Research strategy and the data collection method

1. INTRODUCTION:

1.1. Introductory Overview:

There are several legislations and inclusion & equality initiatives worldwide that encourage diverse workplace culture in organizations and those that protect against discrimination by promoting equality and inclusion in the work environments. According to Torrington (2014), Equality & inclusion initiatives are considered to be a liberal approach handled by a group of people who believe in eliminating the barriers that the minority groups like women, LGBT and disabled people face in organizations and other work environments. Another approach is to change the preconceptions and outlooks about these minority groups, which is personified in the managing diversity approaches. The third approach, which is a radical approach to eliminate discrimination, is to emphasize on legislations. This approach promotes reverse or positive discrimination in order to maintain workplace diversity, and it is said to change the attitudes and outlooks on minority groups naturally.

2. Recruitment and Selection of Diverse Workforce:

1.2.1. Company Overview:

This study adopts a case study research of the world’s one of the emerging IT services company NTT Data located in the city of Bangalore in India. NTT Data is a multi-national IT services organization headquartered in the city of Tokyo in Japan and the organization has its roots since 1967 with the establishment of Data Communications Bureau within NTT Corporation (Nttdata, 2015b). It has its operations and presence in more than 40 countries around the world. Consulting, outsourcing, system development are the main services delivered by NTT Data (Nttdata, 2015a).

The main objectives of this research are:

• To examine the diversity factors that IT organizations inherit in their management practices and thereby to measure the extent these diversity factors influence diversity management at NTT data.

Justification of the Study:

Route Map for the Study:

2.1. Introduction to Literature Review:

A literature review is part of a thesis, which is actually an argument for the research questions and/or the hypotheses of the research (Tharenou et al., 2007). It is an on-going activity from the initial reading till the final draft of the thesis or dissertation, as the researcher’s opinions should be supported by evidences from the literature, throughout his/her research. According to Saunders et al. (2012), two approaches serve the purpose of writing a literature review. They are: deductive and inductive approach. A deductive approach helps in finding the ideas and theories using literature and to test those using data, whereas an inductive approach uses data to develop theories. This research would use the deductive approach to test the data collected from the participants using the general literature ideas and theories on the research topic.

Cultural, linguistic diversity and inherent demographic diversity factors like age and gender are the most common diversity factors that an IT company in today’s world would focus on, to improve the overall performance of the company and to promote the company image, as discussed by Lauring and Selmer (2013). Hence this paper would focus on the inherent demographic diversity: age and gender diversity and explain the strategies that the chosen IT company follow in recruiting and selecting the specific diverse employees, as in India, people might hesitate to disclose their sexual orientation and religion (Gabler, 2012).

2.2.2. Embedded Views of Organization’s Practice of Diversity:

From the above discussions, the following hypothesis could be created:

The null hypothesis for the above hypothesis H1 is as below:

In contrary to the above discussions, diversity can bring negative effects at specific situations, for example, making decisions on specific actions can effect in cultural clatters which could create work problems for women and minorities. Also, few societies could consider diversity in organizations to affect the culture of a society or nation and thus it has been a critical issue in globalisation and diversity recruitment. Communication could be seen as the major issue in diversity. There would be lesser communication between young employees and older employees, employees of same region and employees coming from culturally different regions (Torrington, 2014). Lack of communication among the team members would result in bad team work, which in turn would result in poor productivity and innovation. Resistance to change is another major issue in workplace diversity. For example, a team of non-diverse employees may not accept the idea of having a change in the team of having new diverse employees. This is more common in small organizations. In small organizations where the team size is relatively small, the employees hesitate to have culturally diverse employees in their team (Richards and Armstrong, 2011). Moreover, recruiting talented employees globally would lessen the employment opportunities of the local citizens in a country. For example, in the NHS in UK, there were issues about the morality of recruiting international employees (Hussein et al., 2008). Few organizations find difficulty in sponsoring visas and work permits for recruiting global talented employees (CIPD, 2014a). Organizations spend time in checking the visa statuses of employees to avoid illegal working in a country by the overseas employees (Natlaw, 2015). In western countries like UK, References play important role in an employee’s CV and thus organizations contact the Referred members to know whether the information provided by the candidate is valid or not (CIPD, 2015a). Although (Farndale et al., 2015) supports the idea that having employees with different nationality would bring innovation and creativity, the author undermines the idea that it might sometimes cause inefficient business processes due to language and cross-cultural issues. When it comes to organizations employing disabled people, Torrington (2014) claims that organizations face challenges like alteration to company premises and infrastructure, standards of attendance, health and safety measures, pension schemes, etc.,. According to Richards and Armstrong (2011), few people have their own religious beliefs in the context of same-sex relationships. That might lead to lack of communication and thus there would be increased chances of discrimination of same-sex employees. However, one’s religious belief about homo sexuality should not cause any distress to young people at the workplace. Richards and Armstrong (2011) adds that some young LGBT employees consider themselves as ‘unique’ and might hesitate to integrate with others in the team. But there are many LGBT programmes in today’s workplace environments to support LGBT and to make them feel they are one among the work team.

Few organizations or teams in an organization face problems having women in their diverse work team (Ruggs et al., 2014). There are views that women do not perform well in technical areas of IT sector, as discussed in (GirlTalk, 2008). Ruggs et al. (2014) claims that line managers and team members hesitate to have women in their team, as most of the female employees are not willing to explore new IT skills and to take excessive steps for innovation and creativity, and it’s difficult to make them involve in team outings and extra-curricular activities that empower diversity and team-building. However (GirlTalk, 2008) argues that a survey in Microsoft 2007 has showed that women in Microsoft use Web 2.0 applications more than men. This shows that women are capable of doing IT work, and it’s that they are not aware of the career options in IT.

2.2.5. Strategies towards Recruitment and Selection of Diverse Workforces:

Recruitment aims at attracting the most suitable persons in the most cost-effective way and Selection aims at assessing each individual applicant and to choose the best job seekers to match the job requirements (Foot and Hook, 2011). Recruitment might be internal and external according to Stredwick (2005). External recruitment is more common in most organizations and it might happen due to position vacancy or expansion of the project. Companies go for internal vacancies when they want to recruit their own employees for a different project or for performing different tasks, inside the same organization. Sales & Marketing department, Research and Development department and HR managers play a vital role in recruitment and selection. Use of technology in managing the application process is increasing day to day, for example, automatic email response system is used for generating responses to applications and it is initiated by storing the CVs and applications in the organization’s database (CIPD, 2013). Including structured interviews, exploring a portfolio of work samples, wisely using reasoning tests and evaluating teamwork and cooperative interactivity could be some of the notable strategies an organization could follow during selection process. Creative advertising agencies also play a very vital role in recruitment processes of organizations. The ambient advertising skill of the creative ad agencies is what makes an organization’s brand image unique (Stredwick, 2005). Torrington (2014) claims there are different types of selection methods that could be used for selecting the required candidates for a job opening. The selection methods may vary according to different organizations and sectors. For example, schools requiring an IT support analyst might just need a filled-in application form for the selection process and then proceed with a face-to-face interview. Whereas an IT organization requiring an IT support analyst, might need a professional CV and then go for Peer-assessment and self-assessment tests and/or telephone interviewing for the selection process (Torrington, 2014). Thus selection process is not a set-in-stone process and it varies across different organizations.

From the above discussions, the following hypothesis could be created:

The null hypothesis for the above hypothesis H2 is as below:

Recently there was an unexpected reason for recruiting female cabin crew candidates for the Indian airline GoAir (Monaghan, 2013). The report says that female candidates are lighter in weight when compared to male workers, and so the airline would recruit only female candidates for being in their cabin crew team, as they could reduce their fuel cost by reducing the total weight capacity of the airplanes. The final HR interview in organizations seem to be difficult sometimes for the candidates, as the interviewer puts forward questions related to the specific region or norms and silly questions like brain-teasers which really do not evaluate how well the candidate would perform the given tasks. In future, organizations might do behavioural-based interviews to check the problem solving skills of the candidates (Honey, 2013).

A recent research (Hughes and Rog, 2008) claims that it identifies factors for improving the strategies towards employee recruitment, but fails to discuss in detail the strategies to improve recruitment and selection, by relying more on empirical data rather than personal opinions. A research by Evans (2012) by interviewing twenty-six senior managers in a total of eighteen IT sector companies has aimed at identifying strategies to recruit and select talented women employees. Evans’ point seems that re-structuring the job requirement to attract women applicants and use of competency frameworks might be seen as good strategies towards recruitment and selection of skilled women in IT organizations. Though this study suggests few important strategies towards recruitment, it could be questioned as the research interviewed a smaller sample (twenty six senior managers).

In earlier days, decisions in recruitment and selection were completely made by the recruiters. But in today’s world, employees select the employers which they want to work for, having more than one job offer in their hands. This means that the competitions for IT and related organizations have grown over the years with the advancement of business and technologies. This has become a major issue for organizations to attract employees, especially in attracting employees with unique talented skills. When it comes to selection process, apart from HR and recruiter agents, the final decision sometimes lie in the hands of the managers. Managers at most scenarios fail to make the right selection and thus it leads to employee turnover. Thus before interviewing candidates, the interview should be planned well. Most organizations fail in creating the best job description. Proper care should be taken in creating the job description to explain the exact requirements of the job tasks that the candidate would perform, and a clear application form to gather all the details about the candidate, should be created (Honey, 2013). The author adds that job analysis, job description, personal specifications form the important initial recruitment processes which would result in successful recruitment of the right candidates. Sometimes, few organizations use a Competency profile to know the criteria against which the candidates should be selected, instead of using a Personal specification or sometimes in addition to it. Torrington (2014) says that competency profiles are useful in finding the skilled and unique characteristics of a candidate such as personal traits and skills, awareness and knowledge, objectives, personal behaviour and personality. The benefit of competency profiles is that they are the success factors for increased employee performance and company performance and they are used in selection, appraisal and reward processes, and even assessment could take place from the behavioural indicators that they produce. During selection process, it is best to gather as much information as possible from the candidates, so that it would be easier to know whether they would really fit in the team. This opinion is supported by both Armstrong (2010) and (Foot and Hook, 2011). Above all, the organizations have to spend its time in undergoing the process of pre-employment checks like checking and validating the qualification details, visa details, previous work details, etc.,. They become vital part of pre-selection process as this might affect the company business, if the employee is found to have any illegal experiences or qualifications (CIPD, 2014b). Also, few organizations offer the candidates to claim the travel and related expenses for appearing at the interview spot for the final rounds of interviews. These kind of offers are mostly done by organizations seeking for a vacancy to be filled by an experienced candidate (say more than 3 years of experience). All these types of costs go under Recruitment process of an organization (Torrington, 2014).

In the view of Ruggs et al. (2014), few organisations have concerns in recruiting women, as most of the women permanently opt out of their employment cycle when they become pregnant (Gilbert, 2014). One might argue on this notion, as most organizations these days have improved their maternal leave policy and there are increased numbers of women who are comfortable working during the time of pregnancy. Few IT organizations are concerned about recruiting older people, as there are increased turnover rates of older people due to retirement. However it is to be noted that older people tend to stay over a longer period in a company in most cases, as the organizations provide more features and benefits to older people at senior positions when compared to younger sub-ordinates (Torrington, 2014). In contrast, few organizations don’t want to waste their time in recruiting fresh young candidates, as they have to spend ample of time and money on training them (Turek and Perek-Bialas, 2013). However, it is to be noted that young employees perform the tasks faster and are more creative and innovative in their work nature, and thus IT organizations would reap the benefits of training the young candidates once they start their work after proper training (Ruggs et al., 2014). On the other hand, if companies recruit only English-speaking employees, it might hinder global expansion, and not having a diverse workforce with multi-lingual employees might decrease future chances of the company getting projects which might require multi-lingual communicator in the project team (Johnson et al., 2014).

2.3. Conclusion to the Literature Review:

While literature says that team performance and progress is affected by conflicts and communication issues among diverse workgroups (Torrington, 2014), by bringing a broader range of viewpoints to problem-solving, diverse workforce nurtures speed, creativity and innovation and produce significantly higher quality solutions over entire growth cycles. Few organizations and industries recruit women only to fill quotas. Women should be rather hired in the views of receiving unique talents for the organizations. Also, managers should hold responsible for creating and maintaining workplace diversity (Armstrong, 2010). Having said that, managers should not only involve in creating diverse workplace, but also involve in creating chances for employee engagement, and that would lead to less discrimination and increased communication among employees from different diverse backgrounds. Thus, organizations should make sure that equal opportunities are given to all employees in the companies in the real work life and whether the organization adheres to the diversity policies and programmes. To overcome issues of gender and same-sex discrimination, the line managers could issue a statement of diversity to each and every employee of his team, stating that seminars and trainings would be conducted on the importance of diversity. Problems in age diversity could be handled by introducing mentor programmes in the organizations, where the younger generation employees get mentoring sessions from the older people on the ways to improve their technical and functional skills, through the experiences they have. Women employees of IT companies could do Diversity and Career programmes in schools to encourage women to opt IT as their career options.

According to Saunders et al. (2012), it is very important for business researchers to explain through which means the researcher has made decisions to use a particular data collection method and data analysis. A ‘research onion’ consists of the outer layers: research philosophy and research approach and the next three inner layers namely Methodological Choice, Research Strategy and Time horizon, and the inner most central-point being the Data collection and data analysis (Saunders et al., 2012). While arriving at the inner-most layer of the research onion, researchers would be able to justify the issues that accelerated them to choose the desired data collection method (Figure 3.1).

Figure 3.1: The Research Onion (Saunders et al., 2012)

The third philosophical domain Axiology refers to the researchers’ value-based judgement about the conducted research. Demonstration of the researchers’ values is done at all the stages in the research process.

A researcher could choose more than one philosophical domains. This aspect is termed as ‘Pragmatism’. This aspect means that one view wouldn’t be sufficient to explain all the research questions. Each research question may have different philosophical domain.

According to Blaikie (2010), a deductive approach is carried in a sequence of the following steps:

• Build a premise/hypothesis or a set of premises/hypotheses to form a theory.

• The theory is supported if the analysis results are consistent with the tested hypotheses/premises.

The second research approach is the Inductive reasoning approach. It refers to the generalisation from the specific observations through data collection to the general theory. Here the data collection is used to create a conceptual framework and to explore social phenomena. The main purpose of this approach is to build or generate a new theory. In order to set up different views of social phenomena, this approach mostly uses qualitative data to enable understanding of the means in which humans interpret the social world (Saunders et al., 2012).

3.3.1. Methodological Choice:

A researcher could choose a data collection method to fit the purpose of the study> the researcher should also consider the constraints and the ethical issues that are related to various data collection methods. If the purpose of the project is to test the validity of existing data and theory, it is wiser for the researcher to use Quantitative data collection method. Survey research and experimental strategies are the common quantitative research strategies. In a survey research strategy, data collection and analysis is done through the use of structured observations and questionnaires (Saunders et al., 2012). On the other hand, a research with an inductive approach should use the qualitative data collection method, such as ethnography, case study research, narrative inquiry, etc,. However, according to Yin (2014), few qualitative researches commence with a deductive approach. In the view of Hair et al. (2007), deeper understanding of knowledge is provided by qualitative research design and summary information is provided by quantitative research design. Researchers choose qualitative method when a smaller number of samples are to be investigated and quantitative research method when a large number of samples/participants are to be investigated to answer the research questions through data analysis (Saunders et al., 2012).

An exploratory research design deals with in-depth understanding of knowledge through unstructured individual interviews, experiments and case study research. This type of research is usually carried out for a longer period of time and the purpose of the research can be changed anytime. According to the available new data and new perceptions, an exploratory research is adaptable to new changes (Saunders et al., 2012). This research design approach would help a researcher in building new theories.

Alternatively, an explanatory research aims at explaining the causal relationships that exist between variables, through quantitative data collection and data analysis. The researcher could use qualitative data collection method to carry out a better depth in the research study (Saunders et al., 2012).

This research would involve a Case Study research strategy. A research phenomenon that is explored within its context is referred as a Case Study (Saunders et al., 2012). The author adds that a Case Study can either involve single-case or multiple cases and a holistic case or an embedded case. A single-case study is usually carried by students those are currently or previously employed in the chosen organization (Yin, 2014). On the other hand, multiple-cases are chosen to compare more than one organization. While carrying out a multiple-case study, the researcher should be careful about the replication or similar results of their research findings. Saunders et al. (2012) differentiates a holistic case-study from an embedded case-study, by claiming that a holistic approach is where the organization as a whole is considered as the context for data collection, whereas an embedded approach is applied when the researcher considers a particular department/unit or a group of departments/units within the chosen organization.

This research study would use a Single-Case Holistic Case Study as its research strategy. This research would involve collecting data from the employees in the IT organization NTT Data in a particular branch in Bangalore. Data would be collected from employees through questionnaire and the study would use only one organization (NTT Data) for the case study, as it was a previous employer of the researcher.

Data can be gathered through questionnaires, in-depth interviews, structured and unstructured interviews, observations, etc, (Saunders et al., 2012). This study uses questionnaire as the mean to collect data. This section explains the sampling method, target population and development of questionnaire.

3.5.1. Target Population and Sampling Procedure:

Total response rate =

This research would use the above two suggested formulae for finding the response rate.

Data analysis if the collected data could be carried based on the research questions and objectives (Saunders et al., 2012). As this study uses questionnaires for collecting data from the employees in the selected sampling frame, it would use statistical software called SPSS for analyzing data.

3.6.1. Validity and Reliability:

This study used a quantitative research design for data collection by the means of questionnaire. Single-case holistic case study is the research strategy for this study. The next chapter deals with the analyzing of collected data in detail using data analysis techniques.

To test the reliability of the questions in the questionnaire, it always best to Pilot-test the questionnaire (Saunders et al., 2012). The questionnaire was sent for a pilot test to a group consisting of 8 members who are a part of the project team of the researcher during the work period of the researcher in the company. During the pilot study, the following were found out: the clarity of the questions in the questionnaire, total time taken for the questionnaire to be completed, any opinions and additional comments for improvement, as suggested by Bell (2010, cited by Saunders et al., 2012). It took approximately 10-12 minutes for each participant to complete the questionnaire and the participants were happy with the questions being straight-forward and clear to be understood easily. As the questionnaire covered major topics required to answer the research questions and to test the hypotheses, the participants expressed their opinions about the set up of the questionnaire in a positive way, which showed that the data that would be gathered through the final questionnaire will be highly reliable as it is specific about the Organization that the participants work for.

4.3. Total Response Rate:

Thus, the

4.4. Operationalization of the Instrument:

4.5.1. To Measure the Diversity Workforce Construct:

As mentioned in the section 4.4, questions 1-15 are meant to measure the construct ‘diversity workgroups of the selected company’. A scale of 1-5 was used where 1= Strongly Agree, 2= Agree, 3= I Don’t Know, 4= Disagree and 5= Strongly Disagree.

This question checks whether the respondent is aware of what diversity and inclusion are. The response showed that all the participants are aware of what they are. It is not meaningful to proceed with/consider a questionnaire response of respondents who are not aware of the main topic of the questionnaire.

Question 2- I do not know the importance of diversity in increasing the profit of my business and my organisation

Questions 3, 4 and 5 are used to measure the respondents’ views on the effects that diversity have on the organization.

Question 3 & 4:

Questions 7, 8 and 10 were set up to measure the equal opportunity adherence and initiatives taken by the organization.

Question 7- My Company does not take disciplinary actions against harassment and bullying

4 among the 50 respondents chose ‘3’ in the option scale, which means that they do not know whether their company is aware of the changes to the Equality Legislation.

4.5.1.4. Equality in the Organization:

66% of the respondents disagreed and 34% of the respondents strongly disagreed to the fact that they could hardly find female employees in the technical department when compared to those in functional department.

Question 13- Older employees form an important diverse factor in my organisation

Questions 6, 9 and 15 are used to measure the extent to which NTT Data gives importance to diversity and the existence of diverse workgroups. The responses showed that diverse workgroups naturally exists in NTT Data organization and employees of different ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, age group can be seen in NTT Data. Also, 98% of the respondents believe that NTT data gives importance to diversity in its workplace, whereas 2% (one respondent) neither agreed nor disagreed it.

4.5.2. To Measure the Construct of Recruitment & Selection of Diverse Workforce:

Figure-4.1. Pie-Chart for Current Trends in Recruitment and Selection through Social Media Advertising

4.5.3. To Measure the Construct of ‘Respondents’ Work Information and Related Opinions:

To know the respondents’ actual work information in relation to diversity and diversity recruitment, questions 23 to 35 were used in order to capture and measure those values. Also individual opinions about what impacts diversity and diversity related recruitment have brought to the respondents’ organization were also measured using this set of questions.

The questions that followed in this construct were focussed on whether the job role is leadership focussed or not, whether the respondent works in technical department or functional department and to measure whether the respondent considers himself/herself as an innovative & creative person or an experienced mentor. In addition, there were questions in the questionnaire which measured the count of employees who faced harassment and bullying, and who feel that diversity increased their team performance. The results showed that none of the employees faced harassment in the organization and also that all of the respondents excluding one respondent agreed that diversity increased their team performance.

Further the initial job advertisement and the type of job contract of each individual were measured. The results showed that 32 respondents are permanent employees, whereas the remaining 18 employees are contract/temporary employees. This helped in measuring the strategies followed by NTT Data in its recruitment and selection. Ultimately, the respondents were asked with the following questions: whether or not the job advertisement and the job description for their job vacancy consisted of diversity and equality related statement(s), whether or not their recruiters have used new methods to test their skills and talent during recruitment and selection and whether they believe that NTT Data involves in increasing diversity through recruitment and selection. Although all the respondents agreed that NTT Data used diversity statements in job descriptions with new methods to test unique skills, one respondent has expressed that his/her job description didn’t involve diversity related statement.

5.1. Introduction Overview:

This chapter deals with discussions and comparisons based on the data collected against the hypotheses, research questions, theories in the literature, premises discussed in the literature Saunders et al. (2012). Thus it uses pictorial representations and significance tests to carry out the discussions and comparisons. Ultimately, this chapter would have the research questions and the objectives of this research study answered Saunders et al. (2012).

Below are the H1 hypothesis and its null hypothesis taken from section 2.2.3.:

H1: There is a significant association between the gender of the respondents and the age category of the respondents.

Thus the hypothesis H1 test result is as follows:

This paves a way to prove that employees of different gender, age and other diverse factors are seen in NTT Data. This could also be proved by the frequency statistics below (Table-5.2):

The table (Table- 5.2) and the histogram (Figure- 5.1) shows that all the respondents have expressed their view that employees of different diverse factors such as ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, age group and gender can be seen in NTT Data.

5.2.2. Test of Hypothesis H1:

Thus the hypothesis H2 test result is as follows:

5.3. Research Questions Answered:

Subsidiary Research Questions:

RQ1A - Are employees with different diverse factors found in NTT Data?

Yes, employees with different diverse factors can be found in NTT Data.

RQ1B – Are equal opportunities and inclusion policies being followed in NTT Data?

Thus with the above discussions, the research question RQ1B could be answered as follows:

Yes, equal opportunities and inclusion policies are being followed in NTT Data.

RQ2A – Are current trends and strategies in recruitment and selection followed in NTT Data?

RQ2B – Are mixed strategies of recruitment and selection followed in NTT Data?

The responses to one of the questions in the questionnaire ‘I am a Contract/Temporary or Permanent Employee’ could answer this subsidiary research question to a certain extent.

The table (Table 5.7) shows that 13 male respondents and 5 female respondents contributing to a total of 18 respondents out of 50 respondents surveyed work as contractors/temporary employees in NTT Data. On the other hand, 64% of the respondents, i.e., 19 male employees and 13 female employees among the 50 respondents hold a permanent job position at NTT Data. These statistical data show that NTT data uses different strategies in employing the NTT Data employees.

5.4.1. Aren’t Women Good Enough For Technical Job?

From section 2.2.3, we could see that there are discussions on whether women are suitable for technical job or only soft-skills related job position. To measure this, there was a question set up in the questionnaire to find in what department the respondents work in. The table (Table 5.8) shows the responses in a cross tabulation format. It could be seen that among the 18 female respondents 15 respondents work in technical department and the remaining 3 respondents are from functional department of the organization, i.e., approximately 83% of the respondents holds a technical job position rather than soft-skills related functional job position. Thus we could support the notion of Girl (2008) that women have the capability to perform well in a technical job position in an IT organization, like NTT Data.

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