ASDA Study: Impact of Workplace Discrimination on Employee Efficiency

This report investigates the impact of workplace discrimination on employee efficiency, focusing on a case study of ASDA. The research explores the reasons behind workplace discrimination, identifying issues faced by the workforce, such as lack of acceptance, cultural differences, and physical/mental disabilities. The literature review covers the causes and consequences of discrimination, including its effects on mental health, productivity, and company profitability. The research methodology utilizes a positivist approach and a deductive approach, with primary data collection methods such as questionnaires. The report also examines alternative ways to mitigate discrimination, including training, company policies, and improved hiring processes. The conclusion and recommendations will summarize the findings and suggest strategies for fostering a more inclusive and efficient workplace.

Research Project

Contents
INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................3
Research aims....................................................................................................................................3
Research objectives...........................................................................................................................3
Research questions............................................................................................................................3
Rationale of research.........................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.......................................................................................................6
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTRERETATION...................................................................................9
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION...............................................................................20
REFLECTION AND ALTERNATIVE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................22

Title: “To investigate the impact of workplace discrimination over the employee’s
efficiency level at working area”. A study of ASDA.
INTRODUCTION
In a globalised world, discrimination at workplace is one of the major issues that faced by
majority of organisation because they focus on inviting diverse workforce for attaining their
set goals and objectives in an effective way. As workplace discrimination is based on
different prejudices when an employee treated unfavourable due to culture, gender, age,
disability and many more. All these are put negative impact over the performance of
employees (Schilpzand, De Pater and Erez, 2016). Thus, it is crucial for organization to
promote equality at working area so that employees can easily perform their task activities.
With the help of this, company can reduce employee turnover and at the same time also may
develop their positive performance. Current report is based on ASDA, is a famous British
supermarket operate their business in over the world. Company was founded in 1949 with the
aim of generating larger profitability level at market place. Mainly, firm offer grocery,
general merchandise and financial services that help in attaining success at market place.
Research aims
To investigate the impact of workplace discrimination over the employee’s efficiency
level at working area”. A study of ASDA.
Research objectives
 To determine the reason why workplace discrimination is major issue at working area.
 To identify the issues faced by workforce due to workplace discrimination within the
ASDA.
 To access the alternative ways by which company can overcome from the issue of
workplace discrimination.
Research questions
 Why workplace discrimination is considered a major issue within the business
organization?
 What are the issues faced by workforce due to workplace discrimination within the
ASDA?
 What kind of alternative ways used by company to overcome from the issue of
workplace discrimination?

Rationale of research
The main purpose of undertaking this research is to analyse the impact of workplace
discrimination over the employee’s performance. It provides vast information to investigator
towards the research topic and area. Mainly, it is also beneficial in attaining success within
the research activities (Agbozo and et. al., 2017). With the help of this, it contributes
improving researcher skills and knowledge that may contributes in attaining positive and
reliable outcomes. One of the main advantages of undertaking this research is to provide
wider information about the data that contributes in improving performance of the company
at wider market.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Reason why workplace discrimination is major issue at working area
According to DeCenzo, Robbins and Verhulst, (2016), discrimination is an act, under
which because of a prejudice, some amount of people discriminates with other individual or
with a particular group. This can be based on age, gender, class, community, religion etc.,
Thus, this kind of workplace discrimination act as an issue because it can give rise to
common source of stress to employees working within the organisation. Cause of workplace
discrimination can be many like pre-employment screening: under which according to
economic status groups are developed and further action of discrimination takes place.
This can have an impact on the business of a company both internally and externally.
For example: if the act of discrimination is associated with an individual that it can have a
metal health issues like depression and anxiety and because of this his/her productivity level
can get down and furthermore, it can lead a person towards substance abuse. Individual can
develop a thinking like he/she is not required by the company and they can moreover,
dissatisfy with the work they are doing. Now, in context with a company, because of the
lower productivity level the time which was use to be taken for doing a particular activity can
now take more time therefore, providing effective services and facilities to customers can be
disturbed. As a result, company can face low profit level and a shift in market share can be
seen. Therefore, it is important that company look at the issue before it gets too late.
Issues faced by workforce due to workplace discrimination within the ASDA
According to the viewpoint of Jung and Yoon, (2016), Companies that prefer diversity in
workplace face issues related to this every time and each day. Some think that it provides

positive outcomes but some believe that having a diverse workforce always provides negative
outcomes. Basically, discrimination is an act where people or a cluster of individuals are
treated unequally and this can be on the basis of gender, race, economy etc., Therefore,
considering this some of the issues are described below for better understanding:
Acceptance and Respect: While working in a diverse environment one of the
fundamental values which is required is respect among employees and other staff members.
Thus, when there is a lack of difference and acceptance is denied than there can be possibility
that issue of workplace discrimination arises. However, if all these factors are accepted than a
better environment at workplace can be established.
Ethics and Cultural Differences: Even though most of the companies are operating
their business at global level the issue of workplace discrimination is still present. There are
people who have a prejudice against a particular class, gender, race, community etc.,
therefore, to avoid this company should have a strong company policy which incorporates
clear objectives, rules and regulations.
Physical and Mental disabilities: Disabled people are the easy victim of
discrimination because they face difficulties in navigating workplace and this happens due to
improper accommodations like ramps for wheelchairs. Thus, this creates issues for them and
later in workplace. As a result, disturbed employee can give unproductive output.
Generation gap: In today’s scenario, most of the people working in corporate sector
are millennials and there it has been estimated that by 2025 it will rise upto 75%. Thus,
companies who are operating at large scale have more diversified age groups if proper
balance is not maintained than it can create issue for the company. For example: convincing
people to work for a common can become difficult for the company.
Therefore, it is important that of a company is providing a diverse workforce than
they have proper strategies for controlling workplace discrimination and this should be done
from a very beginning i.e. from recruitment and selection process.
Alternative ways by which company can overcome from the issue of workplace
discrimination
As per the thought of Barak, (2016), Dealing with workplace discrimination is very important
because it can put an adverse effect on the individual and company itself. There are many
ways through which a company can have a control over the issues. Some of them are

regulated by governing bodies and needs to be incorporated by the organisation whereas,
some needs to be included by corporation itself. Thus, some of the alternative ways are
mentioned below to understand the same in an efficient manner:
Training: With the help of this, all the policies, rules and regulations can be
explained to employee as well as employer so that they can be familiar with the laws.
Moreover, through training process company can try to establish a better relationship
between workers who are working within the organisation. As a result, this will help
employees in developing a proper understanding towards other or for any particular group or
anything.
Company policies: in order to have a control over workplace place discrimination,
company policies play a crucial role. This includes code of ethics and code of conducts which
determine how a person will behave within the organisation and any rules and regulations are
violated than what kind of punishment will be given to the culprit. Thus, all the policies
incorporated should be appropriate and must be explained in the hiring process so that an
individual perform his/her activity considering the same.
Proper conduction of hiring process: If the initial step is good then the final
outcomes will be excellent. Thus, in order to hire employees for the company if the
recruitment panel only look for candidates who are best suited according to the job
requirements than, there might be a possibility that to some extent workplace discrimination
can be solved. Therefore, company should make sure that the selected candidate best fits for
the job.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research is conducted in order to find out things which can be further studied so as to
know the existence behind that particular study. Research methodology, helps the researcher
in doing so because it is determined as a process in which with the help of certain tools and
technologies investigator perform the activities. Thus, it assists in achieving the set aims and
objectives in a particular time frame (Van Wingerden, Derks and Bakker, 2017). Therefore,
in order to do a researcher, first a hypothetical base is being prepared moreover, it helps in
determining if any kind of changes are required or needs to be undertaken.
Research Philosophy

Research philosophy, is said to be a believe which generally includes all the activities
that a researcher can adopt in order to conduct the research. Basically, research philosophy is
categorised under into two kinds.
Interpretivism: This is simply including, human behaviour and the way of their
thinking which means what a person will assume will be considered as their thoughts for a
particular topic or study.
Positivist: This is commonly used by any research because it has the tendency of
conducting the research in natural science (Islam and Saha, 2016). Thus, it can be said that
information gathered from this are factual and further helps the investigator in having a
thorough observation. Therefore, with the help of certain sets of questions i.e. questionnaires
a hypothesis can be developed and validity and reliability are measured.
Henceforth, to undertake this research positivist approach will be taken into
consideration and the reason behind this is because of rational and logical approach
constituted by positivist. Moreover, researcher believes that with the help of this they can
provide a better explanation.
Research Approach
Any activity, if it is done in a systematic manner with proper planning than it is
determined as an act of perfection. Research approach is said to be a blueprint which provides
a guideline regarding what all activities are need to be done first following by other tasks.
Thus, it will be right to say that research approach builds a philosophical foundation for the
researcher. Generally, there are two types of research approach and these are”
Deductive: While doing a research there are many thoughts that comes directly into
the minds of a researcher. Thus, deductive approach assists in finding answers for those
questions whether it is required to answer or not. Therefore, this approach starts with a
hypothetical base and further assist in attaining all the aims and objectives.
Inductive: In this approach researcher first starts to gather information which is
mostly related to the specific topic of the study. However, most of the activity is done
through observation so that a better outcome is estimated (Rhee, Hur and Kim, 2017).
Moreover, on the basis of information gathered researcher tries to develop theories.

Therefore, in order to do this research deductive approach will be used as it will assist
in determining a relationship between different variables and if any kind of hypothesis is
available than it helps in establishing a control over testing the same.
Source of Data Collection
This determines from where the researcher will gather information for conducting the
research in an efficient manner. If talking about sources of data collection it is of two types
and both are explained below:
Primary data collection: with the help of this method researcher gathers information
regarding a specific topic for the first time and data that are collected are not being used by
any other resources (Tracy, 2019). Moreover, researcher uses different kinds of methods in
order to do so and these are interviews, questionnaire, surveys and many more.
Secondary data collection: In this data and information are collected from different
sources mostly, consider the thoughts and views of other researchers. However, all the
information is collected from books, journals, magazines etc., Moreover, it assists researcher
in increasing the sphere of knowledge and to make the literature review more reliable and
valid.
Therefore, for doing this research both primary as well as secondary method of data
collection will be chosen in order to make this research effective.
Research Choice
Research can be valid and reliable if, the researcher made the right choice and there
can be a possibility that, an investigator has a lot of choices and choosing from the same can
be difficult for them. Thus, in order to do this research multi-method of quantitative studies
will be taken into consideration. Moreover, representing the gathered information in a
statistical form can eb easily understood by human behaviour.
Research Strategy
Strategy is something which is developed in order to do an activity step-by-step. In
relation with research strategy it can be said that it includes all the directions, efforts,
thoughts etc., in order to determine a quality result. When talking about research strategy it is
of two types and these are survey and experimental. Therefore, for doing this research which
is positivist and all the information are gathered are in quantitative form than, survey research

strategy is being taken into consideration because it assists investigator in analysing any kind
of links available between the theories of the specific topic (Babalola, 2016). Thus,
accordingly on the basis of research topic set of questions are formed.
Research Design
There are generally three types of research design and these are experimental,
exploratory and descriptive and in order to do this research exploratory method was
undertaken because it will help researcher in having in-depth knowledge from the data
collected and gathered.
Sampling
In order to continue the process of research, data collection is very important and this
is gathered from population. Thus, sampling is the process under which a sample size is taken
because collecting information from the entire population is not an easy task (Wombacher
and Felfe, 2017). Generally, there are two kinds of sampling i.e. probability sampling: in
which every individual has an equal chance of getting selected. Non-probability sampling:
this shows a biased nature because there might be a possibility that selected samples are
chosen by the researcher himself/herself.
Henceforth, for conducting this research, researcher will consider probability
sampling and that too random sampling which is a component of probability sampling.
Sample size will be 40 which is employees of the company and also having enough
knowledge about the research topic i.e. impact of workplace discrimination over the
employee performance.
Research Ethics
When doing a research there are certain ethics which needs to be followed by a
researcher so that the research can be done in an appropriate manner without hurting other’s
views and thoughts. Therefore, for doing this research all the ethics was taken into
consideration like not revealing the identify of respondent and furthermore, information
gathered was also not revealed.
Research Limitations
As a researcher, the main limitation which they can face is time and money because
there can be some instance where for doing a research, an investigator is provided in

insufficient time (Albrecht and Marty, 2020). Moreover, for gathering information funds can
be limited and this can put an adverse impact on the research.
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTRERETATION
Questionnaire
Q1) Do you have any idea about workplace discrimination?
a) Yes
b) No
Q2) Does promoting equality is crucial for ASDA to reduce workplace
discrimination?
a) Yes
b) No
Q3) According to you, what is the impact of workplace discrimination over the
company performance?
a) Yes
b) No
Q4) What are the major drawbacks of workplace discrimination faced by employees
within ASDA?
a) Create stress
b) Reduce morale and motivation
c) Create issues among workers
Q5) What kind of alternative ways implement by ASDA to overcome from issue of
workplace discrimination?
a) Proper training and development program
b) Regular communication with employees
c) Analyse employee performance
Q6) As per your views, on which basis workers are discriminated at working area?
a) Age
b) Gender
c) Culture
Q7) Does implementation of employment equity policy is important for company to
protect workers from any kind of discrimination?
a) Yes
b) No

Q8) Does training and development programs help in promoting equality within the
ASDA?
a) Yes
b) No
Q9) What are the advantage acquire by ASDA after overcoming from workplace
discrimination?
a) Improve employee performance
b) Build positive relation
c) Boost workers motivation
Q10) Suggest the ways that can be implement by business organization with the aim
of managing equality at working area.
Data sheet
Q1) Do you have any idea about workplace discrimination? Frequency
a) Yes 30
b) No 10
Q2) Does promoting equality is crucial for ASDA to reduce
workplace discrimination?
Frequency
a) Yes 25
b) No 15
Q3) According to you, what is the impact of workplace
discrimination over the company performance?
Frequency
a) Yes 30
b) No 10
Q4) What are the major drawbacks of workplace
discrimination faced by employees within ASDA?
Frequency
a) Create stress 20
b) Reduce morale and motivation 10
c) Create issues among workers 10
Q5) What kind of alternative ways implement by ASDA to
overcome from issue of workplace discrimination?
Frequency
a) Proper training and development program 15
b) Regular communication with employees 15

c) Analyse employee performance 10
Q6) As per your views, on which basis workers are
discriminated at working area?
Frequency
a) Age 10
b) Gender 20
c) Culture 10
Q7) Does implementation of employment equity policy is
important for company to protect workers from any kind of
discrimination?
Frequency
a) Yes 30
b) No 10
Q8) Does training and development programs help in
promoting equality within the ASDA?
Frequency
a) Yes 30
b) No 10
Q9) What are the advantage acquire by ASDA after overcoming
from workplace discrimination?
Frequency
a) Improve employee performance 15
b) Build positive relation 15
c) Boost workers motivation 10
Theme 1: Awareness about workplace discrimination.
Q1) Do you have any idea about workplace discrimination? Frequency
a) Yes 30
b) No 10