Effect Of Diversity On Productivity In A Company With Respect To Different Variables

Statement of the problem

Discuss about the Effect Of Diversity On Productivity In A Company With Respect To Different Variables.

In the 21^st century, there are fundamental shifts in the world economy; we are living in the age of globalization where the barriers related to the trade and investments decreasing and the distance between countries is also decreasing because of the advances in the telecommunication technology and transportation (Berliant & Fujita, 2012). The world has now become a “global village”. In order to survive in a globalized economy that is highly competitive in nature, there is a need to hire an efficient and effective workforce that can perform effectively in such a competitive environment (Garnero & Rycx, 2013). A diversified workforce is the essence of many of the organizations. Diversity is an organization can be defined as the process of recognizing, understanding as well as accepting the differences among the individuals in terms of their race, age, gender, physical ability, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class and race.  Other authors also supported the view that the individuals are unique in nature but they also share number of biological characteristics and environmental characteristics.

The organizations today are employing a competitive and quality workforce regardless of the factors such as the gender, religion, language, caste, attitude, age etc. (Holmgren & Jonsson, 2013). A diversified workforce has become a latest trend among the organizations across the world.  One of the major concerns of the organization remains the productivity. A diversified workforce is however creating number of problems at the organizations such as a diversified workforce is lack of cooperation among the employees and managers, conflicts among the people etc. (Omankhanlen & Ogaga-Oghene, 2011). Any organization or the business wants to be successful must gain a borderless view of the impact of workforce diversity on different aspects such as organizational performance, employee satisfaction, employee turnover etc. Therefore the major consent of this report is to examine the impact of workforce diversify on the organization’s productivity. (Omankhanlen & Ogaga-Oghene, 2011)  It is also essential to determine the ways in which a diverse workforce can be managed effectively. This is study will fill the gap in studies conducted to determine the impact of workforce diversity on the productivity of the employees.

Workforce diversity is a vast research topic that has an impact on the large number of aspects of the organization. This research will however focus on only one of the aspect- organizational productivity. Therefore the aim of this research is to determine the impact of workforce diversity on the productivity of the organization.

Research aim, objectives and research questions

In this context some research objectives have been developed so that a specific direction can be provided to this research. The objectives of the research are as follow:

1. To determine the impact of workforce diversity on the productivity of the organization.
2. To determine the challenges associated with workforce management.
3. To determine the strategies that can  help in managing a diverse workforce

More specifically, this study aims to answer the following research questions:

• RQ1: What is the impact of workforce diversity on the productivity of the organization?
• RQ2: What are the major challenges associated with management of the workforce?
• RQ3: What are the major strategies that can help in managing a diverse workforce?

There are different views of the researchers regarding the impact of diverse workforce on the productivity of the organization. There are studies such as the (Becker, 1957) (Lang, 1986) that state that workforce diversity has a negative impact on the productivity of the organization. There is a negative impact because of the factors such as low level of coordination, poor communication and a low level of trust among the employees. Workforce diversity has a positive impact on the productivity of the organization according to the authors such as (Alesina & Ferrara, 2005; Hong & Page, 2004; Berliant & Fujita, 2012; Qasim, 2016). The authors supported their views by stating that work force diversity improves decision making, problem solving along with improving the information availability and creativity in the organization.  

There are two opposing view about the impact of workforce diversity on the performance of the organization.  This research will help in solving this conflict with the help of extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research will be conducted with the help of surveys and questionnaires and secondary research will be conducted with the past studies that have been conducted in the area of impact of work force diversity on the performance of the organization.

The major benefits of conducting this research proposal are as follows:

An extensive review of the literature will be conducted in this research so as to determine the impact of workforce diversity on the productivity of the organization. The findings of this study will help the organizations in conceiving the idea of workforce diversity in an effective manner. (Ogbo, Anthony, & Ukpere, 2014).

This study will help in determining the challenges associated with managing a diverse workforce in a present globalized and competitive. It is essential for the organizations to clearly indentify these challenges so that the best ways and methods can be identified for managing a diverse workforce. Lastly, this study is helpful in determining that strategies that will be helpful for the organizations that have a large workforce. In this way the organizations will become competitive in terms of operating a globalized world.

This study focuses on assessing the impact of a diverse workforce on the productivity of the organization. Many researchers since past have focused on studying the different aspects associated with the workforce diversity both at the national and international level. The major variables of the study are discussed below:

Justification and potential output of the research project

Workforce diversity is the diversity or the differences between the workers in a workforce. A workforce has number of people with different mix of race, background and age etc. According to Moorhead and Griffin the workforce diversity can be defined as the differences and similarities in the characteristics of the people such as gender, age, sexual orientation, background in a workforce. (Bedi, Lakra, & Gupta, 2014). In the 21^st century, the workforce diversity has become one of the major concerns of the organizations. In an information age, one of the crucial assets of the organization is its employees. The organization cannot afford to restrict its ability to attract and retain its best talent from diverse background.  In essence workforce diversity can be referred to as the practices and policies that seek to include people who are different from each other (Ali, Kulik, & Metz, 2009).

Josh Greenberg, also defined workplace diversity, according to him diversity can be defined as the differences that exists between the people of the organization. (Omankhanlen & Ogaga-Oghene, 2011) In simpler terms workforce diversity is more than just combining the differences between people who are working together in an organization. Diversity is a generalized form that includes gender, race, age, tenure, personality, cognitive style, education, organization function and the background etc. (Vandenberghe, 2015).

Age – There are differences within a team in terms of the age. A team in an organization includes both the younger and the older employees. The age differences within a workforce do not operate only on a surface level but there are number of advantages and disadvantages of the same (Gordon, 2018). The younger members of the team have the latest technical and theoretical knowledge associated with the market and business processes. The older members of an organization posses a large experience base with a vast knowledge in the organizational processes. The different age groups in a workforce have different work priorities. (Gordon, 2018) The factors that motivate the younger employees of the team may not motivate the older employees of the team. There is a critical need to determine the values, priorities and needs of different age group in a workforce so that the organization can collectively achieve the organizational goal (Saxena, 2014). The above discussion indicates that age is one of the important factors of workforce diversity, it is therefore essential to determine that how does the differences in age affect the productivity of the organization. This will help in determining an optimum age mix for the organization (Berliant & Fujita, 2012).

Conceptual framework

Gender- Gender diversity in workforce is the fair and equitable representation between the genders of the workforce. Most commonly, gender diversity refers to the equal ratio between the men and women along with the non-binary gender categories. Gender diversity is a term that gives an equal importance to both males and females in an organization. Gender diversity is also known as the “gender equality” (Kioko, 2014). There are studies that indicate that incorporating gender diversity in organization will provide “an add” on to the bottom line results of the organization. Gender diversity is a spectrum that can be used to describe the gender variations present in the organization. The major objectives of workforce diversity are to ensure that everyone in an organization is treated fairly and everyone has access to same opportunities (Garnero & Rycx, 2013). It is essential to determine that how the two different genders affect the productivity of an organization.  

People in a workforce are from diverse backgrounds indicating that there is a difference in the perceptions of the people. The perception and attribution have direct impact on the way people behave in an organization. Perception can be defined as the way in which people regard, understand and interpret the things (Jones, et al., 2008). Perception describes the manner in which people organize, filter and interpret the sensory information. An accurate perception helps the employees to interpret effectively what they see and hear in an organization so that they can make good decisions, complete the tasks ethically. Faulty perceptions in an organization lead to problems such as stereotyping that further leads to erroneously assumptions (Tüz & Gümü?, 2012).

The culture diversity is also known as the multiculturalism where there are number of people from different cultures and societies. Culture can be explained as the way in which people make sense out of their world (Holmgren & Jonsson, 2013). It is the way of life of the people or the group of people. The cultural diversity is important for the organizations as they have to work in a globalized world with people from different cultures. When an organization conducts the business with multicultural teams then it becomes important to understand the other cultures also (Gordon, 2018). The interest of an organization towards the cultural diversity depends on the culture of the organization. The culture orientation of an employee can have impact on number of the aspects such as employee performance, productivity etc. The organizations are channelizing most of their efforts towards improving the skills and abilities of their workers. Therefore it is essential to understand the impact of individual’s culture on the productivity of the organizations (Luijters, Van der Zee, & Otten, 2008).  The cultural diversity is viewed in a positive way by many of the organizations and it is managed in a synergetic way. The successful organizations now believe that it is essential to accommodate the cultural diversity so as to gain a competitive advantage and create a flexible environment. Still there are organizations that lack a holistic view as they do not articulate diversity in all the dimensions and strategic levels of the organization. The culture diversity has number of influential factors such as organization culture, geographical location etc. Cultural diversity affects the perceptions of the employees and managers (Ukachukwu & Iheriohamma, 2011).

Organization productivity can be determined as a wide range of factors include the quantitative and qualitative factors. Productivity can be defined as the measure of efficiency and it can be expressed as the ratio between the outputs and inputs in the process.  The organizational productivity is also about the effective and efficient use of resources such as people, information, time, space, material and energy (Vandenberghe, 2015). It is essential for the organizations to gain an understanding of the factors that have an impact on the productivity of the organization. It is also essential to understand the drivers individually and collectively (Bibi, 2016). The productivity of an organization indicates the effectiveness and efficiency of the processes. The productivity of an organization requires both the effectiveness and efficiency as there are activities that will not be productive if they are only effective not efficient or efficient but not effective.   In economic terms, the productivity can be defined as the relationship between input and output. The input element indicates the resources used by the organization such as the material, labour, and energy. The output involves the given service or product or both (Holmgren & Jonsson, 2013)

Faulty perceptions lead to problems in the organization, such as stereotyping, that lead people to erroneously make assumptions. The members of a workforce are different from each other in terms of religion, age, perception, educational background and the perceptions. When different types of people come together for a situation then they may not have same views. This affects the interpersonal relationships and other organizational aspects (Ali, Kulik, & Metz, 2009).

Hypothesis 1	H 0: Age diversity has a positive impact on the organizational productivity.  H1: Age diversity has a negative impact on the organizational productivity
Hypothesis 2	H 0:  Gender diversity has a positive impact on the organizational productivity. H2: Gender diversity has a positive impact on the organizational productivity.
Hypothesis 3	H0: Differences in perceptions have a positive impact on the organizational productivity. H3: differences in perceptions have a negative impact on the organizational productivity.
Hypothesis 4	H0: Differences in culture have a positive impact on the organizational productivity. H3: differences in culture have a negative impact on the organizational productivity.

In order to achieve the objectives of this research following methodology will be adopted. The discussion below focuses on the tools and methods used in this research.

Primary research – The primary research is the original research or the first hand research that that is collected by the researcher himself/herself for achieving the objectives of the research. In this research the primary research will be conducted with the help of surveys and interviews (Khan, 2011).

Secondary research – The secondary research involves the collection, analysis and synthesis of the research that already exists (Daniel & Sam, 2011). Secondary research uses the studies that have been conducted by the previous researchers. The secondary research for this proposal will be conducted with the help of literature review.  For this purpose sources from Google Scholars will be used along with online search, published journal articles, peer reviewed articles and various.

The major data collection tools used in this research is as follows:

Questionnaires – A questionnaire can be defined as the series of questions that are asked from the respondents for collecting the information about a particular topic (Chawla & Sodhi, 2011).

 Interviews – Interviews can be defined as the interaction between the interviewer and interview regarding certain topic (Daniel & Sam, 2011). The interviews in this research will be conducted with 5 managers so as to understand the impact of organization diversity on the productivity of the organization.   

Population:

The target population of this study will include the employees of the private sector organizations in Australia. The sample size of this study will be 50.

Sampling

There are two types of sampling methods – probability sampling and non probability sampling. In probability sampling the probability of inclusion of all the elements of population is equal whereas in non probability sampling the probability of inclusion of all the elements of population in the sample is not equal. (Thompson, 2012). For this research, simple random sampling will be used for selecting the respondents for the sample. This method will help in eliminating the baseness from the study.

Data Analysis

The data and information that is collected for this research with the help of data collection tools such as interviews, questionnaires will be analyzed with the help of qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques. The data analysis techniques for this research are discussed below:

Quantitative Data – The quantitative data will be obtained with the help of questionnaires. The hypothesis testing will be conducted so as to determine the relationship between the dependent and independent variables taken for this study.

Qualitative Data – The qualitative data will be analyzed critically so that those relationships between the variables can be determined.

This study will be organized into following sections:

Chapter 1 – This will be first chapter of the research that will focus on introducing the research topic in detail. This chapter will also focus on highlight the research aim, objectives and the questions that will be answered in the research.

Chapter 2- This chapter will be the literature review chapter in which the past studies associated with the research will be highlighted.  

Chapter 3 – This chapter will contain the conceptual framework and the hypothesis

Chapter 4 – This chapter will be the research methodology chapter that will discuss the research methods and techniques in detail.

Chapter 5 – This chapter will focus on analysing the data collected with the help of quantitative tools using the graphical methods. The hypothesis testing will also be conducted in this chapter.

Chapter 6 – This chapter will present the findings of the research obtained from the qualitative and quantitative research.

 The budget for this research is $5000. This budget will help in completing the research according to the time frames given below:

The budget involved in the secondary research will be $3000. This is because many of the secondary sources have to be purchased for the study.

The budget involved in the primary research will be $1000. This cost will include the cost of travelling, printing and other miscellaneous costs essential for completing the research.  

The budget for the analysis and structuring of the research is $1000.

The table below provides a clear view of the budget for the study.

Purpose	Estimated amount
Literature review	$2000.
Data collection	$1000.
Data Analysis	$1000.
Total budget	$5000.

Research activity	Start date	End date
Identification of research area	15/05/2018	24/05/2018
Formulation of research questions and objectives	25/05/2018	28/05/2018
Formulation of research methodology	29/05/2018	09/6/2018
Data collection	10/6/2018	10/7/2018
Data Analysis	11/7/2018	19/7/2018
Final submission	20/7/2018

 

References

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Ali, M., Kulik, C., & Metz, I. (2009). The impact of gender diversity on performance in services and manufacturing organizations. Academy of Management 2009 Annual Meeting : Green Management Matters. Chicago.

Becker. (1957). The Economics of Discrimination. 

Bedi, P., Lakra, P., & Gupta, E. (2014). Workforce diversity management: Biggest challenge or opportunity for 21st century organizations. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 16(4), 102-107.

Berliant, M., & Fujita, M. (2012). Culture and diversity in knowledge creation. Retrieved from Citeseerx.ist.psu.edu: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.636.7891&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Bibi, N. (2016). Role of Gender Diversity in Organizational Effectiveness and its Implications. International Review of Management and Marketing, 6(S4), 80-85.

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Gordon, P. A. (2018). Age Diversity in the Workplace. In C. T. deAquino, & R. W. Robertson, Diversity and Inclusion in the Global Workplace: Aligning Initiatives with with strategic business goals (pp. 31-48). Palgrave Macmillan.

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Lang, K. (1986). “A Language Theory of Discrimination. 

Luijters, K., Van der Zee, K. I., & Otten, S. (2008). Cultural diversity in organizations: Enhancing identification by valuing differences. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 32(2), 154-163.

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Thompson, S. K. (2012). Sampling. John Wiley & Sons.

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