Research Report: Cultural Diversity and Workplace Conflicts

This research report investigates the impact of cultural diversity on workplace conflicts, using Unilever as a case study. The report begins with an introduction defining cultural diversity and its implications, particularly the potential for conflict. It then presents a research proposal outlining the research question, objectives, and a literature review exploring the concepts of equality, diversity, and the drawbacks of diverse cultures. The methodology section details primary and secondary research methods, considering ethical issues and analytical tools. The findings section presents the research outcomes, followed by a reflection on effective methods and alternative research methodologies. The report concludes with a summary of findings and recommendations for managing cultural diversity to minimize conflicts and enhance workplace harmony and productivity. The report examines the advantages and disadvantages of a diverse workforce, and explores how to foster a more inclusive and productive work environment.

Research Project

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
P1 Research proposal that clearly defines a research question or hypothesis, supported by a
literature review...........................................................................................................................4
P2 Research methods to conduct primary and secondary research...........................................10
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................11
P3 Primary and secondary research methods by considering costs, access and ethical issues..11
P4 Analytical tools to analyse research findings and data.........................................................13
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................16
P5 Research outcomes ..............................................................................................................16
TASK 4 .........................................................................................................................................18
P6 Reflection on effective methods which are applied to meet research objectives.................18
7.Alternative research methodologies........................................................................................18
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................19
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................20

Topic: “Managing cultural diversity in the workplace”.
INTRODUCTION
The cultural diversity is group of the diverse people from various societies or cultures.
Cultural diversity arises at workplace when organisations are recruiting staff members from sorts
of various backgrounds, culture and religion. When firm hire and sustain the large number of
people then this brings about many advantages to firm along with staff members. A culturally
diverse team supports to represent both local as well as global mind-sets, and thence check that
their product and service are relevant to their marketplace and appeals to an international
audience. Approximately 172,000 people representing around 150 nationalities work for
Unilever (Unilever Shares 5 Ways Diversity is Good For Business, 2015). Under this, arisen of
conflict is one of the main issue that arise from the cultural diversity at workplace. Unilever is
British- Dutch consumer goods firm in United Kingdom. The product of this company consist
cleaning agents, personal care goods, beauty products, food and beverages. The present report
states about conflicts which arise at workplace because of the cultural differences among people.
The present report is going to discuss about different parts which considered in the research like
developing aim and objectives, literature review, methodology, findings, conclusion and
recommendation.
P1 Research proposal that clearly defines a research question or hypothesis, supported by a
literature review
Background of Research
Diversity at workplace is necessary for staff members because this manifest itself in
developing better reputation for an organisation, leading to enhanced profitability and also
opportunities for staff. The workplace diversity foster the mutual respect between staff members.
They work into the groups comprised of the co- workers with the different work styles and
disabilities. In this, cultural diversity can impact workplace by enhancing tendency of the
organisational personnel in order to indulge interpersonal conflicts. In context to Unilever,
culturally diverse teams assist to represent the local and global mindsets and assures the services
or products is relevant to market that appeals to global audience. The diversity is regarding em
bracing all the differences across cultural and physical boundaries, management styles, life
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stages and time horizons. Unilever believes that diverse business reinforces positive social
impact that assist in attract and also sustain the talented people which purchase goods.
Rationale of Research
The present report is based on impact of conflicts that occur because of diversity. Given
research helps in provide the proper understanding regarding workplace cultural diversity and the
factors which impact for arising conflict at workplace. This assist in improving and enhancing
competencies and skills of an investigator effectively so that proper outcomes can be attained
effectively. Through this, learner can able to gain better understanding about concepts and learn
the steps for completing an investigation in an efficient manner.
Problem statement: There are number of issues of diversity in the workplace Unilever
such as acceptance and respect, ethnic and cultural difference, accommodation of beliefs, gender
equality, mental and physical disability, conflict, generation gaps, communication and language
etc. These are major issues that have negative impact on business performance as well as
productivity of employees. Therefore, management of diversity is important for company as it
help them in retention of employees for long time and also support them in improvement of its
growth and success (Samnani and Singh, 2012).
Research Aim
“To identify impact of the conflicts which occur due to diversity.” A study on Unilever.
Research Objectives
 To examine equality and diversity at workplace.
 To understand concept of Cultural diversity.
 To examine drawbacks of diverse culture employees in retailing. To determine the impact of the conflicts which occur due to varied cultures of employees.
Research Questions
 What is equality and diversity at workplace?
 What is cultural diversity concept?
 What are the drawbacks of diverse culture employees in retailing?
 What is impact of the conflicts which occur due to varied cultures of employees?
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Literature Review
According to the Martin and et. al., 2017, conflict is a main issue faced by an
organisation due to diversity at workplace. There are several negative effects of workplace
conflict such as work disruptions, project failure, absenteeism, decreased productivity, turnover
and termination. Along with this, emotional stress that can be both a cause as well as an effect of
workplace conflict. As it has negative impact on business as well as employees performance.
As per the view point of Kelly, 2019. Equality within the organisation means that
employees prevailing at workplace is treated fairly as well as equally by the higher authorities of
company whereas diversity means an organisation welcomes candidate in the organisation who
belongs from different background as well as attitude. Adoption of this behaviour and attitude
within the organisation effects positive on the environment which is given to employees at
workplace. Equality and diversity plays vital role in an association as it builds healthy working
culture and reach company towards growth as well as success. Hiring of people pf all races &
gender develops organisation stronger and compatible. In order to become a leading company at
market, it is important for top level management to ensure that all the employees is treated
equally as well as fairly at the workplace.
An employee feel equality the organisation if there inputs is equal to the achievements
they gain by the higher authorities of company. An employee feel motivated when they are
appreciated and treated fairly in front of all the staff members by the manager of the company as
per the efforts they give towards the attainment of goals within the time frame. Diversity
involves religion, culture, gender, mental abilities and so on. In today’s world, every organisation
works globally or ant to work worldwide so it is important for them to hire employees from
diverse background so that employees can understand different markets and it is easy for them to
target as well as analyse their needs. In addition to this, it will also help company to deal with
any type of market or customers appropriately and gain the trust of customers which not only
increases company profitably but also enhance positive word of mouth.
Selection as well as acquisition of people from various background brings more
creativity and innovation within the organisation which leads to raise in sales and profit level of
company. It has also been stated that diverse teams resolve issues and problems effectively and
rapidly as compare to similar teams. Equality and diversity at workplace assist companies to
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understand customer needs and issues in a better way. This will also allow companies to
emphasise more on customer requirements and then fulfil it (Reguera-Alvarado, de Fuentes and
Laffarga, 2017). Equality at workplace motivate, influence employees to take interest in business
activities and carry out with full potential. Moreover, it builds an enthusiasm among the
employees towards the attainment of goals within the specified time frame. This will also
enhance employee’s performance which further in turns increases company profits as well as
market share. In addition to this, it also helps company to compete with their rivals and gain
leading position at marketplace.
According to the Kwame molden, 2016 it has been stated that the group of people
belongs from different culture as well as societies exist at same place for working is refer as
cultural diversity. Cultural Diversity involves various factors such as language, age differences,
sexual orientation, gender, religion, racism, ethnicity and many more factors as well. Due to
continuously change in trends as well as perception of employees prevailing at the workplace,
many companies adopts the concept of cultural diversity within the organisation. Along with
this, there are also more factors which is part of diversity such as personality, culture, social
status and so on. In companies, there are employees who belongs from different places, from
different culture, having different language, different way of perceive the things and many more
as it is a tough task for higher authorities of an organisation to develop as well as maintain
positive culture on environment at the workplace.
It is also essential for a company to have non-judgemental as well as open minded
employees which builds healthy environment at the workplace that is beneficial for both
employees and for the company also. The behaviour as well as attitude of employees changes
because of cultural diversity which in turns effect on their performance negatively. Difference in
the culture and perception develops hurdles, miscommunication which leads to decline in the
performance level of both the staff members and the company. This will also builds an effective
communication channel between the higher authorities and the employees of the company. In
context to company, if cultural diversity is effectively managed by the top level management of
an organisation than it will leads to rise in the profitability and productivity level of the
company. Development of cultural diversity positively within the organisation declines the
overall cost as company have not to hire new candidates. Along with this, it reduces employee
turnover rate as well as absenteeism rate of subordinates.
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Moreover, Cultural diversity assist senior management of an association to engage
employees for longer time frame. This will only take place when higher authorities gives a
chance to employees to participate in decision making and works as per employees opinions as
well as suggestions. In addition to this, valuing diversity helps an organisation to find potential
and skilled employees who have the capability to effectively perform activities and operations of
the company and enhance their sales level (Shemla and et. al., 2016). Having diverse workforce
assist Company to enter into different markets and gain an insight regarding customer needs and
requirements. It will automatically raises the level of customer base that affect in company sales
positively as well. It is significant for every organisation to maintain cultural diversity at
workplace so that business activities can be performed and the goals is achieved within the
specified time frame. Stereotypes employees prevailing in the organisation creates
miscommunication as well as hurdles at workplace as it can only be remove if HR manager of
company have the ability to maintain healthy relationship with all the staff members.
Cultural diversity also leads to the development of innovation which enhance the
productivity and profitability level of company. Furthermore, managing of cultural diversity
motivates workforce to work with full zeal and contribute towards the attainment if
organisational goals effectively. Along with this, a company can gain competitive advantage
within the market if it embrace diversity appropriately.
As per the view point of Sawyer, (2018), it has been said that within an organisation there
are ample number of employees working within the organisation mainly belongs to different
background. Cultural diversity plays very essential role in the overall growth and development of
the company at the competitive marketplace. Due to difference in the background of employees,
there might be disputes and conflicts arise within the workplace. This highly affect the
performance as well as efficiency of the organisation which leads towards the reduction of
profitability of the company.
Each & every individual working within the organisation have their own background and
religion. Therefore, it is very essential for the management team to consider each and every
aspects and develop strategies as well as products which might not affect the belief of
individuals. It has been said that in today’s competitive world, cultural diversity is increases
rapidly. There are various drawbacks of diverse culture staff members which affect the overall
business functions as well as working environment of the company in a negative manner. It is
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said that cultural diversity is increasing rapidly due to business expansion which is done by large
number of business organisations in the present competitive marketplace (Srikanth, Harvey and
Peterson, 2016).
It has been said that there are various drawbacks of cultural diversity which includes
communication barrier, difference in the understanding of people, resistance to change,
workplace issues and many more. It has been said that one of the major disadvantage of diverse
culture is language or communication barrier. Due to language barrier sometimes staff members
does not understand the actual meaning of the words which directly affects the overall outcome
of the project. if a manager of an organisation belongs to different culture and speak in other
language might create problem for the staff members in order to understand their direction. Apart
from this, it has also been said that due to communication barrier overall productivity of the
company might get reduce which affects the profit margin or goodwill in a negative manner.
Furthermore, it has been said that due to difference in culture of employees it is required
by the staff members to change themselves and the way of there working. In addition to this, it is
also very important for the managers to modify their strategies and policies in such manner that
no individual feel neglected. This will assist them in performing their tasks and goals in an
effective manner so that they can produce best and high quality products and services. It has also
been said that some of the staff members or investors face harassment as well as negative attitude
of the managers towards different cultural background of employees. This might affect the whole
image of the company in a negative manner as it is considered as one of the major drawback.
According to the view point of Seidel, (2019), it has been identified that due to different
cultural employees working within the organisation there might be arise of disputes and
conflicts. It has been said that in every business organisation there must be arise of some
conflicts and issues which affect the working of the company in a negative manner. It has been
said that the impact of conflict might be both positive as well as negative which influences the
performance of business organisation. Some of the negative impact of the conflicts are reduce in
performance and productivity, increase in employee turnover, affect the mental health of the
individual and soon. All these influence the overall result or outcome of the company in a
negative manner. It has also been said that due to conflicts and disputes arise within the
organisation, employees lose their motivation which affect the effectiveness of the company.
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It is very essential for the management team to develop conflict free environment in
order to reduce the negative impact on the performance of the company. For this, manager need
to motivate their staff members on a regular basis as well as provide them ample number of
growth opportunities. Along with this, managers need to listen all the issues and problems faced
by the staff members so that they can resolve their problems and create positive working
environment. This might increase the level of motivation among the employees which leads
towards the enhancement of efficiency of workers. It is also very important for the management
team of the company to examine the environment of the company on a regular basis so that they
can resolve any kind of issues within given time frame (Schleussner and et. al., 2016).
It has also been said that sometimes the reason behind conflicts and dispute is difference
between the culture of employees. In an organisation there are ample number of employees who
belongs to different cultural background which might create negative impact on the performance
of the company. Along with this it has also been identified that there conflicts sometimes creates
positive impact which helps in accomplishing pre define goals and objectives. Positive impact of
conflict is that employees feel encouraged in order to perform their task in an effective manner.
threats for the company which might arise from the conflicts is that there is increase in the
overall turnover ratio as well as poor communication. This affects the overall profitability of the
company in a negative manner. Apart from this, positive impact of disputes and conflicts is that
it helps in increasing the innovativeness as well as provide ample number of growth and
development opportunities to the staff members. This will enhance the overall brand image of
the company at the competitive marketplace (Desmet, Ortuño-Ortín and Wacziarg, 2017).
P2 Research methods to conduct primary and secondary research
In this, Research onion is used specifically in the explanation of research methodology
inrelation to research onion analysis. Approaches to use research onion are moving from the
outer layer to the inner layer of the research onion. This provides progression through which the
methodology of research can be designed properly. There are various layers considered in
research onion mention below:
Research Philosophy- It is explained as belief that helps in collect, examine and then use
the data and information regarding specific phenomenon. Interpretivism and positivismare
different research philosophies. Within an investigation positivism type of philosophy will be
considered because it helps in gain the proper understanding about topic. This philosophy will
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also support researcher in collection and analysation of quantitative and numerical information
about the cultural diversity (Flick, 2015) .
Research Approach- Under this, two various kinds of research approaches are inductive
and deductive to efficiently carry out a research. Based on the current research area, the
researcher will use deductive approach to promote the collection of reliable information on the
particular topic as well as obtaining positive results. Main reason behind using this approach as it
helps an investigator in analysation of quantitative information about the topic (Gioia, Corley
and Hamilton, 2013). As compare to inductive approach, deductive approach is more appropriate
because it save time and cost of researcher and also not require maximum resources. There are
some advantages and disadvantages of deductive approach which are explained as below:
Advantages Disadvantages
 Allow maximum time for practice and
application.
 Time saving approach that will be
useful for researcher in analysation of
data in for of quantitative and timely.
 It is a one way communication that
create more difficulties for researcher
in analysation of information.
Research Choice- This consists two different types of research methods, such as
quantitative and qualitative. For this study, both are helpful in carrying out an investigation.
Researchers will use quantitative method under this research because it gives the detailed
information. Using this, a researcher can make the right decision and also draw valid conclusions
as well (Green, Camilli and Elmore, 2012).
Research strategy: This is an important and useful part of research methodology that have
number of strategies such as interview, questionnaire, focus group, observation and many other.
These are effective research strategy but for gathering information regarding the cultural
diversity and importance of its management, questionnaire will be going to applied. Main
purpose for using this strategy as it support investigator in gathering of reliable as well as
quantitative information (Kumar, 2019).
Time horizon- Longitudinal and Cross- sectional are two different kinds of time
horizon.Cross sectional timing was use with research conducted over period of year, month and
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weeks. On the other hand, cross- sectional approach from time horizon is related to focus on an
investigation on current situation (Mackenzie and et. al., 2012).
Data collection sources- The collection of data is an effective method tocollect data
from various sources in order to create a valid conclusion. Two different types of data collection
methods are primary and secondary. The key form primary data collection sources are
evaluation, focus groups, survey, etc. Secondary sources are books, journals, etc. Questionnaire
will be developed in conducting this investigation by usingprimary method of data collection
(Mackey and Gass, 2015).
TASK 2
P3 Primary and secondary research methods by considering costs, access and ethical issues
Research methods refers to a collection of techniques that are used for gathering primary
and secondary resources in systematic way. But before choosing any method, it is essential for
project makers to concern on following main aspects –
Time and Cost - To perform research activities appropriately, time and cost both factors are
considered by researchers under present project. For this purpose, they have taken Gantt Chart
technique to frame each activity in a proper time duration (McCusker and Gunaydin, 2015).
Along with this, cost is also distributed systematically to conduct research activity by utilising
available resources effectively.
Access: It includes academic and ethical practices, which are used for including respondents
in conducting primary research. For this purpose, prior information before conducting research,
is provided to company’s employees by e-mail, to invite them to give their participation for
investigation.
Ethical issues- Investigating a research on an emerging topic i.e. Impact of conflicts due to
cultural diversity, arise difficulties in gathering primary information. Because selecting people
from a large population sometime may create biased, due to unethical ways. Therefore, to deal
with such unethical issues, researchers have chosen random sampling method and also get
consent form which are signed by chosen respondents, to inform them about purpose of
conducting research (Miller and et. al., 2012).
Data collection methods –
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