Workplace Issues Affecting British Telecom: A Case Study

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This case study analyzes workplace issues at British Telecom.

Research Project
“Workplace issues affecting organisation: A case study of British Telecom”
Student’s Name:
Student’s ID:
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Abstract
The main aim is to recognize the problems and issues prevailing in the specified organization. In
this research project, the different types of problems and issues were identified that tend to have
a major influence on the productivity and profitability of the organization. Some measures and
practices were recommended to the organization in order to improve and enhance the functioning
of the organization’s management authority for achieving appropriate and better outcomes and
results. In this research project, the identified issues were resolved to increase the success factor
of the organization.
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
LO1 Conduct appropriate research methodology, which integrates knowledge into the research
process.............................................................................................................................................5
P1 Produce a research proposal that clearly defines a research question or hypothesis supported
by a literature review.......................................................................................................................5
P2 Examine appropriate research methods and conduct primary and secondary research.............9
LO2 Conduct and analyse research relevant to a chosen business research project......................11
P3 Conduct primary and secondary research using appropriate methods for a business research
project that considers costs, access and ethical issues...................................................................11
P4 Apply appropriate analytical tools to analyse research findings and data 500.........................14
LO3 Communicate the outcomes of a research project to identified stakeholders.......................20
P5 Communicate research outcomes in an appropriate manner for the intended audience..........20
LO4 Reflect on the application of research methodologies and concepts.....................................21
P6 Reflect on the effectiveness of research methods applied for meeting objectives of a business
research project..............................................................................................................................21
P7 Consider alternative research methodologies and lessons learnt in view of the outcomes......23
Conclusion and Recommendations................................................................................................25
Reference List................................................................................................................................26
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Introduction
Workplace issues in the organisation are considered one of the biggest drawbacks faced. Due to
the issues within the premises of the organisation, they are unable to meet with the organisational
objectives. This has a major negative impact on the smooth functioning of the workplace. This
research project has been developed in order to analyse the workplace issues prevailing within
the organisational structure. The use of appropriate research methods have been used for
analysing the outcomes of the research project. Besides this, different journals and articles have
been used for gathering all the important data and information that helps to develop the research
project. The company that has been selected is British Telecom, UK. The leading company that
provides telecommunication services to the entire population of the United Kingdom. However,
there are certain workplace issues that affect the overall functioning of the organisation. With the
help of the research project, one can understand the ways and means by which these issues can
be eradicated in the workplace. This will allow the management of British Telecom to take
necessary measures that will help them to minimise the negative impacts of the workplace issues.
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LO1 Conduct appropriate research methodology, which integrates knowledge into the
research process
P1 Produce a research proposal that clearly defines a research question or hypothesis
supported by a literature review
Background of the Study
The study has been based on identifying the workplace issues that prevail in British Telecom.
The study is regarded highly significant because it will help the organisation to take precautions
for dealing with their issues and enhance the functioning of the workplace. Due to the
development of such issues, the workplace is unable to function in a desired manner (Shaw et al.,
2013). The study has been developed in accordance to the issues and it provides suitable
recommendations that would help to overcome these issues.
Research Aim
The aim of the research project is to analyse the workplace issues prevailing in British Telecom
and provide relevant suggestion for resolving the identified issues.
Research Objectives
The main objectives of the research are:
 To identify the issues existing in the workplace of British Telecom
 To improve the management of the workplace for gaining better outcomes
 To resolve the identified issues to increase the success factor of the organisation
Research Questions
Q1. What are some of the major issues existing in the workplace of British Telecom?
Q2. How do the issues affect the functioning of British Telecom?
Q3. What are the suitable measures that could be taken in order to overcome the issues in the
workplace?
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Research Rationale
What is the issue?
While working within the organisation, the employees are faced with several workplace issues
such as communication and management issues. Besides this, the issues related to lack of
employee satisfaction impacts on the workplace functioning (Bleijenbergh et al., 2010).
Why is the issue?
These issues prevail because of the gap in communication amongst the employees and the
management authority. Due to the communication gap, employees are unable to discuss their
problems with the higher authority. As a result, they are unable to function in a desired manner
(Albrech, 2011).
What is the issue now?
In the modern era, managing the workplace diversity can be regarded as one of the major issue
within the workplace. Due to this, companies are unable to meet with the level of employee
satisfaction and the organisational goals are not achieved in the workplace.
How will this study shed light on this issue?
With the help of this study, one can understand the reasons for the issues to prevail. The study
will analyse valuable sources of information and will help British Telecom to overcome the
issues so that they are able to perform all the organisational functions in a desired manner
(Patrick and Kumar, 2012).
Literature Review
This section of the research paper analyses the topic of the research in a detailed manner. It
analyses the different issues in the workplace and identifies the reasons for such issues to
develop in the workplace.
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Workplace Issues in Organisation
Issues prevailing in
the workplace
Ways to Overcome the
Issues
Lack of
Motivation
Improper
Employee
Performance
Impact of the existing
issues
Communicatio
n Issues
Workplace
Diversity Issues
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework
(Source: created by the learner)
Issues prevailing in the workplace
This portion highlights some of the major issues in the workplace. One of the major issues
prevailing in the workplace is communication gap. Due to this, the employees are unable to
discuss their problems with the management of the company. As a result, organisations are
unable to achieve their objectives (Cherry and Jacob, 2016). Moreover, the employees are
unaware of the new policies and legislations that have been implemented in the workplace.
Another major issue that exists is that of workforce diversity. Due to the issue, employees within
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the workplace are discriminated based on the difference in their culture, caste, religion and
gender. This decreases the overall level of employee motivation and satisfaction in the workplace
and creates hindrance in the employee performance within the premises of the workplace.
Moreover, the issue related of low wages is also important to understand in regards to the
research. If companies are unable to provide proper wages to the employees, it will decrease
their morale and they will not be able to function in an effective and efficient manner (Kroth and
Peutz, 2011).
Impact of the existing issues on the organisation
These issues have a major negative impact on the workplace harmony of the organisation. Due to
the issues related to communication, the management is unable to identify the problems that the
employees are facing in the workplace (Thory, 2013). Their issues remain unresolved and they
are unable to address their job roles and responsibilities in an appropriate manner. As a result of
increased issues related to workplace diversity, the employees are unable to function to the best
of their abilities. Besides this, the performance of the employees is deteriorated in the workplace
and they are unable to assist the organisation to increase their generation of profit in the market
(Lutgen-Sandvik et al., 2010).
Ways to overcome the workplace issues
In order to deal with the issues in the workplace, it is important for the management of the
company to take all the necessary measures so that these issues can be eradicated. It is important
for the higher authority to ensure that they are increasing the level of communication amongst
the employees and the employers (Fahie, 2014). This will help them to understand the issues that
prevail in the workplace and they will be able to provide them suitable recommendations about
the issues. Besides this, the management should look to provide the employees with training in
the workplace. This will help them to understand their job roles and responsibilities in the
workplace and they will be able to address their duties properly (Yang and Konrad, 2011).
Moreover, the seniors should look to make the employees to work in collaboration with one
another. With the help of this, the issues related to workplace diversity can be overcome. The
managers of the workplace should ensure that they are providing the employees with workplace
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benefits so that they are able to increase their level of motivation (Myers and Sadaghiani, 2010).
This will also help to keep the employees satisfied in the workplace.
Literature Gap
Due to time constraint, the researcher was unable to make use of all the journals and articles that
were available for the research topic. The literature was unable to gather all the issues and
problems that existed in companies. Therefore, it is important to analyse the gap in the literature
that would help in the successful completion of the research project.
P2 Examine appropriate research methods and conduct primary and secondary research
Introduction
This section of the research paper determines the appropriate research methodologies that could
be used for completing the research. It helps to understand the topic of the research in a detailed
manner. It is important for the researcher to select the right technique for analysing the research
paper.
Research Approach
The research approach that will be used for meeting with the objectives of the research is
deductive research approach. It helps the researcher to develop their hypothesis based on the
theories that exist. It allows the research outcomes to be measured in a quantitative manner
(Neuman, 2013).
Research Design
The selected research design that is most significant for the research project is exploratory
research. With the help of this, the researcher will be able to explore the different areas of the
research and make use of the gathered information to meet with the requirements of their project
(Silverman, 2016).
Data Collection Methods
Primary and secondary data collection methods have been used for collecting data related to the
research topic. The researcher will make use of journals and articles for gathering secondary data
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for usage. Besides this, they will also secondary by conducting interviews and surveys amongst
the employees of British Telecom.
Sample Size and Technique
The sample size that could be used for the research is 100 employees and 2 managers of British
Telecom. This will help the researcher to understand the perspective of the employees and
managers related to the research topic. The techniques that will be applied are interview and
survey (Panneerselvam, 2014).
Data Analysis
The researcher will use quantitative and qualitative data analysis. This will help him or her to
gather the information that they receive from the employees and managers of British Telecom.
This allows them to analyse the data that they have gathered for the purpose of the research
project.
Ethical Consideration
It is important for the researcher to ensure that they are conducting their research in an ethical
manner. They will look to keep all the gathered data and information under safe and secure
environment (Flick, 2015). They should ensure that they are not compelling the participants to
take part in the survey or interview. They will also make use of the Data Protection Act of 1998
for safeguarding the information of the participants taking part in the survey.
Research Limitation
While conducting the research, the research faced issues such as time constraints. As a result, he
or she was unable to gather all the necessary information needed for the research. Due to this,
they were not able to complete the research in a desired manner. Besides this, the researcher was
unable to reach out to all the sources of information. As a result, they were unable to enhance the
quality of their research outcomes.
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LO2 Conduct and analyse research relevant to a chosen business research project
P3 Conduct primary and secondary research using appropriate methods for a business
research project that considers costs, access and ethical issues
Cost Structure
Activities Cost (£)
Internet Expenses 200
Literature Review 150
Survey Expenses 50
Interview Expenses 200
Total 600
Table 1: Cost Structure
(Source: created by the learner)
Accessibility to the Data
In order to access the data and information that is required for completing the research paper, it is
important for the researcher to gain access to the information. For doing this, the researcher took
the help of the employees and managers of British Telecom. After the permission was granted,
they were able to conduct their survey and interview in a proper manner. With the help of this,
they were able to implement the information in the development of the research project.
Ethical Issues
During the course of the research project, the researcher was unable to communicate with the
teammates about the research topic. As a result, there were certain areas that could not be
covered during the research. Besides this, there was privacy issue that resulted on affecting the
project in a negative manner. Apart from this, some of the sources to collect data were not
authentic for the project. Due to this, the overall success of the project was questioned.
Quantitative Data Collection
Q1. Please specify your age.
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Options Number of
Respondents
Percentage of
Respondents
Total
23-27 28 28 100
28-34 30 30 100
35 and above 42 42 100
Table 2: Age of Participants
Q2. Please specify your gender.
Options Number of
Respondents
Percentage of
Respondents
Total
Male 32 32 100
Female 68 68 100
Table 3: Gender of Participants
Q3. What are the workplace issues that have a negative impact on the functioning of British
Telecom?
Options Number of
Respondents
Percentage of
Respondents
Total
Communication Gaps 34 34 100
Management Issues 49 49 100
Lack of employee
motivation
21 21 100
Table 4: Workplace issues that impact British Telecom
Q4. Is the company taking suitable measures to deal with the issues prevailing in the workplace?
Options Number of
Respondents
Percentage of
Respondents
Total
Yes 56 56 100
No 39 39 100
Neutral 5 5 100
Table 5: Suitable measures to deal with existing issues
Q5. How far do you agree with the fact that workplace issues impact on the productivity of the
workplace?
Options Number of
Respondents
Percentage of
Respondents
Total
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