Research Project: Challenges Faced by Team Leaders at Ford UK

This research project investigates the challenges faced by team leaders in managing cultural diversity within the UK automotive manufacturing sector, specifically focusing on Ford UK. The study explores the benefits of cultural diversity to organizations, analyzes dimensions of cultural value differences, and identifies specific challenges faced by team leaders, such as communication issues and the implementation of diversity policies. The methodology includes a literature review, examining topics like the impact of cultural diversity, communication strategies, and approaches to managing a diverse workforce. The research also delves into effective strategies for managing cultural diversity, including redefining work schedules, fostering cultural awareness, and developing open communication channels. The project concludes with recommendations for improvement and suggestions for future research, aiming to provide practical insights into creating a more inclusive and productive work environment within the automotive sector.

RESEARCH PROJECT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY..............................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................................................5
SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW.................................................................................................8
METHODOLOGY......................................................................................................................................9
PROPOSED TIME SCALE (GANT CHART)..........................................................................................10
PRELIMINARY RESULTS (DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION).......................................11
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION................................................................................................................21
EVALUATION OF THE RESEARCH METHODS AND APPROACHES.............................................23
PERSONAL REFLECTION OF THE RESEARCH.................................................................................23
RECOMMENDATIONS ON AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT................................................................23
AREAS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH.......................................................................................................24
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................24
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................25
INTRODUCTION
Background of research
Workplace diversity is explained as variations in institutions and individuals. Sounds
basic but diversity includes race, sex, community of people, age, temperament, style of
cognition, tenure, organizational structure, employment, history and more. Diversity includes not
just the perception of men, but also the perception of others. These perceptions influence their
relationships. For wide range of staff to work efficiently as an organisation, workers need to
tackle problems like communication, ability to adapt and change effectively. Ford UK is British
owned subsidiary of the Blue oval Holdings and subsidiary of the Ford International Capital LLC

that is subsidiary of the Ford Motor firm. In this company, there are large numbers of employees
working from the different backgrounds (Al-Jenaibi, 2017). Attracting, developing and
sustaining diverse workforce. This company develops the diverse groups at all level of company.
Rationale of Research
Present work is focused on problems faced by team members in the UK automotive
manufacturing sector in the management of cultural diversity. Conduct this analysis in a personal
and professional setting. Researcher in his personal knowledge and knowledge of the particular
topic in a personal context. In the professional sense, investigator want to know the advantages
of cultural diversity in the workplace and the problems that team leader primarily tackles in an
organization from its cultural diversity. This work would allow the researcher to develop his
analysis and analytical abilities. I will carry out the work in the future (Barak, 2016).
Aim
To determine the challenges faced by team leaders in managing cultural diversity in the
UK Automotive manufacturing sector. A case study of team leaders at Ford UK.
Objectives
 To examine the benefits of cultural diversity to organisation.
 To analyse the dimensions of differences in cultural values.
 To identify challenges faced by team leaders in managing cultural diversity in the UK
Automotive manufacturing sector.
 To determine ways through which the cultural diversity can be managed in Automotive
manufacturing sector.
Questions
 Does cultural diversity is beneficial for company?
 What are main dimensions of the differences in the cultural values?
 Which kind of issues faced through the team leaders in the UK Automotive
manufacturing sector in context to managing the cultural diversity?
 What are the effective ways to manage cultural diversity at workplace?

IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
The core area of an enterprise is cultural diversity. Several workers of different
backgrounds and culture work in a business. Team Leader is responsible for managing all
employees who belong to various backgrounds and also know each other's different culture. This
contributes to the development of a good working environment. The aim of this research is to
know the difficulties that primarily the Company is facing in handling and addressing cultural
diversity (Bouncken, Brem and Kraus, 2016).

LITERATURE REVIEW
Benefits of cultural diversity to organisation
Dianne Shaddock (2020) stated that the effectiveness of a firm is rely on its opportunity
to take the benefits and take advantage of diversity. If companies systematically assess their
managing of issues related to organizational diversity, establish and execute diversity strategies,
numerous benefits such as:
Increased adaptability- The organizations with wide range of staff will provide more
solutions to service issues, recruitment and resource allocation. Staff from a range of
backgrounds brings different skills and perspectives to formulate solutions that are versatile to
respond to evolving conditions and consumer demands (Brown, 2017).
Variety of viewpoints- A diversified employee who is confident sharing multiple
viewpoints has a broader variety of thoughts and experiences. The company can leverage this
pool to more effectively respond to business strategy requirements and customers ' needs.
More effective execution- Businesses encourage diversity in workplace encourage all
staff members to do their best. Then, company-wide strategies can implemented, leading to
increased productivity, profit and investment returns.
Dimensions of differences in cultural values
On the basis of Melany Gallant (2020) Culture is knowledge, believing, attitudes and
standards system that is learned and shared. Culture therefore includes a great deal of behaviour.
Diversity rises in people's and organizations' daily lives because of globalization Seven aspects
(or faces) of cultural beliefs help to clarify how cultures vary.
Individualism vs. collectivism- Many societies assign greater significance and
importance than common good to personal interests and growth. Individualists claim their own
desires take precedence. The association or the working group is more concerned with
collectivists than with itself.

Acceptance of power and authority- Many people embrace a gap of power at different
levels; others do not understand power in certain cultures hierarchy (Davis, Frolova and
Callahan, 2016). There are communities in which individuals work as team. Automotive
manufacturing sector have a hierarchy of authority in culture.
Materialism vs. concern for others- Some religions emphasizes recognition and
purchase of money as well as artifacts. Other end of continuum focuses on the interests of others,
personal relations and common well-being.
Formality vs. informality- A nation that attaches great value to formality, ritual,
ceremonies, social rules and rankings. In comparison, informality relates to relaxed attitude
towards the same cultural aspects. There are more methodical people than others.
Urgent time orientation vs. casual time orientation- People from countries with a limited
emphasis on time see time as a resource and also appear impatient. Persons with an informal
time emphasis regard time as infinite and constant resource and prefer to be cautious.
Work orientation vs. leisure orientation-
A major cultural disparity is the amount of hours a week and perceptions of employment
in careers and leisure sports and other non-working behaviors. The conduct of leisure is less
successful in general.
High context vs. low-context cultures- Many cultures are high in contexts, and some are
small in contexts. In underlying cultures, people rarely take time to develop experience and
creating trust in business transactions (Frijns, Dodd and Cimerova, 2016).
Challenges faced by team leaders in managing cultural diversity in the UK Automotive
manufacturing sector
According to Kimberlee Leonard (2020) Organizations face the issue of diversity and it
develops the negative impact of organizational productivity. Team leaders play a necessary role
in business and their focus on managing the diverse workplace at workplace. There are some
issues faced through team leaders in managing cultural diversity in the UK Automotive
manufacturing sector mention below:

Communication issue- For diversity projects to thrive, cognitive, language and cultural
barriers must be resolved. The inability to communicate main goals leads to uncertainty,
communication inability, and low morality (Hatipoglu and Inelmen, 2018).
Implementation of diversity in workplace policies- It can be biggest obstacle for team
leader of diversity. Armed with findings of employee surveys and analysis data, they need a
tailored plan for optimizing their individual organization’s effects of workplace diversity.
Successful Management of Diversity in Workplace- With the diversity management
program, diversity preparation is not always enough. A plan to build a culture of diversity that
encompasses each department and company role must be developed and enforced.
Ways through which the cultural diversity can be managed in Automotive manufacturing sector.
On the basis of Daniele L. (2015), managing the cultural diversity is important for an
organization. This is helpful in develop positive working environment for the staff belongs to the
various culture and backgrounds. Cultural diversity can be reflected in the context of instruction,
time comprehension, authority or various cultural calendars. It is essential that people in various
cultures understand, interact and communicate. There are some of the effective ways for
managing cultural diversity mention below:
Re-define work schedules- Individuals of diverse national, ethnic or religious
backgrounds also have numerous festivals, holiday or holy days. So many holidays cannot be
permitted by any corporation. But Automotive manufacturing sector does have to take them into
account. It can offer paid vacation for your individual holidays while others work as usual.
Awareness- Behavior Cultural awareness is ability to be understand the responses to
various people and how behavior can interfere with successful work relations. Automotive
manufacturing sector need to learn prejudices to be getover. Instead of the preconceived and
partial notions, Automotive manufacturing sector need to view people and also focus on the
actual behavior (Hofhuis, van der Zee and Otten, 2016).
Develop open Communication- It is necessary for successful work and team success to
provide information accurately and quickly. In case of trouble in the project and urgent
corrective steps, it was especially important. Individuals from various backgrounds, though, vary

with how they respond to negative news. It is necessary to develop the open communication so
that people belongs to different backgrounds can able to communicate with each other’s and
understand about the each other.
SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW
It has been summarised from literature review that there has been secondary sources
considered like internet sources, articles etc. for collection of information. There has been
considered the different opinions and viewpoints of authors’ related to cultural diversity in
automotive Sector. In literature review, there has been discussed about the benefits of cultural
diversity such as increased adaptability of effective execution and variety of the viewpoints.
These all are cultural diversity advantages to company. There has been discussed regarding
different dimensions of the cultural values by constructing the cultural. There has been discussed
about the different challenges faced through team leaders in order to managing the cultural
diversity in Automotive manufacturing industry in United Kingdom (Joubert, 2017). The
different issues which have been discussed such as communication successful managing
diversity at workplace and execution of the diversity policies. Other than this, there are some of
the ways to getover from cultural diversity has been discussed such as define the working
schedules, awareness about culture and also develop open communication among the different
backgrounds people.

METHODOLOGY
Research is a detailed investigation into and methods for evaluating evidence and
drawing new conclusions. The research relevant to particular issues is carefully considered.
Moreover, work is conducted regularly to understand the observed phenomenon, predict it and
monitor it too. In research methodology, theoretical studies of methods are applicable to a body
of knowing-branch methods. This consists of special techniques used to collect, analyze and
evaluate data during an investigation process. This explains the instruments that are used mainly
to gather accurate information, particularly research studies. In conducting research methods,
there is research onions considered (Klarsfeld and et. al., 2016). Different stages considered in
research onion mention below:
Research Philosophy- Research philosophy is commonly referred to as belief in the way
data on a subject are obtained, analyzed and used. It is considered as being the most integral part
of the research because it allows a researcher to provide correct guidance to collect accurate
information with aid of the study of opinions of various authors. Two kinds of research
philosophy are interpretivism and positivism. In present study, the investigator uses philosophy
of positivism research because this is based on a qualitative method and also because it describes
the specific subject area (Phillips and et. al., 2016).
Research Approaches-Whenever the investigators conducts the main objective is to
gather relevant knowledge from both internal and external sources in order to provide solutions
for a specific issue. Study is a well-organized process covering both the time spent and the pilot
testing, which assists in performing research activities either directly or indirectly. Inducible and
inductive analysis is a two-tier approach to research (Vickers, 2017).
Deductive research approach has been used because; this consists of proof, interpretation,
theory and hypothesis. Competitive researchers worldwide follow a top-down approach focused
on other hypotheses. It is done by the deepest to draw the final conclusions (Rawat and
Basergekar, 2016).

Research Choice- Under this, quantitative research choice has been used as this is one of
the effective way to gather the reliable and the accurate information. This research choice
provides the deep understanding regarding specific subject area.
Research Strategy- In conducting present investigation, survey strategy has been used as
it includes the different questions regarding the particular area. The benefit of using this strategy
is that it is time saving as well as cost saving method (Schachner and et. al., 2016).
Data collection methods-This is method by which validated methods can be obtained,
measured and evaluated for an analysis. A researcher may test the hypothesis based on
knowledge and data collected. Primary and secondary are different data collection methods.
Questionnaire was created in the primary method of analysis in conducting this
investigation. It allows giving accurate and reliable data. Literature reviews are performed to
collect secondary data. The quality of the study has improved significantly attributable to the use
of primary and secondary data collection methods (Sharma, 2016).
Sampling- This is considered to be a group for the collection and the obtaining of data.
The purpose of this investigation is to collect as well as recognize opinions and views of chosen
respondents towards research objectives. Researchers can easily collect authentic and reliable
data. In this way, the sampling technique is categorized into two forms like probabilistic and
non- probabilistic (Shepherd and Lewis-Fernandez, 2016).
Ethical considerations- It is critical aspect of the research technique and the investigator
must ensure that information is secured. Investigators should not disclose the personal
information of the respondents and give the respondents with details on the relevant area.
Researchers are responsible for ensuring that goals can be achieved through conducting a
research. All legal standards should be properly met when carrying out an examination. In doing
so the respondents gather accurate and valid data that will help the investigator to achieve the
targets and goals set (Velasco and et. al., 2016).
PROPOSED TIME SCALE (GANT CHART)

PRELIMINARY RESULTS (DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION)
QUESTIONNAIRE
Q1) Are you aware regarding cultural diversity?
a) Yes
b) No
Q2) What advantages a company can get from cultural diversity?

a) Improved company reputation
b) Enhanced profits.
c) Increased productivity
Q3) Does cultural diversity influence on productivity and profitability of a firm?
a) Yes
b) No
Q4) What is negative impact of cultural diversity in an organisation?
a) Miscommunication
b) Dysfunctional adaptation behaviors
c) Creation of barriers
Q5) What are the role of team leader in managing cultural diversity in Ford UK?
a) Develop a strategic plan
b) Creating a foundation
c) Develop diverse workplace
Q6) What is the importance of diversity in the leadership in UK Automotive
manufacturing sector?
a) Boosting innovation
b) Increasing revenue
c) Retaining talent
Q7) Which kind of issues faced through the team leaders in the UK Automotive
manufacturing sector in context to managing the cultural diversity?
a) Differences in Language
b) Resistance to change
c) Implementation of diversity policies
Q8) What are effective ways to manage cultural diversity at workplace?
a) Provide training
b) Develop equality policies
c) Teamwork
Q9) Which advantages company can get from managing cultural diversity in an
organisation?
a) Increase employee retention