Managing Cultural Diversity in the Workplace

Research Project

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Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION........................................................................................3
1.1 Background of the Study..................................................................................................3
1.2 Research Questions..........................................................................................................4
1.3 Aim of the Study..............................................................................................................4
1.4 Objectives of the Study....................................................................................................4
1.5 Structure of the Study.......................................................................................................5
1.6 Rationale...........................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................7
2.1 The Issue of Diversity and Equal Opportunities in Companies.......................................7
2.2 The Sustainability Report and the Themes of Diversity and Equality ............................8
2.3 The Investigation of Diversity and Equality in the UK....................................................9
2.4 Diversity and Equality in Apple Inc...............................................................................11
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY.................................................................................14
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS & ANALYSIS........................................................................16
Discussion............................................................................................................................31
CHAPTER FIVE......................................................................................................................32
Conclusion............................................................................................................................33
Reflection.............................................................................................................................33
Recommendation..................................................................................................................33
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................35
APPENDIX..............................................................................................................................37
Questionnaire........................................................................................................................38

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Research Topic:
Topic selected for conducting the research is ‘Managing cultural diversity in the workplace.’
Research Title:
To assess the importance of equality and diversity in Apple Inc. UK.
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The phenomenon of globalisation has meant that companies increasingly have to
dealing with issues that go far beyond making a profit (Sarvaiya and Eweje, 2016). Thus, the
growing changes in the international panorama, both at the economic and social levels, led
companies to deal with relatively new concepts. The fact that companies have branches
around the world and have to compete internationally with other companies, in addition to the
increasing mobility of people and goods, led them to live with very socio-economic realities
varied (Ravazzani, 2016). Companies have been forced to react to the increasingly wide-
ranging requests for information by its stakeholders and started to incorporate in their reports
issues related to sustainability.
In this context, traditional accounting has become unable to report all the dynamics
business environment (Nachmias, et al., 2019), namely in the recognition of mutual
influences that occur between them and the communities where they live insert (Nachmias, et
al., 2019). This set of measures that aim to identify, evaluate and report all the information on
the social context of companies called the Social Responsibility of companies (CSR)
(Klarsfeld, et al., 2016), which elects as one of its themes the problematic of diversity and
equal opportunities. These themes, in spite of their increasing diffusion, are still not well
studied and published in the UK. That is why this report explores the report of diversity and
equal opportunities presented by Apple Inc. It is also intended to verify whether there are
differences in terms of disclosure about these aspects depending on the sector of activity.
In the search for credibility regarding its disclosure of CSR, more and more
companies seek certified bodies to guide themselves in the preparation of their reports, the
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) being the most used. All information that is made public by
companies to communicate their social relations can be considered CSR, although the report
and accounts, for be an annual report, it remains a privileged means of information, because
for moreover, it is also an instrument that allows companies to disseminate information that

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they consider most important and allows them to reconcile information, both financial and
social (Khanum, et al., 2019).
Its importance is even more emphasised when it comes to listed companies because it
is a mandatory and available report (Nachmias, et al., 2019). In case of this study, was chosen
precisely for these characteristics, since it is intends to analyse the diversified and equality
practices in Apple Inc. With the world in crisis, economic and values, the importance of this
theme is revealed competitive advantage that companies can enjoy by providing a good
organisational environment, which can be acquired through reflection and implementation
measures aimed at knowing its human resources, as a way to satisfy the employees and
motivate them to achieve their best performance, in front of those who are not aware of these
issues. This study is intended contribute to increase knowledge about the treatment and
dissemination of these matters, in Apple Inc., because according to Sharma, (2016) social
accounting when compared to financial accounting.
1.2 Research Questions
1. What is the importance of incorporation of diversity and equality for Apple Inc.?
2. How does Apple Inc. manage diversity and equality?
3. Does Apple Inc. apply a diversified approach in all its policies?
4. How does Apple Inc. incorporate diversity and equality policies?
1.3 Aim of the Study
The aim of this project is to assess the importance of equality and diversity in Apple
Inc.
1.4 Objectives of the Study
1. To identify possible contradictions between the formal discourse and the practice of
Apple Inc. with reference to diversity;
2. To assess the current practices and identify changes in the organisational culture due
to application of diversity policies; and
3. To be able to recommend better strategies for the application of diversity policies
which support Apple Inc.’s financial interests.

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1.5 Structure of the Study
The work is organised as follows. In chapter two, an attempt is made to brief
bibliographic review, contextualise the issue of diversity and equality of opportunities,
present the GRI as a guide generally accepted and used in the preparation of reports and show
how these topics are disseminated. The following chapter describes the methodology
analysis, defining the sample and data collection method. In chapter four proceed with the
presentation and analysis of the results obtained, and in the chapter next, we present the
conclusions, as well as the limitations of this investigation and suggestions for future studies.
1.6 Rationale
Access and legitimacy organisations tend to emphasise the role of cultural differences
in the organisation without actually analysing these differences to see if they actually affect
the work being done (Bain, 2017). That is, what is behind it is a perspective that merit and
diversity are two poles in a continuous: if there is merit, there is no possibility of diversity
and vice versa (Barak, 2016). If these characteristics are assessed individually: merit or
diversity, in a process, for example, of recruitment and selection, which may occur and has
already been described in the literature, is that leaders choose the worst candidates possible to
undermine and affirm that affirmative policies do not work (Guillaume, et al., 2017).
The learning and effectiveness paradigm in organisations developed a vision of
diversity and inclusion that allows them to incorporate the contributions of employees in the
organisation’s work. The latter paradigm in contrast to the previous two is organised around
the theme of integration and inclusion. This new model for diversity leads the organisation to
internalise the differences between employees so that it can learn and grow from the
differences. The focus is: “We are the same team, with our differences - and not despite
them”.
Unless organisations that are currently working with the other two perspectives can revise
their view of diversity to avoid cognitive blind spots, several opportunities will be lost,
tensions will be misdiagnosed, and organisations will continue to perceive the potentials
of diversity as effusive. Therefore, a question arises: what happens to organisations that
follow the emerging perspective that makes them get the best out of their diversity? The
research lines guided by Lindblom, (2017) suggest preconditions that help organisations
to use the differences of identity groups in service of organisations and their growth and
renewal. These preconditions can be found in .the study by Sarvaiya and Eweje, (2016)
and, in general, refer to the attitudes, behaviours and policies of the leadership, the

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organisational culture, the mission and the organisational structure. Therefore, in order to
assess the importance of diversity and equality, the case study of Apple Inc. has been
selected as taking into consideration all the organisations in UK would have been
challenging due to limited time and resources.

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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 The Issue of Diversity and Equal Opportunities in Companies
The issue of diversity and equal opportunities is part of the CSR theme, therefore,
framing each one of them. CSR has undergone several developments over time. First the CSR
studies focused on research and dissemination of environmental information, subsequently
also focusing on the investigation and dissemination of social issues (Gordon, 2018), aiming
to cover all issues related with sustainability. Since CSR is mostly voluntary, the motivations
for its reporting by the companies, can cover the most varied reasons, namely to comply with
legal requirements, to consider the business benefits of showing what is being done, or
apparently done, to satisfy the need for information and expectations of various audiences, to
comply with the requirements required to finance themselves, to overcome negative effects
that already exist or may arise, to attract investment, to enforce legislation on these matters,
to increase its reputation, (Avis, 2018), to cultivate his image, to legitimise certain actions, to
reflect their social commitment (Ashe and Nazroo, 2017).
The importance of CSR is highlighted by the continuous increase in studies that have
emerged and that investigate the most diverse themes, going through studies on: its evolution
history; systems that can improve the information contained therein; the report; the attempt to
establish relations between his report and the performance of companies at various levels; the
impact of regulation on CSR. In addition to the subject itself all of these investigations use
varied approaches, theories and study methods (Brown, 2017), always contributing to the
enrichment of the theme. In other words, although not a new topic, the issue of diversity and
equal opportunities in the business environment, it has only recently begun to be addressed,
as companies have become aware that work is an essential asset to its employees, affecting
their life experiences and access to various needs, in addition to being a means of livelihood
and an important vehicle for the acquisition of social status (Georgiadou, et al., 2019).
Hence in all relationships diversity must be taken into account in order to allow
equality of opportunities for all. Hawkins, (2017) points out that it is important to take
advantage of and diversity, as this can contribute to a more productive environment, in which
all feel valued and where their talents are maximised, getting more tuned and open to comply
with organisational objectives. Managing that diversity it is not simple, as it implies a
constant change and improvement of values to ensure that all employees perceive, in a
positive, these issues. Hatipoglu and Inelmen, (2018) state that companies have been slow in
the process of managing diversity and that the way they have done it can jeopardise the whole

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process, creating a lack of involvement on the part of employees. He suggests a change
diversity management, especially focusing on the needs and aspirations individual
employees; that a shared vision of values and behaviours to adopt, where everyone
contributes, understands and accepts these values, for appropriate behaviours to emerge; that
these questions be asked as priorities for the day-to-day life of the company and linking the
objectives of diversity and equal opportunities to business objectives.
Also Cletus, et al., (2018) argue that linking business goals to diversity and equality
goals opportunities, is a smart way to align these goals, although they suggest which is also a
useful tool to achieve less resistance to policies unpopular. For Flynn, et al., (2017) the
importance of addressing the theme of diversity and equality opportunities becomes more or
less depending on the historical context of each country. Thus, countries where there are large
mixes of peoples of different origins, religions, races, etc. feel more need to legislate, hold
accountable and report with greater preponderance of these issues. For Benschop, (2016), the
UK is an interesting location to perform a study on diversity and equal opportunities, because
the various changes that has taken place in social terms, such as the 1974 revolution, which
attracted populations from several former colonies and integration into the European Union,
made one of the companies more homogeneous in Europe if it becomes a society with several
social problems, where there is diversity and lack of equal opportunities.
2.2 The Sustainability Report and the Themes of Diversity and Equality
Most of the information contained in the CSR reports is voluntary and therefore
according to Rojas, (2018), “studies on social communication corporate governance, often
depend on management decisions and usually have little or no opportunity to compare what is
reported with reality underlying or alternative realities, and there may be a gap between these
realities”. Due to its voluntary character, although the CSR report is several years old, there is
still uniformity on the correct disclosure of these matters (Roberson, 2019). It is important for
companies to find a reporting strategy that allows them to satisfy the expectations of all
stakeholders on sustainability and CSR reporting.
One of the most popular approaches is the GRI guidelines. GRI is an international
organisation that intends to establish a conceptual framework for reporting of sustainability
(Manfredi, 2016). For that, it presents in its guidelines a set of principles and protocols that
help companies learn how to report and standard information and industry supplements to
know what to report. This set of principles supports companies in deciding on content
(participation interest groups, materiality, sustainability context and completeness), the