Strategies and Initiatives for Building a Diverse and Inclusive Workforce

Managing a successful
business project (IC)
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
It is very important to mange business and maintain equality and diversity at workplace
by following different strategies and initiatives so that goal and objectives can be attained. The
organisation chosen for research work is Marks and Spencer which has prepared aim and
objectives and work accordingly to achieve it. For proper project management plan, different
elements has analysed such as cost, scope, time, resources and so on. In order to complete work
in given time period, time framework has prepared. Research methodology has analysed for
proper collection of data and information by using tools and techniques. Moreover,
recommendation are provided to organisation to improve themselves and achieve positive
outcomes.
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Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
TOPIC: “What types of strategies and initiatives do companies put in place to build a diverse and
inclusive workforce?”......................................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
Project aims and objectives....................................................................................................4
Project management plan.......................................................................................................5
Time-frames work..................................................................................................................6
Research Methodology...........................................................................................................8
Data analysis and interpretation...........................................................................................11
Reflection.............................................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
RECOMMENDATION ................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17
Appendix 1: Project Logbook Template.......................................................................................18
Appendix 2: Performance Review.................................................................................................20
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TOPIC: “What types of strategies and initiatives do companies put in
place to build a diverse and inclusive workforce?”
INTRODUCTION
It is very important for each and every business to maintain and develop equality as well
as diversity for inclusive workforce (Barak, 2016). The equality and diversity is defined as way
of providing equal opportunity to all employees working in an organisation so that they can
attain business goal and objectives in effective manner. The given organisation is based upon
Marks and Spencer which was founded in 1884 at Leeds, United Kingdom. It deals in selling of
food, home, clothing and luxury products to consumers in an appropriate way to gain positive
outcomes. The main aim of report is to discuss about about aim and objectives of given work
along with project management plan that contain cost, scope, quality and so on. It also highlights
time framework, research methodology, data interpretation and their analysis. The
recommendation is provided along with their own self learning is discussed.
MAIN BODY
Project aims and objectives
Overview of the company
The organisation selected for given assignment is Marks and Spencer which was
established in Leeds, United Kingdom in 1884 (Bleich MacWilliams and Schmidt, 2015). It is
British multinational organisation dealing in different products such as home, luxury, food,
clothing. Brands of respective organisation are Per Una, Rosie, Autograph and many more. It is
operating in more than 1463 locations by employing more than 80,787 employees.
Research Aim
“To determine different types of strategies and initiatives taken by an organisation in
order to build diversity and inclusive workforce.”- A study on Marks and Spencer
Research objectives
 To identify the concept of diversity and equality.
 To ascertain the issues that may arise due to absence of diverse culture at workplace.
 To determine the strategies and initiatives that company can put to build diverse and
inclusive workforce.
Research questions
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 What are the concept of diversity and equality?
 What are the issues that may arise due to absence of diverse culture at workplace?
 What are the strategies and initiatives that company can put to build diverse and inclusive
workforce?
Project management plan
Project management plan
It is defined as detailed document or summary which includes baselines, management
plans and other elements (Dastane and Eshegbe, 2015). This should be executed, controlled and
monitored by project manager. It involves cost, time, communication, quality, risk and others.
There are five steps of project management plan such as initiation, planning, execution,
monitoring and closure. Advantage of such plan is saving time and cost for manager. It is
important as it provide guideline to project manager to work in effective and efficient manner.
Each phase requires proper scope and planning that has to be delivered. This includes following
elements such as:
Cost- It is defined as money required to complete work through providing satisfaction to
consumers (Gajjar and Okumus, 2018). The cost may varies from one another due to nature and
structure of organisation and project work. For conducting research work by investigator cost
incurred is £3000 to gather authenticate information related with assigned project. Moreover,
Marks and Spencer requires 8000 pounds for collection of data and information in an effective
and efficient manner. Therefore, budget is prepared in advance regarding different types of cost
so that positive outcomes are achieved.
Scope- It is defined as essential part of plan which assist in identifying scope of research
work from researcher and organisation point of view. This element assist respective organisation
to make proper decisions regarding use of strategies and taking of initiatives for building diverse
workplace at marketplace or business. Similarly, on other hand, it assist researcher to know
about types of strategies which may apply by business for maintaining equality and diversity at
workplace.
Time- It is referred as element which helps in identifying about time required for
completion of project work. In order to finish given task, Gantt Chart and Work breakdown
Structure are prepared. From researcher view, time required to finish given project work is
approximately 5 months whereas Marks and Spencer takes 7 months to complete it in
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appropriate manner. It is very important for both researcher and organisation to divide their work
in advance so that they can end up project in stipulated time period.
Quality- It is also regarded as important aspect of project plan which assist to maintain
quality of work to attain positive outcomes (Gotsis and Grimani, 2016). The information should
be gathered from relevant and authenticate sources. Marks and Spencer is large organisation
which has to collect information and data from certify and online sources through maintaining
quality in their work. On other aspect, researcher need to keep those data confidential to avoid
misuse or fraudulent activities.
Communication- It is defined as procedure to transfer information as well as data from
one to another with use of channel in an understandable form. Communication channel such as
oral and written can be applied by organisation to gain results. The researcher uses written and
oral communication to deliver information with their people. In context of Marks and Spencer,
they are conducting meeting with their working force on frequent basis so that they can discuss
about their problems and get solution.
Risk- While conducting research work by researcher, different risk can be faced by them
like lack of time, limited resources, inaccurate response from participants, inappropriate budget
and so on (Guillaume and et. al., 2017). Similarly, respective organisation has to face risks such
as unskilled employees, inappropriate collected data, lack of utilisation and many more.
Resources- This is defined as significant elements which assist in identification of
resources required to perform research work. For researcher, resources can be proper sources,
pen, time, proper respond from respondents. From organisation point of view, resources can be
data, employees, sources and so on.
Time-frames work
For time-framework, different tools are used by respective organisation which are
described below:
Work break down structure
It is defined as tool that assist in solving complex work by dividing into simple or easy
ways. Here, project manager divide activities and work into manageable actions through
hierarchical decomposition. WBS works with an aim to make large project work into managing
section or parts. This assist in providing guidelines to business to perform activities and
operations in appropriate manner.
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