Issues that Affect the Image of Tesco since 2008 - Essay Example

The first issue which is an internal one is a change in leadership of the company in 2010 at the beginning of the economic depression around the world. The CEO Sir Terry Leahy was retiring and being replaced by Philip Clarke sometime in 2011 (Nwagbara, 2010, pg. 33). This change in management led to a change in the leadership style as well as organizational changes which saw all the operations in the US closed down and businesses moving to the UK.

The external issue is on the CSR where in 2009, Tesco advertised by using a phrase used by UNICEF during charity “Change for Good.” The phrase was used for children's charity and hence it was private but Tesco used it anyway for its own commercial purposes. This led to a lot of controversies and it ultimately damaged the income stream for the children which did not sit well with a section of the public and damaged a bit the reputation of the company.

Identify the external stakeholder issues that Tesco faces and access their impact on the corporate reputation and brand equity of Tesco.

The issue is meat supply from its suppliers. After research unveiled that some of the beef burgers from Tesco contained 29% horsemeat and others pig meat, the reputation of the company dropped instantly. This was not the fault of Tesco but rather of its suppliers who supplied the meat to the numerous Tesco stores countrywide. Sales of frozen burgers and frozen ready-made food have dropped significantly. The confidence of the customers in the meat and food being sold in the stores has dwindled and the effects are experienced in the sales (Wall, 2013).

Tesco has to restore the confidence of its customers once again. This should be preceded by having to seek new suppliers of the meat as well as having to monitor these suppliers to ensure that the meat being provided and the products, in general, are up to human consumption standards (Butler, 2013). The legal team also has to work extra hard to prevent lawsuits from customers on the products.

Briefly analyze what happened to apply theories on organizational ethics theory, corporate governance CSR concepts, stakeholder applications & reputation management concepts/metrics. Not all of them are required, but the more you apply and reference inside the PR crisis/issue the better it is. Demonstrate application of relevant theories.

This is an ethical matter and all stakeholders in conjunction with the management must come up with the best strategies to handle the matter and prevent a repeat in the future (Philips, 2003, pg. 87). The reputation of the company must be taken care of if CSR is to work in favor of the company and people are to accept it. To ensure quality and gain confidence, a PR strategy of getting only the best suppliers which will lead to increasing the prices of meat should be explained to the customers (Gray, 2013). These strategies and shifting the blame from Tesco should gain back its reputation.