Research Methods for Business By Student’s Name Institution         Course Number         Instructor’s Name         Date of Submission             Table of Contents Research Question. 2 Background and Aims and Objectives of the Project 3 Background of the Study. 3 Aims of the Study. 4 Objectives of the Study. 4 Review of Literature. 5 Research Design. 9 Sampling Strategies. 9 Data Collection Methods and Techniques. 10 Methods of Analysis. 11 Documentation of Data. 11 Conceptualizing, Coding and Categorizing Data. 11 Examining of Relationships and Displaying of Data. 12 Discriminant Analysis. 12 Hermeneutical Analysis. 12 Discourse Analysis. 12 Reference List 13 Appendices. 15 Appendix 1: Research Timeline. 15      

Research Question

The leadership and management profile of a local Council in South Wales reveals that women, BME (Black and Minority Ethnic Groups) and disabled groups are not well represented. The Council wants to understand why these groups are underrepresented, what the problems and barriers are to their progression in the organization, and what policies and interventions can be adopted to address this issue.

Background and Aims and Objectives of the Project

Background of the Study

This is a study which is investigative in nature. South Wales is an area with numerous organizations and councils which are representative in nature. However, women, Black and Minority Ethnic groups (BME) and the disabled groups are normally underrepresented in most organizations when it comes to progress to powerful positions. Equality and fair representation of marginalized and the vulnerable groups in the society have become a global concern. The contemporary world has sensitization movements designed to fighting for global equality for all groups and people in the society. Women’s movements have come up to fight for equal representation of women in organizations as men. The disabled on the other hand campaign and fight for fair treatment and inclusion in to working institutions. The Black and the Minority ethnic groups have also aired their grievances on the unfair way they are treated and perceived in work situations. After thorough scrutiny of the organization, the revelation from the leadership and the management profile of a local organization in South Wales indicated that there was poor representation of the above mentioned groups of people. This study is as a result aimed at understanding why women, Black and Minority Ethnic groups (BME) and the disabled groups are underrepresented in the organization. The researches done on the issue concerning underrepresentation of the marginalized in the society has indicated several issues affecting the group. There are problems and barriers faced by these groups of people hindering their progress in the society. This study therefore basically is targeted at finding the problems that the marginalized groups face in the organization at South Wales. The study will be focusing on the policies and interventions that the company can adopt to include the marginalized and the vulnerable in the leadership and the management department of the organization. This study is going to use primary sources of data as which will be gathered directly from the affected population. The data will not have undergone any analysis. Face to face interviews and discussions together with observations and recordings are the methods which will be used during the study. The whole procedure will be carried out as in the time plot and will be guided by the research aims and objectives. Upon accomplishment of the data collection process, the analysis phase will be comparative and data collected from qualitative methodology will be used. On completion of the analysis, the research results will be generated in a single report.

Aims of the Study

This study is projected towards the inclusion of the marginalized and the vulnerable in the leadership and the management department of a company. As a result the aims of the project will therefore be inclined towards:

1.         i.            Understanding why few women, BME and disabled groups hold positions in the leadership and the management department of the organization.
2.       ii.            Forming strategies that prevent women, BME and the disabled in the company from being affected by barriers and problems that hinder them from reaching managerial posts in the company.
3.         i.            To find out the problems and barriers that the women face in organizations and the stereo-typed notions of the roles that women and men should carry out based on their genders.
4.       ii.            To find out the problems and barriers faced by the Black and Minority Ethnic groups that hinder their progress and promotion to higher posts in the organization.
5.     iii.            To find out issues that affect the disabled groups that deters them from progressing to leadership and managerial posts in the organization.
6.     iv.            To find out the different types of organizational and individual barriers and problems that affect the progression of women, the disable groups and the Black and Minority Ethnic groups to managerial and leadership positions.
7.       v.            To find out the type of policies and interventions that can be adopted to deal with problems and barriers the organization’s vulnerable group faces so that they can rise to the leadership and managerial positions within the organization.

Objectives of the Study

Review of Literature

The society believes on the superiority of the male gender hence the division of roles based on gender. According to Jakobsh (2004), despite the attempts to challenge and dismantle the patriarchal classification, there are several barriers which still prevent the growth of women. The main barrier is the dominance of men and the traditional gender roles in the society (Jakobsh, 2004, p. 1). Generally in work situations there is always a barrier placed between women and professional promotions. Men network with themselves hence promoting themselves whereas women are always out of the question when it comes to networking and work related promotions. Women are always sexually discriminated while at the same time sexually harassed in working situations deterring them from progress. Finally Jakobsh argues that there are no women who can mentor other towards success in their professions as very few women hold high managerial posts in working situations. According to Myriad Consultants for Department of Education and Training (MCDET) (2005), the barriers that face the disabled from progressing in their workplaces can be summarised to few points. Attitude plays a key role in acting as an obstacle towards the progress of the disabled groups. Colleagues, interviewers, employers, the general public tend to have an attitude towards disabled people. Attitude from a disabled person him or herself and lack of protection from family is also a contributing factor to lack of professional progress amongst the disabled. Stereotypes people have against people with disability when it comes to perceptions on their likeliness to perform as expected are an obstacle. Education and training of the disabled is not on the same level as the ones for normal people hence their poor performances in the organization. According to MCDET, physical and communication barriers and workplace policies and procedures are another hindrance for the employment and comfortable working environment for the disabled groups (MCDET, 2005, p. 14-15). According to Esmail, Kalra and Abel (2005) research findings, barriers that hinder career progression amongst the Black and Minority Ethnic Groups (BME) can be categorised into two groupings which are individual barriers and organizational barriers. Individual barriers for the promotion of the BME can be attributed to factors which include the statistic that some or most BME do not have mentors or role models to look up to. There has always been a stereotyping of roles and abilities of the BME hence they cannot be given certain responsibilities in the work set up. BMEs failure to deliver when given challenging experience is another individual barrier for progress. Commitment to family and personal responsibilities is another hindrance towards promotion in an organization according to Esmail, Kalra and Abel’s findings. The organizational barriers boil down to the culture of the working place towards recruitment and promotions. Tokenism and system’s bias when it comes to rewards and procedures also act as a deterrent. The types of leaders whether transformational or transactional determine the inclusion of BME in leadership and managerial posts in a company (Esmail, Kalra & Abel, 2005, p. 25-28). To overcome barriers faced by BME towards progression and promotion within the company programs can be designed to support individuals within the organizations and also to change the cultures of organizations (Esmail, Kalra & Abel, 2005, p. 29-32). Use of network, mentoring and identification and improvement of...