Assignment#01

Subject: - Business Research Method.

Program: BS (Accounting & Finance).

Semester: 6th.

Roll No: F18-1010\ F18-0972\ F18-0977

Submitted To: Rafique Ahmed Khuhro

Submitted By: Waleed Zahid\ Zainab Noor\ Furqan

Ahmed

Submission Date: 28-04-2021

The impact of workforce diversity on organizations.

Literature Review:
Abstract:
The subject matter of this paper is workplace diversity. The study is conducted to explore how
Companies manage workforce diversity and its consequences to the company’s existence as well
as examine how companies’ deal with challenges that comes with employees from diverse
cultural backgrounds. The research therefore answers the question `Has workplace diversity
contributed to organizational success`. Because diversity covers a wide range of human attributes
and qualities, the research is limited to the required tools for managing workplace diversity,
advantages and disadvantages of managing a diverse workforce. Five companies in Finland and
Ghana has been studied in order to acquire answers to the question that is being focused on.

To gather the required data for this thesis, the author has mostly used the current material that
contains Human Resource Management studies. Qualitative research method has been used to
gather and analyze the data on the companies. To answer the research question as well as obtain
and practical and relevant information on each company, the author conducted an interview on
three of the companies and gathered information on the internet on two of the Companies.

The result shows that workplace diversity plays an effective role in some companies. However
inadequate mentoring and guidance could cause a company low productivity. For this reason
there must be regular improvement in ways to effectively manage a diverse workforce as the
world keeps advancing.

In the conclusion, the findings of the thesis were indicated, which states that workplace diversity
has contributed to more productivity but some factors such as differential treatment could hinder
its successful implementation and hence company success. Big companies are more passionate
about diversifying their workforce and see its implementation as a norm and continuously strive
to improve diversity management, whereas small companies see it as a choice and evitable when
they feel it a burden or cannot effectively manage it.

Introduction:
Diversity can generally be defined as recognizing, understanding and accepting individual
differences irrespective of their race, gender, age, class, ethnicity, physical ability and race.
Sexual orientation, spiritual practice and so on. Grobler (2002:46) also supports this view by
adding that each individual is unique but also share any number of environmental or biological
characteristics.

Diversity can be classified into two dimensions. The primary dimension such as age, gender,
sexual orientation and so on, exhibits the main differences between various individuals. This
primary differences also have the most impact on initial encounters and can be easily noticed and
serve as filters through which people view the world. The secondary dimensions such as religion,
education, geographical location, income etc, are those qualities that are not noticeable in the
first encounter and can even change throughout different encounters. These qualities are only
noticed after some interactions occur between individuals. (Ashton 2010). Globalization in this
recent time has triggered more interaction amongst people from different cultures and
backgrounds than before. People are now more open-minded in the marketplace worldwide with
competition coming from almost everywhere in the continent. Diversity can be a problem to an
organization but could also be a solution, It also comes with its disadvantages but also benefits
and dangerous but also constructive. The challenge then is to extract the very essence of diversity
and tactically manage it for the improvement of the people and the organization.

Most organizations in their own perspective, adopt diversity at their workplace or organization to
become more creative and open to change. Increasing and improving workplace diversity has
become an important issue for management in the recent years due to the recognition of how the
workplace is changing. Since managing diversity still remains a challenge in organizations,
managers tend to learn managerial skills needed in a multicultural working environment and
prepares themselves to teach others within their organizations to value cultural differences and
treat all employees with dignity. For some business leaders and managers point of view, diversity
is a big challenge to them although it knows no organizational boundary and has no limitations.

Problem Statement:
“People with different ages, backgrounds, cultures, religions, color work together can bring
variety of perspectives and many different ideas for the organization.
So, their diversity in perspectives diversity of lifestyles, diversity in how people think all
these can causes problem in organizations and can cause discord in different views.

Relevant factors:
When considering adopting a diverse workforce, some important factors and attributes need to be
taken into account, which involves the following:
• Company type
• Organizational culture
• Company Location
 Factors of Company
Company
Type.
workplace Location.
diversity.

Culture.
Organizational

Company type:
The type of a company plays a significant role in the decision making process of the
company in determining whether or not to employ a diverse workforce. Companies differ in size
and activities, and come with its own rules and company act. Most public companies tends to
employ more workers due to its size as compared to private companies, the same applies to other
types such as limited liability companies, unlimited companies, Government companies and so
on. (The times 100, 2013) Employing diverse employees would mean, being convinced that the
company type will do well or much better with them on board.

Organizational culture:
Organizational culture could be defined as a set of values that are share in the
organization, which reflects on the company’s activities. There are five components to
organizational culture that involves its practices, vision, value, people, place, and its history.
Each organizational culture is unique and different from any other companies; therefore any
decision made by a company about workplace diversity is based on the company’s beliefs and
norms, and must therefore reflect on that company. (Coleman 2013)

Company location:
Company location contributes to the decisions of a company to or not to employ a diverse
workforce. Companies that have their manufacturing plants situate in most parts of the world
does not seem to have much choice but to employ workers from diverse cultures, since workers
are needed in each office they operate. However some companies have the ability to decide
whether or not to employ a diverse workforce especially when they are situated only in their
country of origin.
Research Questions:
The research questions of the study are:
1. Has workplace diversity contributed to organizational Success?
2. Has workplace diversity make conflict in decision making?
3. Have workplace diversity cause religious differences in employees?
4. Has workplace diversity leads to less productivity and profit?

Three Theories about workplace diversity:

The fundamental to social justice within business is to make certain that the workplace remains a
place of diversity. Not only does this ensure recognition of basic rights and liberties, but it also
creates an atmosphere of trust that is often lacking between corporation and consumer.

2.1 The meaning of diversity has changed from what it used to be in the past. One
theory states that, before businesses can implement a strategy to get diversity, they should
gain a clear understanding of what it means. According to this theory, many people are
still focused on old models of diversity, which focus on social justice issues such as
concerning gender or race. Conversely, diversity now should focus on creating an
atmosphere that fosters connection.

2.2 A second theory requires leveraging diversity in order to attract new clients. By
building a diverse team of employees, a business will be better able to reach specific
audiences. Staffing a company with one demographic would make it very hard to connect
with anyone outside of that demographic.

2.3 A third theory requires that businesses focus more on understanding the client,
rather than focusing on workplace diversity. Making a product marketable is more about
clear advertising, rather than anything that goes on behind closed doors. When it comes
down to it, there are many different definitions of diversity and many different ways to
achieve it. It has now been a long time since anti-discrimination laws were entered into
the books, but that does not mean that we should stop focusing on them. Implementing a
diverse working class is fundamental to maintaining social justice on multiple levels. Its
importance should never be forgotten and should always be a tool for positive change
whenever possible.
Hypothesis:
Based on the above reasoning, it is hypothesized that:

H1: There is a relationship between diversity awareness, as measured by the Workplace

Diversity comparison, and employee job satisfaction, as measured by the Job Satisfaction
observation.

H01: There is no relationship between diversity awareness, as measured by the Workplace

Diversity comparison, and employee job satisfaction, as measured by the Job Satisfaction
observation.

H2: There is a difference in diversity awareness by varying demographic characteristics,

including years of service, gender, ethnicity, and age.
H02: There is no difference in diversity awareness by varying demographic characteristics,
including years of service, gender, ethnicity, and age.

The results showed that a moderate relationship exists between diversity awareness as measured
by comparison and employee job satisfaction as measured by observation and those diversity
demographics can potentially impact diversity awareness.
References:

Reference#01:

The subject matter of this paper is workplace diversity. The study is conducted to explore how
companies manage workforce diversity and its consequences to the company’s existence as well
as examine how companies’ deal with challenges that comes with employees from diverse
cultural backgrounds (Dike 2013)
Dike, P. (2013). "The impact of workplace diversity on organisations."

Reference#02:

Foma, E. (2014). "Impact of workplace diversity." Review of Integrative Business and

Economics Research 3(1): 382.

Reference#03:

Bah, A. B. (2015). "The Impact of a Diverse Workforce on an Organization: Challenges and

Opportunities."