-experimental. In this study, the correlational research design was chosen.
For the explanatory research purpose, correlational design is suitable as it allows the researcher
to explain the cause and effect relationship between the variables through statistical calculations
and describe the findings on a humanitarian or social aspect. As opined by Curtis, Comiskey &
Dempsey (2016), correlational research design is helpful in understanding the type or nature of
relationships occurring between the variables, that is, it is appropriate to figure out if two
variables are related with each other and if yes, then in what manner. Thus, by applying
correlational research study, the researcher evaluated the relationship between workplace
diversity and employee performance in the context of Thai Airways.
3.5 Research strategy
Brannen (2017) highlighted that research strategy represents the fundamental actions of
data collection and analyzing those for answering the research questions in the most rational
manner. Most commonly used research strategies are survey, case study, action research,
interview, archival research, grounded theory, and narrative inquiry. In this study, the researcher
selected the case study research strategy. This helps in assessing the research phenomenon in the
context of real world scenario and getting feasible solutions for the research issue (Meyer, 2015).
It also helps in narrowing down the scope of data collection to a particular context to assess the
research issue. Thus, Thai Airways was chosen as the case study organization. The data on
workplace diversity was collected from the employees of Thai Airways to examine the impact on
employee performance.

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3.6 Data collection process
Primary and secondary are two types of data that are used in studies. Primary data is the
one that is collected directly from the field of study through interview, survey, observation, focus
group, feedback etc.; and secondary data is the one that is collected from secondary sources, such
as, journals, books, annual reports of companies, websites, government publications and reports
(Hancock & Algozzine 2016). In this study, primary data was collected by the researcher. The
data was collected through a survey process.
The survey questionnaire contained 14 close ended questions with replicable scale. The
questionnaire contained two parts, demographic and non-demographic questions on the research
topic. A 5-point rating scale was used to collect the responses.
3.7 Sampling method
For primary data collection, sampling is necessary. Population for a survey is usually
quite large and it is not possible to study the entire population. Hence, a sample is drawn by
applying appropriate sampling technique. A sample is a subset of a larger population with the
same characteristics. Sampling is done to narrow down the scope of data collection to get a more
specific outcome. Sampling is of two types, probability and non-probability. In the probability
sampling, each of the samples has equal and random probability of being selected, while in the
non-probability sampling, the samples do not have equal and random chance of selected, rather
the choice of sample depends on the judgment of the researcher (Levy & Lemeshow, 2013).
Some of the probability sampling techniques are simple random sampling, cluster sampling,

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stratified sampling, etc. and some non-probability sampling techniques are convenience
sampling, purposive sampling, snow ball sampling etc. (Uprichard, 2013). In this study, the
researcher applied simple random sampling and chose 50 employees of Thai Airways to conduct
the survey. This technique is chosen as it helps in reducing the sampling biasness of the data and
produces a more precise outcome (Acharya et al., 2013).
3.8 Data analysis technique
Quantitative data analysis method was applied by the researcher to conduct the data
analysis process. The survey responses were presented in an MS Excel workbook and the data
was converted into numeric values using 5 point rating scale, where 1 represents least favorable
and 5 represents most favorable. After the conversion, the researcher applied statistical tools and
performed statistical functions to get the findings. The pattern of the responses was presented
through visual representation tools, such as, bar charts. For the quantitative analysis, reliability
test, correlation and regression analysis were used using SPSS version 20.
3.9 Research limitation
Time and budget are two major limitations for this study. Due to these constraints, the
sample size has been kept limited to 50 and only primary data is collected. Moreover, secondary
data on the research topic, that is, workplace diversity and its impact on the workforce, is not
easily available from any authentic data source or any Thai Airways report. Thus, only primary
data was considered.
3.10 Ethical Consideration

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As the study involves individuals, some ethical considerations were addressed. Firstly, an
informed consent was taken from the participants as well as from the organization regarding
participating in the survey. The respondents were informed about the purpose and objective of
the research in details. Secondly, the participants were given the right for voluntary participation.
No one was forced to participate in the data collection process. Thirdly, the conditions of data
confidentiality and anonymity were strictly maintained. No personal information of the
participants was collected. Lastly, originality of the paper was strictly maintained and no
violation of the copyright act was done. All the information is correctly referenced to avoid the
issue of plagiarism.

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Chapter 4: Data analysis and findings
Chapter 4 comprises of the methods of data analysis and the findings from the analysis.
The researcher collected primary data through a survey conducted on 50 selected employees of
Thai Airways to get an insight about the current practices and attitude of the company towards
workplace diversity and its impact on the employee performance. The survey was conducted
using Google form and the data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Quantitative methods were
applied on the data to get a statistical inference on the data and on the research topic. The
findings are presented below.
4.1 Discussion
4.1.1 Demographic data
This section presents an overview of the social aspects of the sample for the survey. The
survey contained questions on gender, age group, tenure in Thai Airways and nationality of the
participants to get an overview of the perception of the respondents on the aspect of workplace
diversity in the company and how those practices or policies affect their performances.

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Figure 5: Gender profile of the participants
It is seen from the survey that 58% (29) are male and 42% (21) are female respondents in the
sample.
Figure 6: Age profile of the participants
The researcher created 4 age groups for the participants to address the working age in a precise
manner. It is seen that majority of the participants (40%) belonged to the age group of 31 to 40
years, followed by 36% in the group of 41 to 50 years, 14% in 51 to 60 years and only 10%
belonged to the age group of 21 to 30 years. Thus, maximum employees surveyed can be
considered as senior employees, who would have a better knowledge about the company
practices regarding workplace diversity.

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Figure 7: Tenure in Thai Airways
44% of the respondents were associated with Thai Airways for 6 to 10 years and 28% were
working for 1 to 5 years. 18% were working for more than 10 years and 10% were with the
company for less than 1 year.
Figure 8: Nationality of the participants
The nationality of the participants was asked to get an overview of the different countries that
they belong to. Thai Airways has its headquarter in Thailand and it is expected that majority of
the employees would be the citizens of Thailand. However, the company also operates in other
countries and many expatriates work in the Thailand location of the company. Thus, people from

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different nations works in Thai Airways. It is seen that maximum number of respondents, that is,
58% are citizens of Thailand, 20% are from China, 8% each from Singapore and South Korea
and 6% are from Vietnam. Thus, it can be said that there is diversity in terms of nationality
among the employees.
4.1.2 Non-demographic data
This is the second part of the questionnaire, in which different aspects of diversity policy
and practices of the company were addressed. 8 questions were framed accordingly, which
helped to get an overview about the employees’ perceptions about the company policies, their
satisfaction level, which in turn affects their performances. The findings and the analysis are
presented below.
Figure 9: Satisfaction with diversity policies in the company
Regarding the question on whether the employees are satisfied with the diversity policies in Thai
Airways, it is seen that majority, that is, 40% of the employees said that they are dissatisfied,
with 22% strongly disagreed. 14% answered neutral while 16% agreed and 8% strongly agreed

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that they are satisfied. However, the general perception is that majority of the respondents are not
satisfied with the diversity policies of Thai Airways.
Figure 10: Perception on whether unfair diversity policies do not affect job satisfaction of
the employees
The respondents were asked about their perception on whether the unfair diversity policies and
practices do not impact their performance. It is seen that 36% disagreed, and 22% strongly
disagreed, that is, more than half of the respondents think that unfair diversity practices in the
company affect their performances. However, 20% answered neutral, 14% agreed and 8%
strongly agreed.
Figure 11: Diversity inclusion practices are in operation in Thai Airways

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Maximum number of employees have disagreed and strongly disagreed to the question of
whether there are diversity inclusion practices in Thai Airways. These practices generally
include creating an environment for establishing a sense of belongingness among the employees,
empathetic leadership, equal opportunity for all etc. It can be inferred from the responses that
Thai Airways do not have much established practices for diversity inclusion.
Figure 12: Perception on Thai Airways respects individuals from different backgrounds
On the matter of whether Thai Airways has the practice of respecting individuals from different
background, 38% disagreed and 24% strongly disagreed. Although, few participants has agreed
but the percentage of agreement is quite small.

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Figure 13: Thai Airways values the differences of the individuals
Valuing the differences of the individuals is an important factor that has to be addressed under
diversity inclusion. It is seen that more than half of the respondents have disagreed to the notion
that there is practice of valuing the differences of the individuals in Thai Airways.
Figure 14: people from different nationality is treated fairly in the company
Regarding the fair treatment to all the people coming from different nations, it is seen that 38%
disagreed and 22% strongly disagreed, while 18% answered neutral, 14% agreed and only 8%
strongly agreed. However, as the majority of the participants disagreed, it can be said that there
the employees from different backgrounds are not treated fairly in the company.

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Figure 15: Thai Airways demonstrates commitment to meet the needs of employees with
disabilities
As per the labor laws of the country, employees with disabilities should not be discriminated.
They should be treated equally and the companies should provide them facilities so that they do
not feel neglected. However, it is seen that more than half of the survey participants disagreed
(40%) and strongly disagreed (22%) to the question of whether the company demonstrate any
commitment to meet the needs of the employees with physical disabilities. On the other hand,
18% responded neutral, 12% agreed and 8% strongly agreed to this. Hence, the general
perception is that Thai Airways do not pay attention to the needs of the employees with
disabilities.

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Figure 16: Thai Airways provides an environment for the free and open expression of
ideas, opinions and beliefs
It is important to have a platform in any organization where the employees can put forward their
ideas, beliefs and opinions and if the company recognizes those, that motivates the employees as
they feel valued. However, from the survey responses, it is found that 34% disagreed and 22%
have strongly disagreed to the question of having such an open platform in Thai Airways, where
they can put forward their ideas or suggestions. This is a demotivational aspect for the employees
and they do not feel connected with the organization.

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Figure 17: Racial, ethnic, and gender-based jokes are not tolerated at Thai Airways
Discrimination against the employees within an organization can come in any form and among
those, the most common harassments are racial, gender biased, and ethnicity biased. Every
organization should ensure that there is zero tolerance policy for these types of biasness as these
types of behavior create harassment and demotivation for the employees. Thus, when the
employees of Thai Airways were asked that while discriminatory jokes or behavior were not
tolerated in the organization, it is found that 30% of the respondents have strongly disagreed and
disagreed regarding this aspect. This is a serious issue that affects the diversity inclusion in the
company and should be paid significant attention by Thai Airways.
Figure 18: Thai Airways has done a good job providing training programs that promote
multicultural understanding
To have an effective diversity inclusive policy in the workplace, it is important for the employees
as well as management to have an understanding about the cultural and other differences among
the employees due to different backgrounds. This would help to create a supportive and positive
work environment and would motivate the employees to enhance their strengths with the support

45DISSERTATION
of the fellow colleagues. Thus, the organizations must conduct training or sessions for the
employees to enhance their understanding about the cultural differences and to respect them.
However, in this aspect also, it is seen 36% of the respondents disagreed and 22% strongly
disagreed, that is, the company has not done a good job in providing training programs that
promote multicultural understanding.
From all the above response charts, it is seen that, for all the aspects of the diversity
inclusion policies and practices in Thai Airways, more than half of the respondents have voted
for disagreement and very few responded with agreements. Thus, it can be inferred that the
workplace diversity is quite prevalent in this organization and people perceive that the lack of
proper inclusive policy leads to unfair treatment, which in turn affects their job satisfaction and
hence, performance.
Reliability test
The internal consistency of the data is evaluated through the reliability test. In other
words, the efficiency of the research instrument to produce consistent outcome in different
situation is examined by the reliability test. The score is measured in terms of Cronbach’s alpha,
in which the score of 0.7 or more is considered as a good and acceptable score of internal
consistency of the data (Heale & Twycross, 2015).
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
N of Items
.994 10
Table 1: Reliability statistics

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It is seen that in the given case, the Cronbach’s alpha value is 0.994, which is an excellent score.
Thus, it can be inferred that the questionnaire is very much reliable and it would produce
consistent data for all types of situation for other industries as well. Thus, the survey outcomes
are reliable and valid.
Regression analysis
Regression analysis is conducted to evaluate the impact of workplace diversity on the
performance of the employees of Thai Airways. Hence, aspects of workplace diversity are
combined together to make one single independent variable and the satisfaction with the
diversity policies and the aspect or perception of unfair policy affecting the work performance is
considered as the independent variable.
In this context it can be said that satisfaction from jobs is dependent on many factors and
one of those is motivation. According to the hierarchy of motivation theory by Maslow, the
needs or desires of individuals are placed in a pyramidal structure, and the third layer contains
the belongingness. This factor can describe the importance of diversity inclusion in the
workplace (). To keep an employee motivated, an organization should address all types of needs,
such as, physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualization in a hierarchical
manner and by implementing the policy of diversity inclusion, the organization can instill a sense
of belongingness among the employees. If the employees are motivated with the diversity
policies of the company, their job satisfaction would increase and that would enhance their
performance ().
Thus, in the given study, the researcher included various factors addressing different
aspects of the diversity policies. Those are, whether the company gives respect to individuals

47DISSERTATION
belonging to different backgrounds, differences of the individuals, gives fair treatment to people
with different nationality, if it respects and addresses the needs of employees with disabilities,
creates an environment for the free and open expression of ideas, opinions and beliefs, whether
Thai Airways have zero tolerance policies for racial, ethnic and gender biased jokes against any
employee, and if it provides a training to the employees to enhance their multicultural
understanding and improve their attitude towards workplace diversity.
To evaluate the impact of these independent factors on the performance of the employees
of Thai Airways, a regression analysis was conducted. 6 factors were consolidated into one
factor to assess the combined effect on the dependent factor, that is, whether they were satisfied
with the diversity policies of Thai Airways. These 6 factors are “Thai Airways respects
individuals from different backgrounds”, “Thai Airways values the differences of the
individuals”, “People from different background is treated fairly in the company”, “Company
demonstrates commitment to meet the needs of employees with disabilities”, “Company provides
an environment for the free and open expression of ideas, opinions and beliefs”, “Racial, ethnic,
and gender-based jokes are not tolerated at Thai Airways”, and “Thai Airways has done a good
job providing training programs that promote multicultural understanding”. These factors
addressed various aspects of workplace diversity policies of the company and hence, were
combined into one factor, namely, Independent factors, which affect the satisfaction level of the
employees and in turn affect the motivation and performance of the employees. The result of the
regression analysis is shown below.
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate

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1 .940a .883 .881 .426
a. Predictors: (Constant), IndependentVariable
ANOVAa
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1
Regression 65.767 1 65.767 362.325 .000b
Residual 8.713 48 .182
Total 74.480 49
a. Dependent Variable: 5. Satisfaction with diversity practices in Thai Airways
b. Predictors: (Constant), IndependentVariable
Coefficientsa
Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
1 (Constant) .167 .136 1.235 .223
IndependentVariable .940 .049 .940 19.035 .000
a. Dependent Variable: 5. Satisfaction with diversity practices in Thai Airways
From the above table, it can be seen that, R-square value is 0.883, that is, the model can explain
88% variation in the data around its mean. The significance value is 0.000, which is significantly
less than the critical p-value 0.05. Thus, it infers that null hypothesis is rejected, that is,
workplace diversity policies have a significant impact on the job satisfaction of the employees in
Thai Airways, which in turn affects their performances.
Thus, from the data analysis, it can be derived that there are quite a few issues in Thai
Airways regarding the workplace diversity policies. It is also seen from the survey responses that
majority of the survey participants were not satisfied with the diversity policies of the company

49DISSERTATION
and they also said that unfair practices have a negative impact on their job satisfaction and
performances. Hence, Thai Airways must put focus on these issues to ensure a more satisfied and
hence productive workforce.

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Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations
This chapter presents the concluding remarks on this study. The aim of this study was to
evaluate the impact of workplace diversity policies and practices on the work performance of the
employees, which is dependent on motivation and job satisfaction. To conduct the study, Thai
Airways was chosen as the case study company. By applying the simple random sampling
technique, 50 employees of Thai Airways were chosen for the survey. The data was analyzed
using quantitative methods. It has been found that there are quite a few issues regarding diversity
in the workplace of Thai Airways and that need to be addressed by the company to keep the
employees satisfied and productive. In this chapter, the researcher establishes a connection of the
objectives with the research findings and also presents some recommendations for the company
to address those issues.
5.1 Linking to the objectives
5.1.1 Linking to the first objective
The first objective of the study was to explore the factors that lead to workplace diversity
in any organization, especially in the case study company, that is, Thai Airways. From the
literature review of the previous research works, the researcher explored various factors that
affect the workplace diversity of any organization and that in turn affect the performance and
productivity of the employees. Based on the findings, the survey questionnaire was developed. It
addressed aspects like nationality of the respondents, their overall satisfaction level regarding the
diversity policies and practices, their perception on whether the unfair practices affect job
satisfaction, whether there are proper diversity inclusion practices in the company, if there is

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respect for individuals from different backgrounds and nationalities, disabilities, and if the
company provides platform for expressing ideas and gives training to improve multicultural
understanding to establish a supportive work environment. Thus, it can be said that the above
mentioned factors are some common and prevalent aspects that can affect the workplace
diversity. If there is high level of workplace diversity, then it can hamper the need for
belongingness of the employees, which also affects the motivation and satisfaction of the
employees. Thus, it can be said that the first objective of the study is fulfilled.
5.1.2 Linking to the second objective
The second objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of workplace diversity
practices on the job satisfaction of the employees of Thai Airways. The findings from the survey
revealed that the employees perceive unfair diversity treatment has a negative impact on the job
satisfaction of the employees. The productivity and performance of the employees depend on the
motivation and job satisfaction of the employees. Hence, organizations are responsible for
ensuring a supportive work environment and must address the need for belongingness for the
employees. When the employees feel included in the business operations and receive fair
treatment, they would feel motivated to perform better. From the survey responses, it is found
that majority of the employees are not satisfied with the diversity inclusion practices of the
company and there is lack of fair treatment, which affects their performances. When the
organization does not value the differences of the individuals and respect people from different
nationalities, the employees do not feel attached to the organization and thus, their performances
suffer, which can be inferred from the survey responses. Hence, it can be said that the second
objective of the study is fulfilled.

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5.1.3 Linking to the third objective
Assessment of the workplace diversity practices of Thai Airways and their impact on the
employees was the third objective of the study. The survey questionnaire addressed multiple
aspects of workplace diversity which could exist in the company and the responses were
collected on a 5 point rating scale, options varying from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
Those aspects include the presence of proper diversity policies in the company, treatment of the
company towards people with disabilities, belonging to different nationalities and cultural
backgrounds, scope for providing an environment for expressing opinions, ideas and beliefs, zero
tolerance for gender biased, ethnicity, racial, color, age, economical background biased jokes,
providing training to all the employees to promote the multicultural understanding and tolerance
in the workplace, and respects and values for the differences of the individuals. It has been found
from the study that more than half of the participants have disagreed to all these aspects. In other
words, majority of the employees have reported that Thai Airways lack all these measures and
practices, which are essential for establishing a supportive inclusive workforce. Thus, as the
employees have reported that unfair practices affect their job satisfaction and work performance
consequently, it can also be inferred that as the company does not provide these measures for
ensuring workplace diversity inclusion, that demotivates the employees and affect their job
satisfaction and hence, hamper their job performance.
5.2 Recommendations
Based on the findings from the primary data, the researcher has identified the aspects
which should be addressed by Thai Airways to implement the workplace diversity in the

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company and ensure a better performance from the employees. To address those aspects,
following recommendations are drawn.
 Firstly, as the findings from the survey responses show that there is no proper diversity
inclusion policy in the company, hence, it is important for Thai Airways to develop
diversity inclusion policy guidelines. Being a multinational company, the company has
employees from different nationalities, who have a different cultural background. Thus,
their interests should be paid attention by Thai Airways. The company should formulate a
proper workplace diversity policy and include various aspects to ensure a supportive
work environment for all the employees coming from different backgrounds. It should be
formal procedure and all the employees should be asked for their feedback regarding the
policies so that their perspectives can be known and addressed accordingly. The
employees should also be notified about the policies and transparency in the
communication should be maintained, so that they feel connected with the organization.
 Secondly, the company should implement policies to address the needs of the people with
disabilities. It is a necessary measure, and facilities should be provided, starting from the
parking lot to walking ramp and desks and chairs. Employees should not be discriminated
on the basis of their physical disabilities and they should be assigned job roles, for which
their physical disabilities do not create any obstacle.
 Thirdly, Thai Airways should impart training for all the employees to have an
understanding and tolerance for fellow colleagues belonging to different nationality,
ethnicity, race, color, gender, age, sexual orientation, educational and economic
background etc. There should be zero tolerance policy for all type of discriminations and
harassments and there should be strict penalties for any rule violations.

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 Thai Airways should take measures to increase the motivation of the employees by
giving all a fair and equal treatment for all coming from different backgrounds. There
should be practices like involving the employees in welfare decision making, arranging
recreational activities so that everyone can participate, team management, motivational
sessions etc. This way the employees can spend more time together and get to know each
other. They should also be encouraged to value the differences and respect each other.
The sense of belongingness should be improved for the employees and this way the
employees can be motivated. Getting involved in the decision making process and
welfare activities will also enhance the job satisfaction of the employees. Thus, it is a
necessary step for Thai Airways to improve the job satisfaction of the employees as the
job performance and productivity of the employees depend on motivation and job
satisfaction of the employees.
 Thai Airways should also make policies to create a platform for the employees to express
their opinions, beliefs and ideas. This should make the employees confident about their
positions in the company and they would feel more connected. This way the management
of the company can understand the specific needs of the employees and get new ideas for
the growth of the business. As the employees come from different nations, it will be
helpful for the company to assess the cultural differences in different countries and thus,
take business decisions accordingly. This will also increase motivations for the
employees and thus, that will improve their performances.

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5.3 Limitation and future scope of the study
The two major limitations for the study are the time and budget. Due to these limitations,
the researcher collected only primary data from a small sample size. Collecting secondary data
would have been more time consuming and costly, as many of the secondary sources containing
data on workplace diversity in the organization and its impact on the employee performances so
not have free access and requires a substantial payment for access. The sample size is also small,
which can lead to a biased outcome of the survey. The size is considered only 50 as collecting
survey responses from more people would be more time consuming and would have made the
study more robust. Thus, the future researchers can focus on these areas. They can collect
primary data from a larger sample set and can also collect secondary data to validate the findings
from the primary data. Furthermore, they can also focus on particular aspects on this research
subject and explore more to contribute in the academic world.

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Appendix
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Please specify your gender
a) Female
b) Male
2. Please specify your age group
a) 21-30 years
b) 31-40 years
c) 41-50 years
d) 51-60 years
3. Please specify your years of association with Thai Airways
a) Less than 1 year
b) 1 – 5 years
c) 6 – 10 years
d) More than 10 years
4. What is your nationality?
a) Thai
b) Singaporean
c) Chinese
d) Vietnamese
e) Cambodian
f) South Korean

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g) Taiwanese
h) Other………………………………
5. How much you are satisfied with diversity practices in Thai Airways?
a) Highly dissatisfied
b) Dissatisfied
c) Neutral
d) Satisfied
e) Highly satisfied
6. How far do you agree that unfair diversity policies do not affect job satisfaction of the
employees?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
7. How far do you agree that there are diversity inclusion practices in Thai Airways?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
8. How far do you agree that Thai Airways respects individuals from different
backgrounds?

63DISSERTATION
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
9. Do you feel the Thai Airways values the differences of the individuals?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
10. How far do you agree that that people from different nationality is treated fairly in the
company?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
11. How far do you agree that the company demonstrates commitment to meet the needs of
employees with disabilities?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral

64DISSERTATION
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
12. How far do you agree that this company provides an environment for the free and open
expression of ideas, opinions and beliefs?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
13. How far do you agree that racial, ethnic, and gender-based jokes are not tolerated at Thai
Airways?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
14. How likely do you feel that Thai Airways has done a good job providing training
programs that promote multicultural understanding?
a) Highly unlikely
b) Unlikely
c) Neutral
d) Likely
e) Highly likely