Research questions and objectives
Evaluate the incidence of sexual harassment in the workplace of Dubois Industries.
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the incidence of sexual harassment in the workplace of Dubois Industries. In this case, an employee of Dubois Industries has brought a serious allegation against the senior managers of the company. Young consultancy is a management consulting firm whose offices are situated in Melbourne, Sydney and they have recently opened an office in Singapore. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the effects of sexual harassment on the employees and financial profit of the organization. Moreover, this paper will also evaluate how Dubois Industries can overcome this situation and prevent the occurrence of such situation in future.
The research question of this research proposal are as follows:
- What are the effects of sexual harassment on the employees of an organization?
- What are the effects of sexual harassment on the financial development of the organization?
- How can the organizations prevent such events in future?
The research objective of this research proposal are as follows:
- To understand how an organization can overcome the situation of sexual harassment
- To understand the effects of sexual harassment on the employees of an organization
- To understand how an organization can prevent such incidents from happening in the future
The purpose of this research proposal is to provide suitable solutions to Dubois Industries on how they can handle these type of situations in future. The research proposal will provide answers on how the organizations can overcome these situations and prevent from happening such incidents in the future.
According to Lockhart, (2016), sexual harassment is defined as the unwelcome behavior which affects the employment decisions of the victim. In the words of HerscH, (2015), the majority of these cases, women constitute the victims, but men can be sexually harassed in the workplace. Generally, the senior professionals of an organization tend to participate in this kind of behavior towards the new employees of the organization. As per (Chavkoska, 2016), examples of sexual harassment in the workplace includes unwanted jokes, offensive gestures, and comments on the clothing a person. Incidences of sexual harassment in the workplace are common all over the world. In words of Malhotra & Srivastava, (2016), sexual harassment in the workplace creates a hostile environment in the workplace. These type of behaviors can result in serious consequences on the physical and mental health of the victim. Accusations of sexual harassment in the workplace can have a negative effect on the employees of an organization. According to Morral et al., (2016), it can affect the emotional well-being of an employee, and it affects their self-esteem. It can seriously affect the personal relationship of the employees within the organization. In the words of Buchanan et al., (2018), the physical health of the employees are closely linked with their mental health. In case the victims of the organization experiences mental and emotional problems, it can lead them to suffer from stress, anxiety etc. It can cause serious economic problems for the organization, as it will increase the rate of employee absenteeism within the organization. According to McDonald et al., (2015), the rate of employee turnover can increase thus affecting the overall profitability of the organization. Thus it can have a negative effect on the overall financial profitability of the organization.
Expected outcomes
In the given case, an employee of Dubois Industries has accused the senior manager of the organization of engaging in sexual harassment activities against her. In the words of Mukosi et al., (2015), employers have the legal responsibility to provide a supportive environment to their employees and prevent any incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace. According to Farhang et al., (2015), they are liable to provide a safe environment to the employees of the organization. The reputations of the organizations facing these allegations can be diminished to a great extent. So they need to address this issue in a sensitive way to avoid any future implications for the organization (Schultz, 2018). According to Marshall, (2017), the organizations should have a strict anti-harassment policy in their work to prevent such type of incidents. The research methodology used for this research is the qualitative approach, and the method of sampling is used to understand the nature of the issue. A sample size of 80 men and women are selected to understand the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. To address this issue, organizations like DuBois Industries must understand the issue of sexual harassment (Pateman, 2014). In the words of Bell, (2016), they must observe and examine if their employees are engaging in these type of conducts and they must confront the offender immediately. In the words of McDonald, & Charlesworth, (2016), the alleged person must be fired from the position and the victim must be provided with support so that she can overcome this issue. In the words of, they must set an example for their employees so that they do not participate in this type of behavior in the future (Crenshaw et al., 2018). According to Goodman-Delahunty et al., (2016), more employees of the organization should be encouraged to talk about it and proper measures should be taken to stop this incident from happening in the future.
The research method used to collect the data for this study is the research method of qualitative approach. The method of sampling is conducted to collect the data for this study, in which a sample size of 80 men and women is selected, who has worked in Dubois industries at some point of their life. A semi-structured interview is conducted to collect their response. A majority of the sample group, mostly women, have responded in positive and they have also said that the senior management of the organization was aware of the incident. They have also said that they did not take any appropriate measures to prevent such incident with the organization.
Literature review
The research follows the ethical guidelines of National Statement of Ethical Conduct while collecting information for this study. The participants are told beforehand about the nature of the study and the potential vulnerability of the participants are considered while conducting the study and the study is conducted in a considerate way.
The data collected from the study will analyze with the help of narrative analysis technique of qualitative data analysis method. In this study, the response of the participants of the study will be analyzed against the narratives of other respondents to evaluate the accuracy of the data collected.
The research is conducted over a course of a week from May 21 to May 28, 2018. In this time period, the researcher has talked to several employees of Dubois Industries. The data collected from this study will be analyzed on 30 may 2018. The research proposal will be submitted on the mid-week of June 2018.
Young Consultancy should proceed to submit the tender to Dubois Industries to participate in the research. This case can be one of the important cases for the organization and it will help to earn more recognition in the market. If the company conducted the research successfully, they will be able to gain knowledge about the incidence and verify if it is true. In case the incident is true, they can give specific directions to the company on how to handle this type of situation and how to prevent such incidents in future. Thus it will enable Dubois Industries to manage their image in the market and it will help Young Consultancy to increase their recognition.
References
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