sub: research in business

Task Description

You should choose your own project topic and then briefly write a problem statement followed by aim, objectives, sources of secondary data and a brief methodology of the project.

NOTE: pls choose topic narrow ex case study on particular field or industry pls dontchoose topic broad

Please provide an outline of a research project that you intend to use as the basis for your final assessment task 3, full project proposal.You should brieflywrite:

Title of the project(up to 25words)

Abriefstatementoftheproblemthatyouwouldliketoinvestigate; and researchaimandobjectivesthatcansolvetheproblemyouhaveidentified.

Abriefmethodology:Providedetailsabout what type of methodology you will choose such as quantitative or qualitative or mixed methodology;

Clearly identify secondary data source(s) and datathat require for your research; also identify the methods and tools that you will use to analyse the collected data.

This is an individual research task. As a Masters student, you are required to engage in research and demonstrate your understanding of the relevant body of works that have discussed recent developments in a discipline and/or area of professional practice. You are also required to demonstrate knowledge of research methods applicable to a real-life business research. We expect you to read and reflect on at least ten recent refereed journal articles on your topic supported by any other evidence or information that can help identify the problem of your research and the methods of data collection and analysis.

Youcan write600words maximumforthisassignment.Thecoverpageandthelistofreferencesarenotcountedinthe wordlimit.

Weight: 20%

You should submit docx/doc/rtf file and no other type of file (such as pdf or ppt) is acceptable.

Assessment Criteria (all criteria are equally weighted)

1. A statement of the problem, research aim and objectives

2. A brief methodology

3. Sources of secondary data, data presentation and analysis methods

4. Accurate referencing, use of correct English and logical sequences between sentences and paragraphs

5. Topic presentation

We expect you to read and reflect on at least ten recent refereed journal articles on your topic supported by any other evidence or information that can help identify the problem of your research and the methods of data collection and analysis.

BUSN20016 – Research in Business

Factors affecting

female career

interests in the rail

industry in Australia:

A case study to

increase female

candidates at Metro

Trains Melbourne

By DISTANCE STUDENT

Assessment 1 – Project Outline

Contents

1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….1

2. Aim and objectives………………………………………………………………………………………………………………1

3. A brief methodology ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………2

4. References …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3

5. Appendix ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………4

Topic Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4

BUSN20016: Assessment of Assignment 1

Criteria Total marks Marks

Obtained

1. A brief statement of the problem, research aim and objectives 16

2. A brief methodology

3. Sources of secondary data, data presentation and analysis

methods

4. Accurate referencing, use of correct English and logical sequences

between sentences and paragraphs

5. Topic presentation (for on-campus students)/ topic discussion on

the unit Moodle side (for distance mode students)

4

Total = 20

Penalty for late submission (5% reduction for each day of late

submission)

Penalty for high level of Turnitin similarity (Marker/UC decides)

GRAND TOTAL = 20

1. Problem Statement

The dominance of male employees in the rail industry in Australia has been well

documented (Van Barneveld & Jowlett, 2005; Wallace, Lings, & Cameron, 2012; Wallace

et al., 2010). According to the Rail Track Association of Australia (2015), as of 2014,

women only make up approximately 17% of the Australian rail workforce, up from 15%

in 2006 (Brennan et al., 2009), and although there are gains over the past decade, the

industry still lags behind the national average of 46.2% female representation (WGEA,

2016). The contribution that female employees make to the performance of firms has

been related to increased work team performance and improved engagement and

financial gains (Yan & Liwen 2012; Perryman, Fernando, & Tripathy 2016), however

evidence suggests that the degree of this efficacy is industry specific (Ali, Kulik, & Metz,

2011) and is only facilitated when additional moderating variables are present (Dwyer,

Richard, & Chadwick, 2003).

Metro Trains Melbourne (MTM) is the private metropolitan rail service provider

charted by the Victorian government to manage and deliver safe and reliable suburban

rail services to the people of Victoria, Australia. MTM’s diversity and inclusion policy

encourages the career development of women in their organisation, however despite

this, current female applicants only represent approximately 1 in 3 of all external

applications at MTM, with the lowest rates being in operations and engineering roles (R.

Christianson, interview, March 20, 2017). MTM recognises that the lack of female

interest in rail industry careers is impacting on their long-term workforce planning

strategy. They are seeking innovative ways to increase the quantity and quality of

female candidates to career paths offered at MTM, especially in engineering and rail

operations (services) roles.

2. Aim and objectives

This research proposal aims to investigate the significance of an increased female

employee representation on MTM’s business performance goals, and to establish the

factors that are deterring female career interest to positions within the Australian rail

industry. The objectives are to:

• Determine the current rate of female participation in rail;

• Examine the benefits of increased female participation on MTM’s business;

objectives;

• Examine the factors that influence the low rates of female applicants to

positions/careers in the rail industry, and;

• Develop strategies for MTM to help increase the attractiveness of careers for

women in rail industry.

3. A brief methodology

To accurately assess the variables effecting the attraction of women to careers in rail

and to assess their impact on MTM, this study has chosen mixed methodology to

conduct this study.

• Literature Review – to assess the current issues effecting the rail industry in

Australia, which may include the economic situation, the performance of women

in the workplace, and factors external to rail. Sources will include government

data, rail industry association reports, academic journals, and other relevant

publicly available reports.

• Data collection –Secondary data will be collected from government and

industry sources and advocacy groups.

• Interviews – To support the findings from the secondary data, this study will

also conduct key stakeholder interviews with Melbourne Metro, Advocacy group

and female staff . Combined with key findings, these will assist in the discussion

on the development of future workforce planning strategies.

4. Secondary data and data analysis methods

As mentioned earlier, this study will mainly use secondary data from the Victorian

government and MTM database, which would be available online. In particular,

demographic characteristics of all staff of MTM, workplace flexibility and safety data

such as flexibility in work schedule, occupational health and safety data and literature

will be collected from MTM website and from their annual report.

After collecting all data, all variables such as demographic characterises, workplace

safety indicators and flexibility will be structured in an Excel sheet and then a

correlation analysis will be conducted to find the relationship between attraction

variable such as safety and flexibility and demographic variable such as gender and age

groups.

4. References

Ali, M., Kulik, C.T., & Metz, I. (2011). The gender diversity-performance relationship in

services and manufactoring organizations. The International Journal of Human Resource

Management, 22(7), 1464-1485.

Brennan, T., Wills-Johnson, N., Larsen, P., Mahendran, A., Hughes, B., & Wang, J. (2009,

July 20). The business of australia’s railways. Proceedings from the Australian Railways

Business and Economics Conference, Perth, Australia.

Dwyer, S., Richard, O.C., & Chadwick, K. (2003). Gender diversity in management and

firm performance: the influence of growth orientation and organizational culture.

Journal of Business Research, 56(12), 1009 – 1019.

Perryman, A.A., Fernando, G.D., & Tripathy, A. (2016). Do gender differences persist? An

examination of gender diversity on firm performance, risk, and executive compensation.

Journal of Business Research. 69(2), 579 – 586.

The Rail Track Association Australia (RTAA). (2015). The business case for women in rail.

Preceedings of a forum hosted in Sydney, Australia. Retrieved from

www.rtaa.org.au/_literature_196237/Women_in_Rail_Invitation

Van Barneveld, K. & Jowlett, R. (2005). Violence, harassment, and bullying at work: how

does the australian rail industry compare and what can be done?, Journal of Public

Transportation, 8(3).

Wallace, M., Lings, I., & Cameron, R. (2012). Industry branding: attracting talent to

weaker profile industries, Asia pacific journal of human resrouces, 50(4), 483 – 502.

Wallace, M., Sheldon, N., Lings, I., & Cameron, R. (2010). Attraction and image for the

Australian rail industry. Proceedings of British Academy of Management Conference,

Sheffield, UK.

Workplace Gender Equality Agency (2016, March 23). WGEA data explorer, Retrieved

from http://data.wgea.gov.au/overview.

5. Appendix

Topic Discussion for DISTANCE STUDENT (but not for face to face students)

DISTANCE STUDENT 1- Thursday, 16 March 2017, 9:34 AM

Hi everyone,

As part of my masters in HR, I plan to research an issue which has impacted on my previous

employer, and is one that is a hot topic of discussion in the HR world – gender diversity in the

workplace. Recent news stories have focused on the gender pay gap that has placed the spotlight

on gender issues in the workforce. My research area will be an applied piece based on female

representation in the workplace and more specifically on that of gender quotas (perceived or

otherwise). While there is extensive research on this topic, and much of which promote the benefits

of a equal representation of gender, I have found that there is little research on the organisational

cultural effects of gender quotas. I will therefore be looking at the psychological factors that affect

the implementation of gender diversity programs in the workplace. My research will be focused on

the rail industry in Victoria – an inherently male dominated industry.

I am interested to hear all comments – from both genders smile

DISTANCE STUDENT 2 – Monday, 20 March 2017, 9:54 PM

Hi ***,

Fantastic topic!! I personally am employed by Queensland Rail as a tradesperson. From personal

experience working in the rail industry and particularly in a male dominated trade in the rail

industry, the struggle is real! Our government controlled company promotes gender diversity in the

workplace, offering females positions in non traditional roles. I don't believe that on ground there is

much of a female quota requirement within our company due mainly to the nature of the work that

we do. However, it would not surprise me if these quotas did exist elsewhere in the company,

particularly in the more traditionally gender neutral roles. We have recently lost our first female CEO

who by all reports in the media was forced out due to the south-east Queensland timetabling and

driver debacle, regardless of gender this pushing out of CEOs seems to be the status quo when

things turn pear shaped in big organisations such as ours.

Your focus on the cultural effects of gender quotas is very interesting. I think that this research has

the potential to open up a can of worms that will make the data just that little bit more difficult to

sort through. I believe that there is a potential for the lines between the cultural effects of gender

quotas and the cultural effects of quite simply having women in non traditional roles and in largely

male dominated organisations to become blurred. In my experience, there are plenty of people out

there who are very supportive of letting women have a go and who even appreciate the different

skill sets that we can bring and just as many who believe that women have no place in these

industries let alone that there should be quotas put in place to secure their positions over their male

counterparts.

Good luck, this is definitely research that I would be interested in seeing the results for!

DISTANCE STUDENT 1 – Tuesday, 21 March 2017, 9:57 AM

Thanks for your input, ***.

My motivations for this topic were certainly driven by self-observation in rail. As you mentioned the

idea of quotas (referred to as preferred candidates) are probably not implemented (implicitly) across

all departments and I expect to see this in my findings. The issue I found was that male staff would

not bother applying for internal promotions because they expected that a female would be

appointed to the position. I think this had a compounding negative impact on the small number of

females in our department and I certainly witnessed negative sentiments towards females on many

occasions. I agree that there are certainly many men who are supportive of equal opportunities for

women in any role, however, variances in rail departments is extreme. Finding out why, really is the

aim of my piece.

DISTANCE STUDENT 3- Tuesday, 21 March 2017, 11:48 PM

Hi ***,

What a hot topic indeed! Will you be comparing your data from the rail industry in Victoria with

other rail industries from other parts of Australia or the globe? It could be interesting to see if it is a

world trend due to the male dominated history of the rail industry. Are you also focusing on all

aspects of operations? (Eg HR, marketing, logistics, etc)

I think one interesting point of your topic is how you will aim to see how gender quotas effect

culture – will it create a negative atmosphere among the genders (such as feelings of inadequacy) or

will it create a more positive environment.

Another point could be to compare absenteeism rates between organisations with and without

gender quotas as this is usually a sign of employee satisfaction.

I am currently working in a large company in Germany, all of my seniors are men and the secretaries

are all women. Could be interesting to see how 'traditional' gender roles in the workplace have or

haven't changed over time.

Thanks and good luck, I look forward to reading more about your topic!

DISTANCE STUDENT 1 – Wednesday, 22 March 2017, 11:40 AM

Thanks *** for your insight.

I had a recent meeting with my industry partner and they have swayed the direction of my research

somewhat and have asked that I look more towards the side of female candidate attraction during

the recruitment process. They argue that this will be more useful in their future workforce planning

strategy. Apparently they only get between 25-35% female applicants across different departments.

Current data that they actually have. So my research will now focus on the factors that prevent

women in applying for roles in the rail industry. This will probably include a small survey of samples

to gauge women's perceptions of the rail industry.

I think to answer this question accurately, it certainly would involve looking across industries to

assess common reasons as to why some industries attract more female candidates than others and I

expect to find the bulk of these answers during my lit review. What separates this topic from a

simple exploratory lit review is that there really isn't a lot of research on human resource issues

within the rail industry.