Cultural Diversity's Impact on Employee Performance: A Case Study

This research project investigates the impact of cultural diversity on employee performance, focusing on Marks & Spencer (M&S) as a case study. The report begins with an introduction outlining the background, rationale, aims, objectives, and research questions. A comprehensive literature review explores the importance of workplace diversity, various diversity management strategies, and the impact of diversity on employee performance. The methodology section details the research philosophy (interpretivism), approach (inductive), strategies (survey), and choice (qualitative). Data collection methods, sampling, and ethical considerations are also discussed. The report includes a Gantt chart, questionnaire, and data sheet. The data analysis and interpretation section, along with reflections, recommendations, and a conclusion, complete the study. The research aims to evaluate strategies applied to manage diversity in the workplace, specifically within M&S, and provides insights into the relationship between cultural diversity and employee outcomes.

Research
Project

Title: The impact of cultural diversity on employee performance. A case study on M&S...................5
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................5
Background of research........................................................................................................................5
Rationale of research............................................................................................................................5
Research aim........................................................................................................................................5
Research objectives..............................................................................................................................5
Research questions...............................................................................................................................5
LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................................................................6
Importance of diversity at workplace...................................................................................................6
Different strategies used to manage diversity at workplace.................................................................6
Diversity impact on employee performance at workplace...................................................................7
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.............................................................................................................7
Research philosophy............................................................................................................................7
Research approach...............................................................................................................................8
Research Strategies..............................................................................................................................8
Research Choice...................................................................................................................................8
Time Horizon.......................................................................................................................................8
Data Collection methods......................................................................................................................9
Sampling..............................................................................................................................................9
Timeline and Activity..........................................................................................................................9
Gantt chart..........................................................................................................................................10
Questionnaire.....................................................................................................................................11
Data Sheet..........................................................................................................................................12
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION...................................................................................13
REFLECTION & RECOMMENDATON OF ALTERNATIVE METHOD........................................16
CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................16
RECOMMENDATION.........................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................................17

Title: The impact of cultural diversity on employee performance. A case study on
M&S
INTRODUCTION
Background of research
Cultural diversity is also known as multiculturalism which simply means group of diverse
individual that are from different culture or society. Generally diversify culture consider language,
religion, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender and many more (Rizwan and et. al., 2016). Most of
the business firm started to embrace corporate diversity in the early 2000s due to many trends in
demographic as well as changing workforce. In simple term it can be said that, cultural diversity
mainly used for explaining several cultures which co-existing with larger culture. This research is
based on Mark and Spenser which is British multinational retailer which was founded in 1884 by
Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. They are serving at worldwide level and headquarter at London,
United Kingdom. It is important to have cultural diversity within organisation which result in wide
impact on employees performance as well as also in accomplishment of organisational goals and
objectives in effective manner.
Rationale of research
Main reason behind conducting this research is to gather knowledge related to cultural
diversity and its impact on employees performance (Kumudha and Jennet, 2018). Within this, people
are from different culture and work together for accomplishing common objectives. For business firm
also cultural diversity is important but it results in several other negative impact on employees
performance. Apart from this there are some personal and professional reason both reasons behind
selecting this research topic. As further researcher want to work in HR department so this research
will provide him assistance in gaining wide knowledge about cultural diversity within workplace and
also how to enhance performance as well as motivation of personnel’s.
Research aim
“To evaluate strategies applied to manage diversity at workplace.” A case study on M&S
Research objectives
 To identify importance of diversity at workplace
 To determine different strategies to manage diversity at workplace
 To analyse impact of diversity on employee behaviour at workplace

Research questions
 What is the importance of diversity at workplace?
 What are different strategies used to manage diversity at workplace?
 How diversity impact on employee performance at workplace?
LITERATURE REVIEW
Importance of diversity at workplace
As per the views of Lepsinger. R (2018), Cultural diversity is also known as multiculturalism
which simply means group of diverse individual that are from different culture or society. Generally
diversify culture consider language, religion, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender and many
more. Most of the business firm started to embrace corporate diversity in the early 2000s due to many
trends in demographic as well as changing workforce. In simple term it can be said that, cultural
diversity mainly used for explaining several cultures which co-existing with larger culture (Shore,
Cleveland and Sanchez, 2018) (Sanyang and Othman, 2019) (Saifullah, 2019). There are several
importance of cultural diversity within working of Mark and Spencer explanation of these are as
follows :-
 Enhanced creativity – People from distinct backgrounds tend to experience differences as well
as have diverse perspectives. Exposure to a variety of views leads to greater creativity to a
workplace.
 Minimize employee turnover – Mark and Spencer with diversified staff have specific
individual characteristics and viewpoints more inclusive. Diversity and organizational
inclusion contribute to recognition and respect of all workers.
Different strategies used to manage diversity at workplace
As per the views of Burney.A (2020), it has been identified that there are several strategies
which Mark and Spencer can use for managing diversity at workplace. Explanation of these are as
follows :-
 The hiring process – Developing diversity within hiring procedure is essential component of
strategy management plan as well as it is important to incorporate federal equal employment
opportunity guidelines (Evans-Lacko and Knapp, 2016). Because it is an starting point for
making sure that hiring procedure effectively encourage diverse applicant pool.
 Education – It is not enough to put posters related to diversity in workplace or update staff
manual. There is requirement of effective strategy incorporates diversity training in company.

Before starting training it is important for manager of Mark and Spencer to decide key areas
which have to be focus as well as have to discuss what they have to accomplish.
 Policy review - While company policies in general tend to be all-encompassing, ensuring the
same treatment for all, this doesn't always contribute to encouraging diversity (Hossain and et.
al., 2019). To embrace a more diverse workplace, companies must review polices on holidays,
time off and employee communication.
Equality and diversity policy of Mark & Spencer –
 Maintain a level of at least 30% female directors on the M&S Group plc board over the
short to medium term.
 Assist the development of a pipeline of high-calibre candidates by encouraging a broad
range of senior individuals within the business to take on additional roles to gain valuable
board experience.
 Consider candidates for appointment as non-executive directors from a wider pool
including those with little or no previous FTSE board experience.
 Ensure non-executive directors ‘long lists’ include 50% women candidates.
 Only engage executive search firms who have signed up to the voluntary Code of Conduct
on gender diversity and best practice.
 Report annually against these objectives and other initiatives taking place within the
Company which promote gender and other forms of diversity.
 Report annually on the outcome of the board evaluation, the composition and structure of
the board as well as any issues and challenges the board is facing when considering the
diverse make up of the Company.
Diversity impact on employee performance at workplace
According to the views of Kerga, A. B. and Asefa, A., (2018) Diversity includes various
elements such as organizational values, employee behaviour, etc. It enables in developing a positive
culture at work place. Also, by managing all these diversities is maintained as it can be said that
diversity depends on organization culture. Any modification within culture will impact directly on
diversity. Apart from this, it will also give wide impact on behaviour of staff members. While working
as a team member’s people will get to know about each other religion, values and so on. In team
employees will interact with each other and share thoughts, ideas and so on. Moreover, manager also
plays an essential role in managing diversity (Sundari, 2018). They treat them in fair and equal
manner.
In diversity if there occurs any discrimination within organization then it impacts on employee
behaviour in negative way. This is because it leads to unfair and injustice among employees. They do

not respect ethics and values and also are not able to maintain dignity. Alongside, it leads to change in
their behaviour. They start working in unethical ways. Apart from it, a negative environment is
developed within organization (Ozgen, Nijkamp and Poot, 2017). Another reason is manager start
favouring those who are favourites. Usually, discrimination occurs between men and women. the use
of strategies depends on management decision and nature of organization. For this there are many
other factors as well which are considered. For instance, current situation of business firm, policies,
procedures and many more. Moreover, it is crucial for manager to recognize that how essential staff
are and how they can be retained.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In research methodology section of investigation, research onion will be used. This section
will explain methodology for study by consisting different layers of research onion. Research onion
illustrates stages which are involved within development of research work. In addition to this, research
onion provides description related to different research process stages (Zhuwao, S. and et. al.,2019).
Research onion includes various stages explanation of these are as follows :-
Research philosophy
Research philosophy is related to set of belief regarding nature of reality which will going to
investigate in research. Research philosophy is of two type positivism and interpretivism (Anglim and
et, al., 2019). For conducting this research investigator will use interpretivism research philosophy
because it will provide assistance in interpret people to see action as well as also help in understanding
participation of respondents.
Research approach
It is the procedure which involves several steps related to gathering as well as analyzing data.
There are mainly two type of research approaches i.e., deductive as well as inductive. For conducting
respective research investigator will use inductive research approach as it is linked with qualitative
research. Along with this, it will provide assistance in gathering information required and also allow
analysing the data in qualitative manner as well as opinion of every individual. In addition to this, it
will help researcher in accumulating information and also in developing theory for analysing data.
Research Strategies
It is related to how research will going to conduct research work as well as there are several
research strategies which used by investigator such as action research, survey, case study and many
more. Within this research, investigator will use survey for gathering information and data (Lambert,
2016). Apart from this, main reason behind selecting survey is because it is economical in nature and
help in gathering more data which arising from research questions.

Research Choice
There are two type of research methods i.e., quantitative and qualitative both of these are
important for conducting research in more appropriate manner. Quantitative research help in
collecting numerical data which analysed by utilisation of mathematically based methods. On the
other hand, qualitative research uses for answering question i.e., why and how people behave in the
way that they do. Simply it can be said that qualitative research provides in-depth information related
o human behaviour (ANJORIN and Jansari, 2018). For conducting this research qualitative research
method will use by investigator as it is more effective because this will help in conducting research in
detailed manner and also help in effective data collection.
Time Horizon
This explains required time for completing project work. Cross sectional as well as
longitudinal are two different time horizons methods. For conducting present research, cross sectional
will be suitable method for researcher because this will assist in conduct an investigation within
required or specific duration.
Data Collection methods
There are mainly two type of data collection method i.e., primary and secondary. Both of these
methods will utilise for conducting research, for literature review section secondary method will
utilise. On the other hand, for questionnaire part primary method will utilise.
Sampling
It is related to selection of respondents from whole population. There are two different
methods for selecting sample i.e., probabilistic as well as non-probabilistic sampling method (Risberg
and Gottlieb, 2019). For conducting this present research, random sampling method will use by
researcher which is part of probabilistic method. With the assistance of this, 35 respondents have been
selected for conducting research. Main reason for selection of this method is to provide equal chance
to selected respondents.
Ethical consideration
It is important part of research as investigator have to ensure that data and information
gathered should not be share with someone else. Through ethical consideration only respondents will
feel safe and free to share their information with research as they feel secure that it will not going to
be share with someone else.
Cost
For conducting this research there will be requirement of £1500.

Timeline and Activity
List of activities Start date End date Duration
Identify a topic 22.01.2020 23.01.2020 2 days
Literature
review
24.01.2020 06.02.2020 14 days
Settings up aim
and objectives
31.01.2020 06.02.2020 7days
Drafting
methodologies
07.02.2020 16.02.2020 10 days
Complete
proposal
17.02.2020 21.02.2020 5days
Designed
questionnaire
10.04.2020 12.04.2020 3 days
Collection of
data
13.04.2020 20.04.2020 8 days
Analyzing data
and
interpretation
21.04.2020 30.04.2020 10 days
Discussion and
conclusion
01.05.2020 07.05.2020 7 days
Submission 08.05.2020 08.05.2020 1 day
Gantt chart
Activity 2
days
7
days
7
Days
5
Days
5
days
5
days
3
Days
8
days
10
days
7
days
1 day
Identify
research topic
Literature
Review

Settings up aim
and objectives
Drafting
Methodologies
Complete
Proposal
Designing
questionnaire
Collection of
data
Analyzing data
and
interpretation
Discussion and
Conclusion
Submission
Questionnaire
For conducting this research, questionnaire will utilise by researcher as it is most effective
method for gathering information and data. Main reason behind selecting questionnaire as it is nor
expensive as well as less time consuming.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Q1) Do you have understanding about the cultural diversity?
a) Yes
b) No

Q2) What is the importance of diversity at workplace?
a) Increased productivity
b) Reduced employee turnover
c) Improved creativity
Q3) As per your opinion, in what manner cultural diversity impact on performance of Mark
and Spenser?
a) Positive
b) Negative
Q4) What are the negative effect of the cultural diversity on M&S productivity?
a) Creation of barriers
b) Miscommunication
c) Dysfunctional adaptation behaviors
Q5) According your opinion, what type of issues M&S is facing in managing the cultural
diversity within their organization?
a) Ethnic and Cultural Differences
b) Language and Communication.
c) Gender equality
Q6) What are the several ways M&S should be adopt to overcome from cultural diversity
issues in an organisation and also develop positive working environment?
a) Learn about different cultures
b) Provide diversity training
c) Share knowledge
Q7) What advantages Mark & Spencer can gain from managing the cultural diversity at
workplace?
a) Improved reputation of company
b) Improves cultural insights
c) Wider range of skills
Q8) How diversity impact on employee performance at workplace?
a) Negative
b) Positive
Data Sheet
Q1) Do you have understanding about the cultural diversity? Frequency
a) Yes 30
b) No 5
Q2) What is the importance of diversity at workplace? Frequency
a) Increased productivity 10
b) Reduced employee turnover 10

c) Improved creativity 15
Q3) As per your opinion, in what manner cultural diversity
impact on performance of Mark and Spenser?
Frequency
a) Positive manner 25
b) Negative manner 10
Q4) What are the negative effect of the cultural diversity on M&S
productivity?
Frequency
a) Creation of barriers 15
b) Miscommunication 10
c) Dysfunctional adaptation behaviours 10
Q5) According your opinion, what type of issues M&S is facing in
managing the cultural diversity within their organization?
Frequency
a) Ethnic and Cultural Differences 20
b) Language and Communication. 7
c) Gender equality 8
Q6) What are the several ways M&S should be adopt to overcome
from cultural diversity issues in an organisation and also develop
positive working environment?
Frequency
a) Learn about different cultures 10
b) Provide diversity training 12
c) Share knowledge 13
Q7) What advantages Mark & Spencer can gain from managing
the cultural diversity at workplace?
Frequency
a) Improved reputation of company 15
b) Improves cultural insights 10
c) Wider range of skills 10
Q8) How diversity impact on employee performance at workplace? Frequency
a) Negative 15
b) Positive 20
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Theme 1: Do you have understanding about the cultural diversity