How Globalization Impacts Workplace Diversity at Barratt Developments

This research project examines the impact of globalization on workplace diversity management within Barratt Developments Plc. The report begins with an introduction outlining the research background, aims, objectives, and rationale for the study, followed by a literature review exploring the impact of workplace diversity on organizations and diversity management practices. The methodology section details the research design, approach, and philosophy, including data collection and analysis methods. The findings are presented in the data collection and interpretation section, followed by a reflection on the methodology and recommendations for alternative approaches. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and the references and appendix provide supporting information. The study addresses the challenges of managing a diverse workforce in a globalized context, focusing on the elements of diversity, their effects at the workplace, and the role of human resource management in promoting an inclusive and productive environment. The research aims to identify the impact of workplace diversity and evaluate diversity management implementation, offering recommendations for improvement.

RESEARCH
PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE..............................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Research Background..................................................................................................................1
Aims and Objectives...................................................................................................................1
Rationale.....................................................................................................................................2
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................2
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................5
Research design...........................................................................................................................5
Research Approach.....................................................................................................................5
Research Philosophy...................................................................................................................6
Data Collection............................................................................................................................6
Sampling Method........................................................................................................................6
Data Analysis..............................................................................................................................7
DATA COLLECTION AND INTERPRETATION........................................................................7
REFLECTION & RECOMMENDATION FOR ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGY..............17
Reflection..................................................................................................................................17
Recommendation on alternative research methodology...........................................................18
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................21
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................22
Questionnaire............................................................................................................................22

TITLE
How globalization has impacted management of workplace diversity in Barratt
Developments Plc?
INTRODUCTION
Research Background
Globalisation is the procedure where companies take there businesses to the global level.
A new era of diversity management is upon us globalisation has transformed society, economics
politics that greatly affect the demographics at workplace. Diversity is defined as accepting
individual background irrespective of their caste, creed, colour, etc. Not only are today's
employees more diverse working in the organisation with different culture of people. The
definition of global diversity should encompass an understanding of the differences between
nations along with the internal diversity of each country (Marrs and Staton, 2016). By operating
at global level, there has been a situation that creates an interesting situations in the company as
human resources managers have to manage people with different cultures. In order to achieve a
competitive advantages, organisations are managing there workplace diversity in an incredible
way.
This present report is mainly context to Barratt Development Plc. It is one of the largest
residential property development company in United Kingdom. Company was founded in 1958
and its headquarter is located in London. Number of employees working in the company is 6214.
This study has conducted to explore how organisations manage the diversity at workplace
and its as well as its consequences to the existence of the company. Further, it will also identity
the challenges that employees face from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Aims and Objectives
Aim:
“To identify and evaluate the implementation of Diversity Management in work places,
whilst bearing in mind researched factors of diversity and what improvements can be done by
HRM in organisations”. A study on Barratt Development.
Objectives:
 To determine the impact of workplace diversity on organisation.
 To determine the diversity management ion the workplace.
 To identify the effect of diversity element at workplace.
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 To investigate diversity elements that are prominent at the workplace and its impact on
employee satisfaction towards diversity at workplace.
Research Questions:
1. What is diversity in the work place?
2. Why should organisation support diversity?
3. What evaluate do organisation receive by supporting diversity?
4. To put forth recommendations to Barratt Developments on how to manage diversity
based on the findings of the study
Rationale
This present research is based on the implementation of Diversity Management in work
places, whilst bearing in mind researched factors of diversity and what improvements can be
done by HRM in organisations. The reason for choosing this topic is that it is the current issues
in the business environment as all now all the organisations are operating at global scale and they
all are facing the same issues of managing cultural diversity at workplace. So, this study will
help to identify the impact of diversity at workplace as well as determine the ways to manage the
diversity effectively within organisation (Cloutier and et.al., 2015). On other hand, academic
interest of researcher is another reason for selecting this topic as from this research, researcher
will improve research skills on how to research, how to create a questionnaire and based on the
findings it can be found out what needs improving within organisation.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The impact of workplace diversity on organizations
According to Syed and et.al., 2018 it is necessary to maintain diversity at workplace.
Diversity is defined as accepting individual background irrespective of their caste, creed, colour,
etc. Also, diversity is categorised into two that is primary and secondary. In every organisation
there are many people working. They all belong to different caste, creed, colour, etc. They work
together in order to attain specific goals and objectives. Apart from it, globalisation has also
impacted on organisation culture. It has provided a platform to recruit experienced people from
different parts of the world. Thus, diversity is playing a crucial role in creating a positive work
place environment. As said by Wrench, 2016, now companies are adopting diversity at
workplace in order to increase employee motivation and retain them for long term. Diversity has
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also supported in working in creative way and developing strong relation with others. Alongside
it, management is also focusing on maintaining diversity at workplace. This is done to maintain
dignity and allowing staff to respect each other. Also, it can be stated that there is positive impact
on workplace due to diversified staff. It allows them to share their ideas, opinions, etc. with
others and treat each one equally.
It is said by Barak, 2016, diversity has enabled in improving employee performance. In
addition to it, goals and objectives are attained in effective way. However, both management and
employees are aware about their roles and duties. But on other hand there can be negative impact
as well of diversity. Here, disrespect among staff may lead to conflict. This can also lead to staff
turnover. Besides this, rise in conflicts results in creating negative impact on work place culture.
They are not able to communicate with others in effective way.
Diversity Management in the Workplace
For every organization it is essential to maintain diversity at workplace so that positive
environment is built. As elucidated by Kirton and Greene, 2015, diversity management is
defined as process of planning, organizing, etc. of all managerial attributes for developing
organization culture. It involves eliminating difference among employees and contributing in
generating competitive advantage of company. There are four layers in diversity management
which is described as below :-
Personality- It refers to employee characteristics which sets as a unique identity of an employee.
A person behavior is identified with his or her personality. So, in diversity management the focus
is on identifying person negative and positive trait. With help of it negative trait influence is
analyzed and removed.
Internal dimension – The dimensions that have a strong influence on person behavior and
attitude. This helps in changing his or her perception towards others and building positive work
place environment. The dimensions are age, gender, etc.
External dimension- They are those dimension which have a little influence over person
attitude or behaviour. It includes factors such as salary, education, experience, etc.
Organization dimension- As name depicts they are those dimension which exist within
organization. It includes work place, management, etc. it can have a great impact on attitude and
behaviour of employee.
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In the view of Downey and et.al., 2015, diversity management influence staff as it can
have both positive and negative impact. The positive impact is it provides equal opportunities for
growth both in company and society. Diversified people possess knowledge about market, needs,
etc. of people and are aware about ethics and values of different culture. Furthermore, diversity
results in improving business efficiency and knowledge of staff. In increases team work and
developing strong bond. Along with it, there is reduction in conflict employee turnover. In order
to gain employee satisfaction diversity management is helpful.
Effect of Diversity Elements at Workplace
As stated by Syed and et.al., 2018, there are many effects of diversity elements at
workplace. It depends on work force and type of company. The elements help in understanding
diversity and ensuring that work place environment is maintained. The various elements of
diversity are discussed below :-
Age diversity- it is referred as group of people who belongs to same age. Here, employees can
be categorized as experienced, young and new talent. Each age group possesses unique features
and traits. So, having mix age group in company enables in contributing in achieving goals. They
work in creative way and enhance business efficiency.
Gender diversity – It clearly states that gender diversity is categorized in two that is male and
female. Here, the main issue is people of opposite gender finds it difficult to share their ideas and
views with one another. Moreover, its effect is negative as many people are not able to develop
strong relationship with opposite gender.
Diversity of abilities – this is related to managing employee diversity to perform task in
Ethnic diversity – It refers to issues that arise from ethics and value of religion. An organization
can face challenges due to ethnic diversity. The staff may not respect ideas or opinions of others.
Social diversity- It is based on social status of people. This can have a long term impact
organization culture.
According to Wrench, 2016, these all diversity elements are useful in developing
positive work place. They enable staff to respect other ethics and values. Furthermore, when
elements are been maintained in business it results in increasing team work. A diversified work
force works with high creativity and enthusiasm. There is negative effect of diversity elements
on workplace. When a particular element is focused it results in rise in conflicts. Employees may
not respect other and find out differences by comparing it on basis of caste, creed, color, etc.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
Research design can be defined as a structure in which research is conducted. In other
words it is a simple plan that helps in answering all kinds of research questions (Creswell and
Poth, 2017). It is mainly divided into two types first is exploratory research design and second is
descriptive research design. Explanatory research design or casual research design mainly
focuses on identifying nature of cause and effect relationship. It also focuses on situation
analysis of a specific problem which further helps the researcher in identifying relationship
patterns between variables. It requires a highly structured research approach in order to identify
correct research hypothesis. Whereas descriptive research design is a scientific research method
which helps in observing and describing subject behaviour without influencing it. It uses
structured data in order to answer research questions. It mainly focuses on observational studies
and uses surveys or case studies as most common methods of data collection. For this research
researcher has used descriptive research design as it can help in effectively analysing outcomes
of qualitative research study.
Research Approach
Research approach can be defined as a procedure through which data collection,
interpretation and analysis methods are assumed. It is mainly divided into two main categories,
which are: deductive research approach and inductive research approach. Deductive approach
uses existing theories in order to develop a hypothesis (Sekaran and Bougie, 2016). Then based
on these hypothesis design a research strategy so that all the hypothesis can be tested. It is mainly
used with quantitative research methods in order to explain relationship between variables and
concepts. It is also used to generalize research findings. Inductive approach uses theories and
observations in order to propose a research process using observation results. This approach
searches for research patterns so that based on the observations new theory can be proposed. This
approach is used where there is shortage of time and risk can be accepted easily. For this
research paper, inductive research approach has been used which helped the researcher to bring
more realistic outcomes for the qualitative research approach.
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Research Philosophy
Research philosophy can be defined as a belief which is used to gather, use and analyse
data. It also helps in finalizing research strategy and data collection method. It is mainly of two
types: First is interpretivism and positivism research philosophy. Interpretivism research
philosophy can be used to interpret study elements (Padilla-Díaz, 2015). As per this philosophy
access to reality is only possible through social constraints such as instruments, languages
consciousness etc. it uses observations or data interviews as data collection methods. Main goal
of this philosophy is to understand weak predictions. Positivism research philosophy is based on
an understanding that science is the only way through which truth can be known. It uses true
knowledge which can be gained through observations. This philosophy focuses on well
structured scientific methods which is used mainly in quantitative research method. For this
research paper researcher had used interpretivism research philosophy as this philosophy will
help the researcher to use qualitative research methods in an easy manner.
Data Collection
Data collected can defined as a process through which relevant information can be
collected from relevant sources in order to find answers for research questions (Quinlan and
et.al., 2019). It is categorized into two main types: primary and secondary data collection
methods. Secondary is a kind of data which is collected from already published data sources such
as: online portals, magazines, journals and many more. This type of data can be used in any kind
of research regardless of the type of research. All the data collected from secondary sources is
reliable and valid i.e. none of the data is more than 5 years old and is collected from valid
sources. Primary data is a kind of data in which all the information is collected by the researcher
for the first time through interviews, survey etc. For this research paper, researcher had used
primary data collection method in which data has been collected by conducting a survey in
which 25 employees of Barratt Developments PLC were asked to fill a questionnaire.
Sampling Method
Sampling can be defined as a way through which few members of a population are
selected in order to be included within the study (Etikan, Musa and Alkassim, 2016). Sampling is
done because it is quite difficult for the researcher to work on a large population in order to
collect data and analyse it. It makes research quite manageable and also helps the researcher to
save both time and cost of conducing the research. It is mainly of two types: probability and non
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probability sampling. Probability sampling is a method though which all the members of a
population has an equal chance of participating within a study. Whereas, non probability
sampling is used when not all members of a population has a chance to participate within a
study. For this research paper, research will be using probability sampling which will be done
through random sampling technique. For this study researcher had taken sample size of 25
employees of Barratt Developments PLC.
Data Analysis
Data analysis can be defined as a process through which raw data is transformed into a
useful piece of information by using statistical and analytical tool. It is also used to support
decision making (Stage and Manning, 2015). It is divided into two main categories i.e.
qualitative data analysis and quantitative data analysis. In quantitative data analysis raw data or
numbers or converted into a meaningful information with the help of critical and rational
thinking. For this analysis statistical or mathematical tools are used on numerical data. It is
mostly used to reject or support hypothesis created at earlier stages. Qualitative research analysis
is used to turn raw non numerical data such as interviews, text documents etc. into useful
information. For this research paper, researcher had used qualitative data analysis, within
qualitative data analysis researcher had used thematic data analysis where analysis will be done
through chats, graphs as well as tables.
DATA COLLECTION AND INTERPRETATION
Do you agree that globalisation has impacted management of workplace diversity in Barratt
Developments Plc?
Yes 25
No 0
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Figure 1People opinion on globalization impact on workforce diversity
Interpretation
There are 25 respondents out of 25 which are stating that globalization have impact on
the management of workforce diversity in Barrett development. It can be said that most of
respondents think that globalization having impact on workforce diversity.
What level of impact you think globalisation has on management of workplace diversity in
Barratt Developments Plc?
High 15
Medium 9
Low 1
Total 25
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Figure 2Intensity of impact globalization have on workforce diversity
Interpretation
There are 15 respondents which though that there is high impact of globalization on
workforce diversity. 9 respondents state that globalization have medium impact on workforce
diversity at workplace. There is only 1 respondent who think that globalization have low impact
on workforce diversity at workplace. Majority of respondent that due to globalization it become
hard to manage workforce diversity.
Do you think different lifestyle across culture’s is one of reason behind level of impact you
talking about in previous question?
Yes 20
No 5
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Figure 3Lifestyle as factor having impact on workforce
Interpretation
There are 20 respondents who think that different lifestyle across culture’s is one of
reason behind level of impact they mentioned factor have on diversity. Out of 20 only 5 are not
agreed with asked statement. Thus, it can have said that globalization have impact on diversity
because lifestyle across culture very.
Do you think different opinion on body language like eye contact etc across culture’s is one of
reason behind level of impact you talking about in second question?
Yes 20
No 5
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