Managing a Successful Business Project

This document discusses the process of managing a successful business project, focusing on the issue of gender pay gap in the company Mercedes Benz. It covers aims and objectives, project management plan, research methodology, and challenges faced in promoting equality in pay. The document also provides recommendations for reducing the pay gap and includes a reflection on the research.

UNIT 6- MANAGING A
SUCCESFUL BUSINESS
PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Background ............................................................................................................................3
P 1 Aims and objectives.........................................................................................................3
P 2 Project management plan.................................................................................................4
P 3 Gantt chart and work break down structure.....................................................................5
P 4 Research methodology.....................................................................................................7
P 5 Data analysis and interpretation.....................................................................................10
P 6 Recommendation............................................................................................................16
P 7 Reflection.......................................................................................................................17
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................17
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................18

INTRODUCTION
Background
Maintaining equality and diversity is the biggest issue within the company which needs
to be taken care by the company for attaining success. This is majorly pertaining to the fact that
if there is no equality and diversity at the workplace then the employees will not like to work in
such company. The current issue which is faced by the companies for maintaining equality is the
gender pay gap. The gender pay gap is the difference between the pay given to the males and the
females working within the company. There is huge gap in between the wages paid to the males
as compared to the females.
The present research is based on the company Mercedes Benz which is a German global
auto-mobile company. this present research will start by formulation of aim and objective
relating to gender pay gap for the company. further, it will discuss the project management plan
and the small research with help of primary and secondary research methods. Further the
collected data will be analysed and interpreted. In the end some recommendation will be made
for company in improving gender pay gap and also a reflection for the learning from the whole
research.
P 1 Aims and objectives
Aim
“To investigate the reason behind the difference between the pay of males and females in
corporate world”. A study on Mercedes Benz.
Objectives
 To understand the concept of gender pay gap in company.
 To outline the reason of high gap in pay of male as compared to females.
 To analyse the challenges faced by company in maintaining equality in pay on basis of
gender.
 To recommend some measures for minimizing the high difference in pay.
Research question1. What do you understand by gender pay gap?2. What are the reasons behind high difference in pay of the employees?

3. What are the major challenges faced by the company at time of promoting equality in
pay?4. How a company can reduce the high gap of pay among male employees and female
employees?
Rationale
The main reason for selecting gender pay gap as the research topic is that this is the
current problem which is faced by the company and that need to be solved for promoting
equality and diversity. Thus, the gender pay gap was selected for this reason. Another reason was
the personal interest of the researcher as they wanted to find some measures with which the
company can reduce the high difference in the wages of the males and females.
P 2 Project management plan
This is a document which is prepared for outlining all the phases through which the
project passes in order to reach the end phase. The project management plan includes five phases
that is initiation, planning, execution, monitoring & controlling and in the end project closure.
Project execution phase
Time- this is the time which is being involved in the completion of the whole project.
Here the time taken will be around 12 to 13 weeks to complete every phase of the project.
Cost- this involves the money that will be used in the completion of the project. The
estimation of the cost in advance is very necessary because of the fact that this will help the
researcher in properly allocating the money to every aspect of the project (Mossalam, and Arafa,
2016). The estimated cost for this project is £1000.
Scope- the scope of this project is wide as this study is focused on the gaining knowledge
relating to reason for the high gap in pay on basis of gender. Thus, this has a wider scope and
also will outline measure of promoting equality and diversity for the company.
Quality- this is the minimum accepted level which needs to be attained. The quality helps
the researcher in meeting all the requirement of the quality of work by abiding by all the
standards and policies of quality. For maintaining quality researcher will use all the valid and
reliable sources (Darlington, Moore and Tailby, 2015).
Communication- this is the most essential tool for the researcher in completion of the
research as this help the researcher in communicating with the different people. This

communication is in many different forms like through telephones, questionnaire, messages and
many others.
Risk- this is the important aspect to be taken care by the researcher as these are the
uncertain events and activities which may occur and may not. There are many risks involved
with the research like the less time, limited resources, limitation of data, limited finance and
many other risks (Moore and Tailby, 2015).
Resources- these are the things which assist the researcher in completing the research in
effective and efficient manner. These resources are like financial resources, human resource,
different equipment and technology which is used in researching data and many others.
P 3 Gantt chart and work break down structure
Gantt chart- this is type of diagram or chart which demonstrate the whole schedule of the
stages involved in the project form its initiation till its completion.
Task Mode Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Auto
Schedule
d
Selection of topic 2 days Mon 12/23/19 Tue 12/24/19
Auto
Schedule
d
Developing research aim and
objectives 2 days Wed 12/25/19 Thu 12/26/19 1
Auto
Schedule
d
brief plan development 2 days Fri 12/27/19 Mon 12/30/19 2
Auto
Schedule
d
Research methods selection 2 days Tue 12/31/19 Wed 1/1/20 3
Auto
Schedule
d
Preparing questionnaire 2 days Thu 1/2/20 Fri 1/3/20 4
Auto
Schedule
d
Sending questionnaire for
data collection 2 days Mon 1/6/20 Tue 1/7/20 5
Auto
Schedule
d
Recording data set in a
structured format 5 days Wed 1/8/20 Tue 1/14/20 5,6
Auto
Schedule
d
Interpreting gathered data
set 4 days Wed 1/8/20 Mon 1/13/20 6
Auto
Schedule
Concluding findings and
recommending solutions
2 days Wed 1/15/20 Thu 1/16/20 7,8

d
Auto
Schedule
d
Formatting 3 days Fri 1/17/20 Tue 1/21/20 8,9
Auto
Schedule
d
Taking feedback 2 days Fri 1/17/20 Mon 1/20/20 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
Auto
Schedule
d
Doing changes as per the
feedback provided 3 days Tue 1/21/20 Thu 1/23/20 11
Auto
Schedule
d
Final submission 0 days Thu 1/23/20 Fri 5/5/23 12

Work breakdown structure- this is a structure which demonstrate the breakdown of every
stage of the project management plan.
P 4 Research methodology
Literature review
Gender pay gap
In views of Costantino, Di Gravio and Nonino (2015) gender pay gap is the variance in
between the wages or salaries being pays to the male employees as compared to the females
within the company. This is majorly because of the fact that females are always treated less
competent in comparison to males. Thus, there is the high pay gap in between the salaries of the
male and the female. But in contrast to this O'Neill, (2019) argues that the gap exists due to the
fact that women are still treated as dependent over others even if they are working in the
corporate world.
Reason for gender pay gap
In accordance to O’Reilly and et.al., (2015) articulates that the major reason behind the
high gap in pay of employees on basis of gender is that there is male dominated business culture.
This is a culture in which the males dominate the business environment and rules the whole

business. In contrast to this Costa Dias, Joyce and Parodi (2018) argues that the major reason for
the high gap is the males are more competent as compared to the females. Thus, they are paid
more and the women are paid less. In the view of Fortin, Bell and Böhm (2017) another reason
for the difference in the pay is that female needs more flexible working as they also have to take
care of their families and also there can be man y reason due to which they need holiday from the
companies. Thus, this impacts the working efficiency of the company and they pay less to the
women in comparison with the males.
Challenges faced due to high difference in pay of employees
O'Neill, (2019) states that the major challenge faced by the company at time of
promoting equality in pay of employees is the thinking and mentality of the employees. This is
majorly because of the fact that the people have the mindset that females are weaker and
underprivileged as compared to men. Thus, the company cannot change the thinking of the
people in less time so this posses a challenge for the company to promote equality and diversity.
On the other hand, Graf, Brown and Patten (2018) argues that the major challenge which the
company faces is the cultural differences. This is due to the fact that even if company tries to
change the thinking of the employee then also the culture in which they live will not try to
change the thinking relating to the fact that females are more competent as compared to the
males.
Research methodology
Research Type: Research is the process of conducting a systematic investigation on the
issue which is faced by the organization, with the sole motive of finding out the solution of the
same. Scholar in general used to take the help of two most commonly used research type that is
Qualitative and Quantitative research type. Quantitative research type used to provide the
outcome of the study in the numeric form and Qualitative research type used to provide the
outcome of the study in the non numeric form. Scholar has taken the help of the Qualitative
research type as it was getting to difficult for the scholar to present the result in the numerical
form.
Research Approach: Research approach is the set of the different plan and the procedure
which is undertaken by the scholar with the assumption to perform different research activity
(Mackey and Gass, 2015). Inductive research and deductive research are two of the approach
which is well recognized in the field of the study. Inductive approach used to concentrate on

bringing out the new theory on the basis of the data generated. Deductive approach at the same
time used to look at testing the already made theory in the organization. Scholar has used the
deductive research approach in this study as this study used to provide the good supportive hand
to the qualitative research type.
Research Philosophy: Research philosophy element is the belief which used to explain
the different phenomenon through which data can be collected for the research and also can be
analysed. Interpretivism and positivism is the two main type of research philosophy which can
be used by the scholar to carry out the outcome of the study. Interpretivism philosophy used to
examine the different human nature involved in the study, whereas positivism philosophy used to
look at the actual fact related to the study. Scholar has taken the help of interpretivism research
philosophy to find out the outcome of “To investigate the reason behind the difference between
the pay of males and females in corporate world”. Reason behind choosing Interpretivism
philosophy is that it will help the scholar in understanding the human nature also involved in the
research.
Data collection: Data collection is the concept in which scholar try to collect the data
available to understand the topic of the study and on the basis of that try to find out the solution
of the issue (Kumar, 2019). Primary data collection and secondary data collection are the two
main type of data collection tool which is used by all the researcher. Data which is collected
from the source itself for the first time is known as a primary data. Data which is collected from
any other source than its occurrence is known as a secondary data collection tool. Scholar has
taken the help of both the data collection tool, primary data was collected with the help of the
survey which was conducted on the 20 employee of the organization. Secondary data are
collected with the help of gathering information from the different books and journal related to
the gender pay gap (Silverman, 2016).
Data Analysis: Data analysis is the process of understanding and fixing a reality in
between the data collected. On the basis of the same scholar try to find out the result of the issue
which is faced by the organization. Scholar will be using the thematic data analysis tool to
analysis the different data with the help of making the different themes and presenting the data in
more presentable way so that view find it easy to interpret the same in easy way.
Sampling: Sampling is the element which concentrate on selecting the group of the
respondent on which the survey via questionnaire will be targeted. There are two most

commonly used sampling method that is probabilistic sampling method and non probabilistic
sampling method. Method which used to give all the respondent with the equal chance to get
selected in the cut of the respondent is known as a probabilistic sampling method. Sampling
method which not used to give all the respondent a equal chance to get selected in cut is non
probabilistic sampling method. Scholar has selected the simple random method under
probabilistic method to select the sample size. Sample size selected for the study is 20 employee
of organization.
Ethical consideration: Scholar has taken consent of all the respondent beforehand itself
before conducting the research on the study. Also Scholar has made sure that high level of
confidentiality is maintained through out the conduct of the study in the organization.
P 5 Data analysis and interpretation
Theme 1: Yes, there is familiarity with concept of gender pay gap
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Yes 18 90
No 2 10
Total 20 100
Interpretation: After going through the data collected it has been interpreted that there is
a good knowledge about the gender pay gap in the organization. As out of the total respondent 18
are in favour of yes and only 2 are in the favour of no.
Theme 2: Yes, this is a biggest obstacle in incorporating equality and diversity

Particular Respondent % of respondent
Yes 16 80
No 4 20
Total 20 100
Interpretation: The data collected shows that 16 respondent out of 20 respondent are
having the opinion that gender pay gap is one of the biggest obstacles in incorporating the
equality and diversity in the organization. Only 4 respondent are against this opinion. So from
the collected data it has been interpreted that Gender pay need to be seen as a considerable factor
at the time of incorporating the gender pay gap in the organization.
Theme 3: Equal opportunity among all gender is the best way to promote reducing gender pay
gap
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Equal opportunity across all gender 10 50
Identification of discrimination and preventing the same in the
organization 5 25
Hiring employees of various background and culture 3 15
Training to employee 2 10
Total 20 100

Interpretation: Data collected with the help of the primary source helps in interpreting
that equal opportunity is one of the best way through which the gender pay gap in the
organization can be reduced. It is not that one sided result as respondent has also chosen other
option. Out of the total pool of 20 respondent 10 are in favour of equal opportunity, 5 are in
favour of Identification of discrimination and preventing the same in the organization, 3 are in
favour of Hiring employees of various background and culture and 2 are in favour of Training to
employee.
Theme 4: Race and religion is the factor which leads to discrimination
Particular Respondent
% of
respondent
Race and religion 7 35
Gender, age and sexual orientation 4 20
Status and social economic factors 5 25
Different culture, language and nationality 4 20
Total 20 100

Interpretation: After going through the data collected it has been interpreted that there is
no clarity of the result of this survey as out of the total respondent 7 are in the favour that race
and religion which leads to discrimination in the organization. Whereas 4,5,4 respondent are
having the opinion of gender, Status and social economic and different culture respectively. So it
can be said that there are more than one factor which used to lead to discrimination in the
organization.
Theme 5: Yes, reduction in gender pay gap will help company in building inclusive culture
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Yes 17 85
No 3 15
Total 20 100

Interpretation: From the above data gathered it can be interpreted that reduced gender
pay gap in the organization helps the organization in building a good working place culture in the
organization. As out of the total pool of 20 respondent 17 are in the favour of same and 3 are in
against the same.
Theme 6: Yes, company takes corrective action for reducing gender pay gap
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Yes 14 70
No 6 30
Total 20 100

Interpretation: After going through the above data it has been analysed that organization used
to take the corrective action in the organization to reduce the gender pay gap in the organization.
This is good for the organization as they are able to pass on the message that they are taking the
corrective action. As out of the total 20 respondent 14 are in favour of yes and only 6 are against
it.
Theme 7: All of these is the main causes of gender pay gap
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Perception that women cannot perform the same work as men do 3 15
Women tend to have less market knowledge as compared to men 2 10
Barriers that stop women advancing further in their profession 1 5
All of the above 15 75
Total 20 100
Interpretation: After going through the above report it has been summarized that there
are more than one causes of the gender pay gap in the organization. As out of 20 respondent 15
has chosen all of the above option and remaining 3,2,1 has chosen Perception that women cannot
perform the same work as men do, Women tend to have less market knowledge as compared to
men and Barriers that stop women advancing further in their profession respectively.
Theme 8: Salary transparency can help company in reducing the gender pay gap
Particular Respondent % of respondent
Mentoring programs 3 15
Salary transparency 13 65

Eliminate negotiation 1 5
All of the above 3 15
Total 20 100
Interpretation: After going through the collected data it can be interpreted that out of the
total pool of 20 employee 13 employee are in the favour that salary transparency is one of the
best way through which amount of gender pay gap impact can be reduce. Remaining 3,1 and 3
respondent are in favour of Mentoring programs, Eliminate negotiation and All of the above
respectively.
Theme 9: “Major solution to the gender pay gap”
Interpretation: After going through the suggestion of all the respondent it has been find out that
most of the employee are having the opinion that clarity about the salary pay is the best way
through which organization can overcome the issue of the gender pay gap in the organization.
P 6 Recommendation
From the above it can be analysed that promoting equality in the pay of the employees on
basis of the gender is very important. Thus, for this some recommendation to Mercedes Benz are
as follows-
The first measure for company is to try to change the beliefs and thinking of the
employees that females are weaker then men. This can be done with help of arrangement of
personality development session, some lectures from some motivational speakers relating to the
importance of female in the company.

Another recommendation is to employ the Equal Pay act within the company. This is
majorly because of the reason that if some law will be applicable over the company then they
have to follow it and this will promote equality in pay.
One more recommendation is that the company must provide for the training to the
employees which will train the employees not to discriminate among the males and females and
biasness in paying the males more as compared to the females.
P 7 Reflection
From the research I learnt that for a company to be successful it is very necessary for
them to promote equality in workplace. This is majorly because of the fact that if there will be
equality then more of the employees will be attracted towards the company. This research helped
me in learning that for the completion of the research it is necessary to formulate aim and
relating objectives. Also, it is very necessary to analyse all the important methodologies of
research like design, philosophies, data collection and other. Also, I learnt that for doing data
analysis it is very necessary to use the thematic analysis because it is very presentable and
attractive.
This research helped me in learning many skills like communication skills, time
management skills, interpersonal skills, researching skills and many other related skills. All thee
skills will help me in future as all these skills ae applicable in every business area and also will
help me in my normal life activities.
CONCLUSION
In the end it can be concluded that managing equality and diversity is very important for
the company to attain success. This is pertaining to the fact that if the if there will not be equality
at workplace then the employee will not like to work with that company. The present research
discussed about the meeting the aim of the project that is reason for high gender pay gap. It was
outlined that this is the current issue hampering the equality within the workplace.
For this the project started with the formulation of aims and objectives and then the
project management plan. Further the discussion was done on the research methods used to
complete the research and the views of different authors related to the topic. In the end the data
collected was analysed and interpreted and some recommendations was made to the company.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
O'Neill, 2019. Gender pay gap grows. New Scientist. 241(3223). p.45.
Graf, Brown and Patten, 2018. The narrowing, but persistent, gender gap in pay. Pew Research
Center, April, 9.
Fortin, Bell and Böhm, 2017. Top earnings inequality and the gender pay gap: Canada, Sweden,
and the United Kingdom. Labour Economics. 47. pp.107-123.
O’Reilly, J and et.al., 2015. Equal pay as a moving target: International perspectives on forty-
years of addressing the gender pay gap. Cambridge Journal of Economics. 39(2).
pp.299-317.
Costa Dias, M., Joyce, R. and Parodi, F., 2018. The gender pay gap in the UK: children and
experience in work (No. W18/02). IFS Working Papers.
Chen, H., Kang, H. Y. and Lee, A., 2017. A project management plan to reach sustainable
competitive advantage for a photovoltaic (PV) manufacturer. Sustainability, 9(9),
p.1496.
Costantino, F., Di Gravio, G. and Nonino, F., 2015. Project selection in project portfolio
management: An artificial neural network model based on critical success factors.
International Journal of Project Management. 33(8). pp.1744-1754.
Mossalam, A. and Arafa, M., 2016. The role of project manager in benefits realization
management as a project constraint/driver. HBRC journal. 12(3). pp.305-315.
Kumar, R., 2019. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage Publications
Limited.
Mackey, A. and Gass, S.M., 2015. Second language research: Methodology and design.
Routledge.
Bresler, L. and Stake, R.E., 2017. Qualitative research methodology in music education. In
Critical Essays in Music Education (pp. 113-128). Routledge.
Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage.
Thompson, N., 2016. Anti-discriminatory practice: Equality, diversity and social justice.
Macmillan International Higher Education.
Moore, S. and Tailby, S., 2015. The changing face of employment relations: equality and
diversity. Employee Relations, 37(6), pp.705-719.

Darlington, R., Moore, S. and Tailby, S., 2015. The changing face of employment relations:
equality and diversity. Employee Relations.