ASDA: Impact of Managing Cultural Diversity on Employee Performance

This report analyzes the impact of managing cultural diversity on the productivity, opportunity, and competitiveness of employees within ASDA. It explores the concept of workplace discrimination, its impact on ASDA employees, and the importance of reducing it. The research employs a deductive approach and positivism philosophy, utilizing quantitative data to understand the effects of cultural diversity on collaboration, innovation, and overall company performance. The literature review discusses the benefits of a diverse workforce, the challenges in managing it, and the importance of integration and effective communication. The report aims to provide insights into how ASDA can effectively manage its diverse workforce to enhance employee productivity and achieve its business goals, while also addressing potential conflicts and communication barriers that may arise due to cultural differences.

Managing cultural
diversity in the workplace

Table of Contents
Title..................................................................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Literature Review.............................................................................................................................4
Research Methodology....................................................................................................................7
Data analysis and Interpretation.....................................................................................................11
........................................................................................................................................................24
Research Outcomes........................................................................................................................24
Reflection & Recommendation on alternative research methodology..........................................25
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................26
Recommendation...........................................................................................................................26
References......................................................................................................................................28

Title
“To analyse the impact of managing cultural diversity on productivity, opportunity and
competitiveness of employees within an organisation.” A study on ASDA.
Introduction
With the expansion of businesses in the global marketplace the importance of an
inclusive and diverse working environment in companies have increased. This help the people
belonging to different in views, beliefs, values, backgrounds, knowledge, skills and experiences
top work together in harmony which is essential to integrate them together and collaborate their
work so that company goals can be achieved (Assari and Moghani Lankarani, 2018). Through an
inclusive working environment, equality in company can be promoted so that all the employees
can be given an equal chance to get access to all the opportunities without facing any kind of
discrimination. Thus equality and diversity at workplace plays an important role in enhancing the
personal and professional growth of employees which also increase their confidence to work
effectively and efficiently. This thereby help the companies in increasing their workforce
productivity so that their efficient work performance can help the company in achieving its goals
on time. This way companies can also gain a strategic and competitive advantage over its
rivalries and competitors which encourages it to expand and grow in market and successfully
attract its target customers and increase its sales.
A diverse workforce is important for companies which means that they must be open to
recruit and retain employees who belong to all sorts of backgrounds irrespective of their race,
caste, culture, religion, sex, age etc. This help in maintaining a pool of employees with variety of
skills and knowledge which promotes different, new and innovative ideas making the company
highly competitive in market. It is thus important that the cultural diversity is well managed in
companies so that productivity, opportunity and competitiveness of employees can be increased
which can help businesses in increasing its productivity and profitability in market (Clark and
Polesello, 2017). In this report the company which is selected ASDA which is a British
supermarket retailer and is present in 631 locations having 165,000 employees. Having a large
employee base increases the importance of managing the people belonging to different cultures
so that company's profitability can increase in market.

Research Aim
“To analyse the impact of managing cultural diversity on productivity, opportunity and
competitiveness of employees within an organisation.” A study on ASDA.
Research Objectives
 To understand the concept of workplace discrimination.
 To measure the impact of workplace discrimination on employees of ASDA.
 To analyse the importance for ASDA to reduce workplace discrimination.
Research Questions
 What is the concept of workplace discrimination?
 What can be considered as the impact of workplace discrimination on employees of
ASDA ?
 Why it is important for ASDA to reduce workplace discrimination ?
Rationale of the study
The main reason behind selecting this topic is to identify the importance of managing
cultural diversity in an organisation so that the employees having differences in their religion,
culture, caste etc. can work together without being discriminated on these grounds. Another
reason of the choice of this topic is that it can help the companies in understanding the
importance of having a diverse workforce so that they can be efficiently managed to use the
skills and talents of employees to the greatest advantage of company. This research will also help
the researcher in enhancing their knowledge on the importance of managing workforce
belonging to various cultures. Also this will enable the researcher to improve their researching
skills and help the in managing time, resources, drawing interpretation, data collection etc.
Literature Review
A literature review or narrative review help in reviewing articles or secondary data which
is available on magazines, books, articles, publication research etc. so that a critique can be
generated on the data which is collected from these articles that can help in authenticating the
data. This help in developing a foundation on certain knowledge by discussing about a published
data on a particular subject area which is under research. The purpose of LR is to review the
existing articles so that the researcher can generate their own position or views in existing field
of scholarship. Following is a research that can help the the researcher in evaluating certain
articles so that the topic of this report can be efficiently studied.

The effect of having diverse culture at workplace
According to Jessamae Bronola, 2018, today's workplace is made up of people belonging
to different races, genders, religions and lifestyles which makes it important for companies to
build an environment where these differences are appreciated and respected. The potential of
employees can be utilised to their fullest extent by extracting their new and innovative ideas
which can help the company in improving its processes, products and services in such a way that
the changing customer needs can be efficiently met. Also the difference in cultures of employees
can help the company in dealing with the demands of customers belonging to varied cultures
thereby improving its its brand image in front of customers.
It is important that the diversity in company in properly managed so that the employees
can feel valued and respected in company which will help in increasing their efficiency as they
will try to achieve company goals on time. Also problem solving in company will improve as the
people belonging to different cultures will come up with a wide selection of solutions pertaining
to their difference in perception and viewpoints. Through effective cultural diversity
management the company's foreign branches can function and operate smoothly by effective
relationship building with clients and understanding their needs in a better manner. This will also
help the company in building its strong brand image in different communities as the company is
open to recruit people belonging to varied cultures. The company can thus by the way of diverse
workforce can be benefited by having a pool of varied ideas that can help in its growth and
expansion. Having an equal and diverse workforce helps in increasing collaboration among
workers so that the aims and objectives of the company can be achieved in an efficient manner
and on time. Also it helps in using the skills and talents of all the employees by giving them
equal opportunities so that they can improve their performance so that the overall profitability of
company can be increased.
The impact of managing cultural diversity on employees
As per the views of Martin Kweitsu, 2019, due to increase in globalisation the
composition of workers of companies have been changing with having workers belonging to
different cultures working together. The diverse workforce thus needs to be efficiently managed
so that the difference in their opinions and views do not cause conflict in company while doing
their work or solving problems. Through effective management of culturally diverse people in
company can help in increasing integration of people together as they can all work together in an

efficient manner through efficient management policies of company. Managers of company play
an important role in building an integrated work culture in company so that the difference in
views, values, culture and religion of people do not hamper their working.
Increase in group activities and support from management of company can help in
creating a friendly workplace which is essential so that all the workers can work together
efficiently and collaborate their work so as to achieve their goals on time. Also the workers will
feel more free and confident in sharing their ideas and opinions while doing their work so that
the effectiveness of their output can increase. Innovative capability of employees will also
increase as their ideas will be valued in company regardless of difference in their cultures. This
is beneficial for employees and company both as the productivity of workers can increase along
with their creativeness. They will also be encouraged to increase their work efficiency and
performance so that company can achieve their objectives within stipulated time and budget.
Healthy competition among workers will also be generated which is helpful for company in
improving its competitiveness in market so that it can increase its sales. The cultural diversity
will help in improving the collaboration among workers and also help in improving the
reputation of company so that more talented staff members can be attracted so as to apply for
jobs in the company.
Challenges faced while managing cultural diversity at workplace
According to Kimberlee Leonard, 2019, embracing and managing diversity in today's
business world is an essential part of successful business practices. It is important that the
managers and leaders of company understand and value the difference in culture of employees so
that they can work together and help the company in reaching to its goals on time. However
while managing the diverse workforce the managers of company can face certain challenges that
can make it difficulty for all the employees to work together effectively. As the people belong to
different cultures they have different perspectives, languages, beliefs, values etc. which means
that it becomes difficult for them to understand the command of managers and leaders in the
same way as it is expected to be. The communication barrier can create a gap in understanding
which will also affect the way in which outcomes are achieved. Diversity also sometimes create
conflicts among workers due to lower adhesiveness among the workers which can impact their
integration with each other. This lowers the quality of performance of workers that impacts the

overall productivity of company as they will be unable to collaborate their work together which
hinders the company progress.
Integration of multicultural teams can be difficult because of prejudice or negative
cultural stereotypes that can create conflicts among employees of company as some employees
can think that others are less skilled than them. This will create difficulty in integrating their
work and also can affect the manager in overcoming their bias for some employees which will
create problems in managing the work in company. Effective communication might be difficult
while having culturally diverse workforce as there can be language differences and difference in
perceptions based on cultures so that the understanding of information can be affected.
Research Methodology
Research methodology is a procedure or technique under which information related to a
researched topic is identified, collected, processed and analysed so that efficient results can be
drawn. It is important that the data which is collected in research is from authentic and reliable
sources so that the interpretations which are made can help in successfully completing the
research and successfully achieving efficient results.
Research approach: It is the approach which is selected in carrying out a research which
are inductive and deductive. The approach selected depends on data collection and data analysis.
In this research quantitative data is collected which can be analysed by using deductive research
approach as this approach is less time consuming and help in interpreting the data in an efficient
manner (Colella and King, 2018). The approach that will be used in this research is deductive so
that a hypothesis can be proved by collecting information and interpreting it so that conclusions
can be drawn.
Research philosophy: This is a belief about the way in which data on a topic which is to
be researched should be gathered, analysed and used. In this report positivism philosophy must
be used so as to collect the quantitative data. Through this philosophy the cost of researcher can
be saved and also the time taken by researcher can be minimised. Interpretivism philosophy will
be used in this research in which data will be collected from various resources so that they can b
interpreted and conclusions can be made base on the interpretations.
Cost, access and ethical issues: It is important that the researcher has an access of
sufficient amount of capital so that all the tools, techniques and methods can be applied
efficiently to conduct a research and collect data so that the research can be done effectively. It is

also important that complete and easy access is available to the researcher for collecting the
required information from employees of ASDA and other sources like books, libraries etc. so
that the collection of information can be easily done and research can be completed on time. It is
also important that ethics are followed while collection of data by the researcher so that while
collecting data the privacy of employees should be respected, confidentiality is maintained etc.
Ethical approach can help in collecting better information and also increasing the value of data
collected (Foblets and Alidadi, 2016).
Types of study: It determines the type of data which will be collected for completing the
research which can be either qualitative or quantitative. In this research the type of data which
will be collected is quantitative as it will help in collection of numerical data which can be easily
represented on graphs and tables so that better interpretations can be made. This is a method
which will reduce the cost and time of researcher thereby increasing the quality of research.
Quantitative method will be used in this research so as to collect mathematical data that can be
depicted on graphs, tables etc. so that interpretation can be efficiently done.
Data collection: There are two sources from which data can be collected which are
primary source or the secondary source. Through primary sources data is collected directly from
the source through questionnaire, survey, interview etc. and it is done for the first time and so the
authenticity and reliability of this data is more. Secondary sources like magazines, books, articles
etc. can help in the collection of second hand data from the sources which already contain
information about the topic. This information can be outdated and for the viewpoint of other
author which decrease the authenticity of these sources (Guerin and Green, 2016). Secondary
sources will be used in this research for literature review while primary sources are used for
conducting the research.
Research instruments: This part of research methodology have different instruments like
interview, observation, questionnaire etc. In completing this research the data will be collected
through questionnaire so that the researcher can gather information from the workers of company
which will help in collecting more reliable and accurate information so that better results can be
drawn. In this research questionnaire is used so that primary data can be collected from the
employees of ASDA.
Questionnaire
Q1) Do you have an idea about diversity and equality?

a) Yes
b) No
Q2) Do you think that an inclusive and diverse working environment in ASDA is
important?
a) Yes
b) No
Q3) What is it meant by equality at workplace?
a) Equal opportunities
b) Same treatment
c) No discrimination
Q4) How is diversity created in company?
a) Different cultural background
b) Difference in experience
c) Difference in knowledge and skills
Q5) What are the impacts of having a cultural diverse workforce for ASDA?
a) Strong brand image
b) Better problem solving
c) Innovative ideas
Q6) What are the positive impact of managing cultural diversity for ASDA?
a) Improving productivity
b) Improving opportunity
c) Increasing competitiveness
Q7) What are the benefits of cultural diversity in company?
a) Meeting customer expectation
b) Company reputation
c) Increase employee engagement
Q8) What are the challenges of having a varied workforce?
a) Difference in understanding
b) Communication gap
c) Integration
Q9) What are the effects of not having a culturally different workforce?

a) No new ideas
b) Foreign branches of company can face difficulty
Q10) Importance of diversity in company for employees?
a) Different candidates can apply
b) Healthy working environment
c) Valuation of their ideas
Q11) Strategies to promote diverse workplace at ASDA?
a) Training and development
b) Improvement in recruitment
c) Increasing employee engagement
Q12) Strategies to promote equality in ASDA?
a) Equal opportunities to all
b) No discrimination
c) Valuing all employees equally
Q13) Why is equality important for all the employees in workplace?
a) Value for their knowledge
b) Personal and professional growth
c) Confidence gets boosted
Q14) Can both equality and diverseness exist together in company?
a) Yes
b) No
Q15) Will the profits of ASDA increase with having a varied and equal workforce?
a) Yes
b) No
Sampling: This is a process in which out of a large size of population having common
characteristics certain number of people are selected so that the information which is gathered
from a sample size can be applied to the complete population. This help in reducing the time of
researcher in collecting data from the entire population and also help in saving the cost of
research (Kumar, 2019).

Data analysis and Interpretation
In order to analyse the quantitative data which is collected by the researcher content
analysis will be used by researcher so that interpretation of data can be easily and systematically
done.
Q1) Do you have an idea about diversity and
equality?
Frequency
a) Yes 40
b) No 30
a) Yes b) No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
10
20
Frequency
As from the above graph it can be interpreted that out of 70 people which was selected
from ASDA, only 30 people does know about diversity and equality in the workforce while the
rest do not know about the same. Therefore it can be said that due to absence of this knowledge
they remained a way behind from other organisation in terms of productivity, as equivalence in
working leads to higher productiveness which is absent in ASDA. Further in absence of diversity
the organisation is not able to get competitive edge in the market which they deserve.
Q2) Do you think that an inclusive and Frequency

diverse working environment in ASDA is
important?
a) Yes 22
b) No 8
a) Yes b) No
0
5
10
15
20
25 22
8
Frequency
As from the above bar graph it can be interpreted that from sample size of 70, out of
which 30 people have perception that diversified and level of equality is essential part of
working culture in ASDA. As a proper internal environment of equality results in creation of
utmost trust among employees. So if employees do have trust in their organisation they will be
able to perform with full of efficiency that will result in higher productivity in overall operation
of business so that this will result in building a good image of ASDA in the marketplace which
make them a market leader.
Q3) What is it meant by equality at
workplace?
Frequency
a) Equal opportunities 20
b) Same treatment 30
c) No discrimination 20