Group Profile

Name

Md. Faysal
Mobassira Fabiha Haque

Roll

20-006
20-024

Afrida Masud

20-032

Ananta Prasad Paul

20-036

Mushfiqur Rahman

20-060

Arkapriya Biswas

20-082

Mohammad Atikur Rahman

20-100

Al-Faysal Bin Amin

20-168

M.Q.M. Siddiqui Proshun

20-202

Parbon Acharjee

20-212

i|Page

Letter of Transmittal
March 8, 2016
Ms. Junnatun Naym
Lecturer and Course Teacher,
Department of Finance,
Faculty of Business Studies,
University of Dhaka.

Dear Madam,
Here is the report on Diversity in Organizations which you have asked us to prepare. The
assignment was assigned to us as a compulsory requirement of your Course (F-301,
Organizational Behavior)
While preparing this report, we have followed the instructions that you have given us in the
class. We have created a case on our own by studying a few other similar cases and we have also
applied relevant concepts that we have learnt throughout our course. The contents provided in
this report are all our own, though some information and references have been taken from
different sources to facilitate our report.
Sincerely,

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Name

Roll

Md. Faysal

20-006

Mobassira Fabiha Haque

20-024

Afrida Masud

20-032

Ananta Prasad Paul

20-036

Mushfiqur Rahman

20-060

Arkapriya Biswas

20-082

Mohammad Atikur Rahman

20-100

Al-Faysal Bin Amin

20-168

M.Q.M. Siddiqui Proshun

20-202

Parbon Acharjee

20-212

iii | P a g e

Contents
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... 3
Theoretical Approach: Diversity in Organization...................................................................... 4
CASE: Diversity in Aggrahayan .............................................................................................. 10
SOLUTION.............................................................................................................................. 16
Solution to Question 1: ........................................................................................................ 17
Why did Aggrahayan adopt its present approach to diversity? How far do you agree or
disagree with these reasons for its action, and why? ........................................................... 17
Solution to Question 2: ........................................................................................................ 19
Review Aggrahayans approach in the light of theories about personality. Which of the
theoretical approaches do you think might best explain the companys approach to its staff
and customers? ..................................................................................................................... 19
Solution to Question 3: ........................................................................................................ 20
How might the Aggrahayan approach to diversity encourage individuals (both staff and
customers) to contribute to the organizations performance? .............................................. 20
Solution to Question 4: ........................................................................................................ 22
Aggrahayan operates in a very specific sector: retail home improvement building and
gardening materials and equipment. Would its approach to diversity translate to other types
of organization? ................................................................................................................... 22
Solution to Question 5: ........................................................................................................ 25
What changes in employment relationships are likely to occur as the population ages?
What can managers and employees of all ages do to prevent negative attitudes concerning
age differences in the workplace? ........................................................................................ 25
Solution to Question 6: ........................................................................................................ 27
Do you support the policy favoring the female workers right after the appointment of the
new CEO? What can the manager do to tackle the unrest situation between the male
workers? ............................................................................................................................... 27

Solution to Question 7: ........................................................................................................ 29

Comment on Aggrahayans strategy to recruit workers based on their ethnicity rather their
ability?.................................................................................................................................. 29

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Executive Summary
Diversity in organizations play a big role in its success. It is widely believed by the
executives and pundits that diversity is needed in almost all sorts of organizations in the role.
People from different backgrounds and skill sets can contribute to a very large extent towards
the success of the company. But if not handled properly, diversification may lead to internal
problems which will eventually result in poor performance by the workers.
In this report, we created a case regarding Aggrahayan, which is Bangladeshs largest home
improvement chain of stores, selling materials and equipment for the home and domestic
gardening market. Here, we can see that Aggrahayan was worried regarding the age factor
and wanted to check if aged people contribute more to their company. Surprisingly, it is seen
that older people performed better than expected.
Later, we can see that Aggrahayan also worked out plans to let the physically-challenged
people have comfortable workplace. The Aggrahayan board took an active interest in the
diversity strategy and they employed an Engagement and Diversity Advisor.
In the latter part of the Case, we can see that Ms. Mobassira Fabiha Haque was appointed as
the new CEO of the company. Soon after her appointment, she introduced improved work
schemes for the women employees of the company. This stirred up disappointments among
the male workers. Weve discussed later on how can the new CEO tackle this problem and
keep her male workers content with their job.
Also, we can see the company took a new strategy to diversify its team by taking employees
based on their ethnicity. This was a part of their marketing strategy as they wanted to capture
more market share by exploring more ethnical groups. This new strategy created a wave of
criticism in the business world as the usual practice is to recruit on the basis of the
candidates skills only. We have discussed regarding this strategy and tried to find out its pros
and cons.

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Theoretical Approach:
Diversity in
Organization

4|Page

Demographic characteristics of a workplace:

A demographic is simply a characteristic used to group people, like age, generation, culture
or gender. In a workforce strategy we analyze demographics for insights into why specific
events are occurring, like challenges with attraction, retention, engagement and performance.
Demographics mostly reflect surface level diversity, not thoughts and feelings, and can lead
employees to perceive one another through stereotypes and assumptions. However, evidence
has shown that as people get to know one another, they become less concerned about
demographic differences if they see themselves as sharing more important characteristics,
such as personality and values, that represent deep-level diversity.

Surface Level
Diversity
Diversity

Deep Level
Diversity
Surface-level diversity: Differences in easily perceived characteristics, such as gender, race,
ethnicity, age, or disability, that do not necessarily reflect the ways people think or feel but that
may activate certain stereotypes.
Deep-level diversity: Differences in values, personality, and work preferences that become
progressively more important for determining similarity as people get to know one another
better.
Discrimination: Noting of a difference between things; often we refer to unfair discrimination,
which means making judgments about individuals based on stereotypes regarding their
demographic group.
Biographical characteristics such as age, gender, race, disability, and length of service are some
of the most obvious ways employees differ.
Age: The relationship between age and job performance is likely to be an issue of increasing
importance during the next decade for at least three reasons.
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1st belief is widespread that job performance declines with increasing age.

2nd belief is many employers recognize that older workers represent a huge potential
pool of high-quality applicants.

When organizations are actively seeking individuals who are adaptable and open to change,
the negatives associated with age clearly hinder the initial hiring of older workers and increase
the likelihood they will be let go during cutbacks.
In general, older employees have lower rates of avoidable absence than do younger employees.
However, they have equal rates of unavoidable absence, such as sickness absences.
Productivity increases in line with ages as he gets professional experience better than others.
On the other hand, productivity decreases because of his physical illness. Job satisfaction tends
to continually increase among professionals as they age, whereas it falls among
nonprofessionals during middle age and then rises again in the later years.
Gender: Gender is a big issue which brings about discrimination between men and women.
There comes question about job turnover and absenteeism. Women more likely to turn over
than men. 22 Women also have higher rates of absenteeism than men do.
Race and Ethnicity: Race is a controversial issue. In many cases, even bringing up the topic
of race and ethnicity is enough to create an uncomfortable silence. Indeed, evidence suggests
that some people find interacting with other racial groups uncomfortable unless there are clear
behavioral scripts to guide their behavior.
Disability: With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, the
representation of individuals with disabilities in the U.S. workforce rapidly increased. By this
law, employers are required to make reasonable accommodations so their workplaces will be
accessible to individuals with physical or mental disabilities. A review of the evidence suggests
workers with disabilities receive higher performance evaluations.

Others:
Tenure: Except for gender and racial differences, few issues are more subject to
misconceptions and speculations than the impact of seniority on job performance. Extensive
reviews have been conducted of the seniorityproductivity relationship. Tenure is also a potent
variable in explaining turnover. The longer a person is in a job, the less likely he or she is to
6|Page

quit. tenure and job satisfaction are positively related. When age and tenure are treated
separately, tenure appears a more consistent and stable predictor of job satisfaction than age.
Religion: Not only do religious and nonreligious people question each others belief systems;
often people of different religious faiths conflict. U.S. federal law prohibits employers from
discriminating against employees based on their religion, with very few exceptions.
Intellectual Abilities: Intellectual abilities are abilities needed to perform mental activities
thinking, reasoning, and problem solving. Most societies place a high value on intelligence,
and for good reason. General mental ability (GMA) An overall factor of intelligence, as
suggested by the positive correlations among specific intellectual ability dimensions.

Physical Abilities Though the changing nature of work suggests intellectual abilities are
increasingly important for many jobs, physical abilities have been and will remain valuable.
The nine basic factors of physical abilities are given below:

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The Role of Disabilities: The importance of ability at work obviously creates problems when
we attempt to formulate workplace policies that recognize diversity in terms of disability status.
Attracting, Selecting, Developing, and Retaining Diverse Employees: One method of
enhancing workforce diversity is to target recruiting messages to specific demographic groups
underrepresented in the workforce. This means placing advertisements in publications geared
toward specific demographic groups; recruiting at colleges, universities, and other institutions
with significant numbers of underrepresented minorities. These efforts can be successful, and
research has shown that women and minorities do have greater interest in employers that make
special efforts to highlight a commitment to diversity in their recruiting materials. Diversity
advertisements that fail to show women and minorities in positions of organizational leadership
send a negative message about the diversity climate at an organization.
The selection process is one of the most important places to apply diversity efforts. Managers
who hire need to value fairness and objectivity in selecting employees and focus on the
productive potential of new recruits. Fortunately, ensuring that hiring is bias-free does appear
to work. Similarity in personality appears to affect career advancement. Those whose
personality traits are similar to those of their co-workers are more likely to be promoted than
those whose personalities are different.

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Some data suggest individuals who are demographically different from their co-workers are
more likely to feel low commitment and to turn over: women are more likely to turn over from
predominantly male work groups and men from predominantly female work groups; nonWhites are more likely to turn over from predominantly White work groups and Whites from
predominantly non-white work groups.
Diversity in Groups: Most contemporary workplaces require extensive work in group settings.
When people work in groups, they need to establish a common way of looking at and
accomplishing the major tasks, and they need to communicate with one another often. Groups
of individuals with different types of expertise and education are more effective than
homogeneous groups. Similarly, a group made entirely of assertive people who want to be in
charge, or a group whose members all prefer to follow the lead of others, will be less effective
than a group that mixes leaders and followers. Regardless of the composition of the group,
differences can be leveraged to achieve superior performance. The most important way is to
emphasize the higher-level similarities among members.
Effective Diversity Programs: Organizations use a variety of efforts to capitalize on diversity,
including the recruiting and selection policies we have already discussed, as well as training
and development practices. Effective, comprehensive workforce programs encouraging
diversity have three distinct components.

First, they teach managers about the legal framework for equal employment opportunity
and encourage fair treatment of all people regardless of their demographic
characteristics.

Second, they teach managers how a diverse workforce will be better able to serve a
diverse market of customers and clients.

Third, they foster personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities
of all workers, acknowledging how differences in perspective can be a valuable way to
improve performance for everyone.

9|Page

CASE:
Diversity in
Aggrahayan

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Aggrahayan is Bangladeshs largest home improvement chain of stores, selling materials

and equipment for the home and domestic gardening market. The founders, GM Foysal and
Maliha Rabeta, opened their rst store in Chittagong in 1990.
In 1996, Aggrahayan opened a store in Dhaka which was the largest Aggrahayan store in the
Bangladesh. The company now runs 48 stores, including one of the worlds largest,
Aggrahayan Dhaka, which also sells furniture and furnishing materials. The nature of the
Bangladeshi property market has also made it viable for the company to offer a tting and
decorating service for customers moving into newly built apartments, thereby expanding its
business opportunities through a strategy of vertical integration.
In 2010, Aggrahayan employed around 34,000 people nationwide in 330 stores across
Bangladesh. Despite being affected by the drop in the housing market during 200709, the
organization is currently planning to double its prots by 2013. It proposes to do this by refocusing on its core values, which place a strong emphasis on its people.

Aggrahayan and the demographic time bomb

For some decades, population statistics have shown that the life expectancy of BD population
is increasing, as a result we started to have an ageing population. Also, theres a fear of
intensied competition between employers for younger workers. Generation Y (born between
1980-2000) babies are more passionate and adventurous. Its hard for any company to win
their loyalty and retain that. This was particularly important for a growing company like
Aggrahayan, which might nd its expansion plans would be seriously harmed by trained
labor shortages. In 2005, therefore, Aggrahayan management reviewed its workforce, and
noted that not only did it have a predominantly young age prole (the majority of staff were
aged 1626), but staff turnover costs were particularly high in the 18-to-20-year-old category.
Aggrahayan realized that they might suffer in the future if the average age of companys
workers doesnt increase. They also noted positive customer feedback about their older staff,
who appeared to deliver better customer service, partly because of their own knowledge of
Do-It-Yourself works.
The company management decided to tackle the problem by challenging widely held views
about the disadvantages and problems of employing older workers. Initially, the Aggrahayan
Board expressed some concerns about the proposal to target older people in the labor market
and were naturally cautious about unproven claims of their effectiveness. The concerns and
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myths about older workers included both positive and negative features: for instance, older
workers were seen as more reliable, loyal, conscientious and hard-working than younger
ones; at the same time, they were viewed as less adaptable, especially to new technology, as
well as being less able and less motivated to learn or be trained. Other studies have shown
that stereotypical views about older workers tend to cluster under general headings of poor
performance (including those related to assumptions about age-related physical impairment),
absenteeism and turnover. There were also concerns about the relationship between younger
and older workers, and particularly those between young managers and older staff members.
Aggrahayan managers decided that it would be important to collect some hard evidence if
they were to gain the backing of the business owners. In 2009, they opened a new store in
Savar, staffed wholly by workers over 50. The experiment was monitored by a research team
from University of Dhaka, who carried out a study to benchmark the Savar stores
performance against a selection of four similar stores during its rst year of operation. The
results were signicant: The DU team reported that the Savar store had higher prots,
substantially reduced staff turnover, over a third less absenteeism and almost two-thirds less
shrinkage (loss to stock as the result of damage or pilfering by staff and customers). Many
of the Boards concerns had clearly been put to rest; the business case for diversifying the
workforce had been supported by the evidence. Aggrahayan therefore began to adopt a
positive approach towards the recruitment and employment of an age-diverse workforce.
Further research in 2010 conrmed the initial results, leading the company to reafrm its
initial commitment to increasing the age diversity of its workforce. There were clear
indications that the policy is about good business in all senses.

Diversity at Aggrahayan: the growing agenda

Having been successful with its approach to employing the over-50s, AGGRAHAYAN also
recognizes the value of a broader approach to diversity. The company website includes
substantial information about its current approach to social responsibility, including respect
for the diversity of people.
We believe that a diverse workforce creates a mix of talents that makes us a successful business. We
want AGGRAHAYAN to be a great place to work and shop. It is our policy to implement procedures
to eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity in employment so that age, gender,
color, ethnic or national origin, culture, religion, disability, marital status, political afliation or
sexual orientation are not barriers for anybody who wants to work and shop here.

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The Aggrahayan board takes an active interest in the diversity strategy and they employ an
Engagement and Diversity Advisor to lead the programme for the company. The strategy
includes a strong commitment to cultural diversity, and to people with disabilities. The
company reects all this in its advertising and publicity material as well as its personnel and
management policies, thus making diversity an important part of the businesss brand values
and public image.
The disability policy was formulated in 2011, and, like the age policy, it links the importance
of understanding and integrating disability issues into the business strategy. The twin goals
are to remove barriers that make working and shopping at Aggrahayan difcult for disabled
people. Similarly, the cultural diversity strategy at Aggrahayan goes beyond simple
compliance measures to ensure that the company does not breach the law. In 2010, the
company discovered that over 1,000 of its staff were bilingual, and that between them they
spoke over 2-3 dialect languages other than Bangla. Employees are actively encouraged to
use languages other than Bangla where this can help to understand and respond to customer
needs. The company produces a cultural diversity information pack for use in stores, together
with a calendar of religious and cultural festivals which not only helps staff to understand
customers but assists managers with work scheduling.
In 2012, Aggrahayan appointed Mobassira Fabiha Haque as its CEO. This was welcomed by
most of its employees but then again, this was not welcomed by few of the senior male
executives. Shortly after that, it was seen that the previously male dominated Aggrahayan
started to have a gender-wise balance in the workforce. Also, a new policy was established
giving the female workers several benefits, one of which includes the reduced office hours
from 10am-4pm.
Within a year, Aggrahayan became famous amongst the females of Bangladesh as one of the
most preferred companies to work for.

What next for AGGRAHAYAN?

Despite the economic condition of the country and the unrest political situation of
Bangladesh, Aggrahayan CEO remains upbeat about the companys strategic plan to double
its prots by 2017. The CEO believes that with a diversified workforce, they can easily
achieve their goal.
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To expand its market share, Aggrahayan is planning to open 10 more stores all over the
country. To reach the mass more, they are planning to hire workers not based on their ability,
but based on their ethnicity. Aggrahayan is planning to use them as its marketing tool to
reach different ethnic groups.
The key to Aggrahayans strategy is its people; real staff featured heavily in the spring 2014
television advertising campaign and the company is rening and enhancing its
communication strategy with a bi-monthly employee magazine, regular short lms to
communicate the business progress to store staff and the CEOs blog. It is investing in
training through ve in-house academies which aim to ensure all staff have both knowledge
and condence about all key areas of business, from practical DIY skills to understanding
nance. And since the company has recently won a prestigious international Gallup Great
Workplace Award for the third year running, this investment may just deliver the goods.

Questions:
1. Why did Aggrahayan adopt its present approach to diversity? How far do you agree
or disagree with these reasons for its action, and why?
2. Review Aggrahayans approach in the light of theories about personality. Which of
the theoretical approaches do you think might best explain the companys approach
to its staff and customers?
3. How might the Aggrahayan approach to diversity encourage individuals (both staff
and customers) to contribute to the organizations performance?
4. Aggrahayan operates in a very specific sector: retail home improvement building
and gardening materials and equipment. Would its approach to diversity translate
to other types of organization?
5. What changes in employment relationships are likely to occur as the population
ages? What can managers and employees of all ages do to prevent negative attitudes
concerning age differences in the workplace?
6. Do you support the policy favoring the female workers right after the appointment
of the new CEO? What can the manager do to tackle the unrest situation between
the male workers?
7. Comment on Aggrahayans strategy to recruit workers based on their ethnicity
rather their ability?
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15 | P a g e

SOLUTION

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Solution to Question 1:
Why did Aggrahayan adopt its present approach to diversity? How far
do you agree or disagree with these reasons for its action, and why?
Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization.
That sounds simple, but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality,
cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more.
Work place diversity gives an organization a huge booster to work, stay and win over the
competitive market. We can say that an organizations success and competitiveness depends
upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits

Aggrahyan focused on diversity for the following issues-

1. Increased adaptability
Diversity will allow Aggrahayan with greater variety of solutions to problems in service,
sourcing, and allocation of resources. Employees from diverse backgrounds will bring
individual talents and experiences in suggesting ideas that are flexible in adapting to
fluctuating markets and customer demands.
2. Broader service range
Work place diversification will broaden the range of service of Aggrahayan. A diverse
collection of skills and experiences (e.g. languages, cultural understanding) will allow
Aggrahayan to provide better service to customers.
3. Variety of viewpoints
A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating varying points of view will
provide Aggrahayan a larger pool of ideas and experiences. Aggrahayan will then be able to
draw from that pool to meet business strategy needs and the needs of customers more
effectively.
4. More effective execution
It will help inspire all of their employees of Aggrahayan to perform to their highest ability.
Company-wide strategies will then be easy enough to be executed; resulting in higher
productivity, profit, and return on investment.
Aggrahayans diversity approach is totally acceptable as it has literally given them the

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opportunity to connect with the customers and to achieve their goals. If we evaluate
Aggrahayans strategies we can see thatDiversity in the workforce through employing elder employees had given themselves the
advantage of gaining higher profits, reducing staff turnover and attaining other success such
as - over a third less absenteeism and almost two-thirds less shrinkage.
Strong commitment to cultural diversity and allowing the disables to work with Aggrahayan
increased their businesss brand values and public image. Thus it has helped Aggrahayan to
reach to its customers easily.
Cultural diversity also helped Aggrahayan to understand and respond to customer needs
properly thus attaining customer satisfaction.

Inclusion of the female employess brought gender-wise balance in the workforce which
helped in bringing new thoughts and ideas and thus building a strong and creative strategy for
Aggrahayan.
Lastly Aggrahayan focused on ethnicity that would surely help their products reach to all the
ethnic society of the country.
So all the diversification approach helped Aggrahayan build a strong, diversified policy and
connect with all the sections of the society, thus pertaining their goal.

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Solution to Question 2:
Review Aggrahayans approach in the light of theories about
personality. Which of the theoretical approaches do you think might
best explain the companys approach to its staff and customers?
Two major types of diversities are notable in Aggrahayans organizational setting, that manager
has taken into consideration
Surface level diversity are those differences that are easily noticeable such as age, gender,
ethnicity/race, culture, language, disability etc. Surface level diversity is easy to be measured
and managers/recruiters can fall into the wrong practice of discrimination based on these
factors. For example, thinking that performance degrades with age, they might prefer younger
workforce. Surface level diversity is often difficult to change. For e.g. racial differences cannot
be scaled down to zero.
Deep level diversity on the other hand, are not easily noticeable and measurable since they are
communicated through verbal and non-verbal behaviors. Examples are personal differences in
attitudes, values, beliefs and personality. Deep level diversity usually starts with identifying
surface level differences and when people gets to know each other, they start noticing the deep
level personal differences and tend to accept or dislike it. For e.g. a person belonging to a
minority ethnic group may be treated differently by the others since his culture and language
might be different. But as everyone interacts with him more, they seem to forget the surface
level differences and then they begin to notice his differing values and beliefs and later on, his
personality differences.
Aggrahayan mainly focuses on Surface level diversity in its organizational settings. The
following statement has described its approachesWe believe that a diverse workforce creates a mix of talents that makes us a successful
business. We want AGGRAHAYAN to be a great place to work and shop. It is our policy to
implement procedures to eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity in
employment so that age, gender, color, ethnic or national origin, culture, religion, disability,
marital status, political affiliation or sexual orientation are not barriers for anybody who wants
to work and shop here.
All types of people including female, fresh blood, experienced, physically handicapped, people
of different ethnicity, culture and religion are engaged in value addition of the company.

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Solution to Question 3:
How might the Aggrahayan approach to diversity encourage
individuals (both staff and customers) to contribute to the
organizations performance?
Diversity, if managed effectively, can yield organizational benefits and personal growth. It is
this breadth of diverse perspective that adds richness and robustness to business analyses and
contributes to the achievement of optimal decisions.

Customers:
Capturing a greater share of the consumer market:
By bringing together individuals from different backgrounds and experiences, businesses can
more effectively market to consumers from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. It is no
surprise that studies show diversifying the workplace helps businesses increase
their market share.
Aggrahayans employees, who can speak over 2-3 dialect languages, are encouraged to use
them for understanding and fulfilling customers needs so that it can grab more customers
that belongs to minor groups of the society.

For the formulation of disability policy, Aggrahayan is also prioritizing the disability issues
into their strategy. This strategy towards disable people will remove the barriers for disables
as well as create an improved corporate image, which generates public goodwill.

Staffs:
Recruiting from a diverse pool of candidates means a more qualified workforce:
When companies recruit from a diverse set of potential employees, they are more likely to
hire the best and the brightest in the labor market. By prioritizing ethnicity as Aggrahayans
new recruiting base, it can hire employees that are already accustomed to their targeted
20 | P a g e

customers culture. Nevertheless, the company must keep in mind that the employees have to
be qualified enough to incorporate with companys strategies and achieve goals. In an
increasingly competitive economy where talent is crucial to improving the bottom line,
pooling from the largest and most diverse set of candidates is increasingly necessary to
succeed in the market. Aggrahayan may have to forgo the opportunity of hiring higher
qualified workers if ethnicity becomes its first priority for recruitment.

Creating age-diverse workforce:

A workforce composed of different age demographics creates an environment where each
generation brings different skills and talents to the table. Aggrahayan therefore began to
adopt positive approaches towards the recruitment and employment of an age-diverse
workforce. Where the young employees will have a strong grasp on the use of high-tech
business mediums such as social networking, online product demonstrations and webcasting,
the more mature professionals will have exceptional interpersonal skills and perform well in
environments where traditional in-person communication is used. This diverse range of skills
sets can offer an advantage to any company that caters to a multi-generational demographic.

Creating better work environment for women:

A working woman has to perform the responsibilities of two persons simultaneously- one as a
manager of the home and other as worker of an organization. Often they face various
challenges to balance between these two responsibilities that somehow leads to sacrificing
their career for the betterment of their family members. Aggrahayan understands the
obstacles women face. Thats why they have formulated policy that includes several facilities
for the women such as reducing the office hours from 10am-4pm. Thus the company is
getting famous amongst the females of Bangladesh as one of the most preferred companies to
work for.

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Solution to Question 4:
Aggrahayan operates in a very specific sector: retail home
improvement building and gardening materials and equipment. Would
its approach to diversity translate to other types of organization?
Diversity in workforce has brought significant result in the Profit Doubling goal of
Aggrahayan. Their approach to diversity can be translated to other types of organizations as
Diversity in Workforce has got significant advantages.
Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization.
That sounds simple, but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality,
cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more.
Diversity not only involves how people perceive themselves, but how they perceive others.
Those perceptions affect their interactions. For a wide assortment of employees to function
effectively as an organization, human resource professionals need to deal effectively with
issues such as communication, adaptability and change. Diversity will increase significantly
in the coming years. Successful organizations like Aggrahayan recognize the need for
immediate action and are ready and willing to spend resources on managing diversity in the
workplace now.
Advantages of Diversity in Workplace:
An organizations success and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity
and realize the benefits like Aggrahayan. When organizations actively assess their handling
of workplace diversity issues, develop and implement diversity plans, multiple benefits are
reported such as:
1. Increased adaptability
Organizations employing a diverse workforce can supply a greater variety of solutions
to problems in service, sourcing, and allocation of resources. Employees from diverse
backgrounds bring individual talents and experiences in suggesting ideas that are
flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets and customer demands.
2. Broader service range
A diverse collection of skills and experiences (e.g. languages, cultural understanding)
allows a company to provide service to customers on a global basis.

3. Variety of viewpoints
A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating varying points of view
provides a larger pool of ideas and experiences. The organization can draw from that
pool to meet business strategy needs and the needs of customers more effectively.
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4. More effective execution

Companies that encourage diversity in the workplace inspire all of their employees to
perform to their highest ability. Company-wide strategies can then be executed;
resulting in higher productivity, profit, and return on investment.
5. Innovation
People from various backgrounds and cultures dont think or work alike, thus it
encourages more outside-the-box thinking that leads to new inventions and
discoveries.
Disadvantages of Diversity in Workplace:
Besides these advantages or pros of Diversity in workplace, there are some disadvantages or
cons which may affect the organizational strategies to hinder achieving goals. These are
stated as follows:
1. Conflicts
People often feel confused, threatened or even annoyed by individuals with views and
backgrounds very different from their own; constructive disagreements can become
power struggles and create a bad political atmosphere that hinders project
advancements.
2. Bureaucracy
Decision-making can be delayed due to diverging views and opinions, thus corporate
decisions and actions take time.
3. Unproductivity
Dissimilar cultural identities and values, or simply said when people lack things in
common, could negatively affect the overall team spirit that is essential for reaching
high-levels of productivity.
4. Disunity
Everyone in the company might have a different opinion on the way business should
be run and managed; thus, the company might have people doing their own thing,
especially if there is no protocol and authority to ensure common practices.

So, considering the above pros and cons of Diversity in Workforce, it would be significantly
effective like Aggrahayan if other organizations can follow the following recommendations
to overcome the cons of it:
1. Recognize & welcome cultural differences
Creating an environment of tolerance and understanding is very much important.
Being a manager, encouraging employees to adopt this mindset, to challenge their
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2.

3.

4.

5.

belief system and to be open-minded enough to hear alternative views. It will open up
horizons and make people realize that there isnt one road to Rome, or an ultimate
truth or way of doing things.
Adapt to new hires instead of enforcing the traditional corporate culture on them
Just as a person is expected to be flexible and be able to adapt to new circumstances,
the same should apply to a company. As the world constantly changes, a company
culture needs to adapt to current times. For example, a lot has been written about the
Gen Y mentality and how employers should understand and adapt to this new
generation in order to harness their full potential and at the same time make them
work alongside Gen Xers and the soon retiring Baby Boomers.
Communicate and understand differences
As a leader, one should encourage people to voice their opinions and, more
importantly be themselves. If employees feel like they can open-up and be their true
selves, theyll be more engaged in their job and will feel happier in the long-run, as
nobody likes pretending to be something theyre not. Managers need to accept that
they cant make everyone think and act like they do.
Be attentive to verbal and nonverbal cues that might indicate or create tension
There are countless examples of how cultures differ in their interpretation or
perception of both verbal and non-verbal communications. Managers today are
expected to be culturally dexterous and be sensitive to such differences in order to not
offend somebody.
Evaluate how diversifying affected the companys performance in sales, efficiencies,
and customers gained or lost.
This is the most telling of all recommendations. We should always question and test the
purpose of things and see if indeed our diversity policy or programme is creating the
results we wish for. Perhaps diversity initiative is compromising business performance.
That doesnt mean we should scrap diversity altogether but it might mean that we need to
go back to the drawing board and re-think your approach.

So the diversity in workforce can be translated to other organizations if they consider the pros
of it and implement the recommendations to overcome the cons of it.

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Solution to Question 5:
What changes in employment relationships are likely to occur as the
population ages? What can managers and employees of all ages do to
prevent negative attitudes concerning age differences in the
workplace?
From the case we can see that the life expectancy of BD population is increasing, as a result
we started to have an ageing population.
Contemporary society is characterized by stereotypes that associate old age with physical and
mental decline. Changes in organizational culture and climate that might help older workers
are often limited due to a lingering negative perception of age. Common misconceptions of
older workers include the beliefs that older workers take more time off, have decreased
performance, have more accidents, are less adaptable. Aggrahayan has a situation where it
shows different result. These stereotypes have been proven wrong in their Savar project. The
relation between age and job performance is directly affected by the population ages.
Aggrahayan therefore began to adopt a positive approach towards the recruitment and
employment of an age-diverse workforce.

Negativity in workplace: A negative attitude that starts with just one employee can easily
infect a department, even an entire company, if not reined quickly. Gripes, conflicts, and a
certain amount of negativity are common in all work environments. There are some common
signs that pessimism is becoming a problem that needs to be dealt with quickly. They are:
a) Excessive need to control
b) increased complaining
c) normally positive people exhibit a typical negative behavior
d) the tendency to lay blame rather than problem solve

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How to prevent negative attitude concerning age difference in the

workplace:
Many factors motivate employees and make them want to stay with an organization. People
are more likely to feel positive about an organization if they are treated fairly and with
consideration regardless of their age.

Promotion and training

Opportunities for promotion and training should be made known to all employees and be
available to everyone on a fair and equal basis. Where employees apply for internal transfers
take care with informal and verbal references between departmental heads, supervisors, etc.
These references are covered by the law and should be fair and non-discriminatory.
Job-related training or development opportunities should be available to all employees
regardless of age but if you have age criteria you must ensure that you have an objectively
justified reason for these monitor the provisions of training to make sure no particular age
group is missing out.

Age discrimination awareness

However large or small an organization is, it is good practice for them to have an Equality
Policy and to train all employees and update them on a regular basis. This will help to reduce
the likelihood of discrimination, harassment and victimization taking place and may help to
limit liability if a complaint is made.

Performance appraisal
Check any performance appraisal system you have to ensure that it is working fairly and
without bias. Treat all employees consistently when setting objectives or measuring
performance. Ignoring shortfalls in performance because an employee is older may be
discriminatory particularly if the same shortfalls are addressed in younger employees.

Employer Justified Retirement Age

An employer can retire an employee lawfully at a set age provided that the retirement age can
be objectively justified, which means that it is a proportionate response to a legitimate aim. We
refer to this in our guidance as Employer Justified Retirement Age (EJRA)

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Solution to Question 6:
Do you support the policy favoring the female workers right after the
appointment of the new CEO? What can the manager do to tackle the
unrest situation between the male workers?
For the current situation of Bangladesh, I Support the policy favoring the female workers of
Aggrahayan. They have arranged reduced office hour (10 am to 4 pm) for the female
workers.

In a country like Bangladesh females are discriminated let alone the fact that female workers
are being paid the benefits of a job in par with the male workers. Though in the
organizational sector, the discrimination is less likely, still female workers do need to face the
society. Its the tradition of Bangladesh for a female to live with her family. So, many times
they need to attend their job from far away and Society still needs time to accept to see a
female coming from work after sunset.

So, what Aggrahayan actually doing is favoring, encouraging the female workers of
Bangladesh. They are giving minor incentive to the female workers so it becomes a little
more less challenging for a female worker to do her job. Thus causing more female workers
in the job sector and creating a diversity between male and female workers.

What Managers can do to tackle the unrest situation among the male
workers:
It is normal for male workers to dislike the fact that female workers are getting more benefit
than that of theirs. As an Organization Aggrahayan should make both type of their workers
happy. So, what Aggrahayan can do is,

1. Reduce the difference of office hours between the Male and Female workers.
2. Counsel with the male workers and make them understand about the actual situation of
female workers in Bangladesh.
3. Making Multiple shifts of workers, So the difference between two types of workers gets
relatively lesser.
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4. As the Collaboration of female and male workers get balanced day by day this temporary
benefit also should be decreased little by little. Because for a matter fact, We do not need
gender discrimination, let it be against a male or a female.

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Solution to Question 7:
Comment on Aggrahayans strategy to recruit workers based on their
ethnicity rather their ability.
Ethnicity is a category of people who identify with each other based on common ancestral,
social, cultural, or natural experiences.
Identity with or membership in a particular racial, national, or cultural group
and observance of that group's customs, beliefs, and language.
Attempts that Aggrahayan is going to take:
To reach the mass more, Aggrahayan is planning to recruit people based on their ethnicity
rather than ability. As they are planning to open 10 more stores all over the country there may
be different ethnical grips in different areas.
Advantage of recruiting based on ethnicity:
It will be very much effective marketing tool to reach the different ethnical groups if
Aggrahayan have employees of that particular area where they want to open new stores.
For example:
The people of Noakhali will appreciate a sales people of Noakhali itself they will feel like he
is of their own but if we set a sales people of Barisal they will not welcome him as they do in
the previous case. The same incident will occur in case of a store located in Barisal and we
set a salesperson of Noakhali.
Again a Noakhali salesperson know the rituals and the customs and the language they used to
talk that a Barisals salesperson may not know.

Disadvantage of recruiting based on ethnicity rather than ability:

Recruiting employees based on ethnicity may be advantageous in some cases. But recruiting
them only by their ethnicity would not carry out success for the organization as for running
any store adept workers are must and when it comes in turns of new stores the quality of the
employees needs beyond question. And success in business like Aggrahayan does mostly
depends on its workers.

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For example:
If Aggrahayan hired a salesperson who has no or very little idea what Aggrahayan do and
what are the basics of that business, he could not attract people buying their products then he
will a burden for the company as a result company will have to fire him and recruit a new one
and it will continue if the company dont change its decision of hiring people based on their
ethnicity only rather than ability.
So for recruiting new employees Aggrahayan should consider ability as well as ethnicity.
There could be plenty of adept people in that area where they want to establish new stores.
Still if they want to hire people based on ethnicity only they can hire them initially and then
train them for the business Aggrahayan do though it will be a costly way.

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THE END

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