Reference no: EM13276633

Shared Activity Unit 2: Case Study Analysis

Why would creating a business case for diversity be valuable to a company? What goes into creating a business case? Typically, a business case is used to provide the rationale of why a project is worth undertaking and why the time and investment is worth the cost. No matter what project you are advocating for, a business case has the following purposes:

• It explains why the project should be undertaken.
• It explains the economic value of the project.
• It explains the framework for completion (Baxter, 2002).

By reading an organisation's business case for diversity, you can gain insight into its goals to build and maintain a diverse workforce. In this Shared Activity, you will analyse Tarmac's business case for diversity and examine its approaches to managing diversity.

References
Baxter, W. J., (2002) Preparing an Effective Business Case - A Guide to Planning and Funding Municipal and Community Projects, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Feasibility Analysis, 02-023, Ontario: Queen's Printer for Ontario, Available at: https://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/busdev/facts/02-023.htm, (accessed: 18/12/12)

To prepare for this Shared Activity:

• Review Tarmac's Business Case for Diversity and the Learning Resources.
• Think about Tarmac's approach to managing diversity and how it relates to organisational behaviour concepts and human resource processes.
• Consider the benefits of diversity. Are there any costs that outweigh the benefits?

To complete this Shared Activity:

• Post a critical analysis of the business case for diversity. Write a blog post from the perspective of a Tarmac manager and address the following points:

Identify any strong or weak points in Tarmac's approach to building and managing diversity.

Explain the issues that may impact the ability of Tarmac to build and manage a diverse workforce. Evaluate the business case for diversity: are the benefits of overcoming these issues greater than the costs and why?

Reflect on the aspects of diversity, social justice and ethics in Tarmac's approach and explain how they are related to organisational behaviour concepts and HRM processes. Provide specific examples.

• Respond to your peers' posts from the perspective of a Tarmac employee and explain how the organisation's approach to diversity might impact you.
• Support your Shared Activity with current academic literature beyond your Learning Resources.

 Individual Assignment Unit 2: Organisational Analysis - Diversity Management

Think back to an organisation where you enjoyed working. What were the top three reasons that you enjoyed working there? For many, one of those responses is the people. Now, think about the people that were at that organisation. Was everyone the same, or were they a diverse group of people. Within a diverse group, do you think team members would complement or detract from your skills and abilities? 

As innovation processes depend on harnessing creativity, and while dynamic as well as supportive systems of management can elicit the best from staff, like-minded people will usually produce like-minded results. Diversity in the workforce can, however, help companies to break this mould and the cycle of limited unilateral thinking and, in so doing, set them free to discover new products, markets, and ways of doing or leading business.
(European Community, n.d.:4)

Although you may understand the reasoning behind diversity within an organisation, it may be more difficult to explain to others who have primarily worked with like-minded people. As a manager, you may be called upon to train others about the purpose of diversity management within an organisation. Consider how you would explain the benefits and costs of diversity management to your assigned organisation, as well the potential issues that may arise from your organisation building a more diverse workforce. In this Individual Assignment, you will analyse approaches to diversity management within your scenario organisation.

References
European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (2007-2013), (n.d.) Diversity and Innovation: A Business Opportunity for All, Available at: https://www.iegd.org/pdf/Task%203%20-%20Innovation.pdf, (accessed: 18/12/12)

To prepare for this Individual Assignment:

• Review the Unit Introduction and the Learning Resources.
• Support your Individual Assignment with current academic literature beyond your Learning Resources.
• Reflect on Edgar H. Schein's Model of Organizational Culture and the artefacts, values and deep-rooted beliefs that can play a role in diversity management.
• Refer to your scenario organisation and assess any issues related to diversity management that may arise during the upcoming transition in the scenario.

To complete this Individual Assignment:

• Develop an outline for a training session for managers about diversity management in your scenario organisation.
• Identify what approaches to diversity management you would recommend to build a more diverse workforce. Explain the impact that a diverse workforce may have on your scenario organisation.
• Explain how to manage potential issues that may arise while building your diverse workforce and propose solutions to ease the transition within your scenario organisation. 

• Submit your training session as a PowerPoint Presentation, with presenter notes for each slide. Your outline of the training session should be at least 10 slides. You should also submit a text version of the session in MS Word for a plagiarism check. If you would like, you may provide narration within your PowerPoint Presentation.
• Support your Individual Assignment with current academic literature beyond your Learning Resources.

Note:
Be sure to include references to all sources, including your Learning Resources, in Harvard format.

You should fully state and justify any assumptions that you choose to make in relation to your scenario organisation. Please recall any previous assumptions that you made about your organisation so that they will not conflict while preparing your Final Project. You will include information from this Individual Assignment within Section 2 of your HRM Consultancy Report. You will receive feedback on this work from your Faculty Member, and you will be expected to incorporate any suggestions into your Final Project.

Your submission should be at least 10 PowerPoint slides in length, including references.

Submit your Individual Assignment to your Faculty Member for feedback. Be sure to submit by the end of this unit in order to receive feedback. Contact your Faculty Member for permission to submit an assignment early, or to submit an assignment after the end of the unit.

To complete your Individual Assignment, do the following:

• Submit your PowerPoint presentation 
• Submit your Word document