Importance of Diverse Work Force in Retail Industry; A Case Study on Tesco, Plc

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Project Title:

Importance of Diverse Work Force in retail industry; a case

study on Tesco, Plc

Objectives.

Objectives can be used to analyse and evaluate the literature research, on the

usefulness and the effectiveness of HRM practices which manage the diverse

work force in retail industry. Its main objectives can be given as follows.

To analyse the current HRM approaches used by the organisation for

managing the diverse work force.

To analyse the importance of diverse work force in retail industry.

To analyse the advantages and disadvantages of diverse work forces in

retail industry.

To recognize the factors needed for attaining the competitive advantage

through diverse work force in retail industry.

In order to carry out the above objectives the following analysis are necessary.

1. What are the parameters that affect the relationship at work among

employees of different cultures?

2. What are the different HRM approaches taken by the organisation for

managing diverse work force?

3. How the organisation can gain competitive advantages through diverse

work force?

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Introduction

As the organisations are becoming more international that increased the level of

competitions in the business world. That caused new challenges in the global

markets and so the retail organisations are trying to develop new strategies for

reducing those issues. Thus they recognize the importance of diverse work force and

develop new strategies for managing them because the diverse work force is the

success factor of an organization. So the effective management of them brings

competitive advantages to the organization. That increases their importance and

they try to implement new strategies for managing the people having different ethnic

and socio economic back grounds. They keep different types of relations as per their

cultures. So this need to be materialized and must observe best practices to

manage them effectively (Albrecht 2000). So the organisations must consider the

local state federal laws, local country profile, the country culture etc for the effective

management of this diverse work force.

Research Background

This research proposal is intended to research and find out some real facts about

the diverse work force in retail industries. The topic of the research is “the

importance of diverse workforce in retail industry, a case study on Tesco”. The

human resources are very essential for an organization because they are doing

all the important functions of the organisations. As a retail industry is

considered, there are work force from different countries, regions etc. So it is

the duty of the management to handle and manage this diverse workforce

effectively. As a valuable and important resource, they must be given important

care because all the functions of the organisations are taking place with the help

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of these people. For that researcher can use the related primary or secondary

data for collecting information about their importance in retail industry.

Retail business is a booming industry of the current age. It is a vibrant industry

with lots of fastest changes. The word retail is taken from word retailer, means

cut into piece. They sell products and the services to customers for family as

well as individual use. The retail industry can be divided into different types

based on their size, the shape, the products and their services, the charging price

etc. They may be chain stores, supermarkets, speciality stores, factory outlets,

the franchises, discount stores etc. As the dynamic field, they offer employment

opportunities for diverse work forces. They offer about two million jobs around

the world (web, ref. 5)

Here the selected organization Tesco, as a retail industry, recruiting workforce

from different countries and they give excellent services to the customers. The

diverse workforce from different countries has different practices and culture.

Hence this research aims at evaluating the importance of diverse workforce in

Tesco for measuring its effectiveness and thus find out the pitfalls and

recommend the right corrective action.

Literature Review.

Introduction

The present era of globalization, enforce the world to mingle with diverse work force

from different backgrounds, cultures, believes etc. New developments in the social,

economical, political and demographical environment changed the countries to the

multicultural societies. In the present competitive environment it is essential for the

retail organizations to take effective strategies to gain competitive advantages in the

field. According to Green and his friends, the competitions arising from all continents

and diverse work force are the part of this world economy (Green et al, 2002).

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Diverse work force are the main axis that runs the retail industry, so the success

and the failures mainly based on the attitude of the diverse work force because of

the relevance and interdependency of one country with all other countries (Gupta et

al 2001). So the importance of diverse work force is a main factor for the retail

organizations and the managers have to decide upon the importance of these factors

and move with it.

The human resources are very essential for retail industry because they are doing all

the important functions of the organisations. As a retail industry is considered, there

are diverse work force from different countries, regions etc. So it is the duty of the

management to handle and manage this diverse workforce effectively. As a valuable

and important resource, they must be given important care because all the functions

of the organisations are taking place with the help of this diverse work force. For that

researcher can use the related primary or secondary data for collecting information

about their importance in retail industry.

Managing the diverse work force is an important factor for the retail industry. For

Tesco, an international retailer, having operations in about 14 countries, have lots of

diverse work force. It manages this diverse work force worldwide and that brings

some challenges also. So to manage the situation effectively they need to adopt

some approaches. The dissertation focuses on the importance of diverse work force

in retail industry and tries to analyze the strategies that help to manage this diverse

work force in their organizations.

Retail Industry

Retail business is a booming industry of the current age. It is a vibrant industry with

lots of fastest changes. The word retail is taken from word retailer, means cut into

piece. They sell products and the services to customers for family as well as

individual use. The retail industry can be divided into different types based on their

size, the shape, the products and their services, the charging price etc. They may be

chain stores, supermarkets, specialty stores, factory outlets, the franchises, discount

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stores etc. As the dynamic field, they offer employment opportunities for diverse

work forces. They offer about two million jobs around the world (web, ref. 5)

There are about three million people are working in the retail industry (data collected

March 08). That is equal to the 11% of total UK employees. (UK Retail Futures

2011: Sector Summary, Data monitor). For about the 8% of gross domestic product,

GDP, of UK is produced by retail sector. (Web reference 2). The retail sale in UK

was about £265 billion in the 2007 that is more than combined economies of the

countries like Portugal and Denmark (UK Retail Futures 2011: Sector Summary,

Data monitor). The jobs in retail industry are related to the economics and the

consumer trends.

The retail market in UK may increase 15% in size in the coming 5 years with a value

of £312bn (UK Retail Futures 2011: Sector Summary, Data monitor) even though it

slows down the annual growth and may faces challenges. British retail consortium,

the BRC, the trade association of the retailers is selling the wide range of products in

all centers and stores. It helps to get the right information about the retail business.

(www.brc.org.uk). in retail industry, the surviving sector is the electrical section and

with a growth of 24% (UK Retail Futures 2011: Sector Summary, Data monitor). The

retailers of home sector may face the tough period because of the falling prices of

houses and the people are more cautious on moving homes.

The changing concepts of diverse work force.

In this era of changing perspectives, there are many challenges in the business

world because of the changes in the views of diverse work force and the retail

organisation’s perspectives. The retail organisations try to attract very dedicated and

talented diverse work force by offering them high salaries and retain the successful

work force (Reference: web.04). The retail organisations are searching for the team

leaders, the creative thinkers, and the consensus builders. Also the diverse work

force is interested to work with the companies which offer them chances for the

growth and the opportunities. The diverse work force gets these opportunities via

cross functional teams, the lateral move and through different training programmes

(Reference: web.04).

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Employee.

An employee is an individual, borrowed by the employers for doing certain jobs and

there must be a strong relationship between the employee and the retail

organisation. (Reference: web.02). An employee is a labour that works as the tool

and her or his behaviour is manipulated for the profit of retail organisation and can

be replaced when that is dilapidated (Aswathappa 2008). They are the resources of

an organisation because they are being used for organisation’s benefit and also for

the benefit of the society and the employee (Aswathappa 2008). The diverse work

force consists of employees of different backgrounds.

In this age of globalization, the distance from one continent to other has decreased

and it shows the importance of the interdependency of one country with all other

countries (Gupta et al 2001). This is a hot topic to be discussed and still there are

controversy on globalization and it existence (Unger 1997). The controversy is also

on that globalization supersedes the nation and its pros and con (Strange 1996,

Wade 1996). But the accepted fact is it bring tremendous revolution and growth in

the field of business and helped retail organizations to make their operations

efficient, feasible and reliable (Gupta et al 2001). As a result of this globalization, the

retail organizations became more international and this brought new challenges in

this retail organization. This increased competitions so the retail organizations

changed their planning and strategies with the help of effective diverse work force.

The diverse work force is the success factor of an organization and the effective

workforce will bring success and competitive advantage over others. This helps the

retail organization to adopt new human resource management strategies (HRM) and

techniques for the success in future.

The diversity helps for employee developments. The changes in the society also

make changes in the retail organization (EfH 2003). If the business is extended

around the world it needed diverse work force of different places and countries.

Thus these heterogeneous diverse work forces are capable of satisfying the

diversified markets and the customers (Cunningham and Green 2007). It helps to

know the new opportunities and gain competitive advantages. So retail

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organizations encourage diverse work force of different cultures for making its

operation more effectively (Dwivedi, 2001). Retail organizations consider diverse

work force as most important asset. So the diverse work force are expected to know

the business functions, solve the problems, develop proper future plans and develop

the organization to run (web reference.2). The diverse work force is the human

resources for an organization and that is used for benefit of organization, society and

the diverse work force itself. (Aswathappa 2008).

The HRM concepts.

HRM is applicable to all sections of the management like in selection, manpower

planning, salary administration, performance appraisal, training and the management

developments (Mishra 2001). As per Mishra, HRM has three main concepts they are.

The diverse work force working for retail organization is a valuable source and

so it is essential to put effort and time for the development (Mishra 2001).

The human resources have own characteristics so it can’t treated as material

resource and this adds human values in organization (Mishra 2001).

The human resources are not only considering like individuals but also must

know the social realities, the units, the process etc of the organization (Mishra

2001).

The human resource management comes from personal management and the

behavioral science. It is a highly extensive and multidisciplinary approach from

beginning till end. This helps the diverse work force to develop competency for doing

the present and the future role in organization. These required the review of the

management processes for developing new approaches in organization (Niskala M

2004). As per the nature of the workplace the managers have to understand the

best practices using the very best strategies. As a result diverse work force can

achieve their needs and the organizational goals at the same time (Stredwick 2005).

The HRM is the management of the diverse work force and work of an organization.

The personal management is the non strategic, separate business, the reactive, the

short termed, and constrained. But HRM has wide concepts and that includes the

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development of the competencies of diverse work force and involves in the strategic

management also. It is art than a science. That is it is an art with pitfalls, the

judgment call, and it helps to learn from the past mistake (Mishra 2001).

Different types of diversity in workplace.

There are different types of diversity exists in work place. They may be of ethnicity,

gender equality, socio economic, language, disability, culture, age, sexuality, gender

identity etc. This list goes the long way and determines who are we as the individuals

and doesn’t stop (Pelled et al 1999). Ethnicity is related to diverse work force’s origin

and there are differences in their areas like education, employment, culture,

language, gender, the socio economic environment, the religion, sexuality etc

(Knight et al, 1999).

Gender equality is also to be highlighted because women are longing for this equality

for long. Then religious diversity is important as it is closely related to their dress

code and the restrictions etc. The socio economic diversity is also related to religion,

education ethnicity etc. This is unique because it tries to rank the diverse work force

as per their backgrounds. It helps to find out the amount of tax to be paid. The social

diversity measures the acorn census. So it is the measure of the social mobility and

the extent to which diverse work force move out from it.

The educational background is also related with socio economic group, the religion,

gender etc because this related with the fees to be paid, the faith schools, single sex

schools respectively (John et al, 1997). So it is important to give attention to the

state schools and the fee paying schools (John et al, 1997). There are lots of people

privately educated individuals working as excellent professionals. As per the reports

of the Sutton trust, the proportion of privately educated lawyers and journalists are

70% and 54% (Sutton trust report, 2009).

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The diversity is not black or white, male or female, young or old issues. As per Harris

Sussman, it is connected with relations, connections, the interactions of the crossing

lines. It consists of many things like the organizational life, the diverse work force’s

life, and corporate capability, frame work of relations among the people, their

learning exchange and the strategic mirror on world. So it needs the support from

different places and the employers are interested with these kinds of diverse work

force because of their excellence. They need to be encouraged for developing a vast

culture. (Web ref. 7)

As per the trend of today, most retail organizations expand their business to

overseas for more expansion (Gwendolyn Cuizon, 2009). So they need to employ

diverse workforce without any discrimination of gender, ethnicity, age or race

(Gwendolyn Cuizon, 2009). As globalization is the overpowering trend in today’s

business the diversity in workplace also is the best accepted perception in this

environment.

Need of diverse workforce.

Today’s corporate culture consider various pressure of the labor market because of

the constant changes in globalization, economy, technology, demography, flexibility,

feminization of workforce etc (EfH, 2003). The corporate concepts, developments in

the social scenario, the continuous changes, and the staff development procedures

needed the importance of diversity in organisations (EfH, 2003). That is as the

activities of the organisations spread to different countries, it requires the need of

diverse work force from different places and cultures because these heterogeneous

diverse work force can satisfy the requirements of the markets and the customers.

(Cunningham and Green, 2007). Also diversity encourages the diverse work force

and gives those opportunities for attaining competitive advantages for the retail

organization. It helps the retail organisations for making efficient operations in

different places by make use of the excellent diverse work force (Dwivedi, 2001)

The management of diverse workforce.

The retail organisations need diverse work force in their international operations for

gaining better improvements because they need the service of them for dealing with

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people of different cultures and backgrounds. So for benefits and success all retail

organisations must handle this diverse work force carefully (Amaram 2007). As per

Roosevelt, the managing diversity is the broad managerial process that develops the

environment to all diverse work forces to work with. (R. Roosevelt Thomas, 1995,

Beyond Race and Gender).

In the present scenario, America is the better example of this reflection of diverse

work force in their retail organisations. There is a mixture of diverse work force from

different race, religion, gender, age, and other social and environmental

backgrounds. So America as the melting pot for diverse work force doesn’t cater the

single group but cater the mixture of all these diverse work force for getting more and

more prospects. The presence of diverse work force brings long term success

because they bring innovative ideas, views and perspectives for the work. So other

countries like UK also can treat this diverse work with serious consideration for

gaining more productivity and success. So the managers have to capitalize on all

these mixtures for better business opportunities and creativity.

Disadvantages of diverse work force.

The diversity causes some problems also. They can be given as follows;

The cohesiveness of the diverse work force holds them together but when the

diversity is forced in retail organization that may lead to the resistance to the

changes from existing diverse work force. That may lead to conflicts in the

retail organization (Aswathappa 2008)

As the diversity consists of many cultures, if one culture is neglected, it

causes the demonization or the frustrations from the members and so that it

causes the adverse result on the productivity. It also leads to high

absenteeism and the turnover (Amaram, 2007).

The communication barriers create problems and issues. That is the

misunderstanding may occur in any stage so that reduces the effectiveness of

the groups (O Reilly ET al1989).

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It pays more cost and time so that it may decrease the benefits of the retail

organization. Also if there are any problems for making general agreement

and the opinions, that may cause the cultural clashes so that makes negative

effects (Tsui et al, 1992).

The opinion and resolution of the majority often neglects the opinion and

participation of the minority (Amaram 2007).

Advantages of diverse work force.

In retail organization the diverse work force plays the key roles for their business

developments and success. That is this diversity increases their organizational

performances. The diversity helps to retain the best diverse talented bodies in

organizations (Amaram 2007). Thus by having those diverse work force they can

enhances the following things;

Increase the adaptability- The diverse work forces helps to solve different

problems in sourcing, servicing, and the allocation of the resources. The

diverse work forces have got practical talents and that helps to suggest

flexible ideas for adapting to the fluctuating customer needs and the market

situation (Greenberg 2004).

To increase the organizational flexibility- The presence of diverse work force

helps the organization to challenge the very old assumptions so that they can

construct better work style (Nelson and Quick 2000).

Widen the service range- The diverse experiences and the skills help the

retail organization to serve diverse customers even in the global basis

(Greenberg 2004).

Improve the employee morale- As the diverse cultures of diverse work force

are valued and recognized, that increases the morale standard and thus gives

an increase in retention (NEW 2008).

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Lots of view point- As the diverse work force has variety of ideas and the

experience that helps to meet the requirements of the customers, the retail

organization and their business strategy (Greenberg 2004).

The innovation and the creativity- The innovative retail organisations creating

more diverse work force for increasing their creativity (Nelson and Quick

2000).

High alignment with the vendors- The diversity helps to settle and deal with

vendors of diverse cultural backgrounds in globally and thus enable the retail

organization to understand and recognize their believes and values for

keeping better relations with them (NEW 2008).

Excellent execution – As the diversity is recognized and encouraged the

diverse work force is inspired for doing their high abilities and so that helps to

increase the productivity, the profit and the return on their investments

(Greenberg 2004).

The diversity enhances the quality of staff by entering the untouched pools of the

talents. It increases the customer confidence because it gets the service of quality

work force. The retail organisations have to make constant reviews on their progress

by changing and adopting new approaches, plans, the policies and strategies. That

in turn results in high morale and standard to the retail organisations and the diverse

work force as well.

Thus the best strategic approaches bring profits and developments to the retail

organization. The long term plans and its success are as the result of its diverse

talented work force because these diverse bodies donate fresh and innovative ideas,

views, the perspectives, the values, the corporate values etc. Also the diverse work

force helps to communicate with the diverse customers effectively. Thus by linking

the strategies with special goals like the retention, the performances, the morale, the

bottom line etc the organization can gain long term success. By building the

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business with the help of diverse talented bodies and personalities, they can allow

the diversity to work for the success of retail organization.

Justification of research

The changes of the market environments demand the right persons for right job

for every organisation. As a retail organisation is considered, the environment is

different for the diverse work force. The uncertainties in the business condition,

high cost for hiring employees, maintaining the diverse work force etc demands

the need for the better management of these employees. Also the changes of the

government rules and the regulations on the employment procedures, the

changes in the technology, the need of rightly skilled and trained labours for

meeting the requirements of the organisations etc lead to the employee

management (Pressley 1999).

Also with emergence of globalization, there emerged so many new markets in

the world and it increased the level of competition. So the organisations must

beware of the consequences of this and must be very vigilant for better

prospects. As a result they have to do effective management of their employees

for performing well in the field. The human resource management (HRM) is

concerned with the dimension of the employees within the organization. The

human resources are people, who work for organisation (Harzing and

Ruysseveldt 2004). So the management of those people is a need and important

for the success of the retail organisation

Hypothesis

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Hypothesis

This section will be discussing the hypothesis which will be testing on while conducting this research.

As stated earlier, this research will be mainly focussing on the concept called hypothesis.

Importance of Diverse Work Force in retail industry; a case study on Tesco, Plc .

This research is based on the functions of a retail industry and its importance of

diverse work force. In this age of globalization, the distance from one continent

to other has decreased and it shows the importance of the interdependency of

one country with all other countries. As a result of this globalization, the

organizations became more international and this brought new challenges in the

organization.These concepts are tested by the researcher by conducing primary research. The

approach which he/she follows is discussed through the coming section of this chapter.

Research Methodology

Introduction

The research is the organized inquisition of a topic for discovering or devising the

theories, the facts, the application etc. There are many factors that increased the

need of diverse work force for more and better information. As the retail

organizations become national and international in their operations, they need more

information about the larger and more distant markets. As the income increase and

buyers are more selective, this necessitates the diverse work force to need know for

better information on retail organizations... So the retail organizations have to

become more alert and so they need to collect all information on the diverse work

force. Managers seek information about the customers, the competitors, diverse

work force which influence the market.

The research provides relevant and actionable information of the environment

through various methods such as observing, interacting and asking questions. A

research process constitutes sequence of activities which will help the retail

organization

for taking better decisions. It can be undertaken for identifying the importance of

diverse work force in the present scenario, defining the problem or the purpose of

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the study. Then a theoretical frame work and analytical models are formulated to

develop an approach to the effective management of diverse work force...

Follow up of the research design and the presentation of the report is necessary for

Communicating the results to the retail organizations. This part of the dissertation

explains the kind of research which is conducted to achieve the research objectives.

An overview of the research design comprising primary and secondary data,

methods of data collection adopted and its analysis, different sampling techniques

which are selected for this research work. Justifications for the design and data

collection methods selected for the purpose of this research work are also given.

Research philosophy

As retail the business expands globally, retail organizations are becoming more and

more competitive in nature for trying to increase their chances in the market. As a

part of this strategy they are recruiting diverse work force for enhancing their

services and for giving excellent services for their customers having diverse

backgrounds. Here this research concentrates on the retail organization Tesco

because it is increasing its global presence by becoming more competitive in the

market. The diversity has different origins and has different policies in different

countries. So it urges the need for managing the diverse work force in the retail

organisations effectively by considering these diversities.

This research is intended to research and find out some real facts about the diverse

work force in retail industries. The topic of the research is “the importance of diverse

workforce in retail industry, a case study on Tesco”. The human resources are very

essential for the retail organization because they are doing all the important functions

of the organisations. As a retail industry is considered, there is diverse work force

from different places. So it is the duty of the management to handle and manage this

diverse workforce effectively. As a valuable and important resource, diverse work

force must be given important care because all the functions of the retail

organisations are taking place with the help of this diverse work force.

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This research focused on the importance of diverse work force in retail industry.

There some issues related with communication and the languages, the advantages

and disadvantages of diverse work force, challenges and problems raised because

of diverse work forces are also analyzed. As the case study methods and case

analysis are accepted research strategies of data collection, it is also considered.

According to Yin (1994),

“The case analysis or case study research is an empirical enquiry that investigates a

Contemporary phenomenon within its real life context when the boundaries between

Phenomenon and context are not clearly evident, and in which multiple sources of

evidence are used.”

Here as the research on the importance of diverse work force in retail industry

Tesco, the researcher can use exploratory and explanatory research, case study

analysis , qualitative and quantitative method, etc for carrying out this research

because the

And previous problem is less supported by theoretical background researches. So

the researcher chose this methodology for this research.

Research purpose

As retail organisations became more international it creates different issues and

challenges for the organization and so they need to manage the diverse work force

effectively. The positive and better working environment increases the productivity

of diverse work force thereby it increases the profit of the organization. The presence

of diverse work force is an asset as it contains the very talented people, the broader

services, the innovations etc. But the problems like communication issues,

absenteeism, conflicts, turnover etc have to manage effectively for attaining the

organizational goals. Purpose of this research is to inquire a systematic study to

know more about the effective management of diverse work force in a retail industry

by giving special consideration to Tesco in UK. So the purpose of this research is to

analyze and evaluate the literature research, by giving importance of the diverse

work force and its effective management in retail industry

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Procedures of the research and its design.

For conducting this research one can collect data using different methods and

procedures. The researcher can use the primary as well as the secondary data.

For this research the researcher can use the following:

Preparation - Read the literature about the topic, its importance and also

learns about the organisation from various secondary data.

Collect the opinion of diverse work force using questionnaire and analyze the

data using the collected information.

Conduct an interview with the manager to get more information about the

diverse work force.

Thus the researcher can collect data from the available sources and then conduct

the primary research with the manager to know the issues in relation with the

management of diverse work force. The collected data, can be evaluated and then

recorded for future reference and make use for further research.

Primary Data Collection

This type of data can be collected from the direct sources like interview with the

manager, collect information from diverse work force using the questionnaire etc.

Secondary Data Collection

This type of data can collected from the existing sources such as books, websites,

articles, journals, company’s web site etc.

Here case study analysis can be used as an effective tool for carrying the research

and can collect information from the review of literature and from the primary and

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secondary sources. Then visit some Tesco units and try to collect information from

there. The researcher can distribute questionnaire among the employees and collect

their opinion and suggestions. After that arrange the meeting with the managers and

conduct interview with them for collecting more information about the related

problems and issues.

Here the researcher uses both the qualitative and quantitative methods for the

research. The qualitative method used is the interview with the HR managers of

Tesco, London, and the quantitative method used is the collection of data from

employees of Tesco using the questionnaire. From the collected data and

information one can put forward the findings and can make recommendations and

suggestions for further research.

Data collection methods

The data can be collected using the primary as well as the secondary research. The

primary data collection is called the field research and the secondary research is

called the desk research

Primary research

The primary data is the first hand information on the topic. It is using for getting the

correct information on the research. It is the data collected in first time and not found

in previous research. For this the researcher can use the methods like interview with

the HR managers, the questionnaire techniques, observation etc.

Figure 3.6.1-Source of the Primary data (Source- Ghauri et al, 1995)

Questionnaire

Here the researcher can use questionnaire technique for collecting information on

the importance and the effective management of diverse work force in Tesco. In this

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technique, the data is collecting using the questions and the response of the diverse

work force can be observed and collected. Questions are prepared to encourage the

respondents and tried to reduce the errors. “Questionnaire is a formalized set of

questions for obtaining information from respondents.” (Malhotra, 2002). As per the

view of Malhotra, the questionnaires have 3 specific objectives and they can be

given as follows.

1. The research must make the set of the specific questions in which the

respondents can able and willing to an answer. (Malhotra, 2002).

2. The questionnaire must minimize the demand on the respondents, and must

encourage them to participate in the procedure devoid of any bias in the

response. (Malhotra, 2002).

3. The questionnaire must reduce responsive errors. (Malhotra, 2002).

The researcher can use structured or the non structured questionnaires. The

structured questions the questions must be in an arranged order. These can be

disguised, that is the purpose of survey is hidden to respondents or it can be non

disguised where the purpose of the research is revealed to them. In non-

structured questionnaires, questions are non structured that is not in the arranged

form and the researcher can ask as per the situation of the research.

Interview

The interview can be done using the pre arranged questions so that it saves the

time. All the related information can be collected using the pre planed questions

and can be noted down. So that it helps the interviewer to collect the relevant and

right information on the related topic.

Secondary research

In this the data can be collected using the secondary existing sources. So the

researcher must be alert that the data collected must be relevant to the present

situation. It is the data collecting for finding more information for an additional

purpose. So it needed the vigilant analysis for getting the relevant information

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from a collection of existing data. The secondary data can be evaluated using

different criteria. They can be given as follows.

Check the data if it is relevant and useful for the related research.

Check if the data can apply at the specified time.

Check the level of errors and the accuracy of data.

Check the reality of bias.

Check the methodologies, collected data, the rate of the response, its

analysis, size of sample, techniques on the sampling, design of the

questionnaires etc.

Check the objective of the data collection.

Check the nature, the definitions, the measures, the relationships etc of the

data.

The secondary data also can collect using outside sources or retail organization

itself. The retail organisations internal sources contain the annual report, the

sales report etc. The external sources contain the text books, the journals, the

newspapers, the professional body, internet sources etc.

Internal sources

The internal sources are the retail organization’s annual report, and their website.

Here for Tesco, the researcher can use the annual report, the website etc for

collecting the data.

External sources

The external sources are the text books, the publications, the journal articles etc. For

the text books and publications the researcher can use the university libraries and

other local libraries.

The journal articles - There are many journals available for the research.

They are the chartered management institute CMI, the digital library etc. They

gave the information on the issues of diverse work force, but many of them

didn’t give detail information on diversity.

Newspaper articles- The articles in newspaper also gave information on the

topic and that gives the relevant knowledge on the topic.

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Internet sources- The different internet sources like the Google, the Nike etc

helped the researcher to collect the secondary data. It is the easiest way for

collecting the information on the topic.

The types of the research

There are different types of research based on their nature. Based on purpose, they

can be the exploratory, the descriptive, the analytical or the predictive methods,

based on the process, they can be the quantitative or the qualitative method, based

on the outcome, they may be the applied or the basic research, based on logics they

can be the deductive or the inductive methods. Exploratory method looks for finding

more ideas, principles etc. The descriptive method it promotes more examinations

than exploratory method. Analytical method also examines further more to know

about the real reason.

The preductive method tries to generalize the analysis based on the some general

relations. The quantitative method analyzes the data using the quantifiable tools

such as graphs, charts, tables, questionnaire etc. The qualitative method analyzes

the data based on the events, non numerical data like the interview etc. Applies

research also find out the real cause of the problems and for solving it gives the

solution and it applies the cause effect method. The deductive and inductive

methods work based on the logic that it is applied.

For doing this researcher can use the case study method , the explorative method as

it gives more ideas on the topic, the descriptive method, as it find out real reason for

that, the qualitative method like interview, the quantitative method like the

questionnaire, tables, charts, graphs etc. All these methods help for the knowledge

and further improvement of the topic.

The research diagram can draw to know more about the process. The following

diagrams give an idea about the research process.

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(http://www.secondaryfutures.co.nz/how-do-we-work/research.php)

Research limitations.

For conducting this research the researcher faced some issues like the ethical, the

legal issues etc. As Tesco, is the leading retailer in UK, they are not willing to expose

the detailed information regarding their employees like their personal details as it is

related with the legal and confidential issues. Also the ethical issues like the time, it

was difficult to meet all the managers together because of their timings. Also due to

time constraints it was not able to meet the top level managers. As this research is

conducted within the fixed time frame it was not able to meet the top level

management because of the time constraints. Then come to the research materials,

most of the journals do not provides detailed information about diverse work force at

workplace in retail organisations. In the secondary research the researcher have to

assess the reliability and accuracy of the data as it was collected by somebody else.

These data have to rearrange properly and to make it useful for the current topic. It

needs the critical assessment to recognize the bias. Another issue faced was on the

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generalization of the collected data. Then the researcher can’t make a correct

evaluation on the sample group as they have diverse opinion and so there were

some bias in opinions. So the researcher had to be vigilant on all these matters