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Social Corporate Responsibility between Waitrose and Tesco (International Management Field) - Essay Example

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The author of the paper explains why sustainability is a key issue for Waitrose and Tesco in 2008, UK’s two biggest retailers of food and non-food items, and critically explores the ways in which these companies can move towards sustainable operations  …
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Social Corporate Responsibility between Waitrose and Tesco (International Management Field)
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1. Explain why sustainability is a key issue for Waitrose and Tesco in 2008 and critically explore ways in which these companies can move towards sustainable operations. Introduction Waitrose and Tesco are UK’s two biggest retailers of food and non-food items. Tesco, UK’s biggest retailer (Sanderson, 2008) controls about 30% of the grocery retail market in the UK, double that of its nearest rival ASDA (Sanderson, 2008). Waitrose has a market share of 4% in the UK market (Uloth, 2008). Tesco has 1770 stores run by 250000 employees in UK (Tesco.com). Waitrose has 69000 partners who look after 187 outlets largely located in southern UK. John Lewis is its sister concern. The Importance of 2008 Sustainable will remain central to Waitrose and Tesco due to increasing global warming and the companies need to show more resolve to tackle the problem in all earnestness. Dincer (2008) advocates a deliberate change of life style extravagance and wasteful attitude to conscious behaviour now. In common usage "global warming" often refers to the warming that can occur as a result of increased emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities, for example, carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and fluorinated gases, which act like a greenhouse around the earth. Dincer (2008) quoted at www.gcgw.org. In fact grocery retail and supermarket chain are great energy guzzlers and producers of green house gases. Refrigeration, air-conditioning, lighting, freight, logistics, cold supply chains make supermarket an energy hog. “Most food travels 1,500 miles from "farm to fork." But buying local food drastically reduces the energy spent on food shipping. (Al Gore quoted at Oprah.com). An estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. Thats 1 million bags used per minute (Al Gore quoted at Oprah.com, 2008). . The grocery market of UK is worth £120bn. Top four Supermarkets (Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Morrisons) hold major market share (almost 75%) of the grocery market (researchandmarkets.com). UK organic sales of Waitrose stand at 18%, while it accounts for 8.6% of Fairtrade sales in the UK (www.freshplaza.com, 2008). 2008 will be considered a watershed year in history of Waitrose and Tesco due to implementation of stringent emission norms and recommendations of the Competition Commission. In 2007, Waitrose signed the Voluntary Code of Practice on Carrier Bags with the government that intends to curtail the use of carry bags by 25% by the end of 2008 (Waitrose.com). Waitrose is also a signatory of the Courtauld Commitment, which is a part of the government, funded Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP). The achievements of WRAP will be studied by the end of 2008 to set further objectives for 2010. Laws on control of greenhouse gases stipulate doing away with chlorofluorocarbons before the 2010 deadline. This makes it imperative for the retail industry to take all technical decisions about refrigeration in 2008. Courtlaud Commitment makes it obligatory for Waitrose to fully control its packaging growth by 2008. Further to this is the Kyoto Protocol target of reduction of emissions to eight percent below 1990 level to which EU is a signatory. Waitrose has set the aim for Lining environment and farming (LEAF) accreditation of all its worldwide suppliers by 2010 (Waitrose.com). Competition Commission Report (2008) The report of the Competition Commission has made further suggestions. A code of practice, called the Grocery Supply of Practice (SCOP) will be enforced on all corporate groups with a turnover greater than £1 billion in grocery retail. The commission has asked for the establishment of groceries supply code Ombudsman who will have the power to investigate breaches of GSCOP. Sustainability the Key to Future Sustainability in business is to extend the life of organizations through high levels of corporate performance that includes social and economic phenomena and meets the needs of the present and future. Sustainability has further grown into the paradigm of Corporate Social Responsibility. “As the word sustainability widens its acceptance outside the environmental movement to now include economic and social phenomena, it is probably true to say that CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and CSu (Corporate Sustainability) are the two sides of the same coin.” (Hopkins, 21) Terry Leahy (quoted at Tesco.com) emphasises that sustainability is at the heart of Tesco’s business. Waitrose tries to minimise environmental impact of its product, distribution and operates a Responsible Sourcing Code(RSC) to promote sustainability. Thus sustainability is a key issue in food and non-food retail segments for both Tesco and Waitrose. The high volumes of retail trade especially that of food items, leaves a large carbon footprint adding to the toxicity of the atmosphere and global warming. This has been made apparent by various studies. “The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) report suggests the food chain contributes about one-fifth of total UK greenhouse gas emissions.” (Harrabin, 2008). It is felt at Tesco that man-made emissions of greenhouse gases are the most important factor in creating global warming and urgent action is required by governments, businesses and individuals to combat it (Tesco.com). Kotler suggests that sustainability needs a ‘behaviour change’. As an attempt to achieve sustainability, Tesco and Waitrose are introducing organic products and motivating a movement against plastic bags as a Kotler’s ‘behaviour change’. Waitrose stakeholders have also expressed concern about energy use, waste generation, and to bring sustainability in its operations. According to Sandra quoted by Mobiet (2008), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) studies suggest use of car for food shopping costs to society amounting £3.5billion per year from traffic emissions, noise, accidents and congestion. Tesco Extra with their gigantic building located outside of towns according to Sanders this kind of shopping. Lorries of nine major supermarkets travel a total of 670 million miles per year equivalent to the nearly four return trips to moon before the food they provide ends up on the shelves. Two years of investigations by Competition Commission by 2008 marks the recommendation of appointment of an ombudsman to arbitrate between the suppliers and the supermarkets, make compensation and uphold a stronger supermarket code of practice. Tesco controls 27% of the profits in grocery market (FoE). According to Friends of Earth the interests of the community, retailer and supplier are better protected if the super markets are subject to tighter regulation. Tesco leads international price wars and makes local traders to give up (FoE). Tesco is also blamed for exploiting overseas supplier, and thus the giant increases its profits, at the cost of exploitative means, human rights and labour rights violations to increase profits. ERA committee concluded that there remains a fundamental imbalance in negotiating strength between markets and most of their suppliers. Grocery makes up for nearly a quarter of household waste (FoE). Looking for cheaper foods and hauling them up over large distance increases carbon emissions. As of now Waitrose estimates that it gives away 250 million of the 9 billion free carrier bags handed out by UK retailers each year. Superstores project a high rate of growth. Despite promises it makes emission control all the tougher. The green movement needs to become a movement in green consumption (Leahy quoted at Tesco.com). Waitrose and Tesco can’t sit idle by creating a list of list of do’s and don’ts. They have to play a pro-active role to stop global warming. Shopping accounts for 20% of car journeys in the UK, and 12% of the distance covered (Monbiot). As the growth of superstore retail is directly related to and fro car journey of the consumer there is little these companies can do. The Sustainable Development Commission’s (SDC) Report released on February 16, 2008 suggests that the food chain contributes around one-fifth of total UK greenhouse gas emissions when the impact of fertilizers, transport, processing and rotting waste is taken into account. The BBC News quotes Lang (2008) from the SDC: "When we go shopping, I dont think we really recognize the enormous impact our food is having on the environment.” On one hand when we get disturbing reports like this from environmental watchdogs, the superstores sometimes promise much more. “Embarrassingly, for those of us who have scorned the idea of corporate social responsibility, some of these companies now claim to be setting higher standards than any government would dare to impose on them.” (Molbiot, Guardian.co.uk). But he said nothing about reducing the journeys made by his customers. Shopping accounts for 20% of car journeys in the UK, and 12% of the distance covered (Monbiot). By closing their out-of-town stores and replacing them with warehouses and deliveries, the supermarket chains could reduce the energy costs of their buildings and (according to government figures) cut the transport emissions caused by shopping by 70 %( Monbiot). Waitrose and Tesco carry out retail trade that is different in extent and scope. The number of stores run by Waitrose is less than that of Tesco. Waitrose is UK specific in terms of retail outlets and Tesco is spreading its wings internationally with a strong presence in 12 countries. Hence a critical evaluation and suggestions for future recourse on sustainability will be different to both the organizations. However sustainability issues remain the same as for as supply chain is concerned because both the organizations resort to national and international sourcing of its products. Rather than focusing on UK it is time that Tesco focuses more on international operations. Sustainability has global ramifications both in terms of climate change and trade development. Hence Tesco and Waitrose should look beyond UK borders in enforcing sustainable standards. Tesco should establish superstores in markets where it source its products locally rather than relying on long haulage of products. Since Tesco is spreading its wings in distantly located countries, it should use rail and sea transport optimally to decrease on emissions due to transport. Sending goods by air is 100 times more polluting than sending them by train, and 200 times more than by boat. For Tesco immediate goals in sustainability are realizable by way of focusing on energy controls. In the tropical countries, Tesco should design its superstores to make maximum use of solar energy at its store locations as has been done in the Riverside, California (US) store of Tesco. Tesco is earning bad reputation for developing out of city warehouses, and failed industrial units into mammoth superstores. This can be a necessity in UK towns but elsewhere, Tesco should model its operations on smaller stores relying on battery operated zero emission delivery vans. The Shrewberry Store model that meets its energy cost on windmill power can be replicated in Hungary, Slovak Republic and South Korea. The gist of sustainability for Tesco lies in its adoption in its international operations as half of its operations are located beyond UK shores. Secondly, its international operations are already in nascent stage. Hence sustainability can be embedded in the operations at the beginning itself. Waitrose on the other hand presents a picture in contrast. It is an organization with limited operations. It stores are mainly located in the southern England and are medium sized. The energy consumption in Waitrose operations is only a fraction of Tesco and hence it should focus more on developing ‘green consumption’. Waitrose can take a pioneering lead in providing ‘organic’ and food and non-food items. Already, it provides 1300 items on its shelves that are organic in nature. Organic products leave a miniscule carbon footprint and are more sustainable. They are farmed and produced through sustainable means. Waitrose is already quite transparent in revealing its suppliers. However instances like the news of “flying the tilapia fish 5,160 miles to Britain from a farm on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe” (Armstrong) mars its reputation. Waitrose can become more sustainable by relying more on sustainable farming of UK and Europe and decreasing international dependence for supplies. 2. Through a review of the Tesco’s website and other relevant sources, identify the key issues that Tesco have faced public criticism and controversy over, and compare and critically evaluate the way it manages such criticism Tescoed Tesco has been on the receiving end of criticism by public, environmental and rights group. The staunched critics of Tesco have been green groups like Friends of Earth and Greenpeace. Some of the most pressing charges against Tesco have been labour rights violations in its supply chains, squeezing the suppliers to increase its bottom lines, propagation of monopolistic practices, and a high energy consuming business model thus increasing global warming. The accusations made at Tesco include bullying of rivals and High Street suppliers and throwing them out of business by price undercutting to push them off competition. The proliferation and striking attitude of Tesco in UK towns is called ‘Tescoed’ (Monbiot,2008) and Tesco Takeover (Foe). But despite these charges Tesco attributes its prowess to customer liking. “Every individual customer is the true decision-maker since it is his or her preferences and actions that decide how customer will respond.”(Evans and Boxdale, 2007) The three fold harms of Tesco strategy is grouped by Friends of Earth as 1. Race to the Bottom (price undercutting) 2. High-street takeover (buying of British convenience stores) 3. Environmental Damage (Tesco stores are high energy and landfill eyesores). Due to rampant public allegations mostly against Tesco, the government had asked Competition Commission to investigate, which has suggested the appointment of an Ombudsman to monitor the supplier relations, and fair trading. Further Tesco is accused of sourcing products, especially food items like pineapples, bananas, and wines from Bangladesh, Costa Rica and South Africa, which are produced by temporary labour in blatant violation of human and labour rights. Tesco is often made a butt of criticism for its high emission, green house activities. Tesco stores Extra are located out of the town that increases upon the car usage and travel of the consumer. Tesco’s Justifications Tesco vehemently repudiates these charges and has comprehensively listed its ethical, environmentally sustainable programmes, social initiatives, good supplier relations and third party accreditations to defend its actions. To monitor progress on sustainability, corporate social responsibility Tesco has developed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). It monitors data on labour rights through SEDEX and Global Reporting Initiative (GPI). The Corporate Social Responsibility Report issued every year enlists the initiatives and measures made by Tesco to reduce greenhouse gases and control global warming. . Other than this “Tesco has promised to plough in £500m over the next five years in what is called as the biggest green consumer movement.” (Leahy quoted at Tesco.com). To the charge of maximizing profits by forcefully capturing the market share of High Street small time grocers, Tesco replies that by driving higher sales it is helping the local farming to make their farming sustainable. Despite a fall in milk prices it has increased the price being paid to the UK farmer (Tesco.com). Tesco fends the labour exploitation allegations stating that there were reports of such practices which have been curbed. For this Tesco has asked its suppliers manufacturing processes to get third party accreditation and the data generated thereby is made public through SEDEX. Further to that Tesco has initiated supplier training in ethical management in which, 613 suppliers underwent 16,600 hours of training in 2006/7. The supplier training data and performance are monitored through SEDEX and KPIs. Tesco states that its international trade is the key to provide employment to millions of poverty-stricken families. In the sphere of emission control, Tesco has promised to restrict cargo air-freight to merely 1% of its logistics. Rebutting the allegations of promoting car travel, increasing congestion and adding to Co2 emission, Tesco declares that its own fleet consumes 50% bio-fuels the highest achieved by any fleet. Further it uses zero emission vehicles to supply home delivery items. 11 million miles truck miles have been saved by Tesco by use of Daventry-Scotland railway, judicious truck journey, using trucks for onward and backward journey and introduction of double-deckers. Tesco has set an ambitious target of restricting its Co2 emissions by 50% over next five years. Despite the fact that the floor-space of Tesco is growing at an annual rate of 8% its emissions are decreasing by 10% on the 2006 standards. Packaging constitutes one fifth of the household waste and is a potential hazard adding to the green house gases through generation of Methane from landfills. Tesco has deployed 106 machines for recycling at its stores at the cost of £15 million. Tesco aims to cut down its packaging by 25% by 2010. Tesco has saved 400 million plastic bags by encouraging its consumers through Green Card scheme. (Tesco.com ) Some More Voluntary Actions by Tesco Tesco tries to steer clears of being an unethical organization and ruthless organization bent upon profit making by regularly participating in charity and social cause work. Tesco donates 1% of its pre-tax profits every year. It has raised £135m through ‘runs’ for cancer charities. Tesco issued vouchers worth £633,000 to stores to support local community initiatives. It is raising a volunteer force from the UK to work with Red Cross. Tesco has raised £3.4 million to provide equipment to the disabled children. Tesco has made a remarkable increase of 39% in its organic food items over 2006. To add to consumer knowledge and allow him make a discernible difference in decreasing carbon footprint, Tesco is fast on its way to provide Carbon Content label on all its products. (Tesco.com) 3. Discuss what corporate social responsibility is and explain how and why Waitrose is a more socially responsible corporation than Tesco. Corporate Social Responsibility Definition Corporate Social Responsibility means to run business with greater responsibility towards the environment and society. Corporate Social Responsibility is a commitment to improve community well-being through discretionary business practices and contribution of corporate resources (Lee and Kotler, 3). Kotler and Lee use the word ‘discretionary’ as corporate social responsibility is a voluntary commitment a business makes in choosing and implementing these commitments. CSR helps the company to protect the interests of its company while operating in economically and environmentally more sustainable manner Amaeshi, Osuji, and Nnodim, Mallenbaker.net (2008) quotes Lord Holme and Richard Watts to define Corporate Social Responsibility “as a continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.” Corporate Social Responsibility grew out of the commitment of a company to do ‘some’ good for the society. For more than a century it meant nothing more than writing a check for some charity. The aim was to do ‘good’ with as little effort as possible. However, with passage of time companies realized the importance of commitment to society in which they flourished. Espousing social causes started to make business sense too. Tsen, Phang, Hasan and Buncha ( 2006) state a positive correlation between consumer’s willingness to pay for environmentally friendly products and consumers attitudes in the understanding of the severity of environmental problems. How Waitrose is more socially responsible than Tesco? Waitrose is a smaller better managed organization, and than Tesco. It has greater transparency in its operations and is socially more responsible. Some of environmental, economic and social outages committed by Tesco occur due to its sheer size. In fact as charity begins at home, the most important beneficiaries of the Corporate Social Responsibility are its employees. Waitrose shares its annual profits with 69000 employees whom it calls its partners. As a co-owned democratic organization, the employees perform better to serve the organization and the consumers. The company shares its annual profits with all its partners. Waitrose offers 1500 products in organic range accounting for 18% share in organic food market of UK when its share in UK grocery market is merely 4%. (Waitrose.com). It is not considered in the Big Five league of Tesco, Asda, and Sainsbury. The fish trade of Waitrose tops the ranks in Marine Conservation League Society. It only buys Marine Stewardship Council certified fish. To set standards for farm produce Waitrose operates its own 4000 acre farm at Hampshire. Waitrose foundation is active in South Africa to ensure a sustainable future for its agriculture. Waitrose Foundation works to ‘bottom-up’ suppliers by training them to be ethically and qualitatively superior. As a mark of its recognition for better services and more responsible behaviour Waitrose has been conferred the Royal Warrant for Her Majesty, the Queen, to provide her household items. Despite the fact that fuel emissions of Waitrose constitute a meagre 14% of the UK total, it has set an achievable target of reduction in Co2 emissions by 10% in UK. Waitrose used 100% of its energy from its renewable sources. Waitrose is committed to curtail its packaging by 75% by year end 2012. Waitrose is already recycling 49% of its waste (Waitrose.com). It is actively involved in the government initiative of Waste and Resources Action Programme. Waitrose began its packaging management way back in 1997 and has saved 6000 tonnes of plastic annually and generated consumer awareness against its use. All new buildings are modelled according to Sustainable Construction Framework and Sustainability Action Plan. Waitrose is working on town centre retail generation business and as an example it has rejuvenated its Oxford Street store on sustainable model and saved 24% Co2 emissions. (Waitrose.com). Waitrose operates only with those suppliers who conform to its Responsible Sourcing Code of Practice. It proactively establishes the Code and monitors the suppliers through SEDEX. As a result it has been awarded with National Example of Supply Chain Excellence. It has also been awarded the Retail Client of the Year for making sustainable buildings. Waitrose has achieved platinum status in the Corporate Responsibility Programme in Business with a score of 96.5%. (Waitrose.com) The business policy of Waitrose is heavily in favour of sourcing and supplying regional, local and British produce. It tries to promote Integrated Crop Management and LEAF amongst its suppliers. A study commissioned by Local Government Association ranks Tesco as third bigger non-user of recyclable packaging material with scope of its introduction at 62% (Pidd, 2007). Though Waitrose ranks quite low compared to other super store chains, yet the organic produce sold by it accounts for 18% of UK’s whole. To add to the social responsibility towards the customer Waitrose provides Nutrition Advisory Diet. It spends on £ 400000 annually as part its endeavour to educate the young minds on good dietary habit. (Waitrose.com) 4. Based on a theoretical analysis of ethical theories and stakeholder models, what general recommendations can you make for Waitrose and Tesco and the industry they operate in? The ethical burden of a business gets responsibility in its corporate social responsibility. No ethical initiative can be realised in isolation and it needs a holistic approach from the investor, the management and employees to be ethically aware. Waitrose and Tesco are accountable to all its stakeholders, the suppliers, the employees, the customers and finally the global environmental and societal health. Hence the stakeholder models adopted by them should be in consonance with the ethical theories, they adopt. The applicable ethical theories in business can be tracked down in normative ethics that call for establishment of right and wrong standards of conduct. The deontological theory that has a non-consequentialist approach doesn’t hold well in the case of Tesco and Waitrose. However, teleological doctrine of attaining the most favourable results may Virtue theory that calls for inculcation of virtuous conduct is too personal to be applicable in a business environment. The normative utilitarian ethics of “attaining maximum good for the greatest number of people” tries to justify the means to achieve the end. In the case of Tesco and Waitrose, ‘the means’ matter as much as the end. Rule-utilitarianism of holding only those rules valid which have a positive outcome provides a solution to a limited extent. Not all consequences that follow a particular action are knowable. The Consequentialist theory holds that actions are valid only if they produce a good result are morally right. Consequentialism though good in theory doesn’t yield pragmatic results in business for it is very hard to judge the consequences before a decision is taken, whereas business involves hectic decision-making. From the above discussion it follows that no one single theory can delineate the ethical, environmental, and societal obligations of Waitrose and Tesco. A combination of consequentialist, rule utilitarian and normative ethical principle be embodied in the corporate governance, corporate social responsibility policy of the companies. This is only possible if all kinds of stakeholders have a definitive say in the decision-making and governance features of the company. There are two management models prevalent—the shareholder model and the stakeholder model. The shareholder model promotes an external control system. In this system the independent agents monitor executive management to enhance the wealth prospects of investors (Steiner and Steiner, 2005). Stakeholders on the other hand are those whom the corporation benefits or burdens by its actions, and those who benefit or burden the firm with its actions. (Freidman and Miles, 2006). Stakeholder theory is an ethical theory that considers the welfare of the all stakeholder as an end. (Steiner and Steiner, 2005). In other words the former values profitability over responsibility and the latter values responsibility over profitability. In the case of Tesco and Waitrose, the share holder model will be run with the sole aim of profiteering, thus squeezing the suppliers for less costs, looking for employees who ask for less wages and selling the products at the maximum possible rates. It will care little for the promotion of products that are eco-friendly and sustainable products. The nature of business of Waitrose and Tesco, and the potential it holds to impact the environment calls for adoption of Stakeholder model where sustainability is paramount to profitability. However, when all the stakeholders, the suppliers, the management, the employees work in the stakeholder model it is not just increasing profits that is their motive but they work towards societal health too. Waitrose and Tesco, though operational in the same market and offering similar products are quite dissimilar in their business models. However, the ethical theories and stakeholder models they can inculcate for future can be patterned on similar lines. Taking all the stakeholders together the companies can work for development of the ‘moral marketplace factor’. David Hess, Rogovsky, and Dunfee quoted by Lee and Kotler (2005) define ‘Market place morality’ as perceived morality in choices made by the customer, investor and the employee. Market place morality may be too ideal a term to be used in business parlance of today. We need business ethics wherein all the stakeholders work concertedly to ‘optimise’ the use of natural resources to lend sustainability to business and the earth. A brief description of important stakeholders, the consumer, the employee, the investor and their accompanying responsibilities are given below. The Consumer The most important stakeholder of retail business is the consumer. The more informed the consumer is, about environmental hazards the more responsible behaviour, he or she will display in retail buying. With the emergence of the informed, environment sensitive consumer, all retail groups, big and small will be compelled to make to make ethically responsible decisions. Carbon Labelling will help the consumer to make informed decisions on his buying and make the role of the consumer more discernible in making the company an ethical and sustainable organisation. As the awareness grows, the customer will also start shedding food miles and will carry more homes thus cutting down on trips to the superstores. The Employee The second most important stakeholder of the retail business is the employee. Employees should be given more incentives, bonuses, made to participate in health schemes, education, training and promotion and provided more stock holding options. A satisfied and happy employee works better and more responsibly towards the organization. In the case of Waitrose, the employees are also its investors; hence they have an overlapping role. Employees should be entrusted with more decision making powers so that they work with a greater feeling of belonging. The Investor The third most important stakeholder of the company is the investor. The rights and interests of the investors are protected by the Board and the Committee. Tesco can evolve greater participation of employees in the management for better decision-making in the growth of the organization. Employees are always better informed about the micro-environmental factors and the managements have a sound knowledge about the macro-environmental factors. Both the stakeholders can work in close consonance with each other to make the company more socially responsible, financially robust, and growth oriented. Suggestions There are certain recommendations that can be made from the industry perspective. The companies should try to plug in inefficiencies in the supply management and provide maximum value to the producer. Since the supplier is also a stakeholder in a company, more resolute steps should be taken to defend his interests. Better supply chain management can lead to deliverance of higher customer value that can be shared between the supplier and the customer and thus placing greater credence of the society in a company’s functioning. There are other suggestions that can be imbibed in the very planning and location of the retails in further development of the locations. Retail stores should thus be located, all over Britain at such centres that are accessible by sustainable transport to reduce the huge growth in car-based shopping, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions (Carley, et. al., 2008). Beyond this the architectural design of the stores should be energy conserving. Energy costs should be added while configuring the inventory levels of the company. Energy points and energy bonuses should be credited to the suppliers and buyers to make them more aware about conservation principles. Tesco is making great efforts in social causes, curative health, and education. But it needs to do more to involve the young minds in energy conserving efforts. Dissemination of environmental education is part of promotion of sustainable business activities. Since Tesco is the market leader it has to display a greater sense of responsibility than its competitors. In words of Larry Whitty o of National Consumer Council, quoted by Farmers Guardian, “Much needs to be done if supermarkets truly want to become green grocers. References: Lee, Nancy., Kotler, Philip (2005), Doing the Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause, John Wiley and Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd. David Hess, Nikolai Rogovsky and Thomas W. Dunfee “The New Wave of Corporate Community Involvement: Corporate Social Initiatives” California Management Review 44, no. 2, Winter 2002, 114 Friends of Earth (2005) The Tesco Takeover, Briefing, Retrieved March 2nd 2008, http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/the_tesco_takeover.pdf Baxendale, Toby & Evans, Anthony J (2007), Are Tesco acting competitively, A submission made to Competition Commission’s investigation into the grocery market, Retrieved March 2nd 2008. Sanderson, Rachel, (2008) Tesco shakes off retail gloom with record profit, www.boston.com, Retrieved , March 2nd 2008, Dincer, Ibrahim (2008), Global Conference on Global Warming 2008, www. www.gcgw.org, “The Global Conference on Global Warming” Website, Retrieved March 2nd, 2008, http://www.gcgw.org/ocs/index.php?conference=gcgw&schedConf=gcgw08 Hopkins, Michael (2007), Corporate Social Responsibility and International Development: Is Business the Solution, Earthscan Ltd., London Harrabin, Roger (2008), Green watchdog urges store reform, www. news.bbc.co.uk, The BBC News Website, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7247384.stm European Commission, Environment Fact Sheet: Climate Change, www. ec.europa.eu, “The European Commission Website” Retrieved March 2nd 2008, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/pdf/cc_factsheet_aug2005.pdf Baker, Mallen (2008), News and Resources Website, www.mallenbaker.net, Corporate Social Responsibility - What does it mean?, Retrieved March 2nd 2008, http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/CSRfiles/definition.html Armstrong, Helen (2008) Elsevier Food International Website, www.foodinternational.net, Retrieved March 2nd 2008, http://www.foodinternational.net/articles/news/993/waitrose-criticised-for-selling-fish-from-zimbabwe.html Monbiot, George (2007) The New Friends of the Earth? Published in the Guardian, 23rd January 2007, www.monbiot.com, Retrieved March 2nd, 2008, http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2007/01/23/the-new-friends-of-the-earth/ Carley, Michael, Kirk Karryn, McIntosh Sarah (2008) Retailing, sustainability and neighbourhood regeneration, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, www. jrf.org.uk, Retrieved March 2nd 2008, http://jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/041.asp UK Supermarket Analysis (2007-2010), www.ResearchandMarkets.com (2008) Retrieved March 2nd 2008, http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/466097/uk_supermarket_analysis_2007_2010.htm Friedman, A, L., and Miles, Samantha (2006), Stakeholders: Theory and Practice, Oxford University Press, UK Steiner, G, A., and Steiner G F., (2005) Business, Government and Society: A Managerial Perspective, McGraw-Hill Professional, The McGraw-Hill Companies Winfrey, O., (2008), Global Warming 101 with Al Gore, The Oprah Winfrey Show, www.oprah.com, “The Oprah Winfrey Website”, Accessed March 2nd 2008, http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200612/tows_past_20061205_f.jhtml Amaeshi, K M., Osuji., O.K., Nnodim, Paul (2006) Corporate Control and Accountability in supply chains of Multi-National Corporations: Clarifications and Managerial Implications, No. 46-2007, ICCSR Research Paper Series-ISSN 1479-5124 Retrieved March 2nd 2008, http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/business/ICCSR/pdf/ResearchPdfs/46-2007.pdf Uloth, Rupert(2008), Interview: Waitrose MD Mark Price, “The Country Life Website” Retrieved March 2nd, 2008, http://www.countrylife.co.uk/countryside/pursuits/article/175773/Interview_Waitrose_MD_Mark_Price.html Tsen, Choyang-Huey, Phang, G, Hasan, Haslinda and Buncha, M, R ( 2006) Going Green: A Study Of Consumers Willingness To Pay For Green Products In Kota Kinabalu, International Journal of Business and Society, July 2000, Retrieved March 2nd 2008 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5502/is_200607/ai_n21406232/pg_3 Farmers Guardian (2007) Supermarkets more sustainable but more needs to be done The Farmers Guardian Website, www. www.farmersguardian.com http://www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=13670 Pidd, Helen (2007) M&S Gets the Lowest Green Rating in Packaging Survey, “The Guardian Website” www. guardian.co.uk, Retrieved March 2nd 2008, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/oct/23/recycling.waste Monbiot, George, (2007), The New Friends of Earth, www.Monbiot.com, The George Monbiot Website, Retrieved March 2nd 2008 http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2007/01/23/the-new-friends-of-the-earth/ Waitrose.com, www.waitrose.com, “The Waitrose Plc Website” Retrieved March 2nd 2008, http://www.waitrose.com/ Tesco.com, www.tesco.com, “The Tesco Plc Website” Retrieved March 2nd 2008, http://www.tesco.com/ Read More
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Social Corporate Responsibility Between Waitrose and Tesco Essay. https://studentshare.org/management/1712255-social-corporate-responsibility-between-waitrose-and-tesco-international-management-field.
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