Importance of Equality and Diversity in Nike

This report explores the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace, focusing on Nike as a case study. It discusses the concept of equality and diversity, their contribution to Nike's growth, challenges faced, and recommendations for improvement. The report also includes a management plan, research methodology, and interpretation of results.

Managing A Successful
Business Project

Executive Summary.
Report will reveal about the importance of equality at workplace and
diversity in organisations. Equality at workplace and diversity has helped
organisation to grow in the current market. Carrying out the research about the the
topic in Nike has revealed about the equality and diversity and its effects in
organisation. Also after carrying out the research recommendations are given for
enhancing the performance.

Table of Contents
Managing A Successful Business Project....................................................................................................................................................1
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................................................................4
Aim and Objectives .................................................................................................................................................................................4
Literature Review.....................................................................................................................................................................................5
MANAGEMENT PLAN RELATING TO PROJECT................................................................................................................................6
METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH .........................................................................................................................................................7
Gantt Chart ..............................................................................................................................................................................................9
INTERPRETING RESULTS....................................................................................................................................................................11
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................................................18
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................................................................19
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................................................................20

INTRODUCTION
Equality is concerned with providing equal opportunities to people and not discriminating them on the basis of age, gender,
caste, creed and colour. Diversity involves recognizing and respecting people's cultural differences and using it adequately to achieve
success and growth in the organization. Nike is an American Multinational manufacturing company that deals in the manufacturing of
footwear, apparel and other sports equipments. The company was founded in the year 1964 by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman in
Oregon, United States. The company provides employment to more than 70,000 individual and therefore it is important to maintain a
culture of equality and diversity within the organization. The current report will focus on the importance of culture and diversity in the
workplace, management plan mainly comprises of cost, managing time, quality of the work etc. of research and lastly it will also
include the recommendations to improve the following practice in business.
Aim and Objectives
AIM: To investigate the various types of strategies that Nike put in to build a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Objectives:
 To analyse the concept of equality at workplace and diversity amongst the workforce in Nike company.
 To identify the contribution of equality and diversity in the growth of Nike.
 To ascertain the challenges faced by Nike while incorporating equality and diversity. To provide appropriate recommendations for improving the culture of equality within the company.
Research Questions:
 What is the concept of equality and diversity in the Nike company ?
 How does equality and diversity contribute towards the growth of Nike ?
 What are the challenges faced by Nike company while implementing equality concept in the organization ?
 What are some recommendations to improve the culture of equality within the organization.

Literature Review
Literature review is mainly used in conducting the research by reviewing the judgement and decision by various authors
regarding the particular topic. In this research, researcher will use the thematic procedure to interpret the data which is also raised by
various authors regarding the particular topic.
THEME 1: Concept of equality and diversity in company.
In the view point of Anagnostou (2019), it is imperative for every business organization whether big or small, to follow the equality
concept which means that all the employees must be treated equally and there must be no discrimination on the basis of cast, creed,
colour, race or gender. It basically involves providing all the employees with equal opportunities regardless of their abilities,
background and lifestyle. Diversity is concerned with recruiting and selecting employees from different backgrounds and treating
them equally to achieve the goals and objectives effectively and efficiently. Also, if an organization wishes to innovate then it is
beneficial to have a culture diversity at the work premises as it would bring new ideas in the business and thus help the company to
maximize its profits in the long run.
On the contrary, Tardos and Paksi (2018) states that the concept of diversity in the organization can sometimes backfire as
diversity can lead to mixed opinions in the workplace which may slow down the efficiency and effectiveness of the project and can
hamper the overall growth and productivity of the business. Also, too much diverse culture decreases the amount of trust within the
workplace which acts as a roadblock in the way of success of an organization. Furthermore, it creates communication problems and
causes confusion, conflicts and chaos in the company.
THEME 2: Contribution of equality and diversity towards the growth of an organization.
According to the Konrad, Yang and Maurer (2016), equality and diversity is the backbone of every organization and plays a
vital role in the achievement of goals and objectives. Equality and diversity not only help in the success and growth of business but
also maintains the peace and harmony within the workplace which leads to increased employee productivity. Moreover, equality and
diversity culture allows employees to focus on their individual strengths and thus leads to easy delegation of tasks among the

management, It also encourages an environment of innovation and creativity within the company and further contributes towards the
success of a business in the long run.
However, the Georgiadou (2016) argues that promotion of diverse culture into the organization can sometimes shift the focus
of business from its core activities and can affect the growth prospects of the company. Also, in a diverse environment the level of
conflict increases between the individual team members and hampers the profitability of the business. It is mandatory for every
company to follow the concept of equality if it wants to establish its brand image and accomplish organizational goals and objectives
systematically.
THEME 3: Challenges faced by a business while implementing equality concept in the organization.
According to Holck (2018), there are various challenges faced by an organization while implementing the equality policy as
the most important thing a company has to do is to spread awareness about the importance of equality in the workplace and how it
contributes towards the success of an organization. Also, providing equal opportunities to every individual sometimes cause distrust in
the organization as senior level employees feel that its unfair and then it further leads to problems within the workplace.
Knoppers, Claringbould and Dortants (2015) contradicts by stating that there are no such challenges faced by the business
while implementing the policy of equality and it is imperative to follow it in order to ensure ethical practices and to retain skilled and
talented employees within the company.
MANAGEMENT PLAN RELATING TO PROJECT
 Cost: The cost which is examined in research is concerned with the aspects of collecting and interpreting the collected
information about the concerned topic. The cost of researching the topic mainly included carries the travelling charge,
equipment cost and other electronic equipment. The total expenses for the overall project will be £100.
 Scope: The research has a wide scope as it will focus on the importance of equality and diversity in the organization, ways to
implement it into the business and how it can contribute towards the success and growth of the organization effectively and
efficiently. The keywords of the study will be equality, diversity, culture, workforce, growth prospects and many more.

 Time: In respect of time it is the most important procedure of a project as it includes the total duration taken to complete a
project. The research project began on 27-08-2019 and finished on 31-10-2019. It is the duty of the researcher to ensure the
timely completion of research project with all the goals and objectives being accomplished.
 Quality: The research project made must have an appropriate quality which means that the information collected should be
from appropriate sources both primary and secondary and also it must include referencing and citing. Moreover, feedback must
be taken from the supervisor after proof-reading all the information effectively and efficiently.
 Communication: Communication is very important part of project where major aim is on gathering reliable information to
examines the research outcomes. The present research will be performed through preferring the questionnaire with selecting
the random sampled participants.
 Risk: The major risk identified at the time of conducting their project is that it is concerned with the duration of research
project because it is essential to complete the research project on time and get it checked by the supervisor before the data of
completion.
 Resources: The resources included the electronic tools, notepad and pens, print media, newspapers, magazines, journals and
books and internet.
METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH
The methodology of research involves various techniques and ideas to conduct the research is accurate manner. It includes
various ideas that can be undertaken to gather information and data which is examined in respect of conducting the research. It also
defines the various steps that must be taken by the research project in order to complete with maximum efficiency. For the present
research topic of assessing equality and diversity in Nike company, the following types of methods has been examined that: Types of Research: There are basically two types of research performed called qualitative methods and quantitative methods.
For the following research project qualitative research plan has been used as it focused on the thoughts and opinions of
individuals and dived deeper into the research problem.

 Research approach: It carries various plans and procedure which is used in determining the data and information so that
relevant information is to be gathered (Research Approach, 2019). This is mainly divided into two parts called inductive and
deductive. For this research, inductive approach has been used because for qualitative research type inductive approach is used
in respect of gathering the information from internal sources. As by preferring the qualitative methods, inductive methods is
applied so that data is to be gathered in right manner. Research philosophy: This methods mainly carried with the ideas, thoughts and belief regarding attaining the particular task so
that data is to be gathered in more authentic way (Research Philosophy, 2019). There are basically two philosophies used
under RM, intererpretivism and positivism. In the present project interpretivism research philosophy have been used in order to
conduct qualitative investigation of the data collected over the topic of research. By choosing this methods it used in
interpreting the results to get the information more presentable and also data is to be collected more authentic.
 Data collection : Data is to be collected and used with the process of collecting information and it can be collected through
both primary methods and secondary methods. Primary methods include collection of information through surveys,
questionnaire and interviews. Secondary sources include collection of information from pre written books, magazines, journals
and reports. The present research includes information collected from both the sources.
Use of random sampling method has been done to select the participant for interviews and questionnaires from the population.
 Data analysis: It is concerned with the use of statistical tools and ideas and also analyses the data to get accurate results the
creation of theme. The current research plan uses tabular format, chart and graphs for interpreting the gathered information.
 Ethical consideration: The project is conducted was completely ethical and the primary data was collected from reliable
sources. Also, there were no bias answers and opinions and no participant was forced. The research was conducted with
extreme care and the privacy of the participant was respected.

Gantt Chart

INTERPRETING RESULTS

QUESTIONNAIRE
Question 1: Do you think that it is important to promote the culture of equality and diversity in
the organization ?
A. Agree
B. Strongly Agree
C. Neutral
D. Disagree
E. Strongly disagree
Question 2: Have you ever faced any sort of discrimination at your work place ?
A. Strongly agree
B. Agree
C. Neutral
D. Disagree
E. Strongly disagree.
Question 3: Do you think with this advertisement campaign, equal opportunities will be given
to employees at the work place ?
A. Strongly agree
B. Agree
C. Neutral
D. Disagree
E. Strongly disagree.

Question 4: In your opinion, equality and diversity improve motivation of employees and
increase their productivity ?
A. Strongly agree
B. Agree
C. Neutral
D. Disagree
E. Strongly disagree.
Question 5: Do you think equality and diversity will help Nike to innovate and to maximize
their profits ?
A. Strongly agree
B. Agree
C. Neutral
D. Disagree
E. Strongly disagree.
THEME 1: Importance of promoting the culture of equality and diversity within Nike company.
Response Number of respondents
Strongly agree 10
agree 5
neutral 6

disagree 4
Strongly disagree 5
Total 30
Majority of the participants (10 out of 30) have given a positive response that it is important to promote the culture of equality and
diversity within the organization and the main reason is because it leads to sustainable growth of the company and help them in
maximizing their profits.
THEME 2: Discrimination faced by individuals at their workplace.
Response Number of respondents

Strongly agree 15
agree 6
neutral 4
disagree 3
Strongly disagree 2
Total 30
From the above table it can be interpreted that almost half of the participants strongly agree that they have faced discrimination
at their work place therefore it means that discrimination is a common problem and it is faced by almost half of the employees in their
company.
THEME 3: Effectiveness of advertisement campaign in improving the condition at the workplace.

Response No. of respondents
Strongly agree 7
agree 3
Neutral 15
disagree 2
Strongly disagree 3
Total 30
It is interpreted that more than half of the participants are neutral about the improvements at work place which means that the
condition has improved at some places and at some places it has still not changed.

THEME 4: Increase in employee motivation due to the culture of equality and diversity in Nike.
Response No. of respondents
Strongly agree 12
agree 2
neutral 6
disagree 8
Strongly disagree 2
Total 30

From the above data, it can be identified that majority of the employees have noticed a change as their motivation and overall
productivity to perform their duties has improved which means that it will help an organization in achievement of goals and objectives
effectively and efficiently.
THEME 5: Equality and diversity help Nike to innovate and thus maximize their profits.
Response No. Of respondents.
Strongly agree 18
agree 3
Neutral 4
disagree 1
Strongly disagree 4
Total 30

It is interpreted that more than half of the participants agree with the statement that Equality and diversity campaign and culture
has helped Nike in improving its profits. The main reason behind increasing profits is the combination of different skills and talent of
individuals and it has helped in achievement of goals and objectives.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
From the matter related to the above table and graph depicts the information about the equality and diversity in the workplace
and its contribution towards the achievement of goals and objectives effectively and efficiently. It is imperative for every company to
promote the culture of equality as it will bring new talent into the organization, and they can use their skills and power to achieve
success.

CONCLUSION
From the research it is concluded that equality and diversity are very important in an organisational success. Employees are the assets
of the organisations that are very valuable for the business and growth of the company id not possible without considering these
factors. Nike is promoting equality and diversity over the market. Every company has to ensure that their employees are satisfied and
are giving full contribution for business growth.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Anagnostou, D., 2019. Designing a Gender Equality Plan: Lessons learned from TARGET Project. 10442/16258. pp.00-20.
Tardos, K. and Paksi, V., 2018. Diversity Management and Gender Equality Outcomes in Research, Development & Innovation
Organisations: Lessons for Practitioners. SZOCIOLÓGIAI SZEMLE. 28(4). pp.166-190.
Konrad, A.M., Yang, Y. and Maurer, C.C., 2016. Antecedents and outcomes of diversity and equality management systems: An
integrated institutional agency and strategic human resource management approach. Human Resource Management. 55(1).
pp.83-107.
Georgiadou, A., 2016. Reflections from EDI conference: Equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights in times of austerity. Equality,
Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal. 35(7/8). pp.467-472.
Holck, L., 2018. Unequal by structure: Exploring the structural embeddedness of organizational diversity. Organization. 25(2).
pp.242-259.
Knoppers, A., Claringbould, I. and Dortants, M., 2015. Discursive managerial practices of diversity and homogeneity. Journal of
Gender Studies. 24(3). pp.259-274.