Learning Log of Tesco Corporate Social Responsibility - Assignment Example

Learning the theory and application of TESCO in terms of CSR and SB Contents Contents 2 What did I do to learn? 3 What have I learnt in term of theory and application for CSR and SB in Tesco? Responsibility: Ethical Behavior, CSR and SB in Tesco and work place. 3 Sustainable business theory and evaluate the theory with Tesco application. 5 Corporate Governance and CSR in Tesco 6 CSR and stakeholder perspectives in Tesco, using Stakeholder theory. 8 CSR strategy and implementation in Tesco 10 What I have achieved? 10 What can I do better? 10 10 References 11 What did I do to learn? I had to go through some of the books and journals of corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability. To know the application of these theories on TESCO I had to visit the official website of the company, then analyze and link the theories with the functions of TESCO. What have I learnt in term of theory and application for CSR and SB in Tesco? Responsibility: Ethical Behavior, CSR and SB in Tesco and work place. Corporate Social responsibility is the method by which an organization achieves a balance between the economic, environmental, and social responsibilities in its operations so as to address the stakeholder’s expectations and the shareholders. CSR is a general concern of the management and is important for all business and it is incorporated into the operations of the organization through its culture, values, decision making, strategy and reporting mechanisms. As described by Wood, corporate social responsibility has the basic idea of linking the business with the society rather than describing the s distinct entities (Idowu and Filho, 2008, p.165).The corporate social responsibility started since 1950s. Archie Carroll’s theory forms the basis of corporate social responsibility. This pyramid of Carroll’s theory comprises of four responsibilities. The first is the economic responsibility to be profitable. The second comprises of the legal responsibilities that is to obey the law that is set forth by the society. The third part of the pyramid is linked with the second part and comprises of ethical responsibilities that the business should have, to do what is right even when the business is not compelled to do so by the law. The fourth is the philanthropic or the discretionary responsibility it is all about the resources contributed by the corporations towards the educational, social, recreational or cultural purposes. The Carroll’s theory helps the organizations to comprehend the necessary principles of social responsibility, set forth the practices to achieve each step of the pyramid with the ultimate goal of reaching the top. As per the Carroll’s theory, TESCO fulfills all its economic responsibilities by being the Ireland’s top retailer; it even fulfills its legal responsibilities by following the rules and regulations. It lays down practices of being ethical by serving healthy food and satisfying the customers well by serving them more of local products and being more cautious about their impact on the neighborhood and faces the environmental challenges. It practices its philanthropic responsibilities by serving a large number of communities throughout the country, it takes care about its responsibilities as business, employer and a good neighbor, hence a good corporate citizen. TESCO believes that ‘every little help’ can become a great deal more when everybody pulls into the same direction. Tesco encourages the employees and colleagues to live a healthier life. At Tesco they have the aim of becoming a zero carbon organization by 2050 by making use of the scarce resources responsibly in its supply chain and hence having positive impact on the environment. Since Tesco buy, move and sell food so they want to track and reduce food globally thus efficiently following the philanthropic responsibilities (Tesco Corporate Responsibility, 2014). Sustainable business theory and evaluate the theory with Tesco application. Corporate sustainability comprises of four pillars such as corporate social responsibility, sustainable development, accountability and stakeholder theory. It is an alternative strategy to the traditional growth and profit maximization model (Solomon, 2011, p.189). It recognizes that corporate growth and profitability is important but also requires pursuing some societal goals, such as social justice, environmental protection and economic development which can also be the termed as forms of sustainable development. The sustainable business theory relates to the process of change in which the resource exploitation, the orientation of technological development, the direction of investments, and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both the current as well as the future potential to meet the needs and aspirations of the humans (Sun, Stewart and Pollard, 2010, pp. 123-124). The theory of corporate sustainability can be well explained by the following diagram which highlights the ethical and business arguments that works towards common societal goals and sustainability goals. Tesco works on the sustainable business theory by maximizing the profits along with contribution towards the society. They have long term relationship with the suppliers to deliver the best of the products possible. The sustainability in the business of Tesco has moved from being handled by a junior in public relations department to being embedded in the core business with clear delivery plans, rewards, and measurement. They have the willingness to collaborate in order to work together on systematic challenges. Tesco is achieving the sustainability in business by delivering safe and quality products, having fair and honest pricing, and strong commitment of data protection of 40 million customers whose records are kept by the customers to reward customer loyalty. Thus it maximizes its business by being a global company and also takes care about the social impetus Corporate Governance and CSR in Tesco Corporate governance is defined as a system of law and sound approaches by which the organization are controlled and directed focusing on the internal and external corporate structures with the intention of monitoring the actions of directors and management and mitigating agency risks which may result due to the misdeeds of corporate officers. There are different theories and a model around the world for corporate governance (Tricker and Tricker, 2012 , pp. 88-89).The model depends on the variety of capitalism in which they are embedded. The model which emphasizes on the interests of the stakeholder is termed as the Anglo American model whereas Multi stakeholder model recognizes the interests of workers, managers, customers, suppliers, and the community. The distinction remains between market oriented and network oriented models of corporate governance (Fernando, 2009, pp.113-115).Tesco basically follows the Anglo American model by taking into account the stakeholder’s interest. The corporate governance structure of Tesco is as follows – The corporate governance of Tesco aims at listening to their stakeholders comprising of customers, suppliers, colleagues, experts in order to find out what matters to them. Tesco develops a plan at a local level to show how a positive contribution be made with the help of a new strategy. Through this structure they set targets at a country level against key performance indicators and then reports progress. The corporate social responsibility committee forms an essential part of the corporate governance structure of Tesco. The Chairman Sir Richard Broadbent is the head of the CSR committee and the key role of the committee is to define the social and corporate obligations as a responsible citizen and to oversee its conduct in relation to these obligations (Tesco and Society Report, 2013, p.43). It ensures that appropriate communication policies are in place and working effectively to protect and build the reputation of the group both internally and externally. CSR and stakeholder perspectives in Tesco, using Stakeholder theory. Stakeholder theory is a theory of business ethics and organizational management that addressed the values and morals in managing an organization (Phillips, 2011, p.95). According to the stakeholder theory though the shareholders are the owners of the company and the firm has a binding duty to put their needs first in order to increase value for them but there are other parties involved also like the customers, suppliers, employees, financiers, trade unions, political groups, governmental bodies, trade associations and communities (Idowu and Louche, 2011, pp.55-56).The theory suggests that these stakeholder’s needs are to be kept in mind and attended duly as they can impact the firm greatly. The stakeholder theory is used as one of the frameworks in CSR methods. This approach outlines how management can satisfy the interest of stakeholders in a business. Tesco believes in listening and working with the stakeholders to know where they are performing well and what they need to improve. Tesco has various engagement channels to know the needs of various stakeholders of the firm and satisfy them. Customer question time events , special focus groups , loyalty programs are there to track the needs of customers, some annual surveys, appraisals and career discussions with the employees are undertaken , commercial and technical managers working directly with the suppliers (Freeman, 2010, p.35). Then there are other engagement programs they have come up with to engage with more than 50 leading stakeholders of the firm at national and international level. The strong focus on the corporate social responsibility was due to getting to know the insight of some stakeholder’s who were not so satisfied with company’s corporate social responsibility. CSR strategy and implementation in Tesco The CSR strategy is well implemented by following the triple bottom line theory of corporate social responsibility. But Tesco believes that sustainability cannot only be achieved through economic terms that is cost over revenue but also through sustainability in social and environmental realm. It takes care about the social side by helping out different communities or charities, providing better opportunities for young people, giving a healthy life to the people working with them and around with the best quality products. It aims at preventing any environmental hazards through their work process by even using the scarce resources in their supply chain. What I have achieved? I am now able to understand the various responsibilities of the corporate. I can understand the theories well by applying them with a real world company and how the company executes the various practices. I am able to link theoretical concepts with practical application. What can I do better? I can analyze more companies, and then compare and contrast the theories applied by these different companies in different industry. References Tesco and Society Report, 2013. TESCO, what matters now using our scale for good [Online]. Available at: http://www.tescoplc.com/files/pdf/reports/tesco_and_society_2013_ipad.pdf#ref_society/report [Accessed on 5th March 2014]. Idowu, S. A., Louche, C. 2011. Theory and practice of Corporate Social Responsibility. Belgium: Springer Idowu, S. A., Filho, W. L. 2008. Global practices of Corporate Social Responsibility. Germany: Springer Sun, W.,Stewart, J., Pollard, D. 2010. Reframing Corporate Social Responsibility.UK :Emerald group publishing. Tesco Corporate Responsibility, 2014. Tesco’s commitment to Corporate Responsibility [Online]. Available at: http://www.tesco.ie/corporate-responsibility [Accessed on 5th March 2014]. Freeman, 2010. Stakeholder Theory. New York: Cambridge University Press. Phillips, R .A. 2011. Stakeholder Theory. USA : Edward Elgar Publishing Tricker, B.,Tricker, R. I. 2012. Corporate Governance. UK : Oxford University Press. Fernando, A.C. 2009. Corporate Governance: Principles, Policies and Practices. New Delhi : Pearson Education India. Solomon, J. 2011. Corporate Governance and Accountability. UK : John Wiley & Sons. Read More