Strategies for Managing Cultural Diversity at Workplace: A Study on Morrison

This research project focuses on the strategies used by Morrison, a large chain of retail stores and supermarkets, to manage cultural diversity in the workplace. It aims to understand the concept of cultural diversity, evaluate the impact of recruiting employees from different cultural backgrounds, examine the challenges faced by the company, and recommend policies and practices for better management of cultural diversity.

RESEARCH PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS..............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Background.................................................................................................................................3
Aims and objectives....................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Background
Equality is referred to as the providing of equal opportunities to each and every
employees and member in the company. This is very necessary as if company will provide equal
opportunities for growth and development to the employees then employees will like this fact
and will work effectively (Stahl-Rolf and et.al., 2018). On the other hand, diversity is defined as
the fact that employees are being hired from different cultural backgrounds. This is majorly
pertaining to the reason that the company operates at international level and to maintain its level
of operation, company need to hire and recruit employees from all over the globe. In respect of
managing diversity the major issue is the management of the cultural diversity and this is due to
the fact that if the employees will not be satisfied then they will not work in effective manner.
Thus, this will have a great impact over the profitability and efficiency of the overall
company and the performance of employees. Hence, the present research is based on company
Morrison which is a large chain of retail stores and supermarkets. The company was founded in
the year 1899 by William Morrison and is headquartered in Bradford England in UK. The
current research will majorly focus on the fact that how the company manages the cultural
diversity within the business. Also, it will discuss the different views of various authors on the
management of cultural diversity in form of literature review. In the end the different methods
which will assist the completion of the research will be listed.
Aims and objectives
Aim
“To investigate the strategies for managing employees coming from different cultural
background with respect to oversee cultural diversity at workplace. A study on Morrison.”
Objectives
 To understand the concept of cultural diversity at workplace
 To evaluate the impact of recruiting employees from different cultural backgrounds.
 To examine the challenges at time of managing diverse people with respect to Morrison.
 To recommend some policies and practices to Morrison for the better management of
cultural diversity.
Research question

1. What is the concept of cultural diversity at workplace?
2. What is the major impact of recruiting employees from different cultural backgrounds?
3. What are the major challenges faced by company at time of managing cultural diversity?
4. What are some recommended strategies to Morrison in order to improve cultural
diversity?
Rationale
The current research topic is related to use of strategies which will assist the company in
managing cultural diversity for improving the productivity of the company (Shepherd and Lewis-
Fernandez, 2016). The major criteria for the selection of this topic is that this is the major issue
being faced by most of the company as the companies involve recruitment from all over the
world. Thus, this involves people coming from different cultures and this may pose problem in
working of company. Thus, this present research will help researcher in gaining knowledge of
strategies for maintenance of diversity. Another major reason for the selection of this topic is the
personal interest and academic interest of the person researching over this topic.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Concept of cultural diversity.
In the words of Greene, (2020) cultural diversity is being referred to as existence of
various different types of cultures within the company and its working. The cultural diversity is
defined as the different assumptions, values, beliefs and attitude of a particular culture towards
something. All these people have different cultural values if they belong to some other cultures.
As there are many different types of cultures prevailing in the global environment and the
business also exist in this global market. Thus, it is very necessary for company to manage the
cultural diversity for getting more success for the company.
But in against of this Frijns, Dodd and Cimerova, (2016) states that for getting more
success and increasing profitability the most important thing is management of cultural diversity.
This is because of the employees coming from different cultures work in company and if they
not work in coordinated manner then the productivity of company decreases. Hence, for this the
most effective and necessary thing is that the company effectively manages the people coming
from different cultures. Thus, this will create a good and cordial environment within the
company and the operations of company will go on smoothly.
Impact of hiring employees from different cultural backgrounds.

As per the views of Sartin and et.al., (2018) it suggests the recruitment of employees has
both positive and negative impact over the working of company. This is majorly because of the
fact that if the company will manage the cultural difference in effective manner then the
company will gain much effectiveness in working of company. On the other hand, if the cultural
diversity will not be managed in effective and efficient manner then this will result in loss for the
company and productivity of company will decrease.
On the other side, Danso (2018) states that the major positive impact of managing
cultural diversity is increase in the coordination among all the employees. This is majorly
because of the reason that if all the employees will work in coordinated manner then the
employees will work in coordination then the business will work in proper manner. Thus, this
will increase the coordination among all the employees within the business and result in more
profitability of the company.
But on the flip side Campos and Kim, (2017) argues that this can also have a negative
impact over the working of the company and its profitability. This is majorly because of the fact
that if company will not be able to manage the cultural diversity then the employees will not
work in effective manner and this will result in more conflicts and grudges among the
employees. Thus, this may result in the employees to decrease their working efficiency as if the
employees will not be able to manage the work in effective manner then the employees will not
work in coordination with other employees coming from different cultures. Hence, this will also
reduce the reputation or the goodwill of the company in the highly competitive market. This is
because of the fact that if the employees within the company will always be fighting then the
other people will not like to work in that particular organization.
Major challenges being faced by companies in managing cultural diversity.
In the opinion of Lozano and Escrich (2017) there are many different challenges being
faced by the company when they try to manage the cultural diversity then at that time many
challenges are being faced by the company. The major challenge is the employees and their
mindset and behaviour. This is a challenge because of the fact that different cultures have
different types of behaviour and values and the people belonging to a particular culture follows a
specific behaviour and values. Thus, it is difficult to manage all the employees having different
set of behaviour.

In the views of Schachner and et.al., (2016) the major challenge is the difference in the
thinking and pattern of work among the different cultures. This is a challenge because of the fact
that different cultures have their own working style and pattern of the working. Thus, when the
organization recruits people from different cultures then they have their own working style. Now
it is the duty of the company to train and educate all the employees coming from different
cultures the single working style so that every employee can work in one ingle pattern,. This
single working style is required to assess and evaluate the performance of the employees to know
which employees work in more effective manner and give them some benefits and perks so that
they work in more effective manner.
But in against of this Schneider and Heath (2018) criticizes that the major challenge is the
thinking and mentality of the persons. This is majorly because of the fact that some of the people
has feeling that some culture are not worth talking and they degrades the people belonging to that
culture. Thus, this poses a challenge for the company to manage the people coming from
different cultures. This is so because if some employees have feeling of inferiority towards other
employee then they will not interact with those employees in proper manner. Thus, this might
create miscommunication among the people belonging to different cultures. Hence, this may
result in decrease in the efficiency and working capacity of that person as they people will ignore
them due to their culture. Hence, this might demotivate the employees and their performance and
working capability may reduce and this will in turn impact the overall productivity of company.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research types- type of research is defined as the method which can be selected for the
researching on topic of strategies being used to manage the cultural diversity (Beins, 2017).
These are of two different types that is qualitative and quantitative research. For the current study
the researcher will make use of qualitative research as they want to understand the concept of
cultural diversity and ways of managing it in successful manner.
Research approach- this is defined as the assumptions on which the whole research is
based and which are considered at time of researching for cultural diversity and its management.
This is also of two major type that is inductive and deductive research approach. But for the
continuation of this research the researcher will make use of inductive approach as this is based
on study of existing theory and formulation of aims and objectives and not on setting up of
hypothesis (Fane and et.al., 2018).

Research philosophy- these are the principles and values on which the whole research is
based and is completed in successful manner (ten Ham-Baloyi and Jordan, 2016). These
philosophies are of various types and most common is the interprtivism and positivism
philosophy. For the completion of research on strategies of cultural diversity the philosophy of
interpretivism will be opted by researcher. This is because this is best suited with the qualitative
research and help researcher in completing the research in much better way.
Data collection- this is the most crucial step in the whole research because of the fact that
if the data will not be correct and relevant then the research will not be done in effective manner.
The data can be collected from two different methods that is primary and secondary sources of
data. For the present research, the researcher will use both sources of data. In the primary source
of data researcher will take help of questionnaire to collect the data and information from
respondent (Levitt and Chapman, 2017). And for the purpose of secondary data source the use of
different books, articles, journals and other published sources will be used.
Sampling- this is referred to as selection of some of the participant on whom the whole
research and test will be conducted to reach some conclusion. The sampling simplifies the
process of research as whole population cannot be studied for reaching to some conclusion.
Hence, for this some sample are selected and in present research 20 managers of Morrison will
be selected in order to gain and collect information for research.
Data analysis- this is also most important part in the success of research because if data
will not be analysed on proper manner then the research will not provide effective conclusion.
Thus, for the present research and its analysis of the data the method which will be used by the
researcher is thematic analysis of data. This is used because of the fact that this include use of
charts, tables and graphs and this makes the analysis of data more presentable and
understandable.
Ethical consideration- this is also most important consideration to be keep in mind at
time of completion of research. This is necessary because if the research will not be ethical then
the research outcome will not be good and effective (Locatelli and et.al., 2017). Thus, for this the
major thing researcher need to do is get signed the consent form from the respondent before they
ask any question tpo them. This will ensure that the respondent has given answers with their
interest and permission is being provided that researcher can use this data in their research.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Beins, B.C., 2017. Research method: A tool for life. Cambridge University Press.
Campos, B. and Kim, H.S., 2017. Incorporating the cultural diversity of family and close
relationships into the study of health. American Psychologist. 72(6). p.543.
Danso, R., 2018. Cultural competence and cultural humility: A critical reflection on key cultural
diversity concepts. Journal of Social Work. 18(4). pp.410-430.
Fane, J., and et.al., 2018. Exploring the use of emoji as a visual research method for eliciting
young children’s voices in childhood research. Early Child Development and
Care. 188(3). pp.359-374.
Frijns, B., Dodd, O. and Cimerova, H., 2016. The impact of cultural diversity in corporate boards
on firm performance. Journal of Corporate Finance. 41. pp.521-541.
Greene, V.M., 2020. Cultural Diversity Awareness: Perceptions Of Community Residents And
Police Personnel.
Levitt, E.E. and Chapman, R.H., 2017. Hypnosis as a research method. In Hypnosis (pp. 85-114).
Routledge.
Locatelli, G., and et.al., 2017. The successful delivery of megaprojects: a novel research
method. Project management journal. 48(5). pp.78-94.
Lozano, J.F. and Escrich, T., 2017. Cultural diversity in business: A critical reflection on the
ideology of tolerance. Journal of Business Ethics. 142(4). pp.679-696.
Sartin, L., and et.al., 2018. Exploring Social and Cultural Diversity (MGA).
Schachner, M.K., and et.al., 2016. Cultural diversity climate and psychological adjustment at
school—Equality and inclusion versus cultural pluralism. Child Development. 87(4).
pp.1175-1191.
Schneider, S.L. and Heath, A.F., 2018. Uncovering ethnic and cultural diversity in Europe: A
new classification of ethnic and cultural groups.
Shepherd, S.M. and Lewis-Fernandez, R., 2016. Forensic risk assessment and cultural diversity:
Contemporary challenges and future directions. Psychology, Public Policy, and
Law. 22(4). p.427.
Stahl-Rolf, S., and et.al., 2018. The Diversity Factor: How Cultural Diversity Impacts
Innovations in Germany.
ten Ham-Baloyi, W. and Jordan, P., 2016. Systematic review as a research method in
postgraduate nursing education. health sa gesondheid. 21(1). pp.120-128.