Analyzing Issues and Challenges in Implementing Equality and Diversity Practices at Workplace

Unit 6 - Managing a
Successful Business
Project

Table of Contents
TITLE: To analyse several issues and challenges that arises while implementing equality and
diversity practices at workplace. A case study on Marks & Spencer..............................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Project aims and objectives....................................................................................................3
Research aim:..............................................................................................................................4
Research Objectives:...................................................................................................................4
Research Questions:....................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
Concept and importance of equality and diversity......................................................................4
Various issues and challenges associated with equality and diversity practices at workplace...5
Ways to overcome issues related with equality and diversity.....................................................5
P2 Project Management Plan......................................................................................................5
P3 Work breakdown structure and Gantt chart...........................................................................7
..........................................................................................................................................................8
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................8
P4 Small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research................................8
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
P5 Examine research and data by using appropriate tools........................................................10
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations......................................................................13
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................14
P7 Reflection.............................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

TITLE: To analyse several issues and challenges that arises while
implementing equality and diversity practices at workplace. A case study
on Marks & Spencer.
INTRODUCTION
Equality as well as diversity within the organisation means providing equal opportunities
to the individuals at both society and workplace. Along with this, it also assist in attaining
various opportunities & benefits which enhance the development of staff members in a positive
manner. While adopting practices which is related with equality & diversity, various issues and
challenges have been faced by the management team of the company. In the present research
report, M&S is chosen as the base company so that researcher will be able to conduct the
investigation in an effective manner (Glatthorn and et. al., 2018). It is the organisation which is a
multinational retailer company based in United Kingdom and is established in the year 1884. in
the present research, initially aim along with objectives is being developed by the researcher so
that investigation can be done effectively. Along with this, the report includes detail description
about PMP, WBS and Gantt Chart. Furthermore, discussion is conducted on what type of
research approach is best and most suitable for the researcher. At last, recommendations is give
by the investigator after conducting the whole research effectively.
TASK 1
P1 Project aims and objectives
Equality & Diversity is define as the terminology which comprehends fair and equal
opportunities to each individuals working within the workplace without focusing on any kind of
factor which might generate discrimination. From past few years, it has been said that one of the
most crucial function of an organisation is to protect their employees from any kind of
discrimination. Generally, discrimination is something against anything such as race, gender,
religion, sex, belief, sexual orientation and many more. It has been analysed that equality &
diversity within the organisation plays very important role in order to satisfy the requirements of
employees. Apart from this, large number of organisation deals with the problem of
discrimination which affect the overall performance of the company.

Generally, it is important for a business organisation such as Marks & Spencer that they
need to focus on such elements as they directly impact the profitability as well as performance of
the company. There are various kinds of laws and regulations implemented by the government of
UK so that equal and fair opportunities will be given to both male and female.
Research aim:
“To analyse several issues and challenges that arises while implementing equality and
diversity practices at workplace.” A case study on Marks & Spencer.
Research Objectives:
 To understand the concept and importance of equality and diversity.
 To determine various issues and challenges associated with equality and diversity
practices at workplace.
 To identify several ways to overcome issues related with equality and diversity
Research Questions:
 What do you understand by the concept and importance of equality and diversity.
 How to determine various issues and challenges associated with equality and diversity
practices at workplace.
 What are the ways to overcome issues related with equality and diversity.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Concept and importance of equality and diversity
As per the thought of (Barnham, 2015) it has been said that equality & diversity within an
organisation plays very essential role as it provide each and every employee equal and fair
opportunities to the staff members. By implementing effective equality and diversity practices,
employees feel motivated and encouraged because of no discrimination factor. Furthermore, it is
said that diversity is a concept which consist of age, gender, religion, colour, race and many
more. Apart from this, equality helps the current employees in order to gain various opportunities
and fair treatment within the workplace. This as a result, provide assistance to the organisation as
there performance will be increased on a continuous basis. Importance of implementing equality
and diversity practices among the organisation is that efficiency of staff members will be
increased which helps in gaining positive results.

Various issues and challenges associated with equality and diversity practices at workplace
According to the thought of (Boekhorst, 2015) it has been said that there are ample
number of issues and challenges which is linked with both equality as well as diversity within the
workplace. Some of these issues might arise within the organisation which affect the whole
result in a negative manner. Therefore, it is essential to reduce such kind of negative issues from
the working environment so that positive result will be developed within limited time frame.
These issues might be generation gap, cultural as well as language barrier, physical and mental
disabilities and many more. Hence it is required by the management team to examine their
working environment on a regular basis so that if any kind of situation arise at the workplace
might be resolved within the time period. It has also been analysed that all these issues as well as
challenges highly affect the overall performance of the staff members along with the
performance of organisation at the competitive marketplace. Along with this, employees feel
satisfied as they get fair and equal opportunities within the organisation.
Ways to overcome issues related with equality and diversity
As per the thought of (Cacchione, 2016) it is said that there are various methods which
help in reducing the issues and challenges arise within the organisation which is associated with
equality and diversity. It has been said that managers need to communicate each and every
information with their staff members in an effective manner so that their might not be any kind
of confusion arise among the employees. Along with this, every individual will be able to share
their thoughts and views freely and have equal opportunities for the development. This will help
in increasing the overall efficiency of staff members, which provide positive result by developing
high quality products and services.
P2 Project Management Plan
Project management plan refers to an essential written document also known as blueprint
which provide positive assistance to the company in order to perform the investigation in an
effective and appropriate manner. This is the plan which includes various policies, plans and
strategies mainly aid in conducting all the business functionality within given time frame and in
an effective manner. Some of the most essential factors are going to be discussed as follows:
 Cost: It refers to the total number of amount used by a company so that they will be
able to produce high quality products and services in order to satisfy the needs and
wants to customers. In references to the current research, it is said that researcher

needs adequate amount of funds so that they can conduct their investigation in a
positive manner and produce required outcomes effectively. Furthermore, there are
mainly three types of costing techniques which are budgeting, cost breakdown
structure, cash fellow statement and many more. In the context of present research,
researcher require total amount of £90 in order to conduct the investigation in an
appropriate manner.
 Scope: It is the another important factor which includes the actual scope of present
investigation in context of both real life and business. In reference to the current
investigation, the scope of this research is quite wide in context of M&S as well as to all
those MNC's who mainly perform their functions within the same sector (Cottrill, Denise
Lopez and Hoffman, 2014). At the end of this research, investigator will be able to gain
ample number of opportunities at the marketplace which is accomplished by M&S.
 Time: Another factor is time which is required to complete the whole research in an
appropriate manner. It has been analysed that time of the research is decided by the
team before starting the research so that all the task will be attained within given time
frame. In the context of present research, in order to complete the whole
investigation total time is taken by researcher is 6 months. This will help in
producing positive result within given time frame.
 Quality: It is very essential to maintain the quality of all the collected information
and data so that they can produce positive outcomes. These data and information is
gathered from different authentic sources. It is essential for the researcher to keep all
the information confidential so that no one get harmed by any kind of outcomes.
 Communication: Along with this, it is very important to communicate each and
every information with the team members so that the research will be conducted in
an appropriate manner. In reference to the current research it is required by the
researcher to use specific tools and techniques so that necessary information will be
communicated effectively (Drews and Van den Bergh, 2016). For this, mobile
phones, emails, regular meetings and many more need to be conducted by the
researcher on a continuous basis. With the help of this, researcher will be able to
communicate all the strategies with their team members in an effective manner.