Woolworths Progress Report: Diversity Management & Workplace Culture

This progress report outlines the current status of a project examining diversity management within the Human Resources Department of Woolworths, Australia. The project identifies processes adapted to ensure workplace diversity and addresses issues such as discrimination and conflicts. It aims to assess the impact of workplace culture on management and identify strategies for fostering a strong business culture. The report highlights completed milestones, including the introductory section, initial literature review, and methodology chapter, while also noting areas needing further development, such as research questions and a comprehensive literature review. It discusses the application of the Communication Process Framework and Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory, along with a planned survey, to gain insights into cultural diversity needs and management. The report also addresses challenges encountered, such as incomplete sections and insufficient justification of sources and theories, and proposes solutions for improvement. An updated project schedule is included, along with a Gantt chart, to ensure timely completion. The project intends to use both primary and secondary research methods to gather comprehensive data and perspectives.

Running head: PROGRESS REPORT
Progress report
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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PROGRESS REPORT
Table of Contents
Summary of the Current Status of the project............................................................................3
Project....................................................................................................................................3
Milestones completed.............................................................................................................3
Theories and Frameworks to be applied................................................................................4
Future Project Plan.................................................................................................................4
Well thought out Strategy......................................................................................................4
Issues arising from the plan to complete the project..................................................................5
Discussion on Challenges and Issues.....................................................................................5
Addressing them.....................................................................................................................5
Information on updated Schedule of the project........................................................................6
Timeline of the updated schedule..........................................................................................6
Table No 1: Timeline.............................................................................................................6
Figure No 1: Gantt chart........................................................................................................7
Comprehensive information comparing progress to plan......................................................7
Innovative Approach..............................................................................................................7
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................8

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Summary of the Current Status of the project
Project
The project has introduced the different issue that the Human Resource Department of
Woolworths faces during its daily operations. The project has identified the processes
adapted to ensure the diversity of the workplace. The research has highlighted a number of
different perspectives related to diversity management. The project has identified the issues
that include the likes of discrimination and the different conflicts arising from the likes of the
different types of discriminatory issues. The project has a range of different objectives related
to the perspective of cultural management. The project has plans to identify the impact of the
workplace culture on the management and also finding out the difference that helps to
identify the ways to gain a strong business culture within the organization. The progress
report has identified whether the report has been able to identify the major issues and attain
the pre-determined objectives.
Milestones completed
As seen in the report, the report can be said to be a reflection of just meeting the
expectations of the research. The expectations here refers to meeting all the objectives of the
research. The research objectives which included the identification of the processes that
determine the implementation of the diversity management practices and also gather idea on
the reasons behind managing the workplace culture has been mentioned briefly in the report.
To date, the project has almost completed the introductory section of the research. However,
the absence of the research questions part and the summary of the research has to be included
to complete it. The literature review has been just started and just a few topics have been
discussed until now. The literary review will shape up only after the completion of the total
chapter. The methodology chapter has also been started and the philosophical aspects, design

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along with the sampling methods and the methods of data collection has been provided in a
structured manner. The values and ethics of the research have been provided here which is
quite a major milestone for the research.
Theories and Frameworks to be applied
The most important part of the project is the selection of the frameworks and the
theories that are believed to be important for the development of the project. A number of
different kinds of frameworks and theories have been prescribed which can be considered for
use in the following project. The use of the Communication Process Framework and the
Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory can be used in the following project to gain an idea on
the cultural diversity needs and management of culture in the workplace of Woolworths. His
apart, a survey will be conducted to get an idea of the present situation of culture and
diversity in the business. Both the models will help to gain an idea of the research topic and
will help to make the research add more value.
Future Project Plan
As seen earlier, the project has basically been started with none of the parts totally
competing for a proper draft presentation. The project which has started off with the
introduction has not provided the research problems and the research questions which need to
be done in the future. The literature review must also discuss all the perspectives related to
the objectives of the research. He review will also include the conceptual framework. The
framework and theory of Hofstede’s and communication must also be included in the review
section. The research strategies and the research approach must also be mentioned. After the
completion of all these the research has to concentrate on the analysis and discussion of the
research by collecting the live samples for conducting the SPSS method.

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Well thought out Strategy
The project has started off with a proper aim and has been moving towards a proper
direction. The use of the communication theory and the Hofstede’s model is a very well taken
decision of the following project as the frameworks will provide the best way to receive the
idea on the different kinds of the ways and processes that are followed to present a cultural
idea of the organization. The project has to now start to gather the prospective samples who
will be assessed to complete the survey process needed for the SPSS project. The survey
process for the SPSS project must be prepared in a proper manner as the analysis of the
research will be used to find the results of the research.
Issues arising from the plan to complete the project
Discussion on Challenges and Issues
Though the first draft was supposed to be completed within a proper time period, the
absence of some of the major points in the introduction and the review chapter has been a
problem for the research. Though the literature has addressed most of the perspectives the
absence of the mention of key points and a moderate justification of the sources has been a
serious problem for the research. It is also seen that the choice of the theory for the research
has been superb, but the absence of proper justification for this selection can be a serious
problem for the research.
Addressing them
The problems can be addressed through a wise and easy manner. It is important to
address the problems in the most selective manner. First of all the literature sources selected
for the research must be justified in a more detailed manner. The research must also address
the theories and justify them according to the demand of the project. There are also different
errors in the in-text citations which can be improved with a little concentration. The interest

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PROGRESS REPORT
which has been created through the selection of the different types of literary perspectives
must be justified and implemented to ensure success.
Information on updated Schedule of the project
Timeline of the updated schedule
The timeline of the schedule will be changed as a more viable and suitable schedule
has been adopted to ensure that the project meets all the objectives as well as the different
aims. The updated schedule can be helpful for the success of the research. The timeline and
the updated schedule has been provided below;
Task Name Duration Start Finish
Research Proposal Timeline New 1 145 days Wed 03-07-19 Tue 21-01-20
Selection of the Research Topic 1 day Wed 03-07-19 Wed 03-07-19
Approval of the Research Topic 2 days Thu 04-07-19 Fri 05-07-19
Researching and the Development
of the Aims and Objectives
6 days Mon 08-07-19 Mon 15-07-19
Selection of the Title 12 days Tue 16-07-19 Wed 31-07-19
Selection of the Objectives 2 days Thu 01-08-19 Fri 02-08-19
Initial Research 12 days Mon 05-08-19 Tue 20-08-19
Assembling all the Preliminary
Data
8 days Wed 21-08-19 Fri 30-08-19
Researching the Data 6 days Mon 02-09-19 Mon 09-09-19
Compiling the Data 14 days Tue 10-09-19 Fri 27-09-19
Submission of the Draft 1 day Mon 30-09-19 Mon 30-09-19
Continuation of the Research 20 days Tue 01-10-19 Mon 28-10-19
Assembling New Information’s 10 days Tue 01-10-19 Mon 14-10-19
Identification of the Sample 1 day Tue 15-10-19 Tue 15-10-19
Selecting The Number of
Sample Size
4 days Wed 16-10-19 Mon 21-10-19
Interviewing The Sample
Population
5 days Tue 22-10-19 Mon 28-10-19
Researching on the Available Data 61 days Tue 29-10-19 Tue 21-01-20
Compiling the Total Data 25 days Tue 29-10-19 Mon 02-12-19
Assembling and Preparing the
final Report
35 days Tue 03-12-19 Mon 20-01-20
Final Submission 1 day Tue 21-01-20 Tue 21-01-20
Table No 1: Timeline
Source: (As created by the Author)

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PROGRESS REPORT
Figure No 1: Gantt chart
Source: (As created by the Author)
Comprehensive information comparing progress to plan
The comprehensive information of the organization has been presented in a proper
manner. The project which has been just started off with the completion of the proposal must
need a more strong effort from the part of the researcher to make it a success. The different
issues identified must be provided with justification as well as the proper source. The
justification of the sources can help in the success of the research.
Innovative Approach
The use of both the primary research as well as the secondary research is a great
innovative approach. The secondary sources will be used to identify the literary perspectives
as well as the issues concerning the project. The primary research, on the other hand, will

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help to identify the different kinds of the thoughts and ideas of the people involved in
Woolworths about the cultural diversity practices.

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Bibliography
Barak, M.E.M., 2016. Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage
Publications.
Conrad, K.A., Beier, S. and Aquino, C.T., 2016, March. Effects of Cultural Diversity
Information Sharing in Organizational Settings: An Interpretative Phenomenological
Analysis. In Academic Forum. Conference. Proceedings (p. 1). The Academic Forum.
Djankov, S., 2016. The Doing Business project: how it started: correspondence. Journal of
Economic Perspectives, 30(1), pp.247-48.
Lambert, J., 2016. Cultural diversity as a mechanism for innovation: Workplace diversity and
the absorptive capacity framework. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications, and
Conflict, 20(1), p.68.
Rice, M.F., 2015. Diversity and public administration. ME Sharpe.
Samans, R., Blanke, J., Corrigan, G. and Drzeniek, M., 2015, September. The inclusive
growth and development report 2015. In Geneva: World Economic Forum (Vol. 13).