The Strategies and Ideologies of Tesco - Essay Example

Introduction Tesco is an organization that has shown rampant and gradual development in the native economy. Its scale has recorded an elevating trend since the establishment of the organization. The market share of this organization in Britain has also been elevating significantly. Through his major role in Tesco, Sir Terry has spearheaded the development of the organization over time (BBC, p1. 2013). His leadership has surfaced appropriate strategies of enhancing the scale and market share of the organization. Tesco manifests gradual growth of power within Britain. The elevating scale and market share accounts for the rising power. This is a vivid indication that hard sell will be a marketing strategy for the monopoly. However, the British regime has recommendable strategies and mechanisms to face this trend. Diverse concepts and theories are evident in the strategies and ideologies by Terry. These theories explain the development and ultimate implications of the Terry ideologies within the firm. Terry Leahy’s ideologies and perspectives were reflected in the report from the BBC. He was the C.E.O of Tesco, a position he is proud of. Since teenage, he served at this retailing outlet and developed gradually towards the top position (BBC, p1. 2013). His zeal, competence, and commitment elevated him towards the top position of the organization. Tesco is a top retailer within the British territory. Reporting to the BBC, Terry did not have a positive perspective towards the small shops in Britain. He viewed their closure as a key source of growth and progress to the large retailers. According to him, a majority of the society prefer to shop in the large retailers (BBC, p1. 2013). They would prefer supermarkets to the small shops. He defined some streets as backward due to the existence of the small investments. However, his deputy Michael Weedon had a different perspective. He viewed the small shops as advantageous rather than disadvantageous. According to Weedon, closure of large chains would enhance cheap availability of retail premises. The ideologies of this case have great affiliation to several concepts and theories. Business ethics and conflict theory are key attributes that affiliate to this case. Ethics involve a moral code of conduct in business. In this case, businesses ought to observe its impact to the internal and external environment (Peterson, p3. 2005). The Chief executive Officer can represent the interests and stands of the organization to the immediate society. Therefore, the organization ought to observe and maintain a positive impact to its environs. Humanity ought to be a key observation in the business policies and ideologies (Henn, p167. 2009). This has a direct appeal to the immediate society. It could therefore be a strategy to win more popularity and clientele from the immediate society. Terry Leahy represented the stand of the Tesco fraternity during his report in the BBC. His report had an implication of negativity within the small shops. It was a direct advocacy of small shops closure within Britain. This declaration has an affiliation with the concept of business ethics. Ethics require and advocate for equal rights in business (Crane, p28. 2007). In this case, business should not purely focus on profitability. It has an obligation to defend the rights of other individuals and external investments. Ethics also enhance an adjusted protection of its image. External parties should view the organization as a center of humanity and integrity. In his presentation, Terry Leahy impaired the image of the organization significantly. His perspective did not consider the minority group of the Britain society. The entire Britain society engrossed 95% of the populace preferring the supermarkets (BBC, p1. 2013). This was the larger group in Terry’s presentation. According to him, this figure preferred to shop in top retailers. Terry still outlined a 5% of the population that highly preferred to shop in the small outlets. The 5% of the population engrossed an immense figure of the British inhabitants. The 5% represented an average of three million individuals (BBC, p1. 2013). Definitely, this was a very high figure that required consideration. In this case, Terry omitted the interests of three million individuals upon making his presentation to the BBC. Organizations should observe maintenance of moral values and humanity. Violation or deprivation of humanity has harsh ultimate ramifications. Upon losing the ideal image from the people, the business has a high vulnerability towards deprived customer turn out (Weiss, p4. 2009). Consequently, the profits of the business are subject to immense reductions. Therefore, it was significant for the Tesco boss to mention a favor and consideration to the minority figure. Definitely, this presentation had some negative effects on the customer turn out. Some customers were definitely discouraged and disappointed by the standing of Tesco. Observation of humanity and ethics would involve profound recommendations for the minority group (Shaw, p7. 2011). It would involve portraying the streets as valuable rather than backward. Terry would allow for a comprehensive understanding of the minority voices. This would propagate the presentation of moral and logical recommendation for the market. Evidently, the moral domain of the business suffered immensely upon Terry’s presentation. Business ethics have a crucial role of guiding ideal conduct within and without an organization. According to the concept of ethics, the organization ought to evaluate its impact to the immediate society and adjust accordingly (Shaw, p7. 2011). Therefore, organizations have a duty to maintain a positive image in its surroundings. In this case, moral conduct is a basic requirement from the organizations. Profitability and finances is a secondary factor in organizations. This is according to the requirements of the law and ethics. This implicates that the organization should primarily observe humanity rather than profitability. An exclusive consideration of the profitability of the organization would amount to violation of ethics. Apparently, ethics are recommendations of moral conduct that facilitate profitability. Observation and maintenance of ethics would attract the crowds, and this would elevate the organization’s profitability (Weiss, p4. 2009). Individuals and external bodies would observe the sense of humanity and create a positive affiliation to the organization. Terry Leahy did not fulfill the requirement of business ethics. He compromised the requirements of ethics when he purely focused on profitability. Terry showed pure and exclusive interest towards the profitability of his organization. His advocacy for small shops’ closure was in perspective of profit expansion. He did not observe the social implications of the closure process. His speech brought negative implications towards the owners of small shops. This was reinforced by the tag “medieval” streets. Small scale retailers got associated with backwardness in their locations (BBC, p1. 2013). Upholding ethical ground would require Terry to consider humanity primarily and profitability as a secondary factor. During this era, Tesco was gaining much ground and popularity across Britain. This was a top retailer across this nation. Its scale had taken an elevating trend. It grew to a large scale organization under the leadership of Terry Leahy. Definitely, this organization was celebrating economies of scale at this time. For instance, the organization enjoyed magnified profitability during this time. The market share of the organization also took an established and elevating trend. A major group in British society would affiliate with Tesco in business (BBC, p1. 2013). The customer range was extremely wide. These factors inculcated power within Tesco retailers. Using hard sell was therefore a highly probable incident. Hard sell entails monopolistic strategies of advertisement. The strategies are quite direct and potent. They do not have a positive impact to majority of the clients. Therefore, many clients portray negative feedback and they retaliate from the organization. Terry’s presentation to the BBC was a form of hard sell due to the nature of his speech. This predicted a chance of Tesco to use hard sell in advertising their products. Social conflict is an additional concept that has an involvement in this case. This concept involves conflict or disagreement amongst groups. The interests of the groups might be uniform, but the means of attaining them might be incongruent. Therefore, the groups conflict with each other in the quest for their interests (Sitton, p17. 1996). In the highest probability, the groups conflict in the quest for authority. Difference in authority triggers the existence of conflict amongst diverse parties. Ultimate goals might also be incompatible, and they cause the parties to conflict during interaction. Interaction is normally turbulent as the parties oppose each other. They continually compete for resources (Mildenberger, p3. 2013). In this case, conflict is evident in the difference of interests. Tesco has a different interest from the small shops. The Tesco C.E.O advocates for closure of the small shops. He makes this public through his report to the BBC. He also reveals the streets of the small shops as backward. Terry wants to emphasize the great preference of top retailers by the customers. His interest is to reveal a pronounced advantage of the top retailers and supermarkets. Owners of the small shops definitely had a contrary interest. They would prefer their businesses to thrive, rather not to shut down. Small scale retailers could not also take the inferior regard from Terry. He referred their streets as medieval during his presentation (BBC, p1. 2013). Evidently there was an immense conflict of opinions and interests. This is a revelation of the concept of social conflict in relation to business. Conflict theory is a set of ideologies and principles that explain the differences that exist within society. This theory in business offers explanations and recommendations towards existing conflicts. Karl Marx was the major proponent of this essential theory in business (Sitton, p16. 1996). It engrosses economic concepts that explain conflict features within society. According to this scholar, the economy is the substructure of the society. This implicates that the trends within the society are attributable to economics. Individuals and groups in society will behave according to the nature of economics at the current time. Marx presents conflict as a normal feature in society. According to him, interactions must constitute conflicts. Change is a subsequent feature of conflict. Therefore, conflict is a key necessity for social change. According to this theory, stratification is an evident feature in society that entails groups with different status. Status is determined by the economic capability of the party. Owners of property formulate the ruling class (Mildenberger, p4. 2013). Low income earners therefore belong to the minor class. This feature is evident in the affiliation between Tesco and the small shops. Tesco is an established and strong retailer in Britain. Therefore, it has much capacity and authority over the retailing industry in Britain. The small shops are vulnerable to the decisions and recommendations of the top retailers. In this case, the small shops are vulnerable to abrupt closure due to the immense control of market from the top retailer Tesco. Through the conflict theory, the affiliation between Tesco and the small shops is evident. Stratification determines the course of relationship amongst the contrary firms. The major and the minor organization are in constant conflict. Their interests are conflicting throughout the interactions of the organizations. As denoted previously, Tesco has a mature and developing scale. This feature attracts profits significantly and ensures consistent growth. The market share belonging to this organization is also very huge (BBC, p1. 2013). Consequently, the large scale and market share propagate the power of the organization. This power motivates Tesco to engage into hard sell. The hard sell techniques propagate existence of conflict with other small shops. Terry’s presentation is a key example of hard sell due to its negative impacts to some members of society. The government ought to remain impartial in producing policies (Shaw, p186. 2011). In this case, the government has an obligation to provide subsidies to the small shops. Enhancement of subsidies fosters growth and development of small organizations. Through this strategy, small organizations have a wider platform of investment into the business. Consequently, the small businesses can grow towards maturity. This will definitely minimize conflicts and vulnerability amongst large and small businesses. The government should also formulate and implement policies that ensure equality in business (Shaw, p186. 2011). Organizations ought to have a right to thrive independently. Therefore, large organization should not have authority over small ones. They should advocate for their closure. Conclusion Tesco is a top retailer in Britain. It has a huge market share and scale. Terry is the former C.E.O of this organization. He once advocated for closure of small shops for the progress of Tesco. He also revealed the streets of the small shops as medieval. This was a violation of Business ethics. He deprived the image of his organization by presenting this report to the BBC. He also fostered conflict in the business realm within Britain. Small shops would not aspire to close. Evidently, there was a conflict of interests amongst Tesco and small businesses. However, the regime has a capacity to intervene in this situation. It would intervene through provision of subsidies and formulation of equality policies in business. Bibliography BBC. “Small shop closures are progress, says ex-Tesco boss.” NEWS UK. February 3rd 2013. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21310808 BBC. “Sir Terry Leahy.” BBC. February 3rd 2013. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qdr2m CRANE, A., & MATTEN, D. (2007). Business ethics: managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. 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