Research Project

RESEARCH PROJECT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.......................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Research proposal that clearly defines a research question or hypothesis, supported by a literature
review......................................................................................................................................................3
P2 Research methods and conduct primary and secondary research........................................................7
M1Different research approaches and methodology, and make justifications for the choice of methods 9
TASK 2.......................................................................................................................................................9
P3 Primary and secondary research using appropriate methods for a business research project that
consider costs, access and ethical issues..................................................................................................9
P4 Analytical tools to analyse research findings and data......................................................................10
M2 Merits, limitations and pitfalls of approaches to data collection and analysis.................................20
TASK 3.....................................................................................................................................................20
P5 Communicate research outcomes in an appropriate manner for the intended audience....................20
M3 Coherently and logically communicate outcomes to the intended audience, demonstrating how
outcomes meet set research objectives...................................................................................................24
TASK 4.....................................................................................................................................................24
P6 Reflection on effectiveness of research methods applied for meeting objectives of the business
research project......................................................................................................................................24
P7 Alternative research methodologies and lessons learnt in view of the outcomes..............................24
M4 Critical reflection and insight that results in recommended actions for improvements and future
research considerations..........................................................................................................................25
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................25
RECOMMENDATIONS...........................................................................................................................25
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................27

INTRODUCTION
Gender inequality is explained as phenomenon when a person is discriminated against or
receives the unequal treatment on the basis of gender. At workplace, this is common for many
women employees to encounter some form of the gender bias. This acknowledges that women
and men are not to be treated equally that impacts individual experiences. These kinds of
differences arise from distinctions in cultural norms and beliefs. NEXT plc is British clothing,
home products and footwear retailer. This was founded in year 1864 through Joseph Hepworth.
Gender inequality develops the negative impact on performance level of staff members as they
are not treating equally. the gender inequality developing self- reinforcing system that can e
perceptual discrimination by company and lead to discrimination in decision making, enactments
and HR policies (Batra and Reio Jr, 2016).
TASK 1
P1 Research proposal that clearly defines a research question or hypothesis, supported by a
literature review
Background of Research
Gender inequality takes the several form, most obvious being difference in earning
among men and women doing similar kind of the work. It does not impact only the performance
of a person but also impact overall economic organisational performance. In this, discriminating
on gender basis has reaching implications for female staff members and also male colleagues.
Discrimination against gender can take place in various dimensions including employment
discrimination, pay and salaries disparities, sexism / disparities in promotion or inequity in the
various products and facilities for different genders. Workers are the backbone of an organization
and carry out vital tasks for organization's sustainability and efficiency of employees impacted
by discrimination against gender (Berkers and Schaap, 2018).
Rationale of Research
The primary motive of conducting present research is to develop the understanding about
impact of gender inequality on employee’s performance. The gender inequality reduces the

morale of staff members and also reduces the overall organisational productivity. Researcher
conducts investigation in personal and professional context. The investigator's self-interest in
developing own abilities, including communication, analysis, technical capacity, analytical
expertise, skills in presentation, teamwork, conflict management expertise etc. is another
significant reason for carrying out this study. Development of these competencies will certainly
help researchers in near future to conduct effective investigation (Blau, 2016).
Aim:
To determine impact of gender inequality on employees performance. A study on Next
Plc.
Research Objectives
 To examine gender inequality at workplace.
 An exploratory research on Next Plc on changes it introduced after the £30m lawsuit on
gender inequality pay.
 To identify impact of gender inequality on employees performance in Next Plc.
 To identify issues arising from gender inequality and ways to overcome from them.
Research Questions
 What is gender inequality at workplace?
 An exploratory research on Next Plc on changes it introduced after the £30m lawsuit on
gender inequality pay?
 How gender inequality impact on employee’s performance in Next Plc.?
 What are the various issues faced through Next Plc. from gender inequality and ways to
overcome from them?
LITERATURE REVIEW
A review of literature is a study of academic sources, presenting an analysis of a specific
topic. Literature reviews are collection of most important publications on the subject, in order to

give an overview about the “To determine the impact of gender inequality on employees’
performance.” The aim of literature review is to review the literature on this topic so that the
investigator’s role in the current field of study to establish area. A review of literature offers a
reader a comprehensive view of previous discussions in own research paper before that.
Literature review shows the viewers in regards of the existing scholarship where reviewer enters
a specific academic conversation on subject (Coy, 2016).
Gender inequality at workplace
According to opinion of Cailin S. Stamarski and Leanne S. Son Hing (2015) Increasing
dimension of gender inequality can influence individual elements and create a structure that can
perpetuate structural inequality in all areas of the business. In the workplace, sexual harassment
is common for most people. In other words, an individual is discriminated against or treated
unfairly for his or her gender. The disparity between men and women decreases the degree of
confidence of women as to how people should handle them. An organization must provide fair
work opportunities and encourage women workers as close to men who are able to perform the
activities of the organization. The gender discrimination develops the negative impact on
organisational productivity as well as profitability. There is company treated female employees
less favourable as comparison to the male employees.
Our employees are integral to achieving our business objectives and we aim to attract,
retain and develop the best talent at every level throughout NEXT. This company is committed
to creating an environment where all individuals feel welcomed, respected and supported. It is
necessary for an organisation to treat all the staff members equally and also provide them
positive working environment so that they can able to work in an effective manner and also focus
on attaining the set objectives significantly.
An exploratory research on Next Plc on changes it introduced after the £30m lawsuit on gender
inequality pay
On the basis of Sarah Butler (2020), the female shop floor workers of the Next plc said
that they are paid less that the male warehouse staff. This company is facing the demand up to
£30m in the back pay from the thousand of the female shop floor workers in first main claim of
equal pay against fashion retailer. This kind of issue develops negative impact on the reputation

as well as productivity of Next Plc. In Next plc mostly female shop-floor staff, £7.50 an hour or
£2 an hour lower than male warehousing workers. The law firms reported that average earnings
loss for the employees in question was about £6,000 and anticipated between 3,000 and 5,000
staff to sign up for group loans, which could push it to £30 million. The firm's lawyers also said
the average income loss for those impacted was around £6,000 (Fitzsimmons and Callan, 2016).
The shop-floor roles aligned the position of warehouse with regard to their value for the
organization. The mental and physical activities are identical to those of warehouse workers and
must be equally paid.
After the £30m lawsuit on gender inequality pay, Next plc introduces some changes as it values
all its staff members regardless of gender, place and the role of the work at workplace. Next plc
claimed that it will pay fairly and legally to staff members as per their job roles and removing the
gender pay gap (Jozkowski and Wiersma‐Mosley, 2017). As this kind of changes develops the
positive impact on mindset of the staff members and motivate them so that they can sustain at
workplace for longer period of time. In future, this will help in enhancing the productivity as
well as development of the Next plc.
The gender pay gap report of Next Plc stated that it is providing the open as well as
transparent pay to all the staff members. The retail employees of Next plc have the access to
“online market” where they can be swap the contracted shifts if they are convenient. Many
promotions to managers are internal and Next plc is committed to investing in workers to
enhance the learning potential. This company have developed unique departmental training
programs to give employees with core skills to carry out their duties, providing appropriate,
better training.
Gender inequality impact on employee’s performance in Next Plc.
As per opinion of Sunhee Kim (2020) Employees are the backbone of company and they
mainly contributed towards attaining the specific aim and objectives within given time period.
Gender inequality on site is widely seen as having a detrimental impact on the quality of life and
concerted management efforts have been introduced to discourage such discrimination. It
develops the negative impact on performance level of the employees in Next Plc Company. In
regards to this, there is a need to company to find out the effective ways by which the gender