Impact of Gender Discrimination on Worker Performance at Walmart

This research report investigates the impact of gender-based discrimination on worker performance, focusing on Walmart as a case study. The report begins with an introduction outlining the research rationale, gap, questions, aims, and objectives, followed by a methodological justification. A comprehensive literature review explores the concept of gender discrimination, its impact on worker performance, and strategies for elimination. The research methodology, including research philosophy, is detailed. The report then presents data analysis, findings, and a discussion of the key issues. The conclusion summarizes the research findings and offers recommendations for Walmart. The report also includes a reflection on the research process and concludes with a list of references and an appendix containing a questionnaire.

Research Project

Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
RESEARCH TOPIC........................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Research rationale..................................................................................................................3
Research gap...........................................................................................................................3
Research Questions................................................................................................................4
Aims and objectives...............................................................................................................4
Methodological justification...................................................................................................4
Literature Review.............................................................................................................................4
Research methodology.....................................................................................................................7
Data analysis and findings.............................................................................................................11
Discussion.............................................................................................................................20
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................20
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................21
Reflection.......................................................................................................................................21
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................23
Appendix1......................................................................................................................................25
Questionnaire........................................................................................................................25

RESEARCH TOPIC
“To investigate the impact of gender based discrimination on worker’s performance”. A study on
Walmart.
INTRODUCTION
With the growth in businesses and change in their composition of workforce which now
includes workers belonging to different gender, caste, age, religion, culture etc. it is important
that discrimination based on these factor must be minimised in companies. It is important that all
the workers are treated equally and diversity in workforce is encouraged so that the performance
of workers can be maximised which help in increasing the profits for company. Gender based
discrimination is related to giving unequal opportunities to employees based on their sex which
affects their confidence and their performance can reduce (Cappelli and Keller, 2017). This can
also lead to decrease in participation of workers in decisions making which also affect the ability
of an organisation to increase innovation in their ideas, processes, products or services. In this
report Walmart is taken which is a multinational retail corporation and operates a chain of hyper
market, discount departments and grocery stores. The company was founded in 1962 and is
headquartered in Arkansas, US. In this report a research related to the impact of gender
discrimination on the performance of company workers will be studied so that the HRM of
company can form policies and strategies which can help in increasing her performance and
minimising discrimination.
Research rationale
The reason behind taking this topic for research is to understand the concept of gender
based discrimination and its affect o the performance of workers. This research will also help in
making the research skills of researcher efficient and effective which is important for their
personal and professional development. This will help in acquiring knowledge and skills which
are important from the perspective of both their academic and career development.
Research gap
Main research gap of this study is the impact of gender based discrimination on worker’s
performance. In previous study there is information about gender discrimination but there is lack
of data about its impact over employee’s performance. In order to fulfil; this gap research
questions will be used in literature review section.

Research Questions
 What is the concept of gender based discrimination at workplace?
 What is the impact of gender based discrimination on the performance of workers?
 What are the ways in which company can eliminate gender discrimination at workplace?
Aims and objectives
Research aim
The aim of this research is “To investigate the impact of gender based discrimination on
worker’s performance”. A study on Walmart.
Research objectives:
 To understand the concept of gender based discrimination at workplace.
 To measure the impact of gender discrimination on worker’s performance at workplace.
 To identify the ways by which company can eliminate gender discrimination at workplace.
Methodological justification
It is related to the rationale of research or the reason of choosing the topic and application
of research methods, tool and techniques in order to conduct the research. It is important that the
researcher use methods which can help in gaining authentic information so that their
interpretation can help in gaining efficient results which can help in increasing the benefits to the
company. During this research the researcher has used tools, techniques and method which can
help in deriving efficient results and also so that the value of these results for company can
increase (Berger, Berger and Education, 2018).
Literature Review
What is the concept of gender based discrimination at workplace?
According to Lahle Wolfe, 2020, the concept of gender discrimination in workplace is
related with unequal opportunities given to employees based on their gender. This behaviour is
against the civil rights violation and is also illegal to differentiate among individuals other than
based o their skills and knowledge which can also affect their morale and affect their
performance (Gender based discrimination .2020). Also as per the employment laws women
working at workplace must be given similar perks and advancements for the same work
performed and the same number of working hours devoted as men. It can also be said from this
article that due to discrimination, the women are do not hold senior position and keep them

beyond certain points on the contrary to this, it is always assumed that the promotions are based
on the performance not on the basis of gender. Thus it implies that they are not provided enough
opportunity to prove their capabilities leading to dissatisfactory performance. The writer here
says that women workforce must be treated equally and should be given equal chances to grow
and develop which can help in their overall. From this information it can be evaluated that
workers who perform equal work and have same set of skills must be identified and valued
equally. The article helped in finding details on what is a gender based discrimination which is
unethical to be present in organisations (Fisman and Luca, 2016).
According to the views of Lerato, 2018, the concept of gender based discrimination is
related with discrimination based on the stereotypes related to men being more potential than
women at workplace. It is against the employment legislation and also lead to unjust treatment of
female workers with their unequal payment for the same work done by them (Gender
discrimination .2020). Companies should take corrective measures in order to decrease gender
pay gap which can help in improving the conditions of workers so that overall profitability of
company can be increased through improved working efficiency of employees. This will also
help in uplifting the value of female in society thereby leading to empowerment of women and
encouraging more female to get employed in their desired organisations.
What is the impact of gender based discrimination on the performance of workers?
As per the views of Paul Trevino, 2018, the impact of discrimination among workers
based on gender has many negative effects on their performance as it reduces their confidence
and motivation to work efficiently. The various negative impacts which it can cause are increase
in stress and jealousy among workers, decrease in their job satisfaction, increase in employee
turnover etc. which also affects the reputation of company. It can be said that deteriorating
performance of workers can also be related to gender discrimination in company. The
organisations still has a long road to go through before elimination the gender discrimination
from workplace (Avoiding gender discrimination .2019). This is because it has impact on the
mental health of the employees, increases employees turnover, decreases their level of
satisfaction and many more. It has direct impact on the performance of the company due to
which their ability to compete in market reduces. To manage it efficiently the leadership styles
and various management theories are taken into consideration which facilitates in integrating the
employees with the organisation so that they can realise that they have been treated equal.

Gender based discrimination affects the ability of employees to come up with innovative ideas
and also there can be rise in conflicts among workers. This article puts light on how the
performance of workers becomes poor due to the presence of unequal treatment. Managers and
leaders of company must take appropriate actions to reduce it which can help in increasing the
ability of company in achieving its goals and objectives on time. Thus it can be evaluated that
this also creates a negative impact on the brand image of company which affects the perception
of all its stakeholders (Heilman and Caleo, 2018).
According to the views of Cailin, 2020, gender discrimination have unenthusiastic
impacts on the performance of workers as the female employees feel discriminated in the
company and they cannot access to equal opportunities which affect their confidence. It also
increase their distrust for company and can lead to increase in female employee turnover in the
company leading tio decrease in brand image of company.
What are the ways in which company can eliminate gender discrimination at workplace?
From the views of Jess Fuhl, 2019, there are various ways of eliminating gender
discrimination in company which help in promotion of harmony in the company so that all the
workers can work together in achieving company goals. The ways to eliminate sexual
discrimination can facilitate the issue with the view of attracting new diversified talent that can
enable them to outperform financially then their competitors. More recent attention is being paid
on the provision of promoting the culture of meritocracy which aims to give parity to the women
in the decision making processes (Impact of discrimination .2020). It is the duty and
responsibility of manager of company to identify gender based discrimination in company so that
effective measures can be taken so as to eliminate it. The many ways which can be applied in
company are encouraging diverse workforce in company which include peoples belonging to
different age, sex, skills, backgrounds and experiences are recruited in company. Encouraging
women empowerment can also help in reducing gender discrimination in company. Reviewing
the salaries and gender pay gap and giving equal salaries to employees for equal work done. Also
appointing women leaders so as to manage teams in company can help in eliminating the gender
based discrimination in company. Thus it can be evaluated that many strategies can be followed
by company that can help it in treating all its employees equally. Also this article can be helpful
for companies which are facing the problem of gender discrimination and have poor reputations
in the market due to this (Xie and Lv, 2016) .

According to the views of Tony, 2016, companies can eliminate gender based
discrimination by taking actions that can help females of the company in being valued for their
work. Performance based appraisals, increased participation of female employees in decision
making, increased post for leaders in company for female workers etc. are some ways that can
help in reducing gender based discrimination. Increasing female empowerment strategies in
company can also help in decreasing gender discrimination in company so that working of
company can effectively take place.
Research methodology
Research methodology is the process or method of conducting a research on a particular
topic so that a procedure can be followed during collection of information which can help in
effective collection of data that can be interpreted to draw results that can help in increasing the
benefit of research conducted. The method chosen by researcher affects the direction in which
research will progress and the time which will be taken to complete research in an effective
manner. As the results which will be drawn depends on the method selected by researcher it is
important that the method is chosen prudently which can help in increasing the effectiveness of
its results (Böhmer and Schinnenburg, 2016).
Research philosophy:
These are the principles and procedures which are to be followed by the researcher while
conducting a research so that the way in which data is collected, analysed and used can be
determined. The research philosophy helps in determining the nature of results that can be
obtained by the way of research. There are generally two terms which help in determining the
philosophies of research which are epistemology and ontology. Ontology is concerned with the
authenticity and reliability of data collected during the research while epistemology is concerned
with the validity of data collected so that a distinction between justified belief and opinion can be
made which can help in deriving valid results (Elegbe, 2016).Research philosophy based on
epistemology can further be divided into interpretivism and positivism. Positivism is related with
the view that knowledge which is gained by the way of observation including measurement is
trustworthy. While the interpretivism theory states that in order to gain better results from the
information collected it is important that the data i interpreted so that efficient results can be
drawn. In this research epistemology philosophy is used so that highly reliable and authentic data
can be collected which can help in increasing the validity of research results. According to the

current research positivism philosophy has been used by investigator because it supports them in
collecting, analysing and interpreting of quantitative data. Another reason for selecting
positivism is that it does not take more time as compared to intrepretivism.
Research approach:
This is the approach or direction which needs to be taken by researcher so as to conduct
the research which can help in drawing efficient results. There are various approaches which can
be used by the researcher like inductive or deductive depending on the nature of topic and the
problem which is to be solved by the results so achieved (Tafti, Mahmoudsalehi and Amiri,
2017). Deductive approach is based on developing a hypothesis based on an existing theory so
that a research strategy can be designed in order to test the hypothesis. Inductive approach on the
other hand depends on collection of data and then analysing the pattern of data so that a theory
can be formed based on this data. In this research the researcher will use deductive approach of
research so that an existing theory can be tested which in this project is that the workplace
discrimination based on gender can affect the performance of workers.
Research strategy:
It is the strategy or plan of action which is applied by the researcher while conducting a
research so that the project gets completed on time and help in obtaining desired results.
Research strategy is important to be et so that data collection can be made effective which can
help in collection of reliable and authentic information which will enhance the quality of result.
During this research questionnaire is used by the researcher so as to collect information from the
employees of company who can help in gaining best information thereby increasing the validity
of results.
Time horizon:
The research will be conducted while using different tools and techniques by which
certain time will be allocated to each and every activity that has been performed while
conducting the completed research. In this the cross-sectional activities will be assigned as per
the allocating time. While the longitudinal is based on the different activities that are relates with
the months, years and the days. While conducting this research cross-sectional time horizon will
be used and in this Gantt chart will also be used to allocate the different time to all the activities.
Follows are the Gantt chart that is used in order to accomplish the research project:

Research methods:
There are two types of methods which can be chosen by researcher so as to collect
information which are: qualitative research and quantitative research. Through these methods
different types of information are collected from different types of sources. Qualitative research
method helps in collecting deep information from sources by the way of open ended questions so
that their views and ideas regarding the topic being researched can be collected. Interviews,
observations etc. are the ways which help in collecting this type of information. The data o
collected cannot be depicted on graph or tables which make it difficult in interpretation and can
also affect the relevance of information (Mackey and Gass, 2015). Quantitative method on the
other hand helps in collecting mathematical information which can be easily depicted on table,
graph, pie-chart etc. making it easy to understand the information and draw clear interpretations.
In this research so as to increase the relevance and authenticity of information the researcher is
using quantitative method
Sources of data collection:
In order to collect data related to the topic being researched it is important that some
sources are used which can help in gaining desired information. The types of source from where
information can be collected are primary and secondary depending on the type of data being
collected. Primary sources are those which help in collecting data for the first time by researcher
by the way of observation, questionnaire, surveys etc. These sources are the most reliable and
updated ones as they help in collection of fresh information. Secondary sources on the other hand
are the ones which already contain information related to the research topic and can be outdated
and are also based on the view points of other authors like articles, journals, internet, books etc.
In this research the data will be collected by the way of questionnaire which is a primary source
of information so that reliability and authenticity of information can be increased.
Research ethics:
It means while conducting a research the researcher needs to follow a code of conduct
which can help in collection of data from authentic and reliable sources which will increase the
quality of results drawn from such information. Application of ethical actions, principles and
models can help in conducting research ethically. In this project the researcher has taken ethical
actions by taking permissions from mentors and teachers before starting the research and also the
collection of information is from reliable sources.

Instrument used:
These are the tools which help to collect measure and analyse data which is collected by
the researcher so that the data which is collected can be efficiently interpreted and results can be
drawn. In this research the researcher uses questionnaire so that data can be collected by the way
of asking structured questions to the sample population which can help in gaining reliable
information from trustworthy sources (Harris and Estevez, 2017).
Sample method:
It is the method through which the small sample will be selected from the large number
of population that has the same characteristics. Thus that sample will be taken out to in order to
collect the relevant data that provides the integrated result of all the population. In addition to
this, it is the research the researcher uses the random sampling method. In this the question will
be asked to the random people as from the questionnaire. In this the sample size of 30 will be
taken out as from the researcher from working employees of the Royal Lancaster London
Questionnaire:
It is method through which the researcher collects the information from the employees
that are working in the company and that is to gain the objective of the research in effective
manner. Follows are the different question that includes in the questionnaire that is developed by
the researcher in order to achieve the objective of the project. Thus they ask this question to the
30 number of candidates of the Walmart:
Data analysis and findings
The data which is collected by the way of questionnaire needs to be interpreted so that
efficient results can be drawn by the way of these questionnaires:
Q1) Do you have any idea about what is gender
discrimination at workplace?
Frequency
Yes 10
No 20

From this grpah it can be said that the workeers of Walmart do not have knowledge about
gender discrimination which is the reason due to which the discrimination in company exists.
From the 30 respondents only 10 know about this concept while the rest 20 fremains unaware
about this concept. The employees thus need to be taught about this concept so that they can
know about how this discrimination affect their perfoprmance in company.
Primary data is co-related with secondary data gathered from different number of
secondary sources such as books, magazines etc. for literature review. In literature review
different authors have idea about the discrimination and its impact over employees as well as
organisational performance. This information fulfil the research gap.
Q2) Do you think that workers in Walmart are
discriminated based on sex?
Frequency
Yes 20
No 10