Tesco HR Practices and Primary Forest Analysis Assignment Sample

Tesco HR Practices and Primary Forest Analysis

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Tesco is a UK based retail organisation, which is counted to be one of the biggest giants in the retail industry as they are market to be a highly profitable multinational retail organisation. The research project mainly focuses on issues faced by Tesco related to decreasing profit growth. The profitability of Tesco did not increase recently irrespective of having high scope in the UK market is the declination of an inflation rate that occurred in the UK. The study consists of the above issues that Tesco had to go through along with its justification. The other important part of the study includes research objectives, aims, stakeholder matrix, as well as research findings and activities.

2. Discussion

2.1 Context

2.1.1 Description of the issue under investigation with justification

Tesco is known as one of the biggest retailers in the United Kingdom and has been able to perform its business activities appropriately for a long period of time on the worldwide platform. As stated by Rosnizam et al. (2020), in recent times, it has been found that Tesco has been facing less amount of profit than it has made in previous times in the respective financial year. One of the main reasons behind the occurrence of such kinds of issues in organisations such as Tesco is the pitching procedure of inflation piles on both the supermarkets and its target customers. In the grocery market of the UK, organisations having a market share of more than 26.87 %, including Tesco, are known to be down by almost 4.9 % at 0931 GMT (Reuters, 2022). The respective decline is counted to be blue-chip stock's biggest decline in the European market, which drew down both the stock of Tesco and its competitors as well including Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury.

In a recent survey, it was found that Tesco, as a retail organisation, made an adjustment of operating profit of nearly 2.58 billion pounds which is counted to be almost 35.7% and is in agreement with guidance (Inews, 2022). In addition to this, forecasting has been made by Tesco as well in the respective scenario, which allows them to declare that their profit margin is expected to be within 2.38 billion pounds to 2.59 billion pounds in the year 2022-2023 (Reuters, 2022). Another statement declared by Tesco states that in the external environment, there is an availability of significant uncertainties, which can not hamper the business operation of Tesco. Apart from this, they declared that in certain situations, the most profitable act that is needed to be performed by Tesco was providing proper guidelines about profit in a wider range.

The activities that are performed by Tesco have been heavily influenced by some important factors. As per the view of Jaravel and O'Connell (2020), the factors include returning to the normal behavior of customers after the pandemic as they have changed accordingly, which resulted in a change in their purchasing behavior. Another factor is the capability of Tesco to offset higher costs which are saved in other parts of the business, and the final factor is the requirement of savings for keeping the prices competitive. Recently an announcement has been done by Tesco where they have made a declaration of a decrease in profit made by them which amounted to less than 2.66 billion pounds. Due to the inflation is soaring, Tesco being one of the biggest giants in a retail supermarket in the UK, faced losses as well. On the other hand, Tesco has been taking care of the shoppers by providing them support at the time of crisis in cost-of-living. 

The market share of Tesco is high in comparison to its other competitors, such as Morrison’s and Sainsbury, which makes them face the pressure of declaration in cost of their products rather lower their competitor's products price. As mentioned by Blundell et al. (2020), Tesco consists of a special capability termed "pricing power", which is used by them against the inflation of price, which is considered to be the main provider. The respective power allows them to be dominant in the UK supermarket as, during the inflation time, the purchasing behavior of target audiences changed, resulting in trading down. In addition to this, it has been found that customers are purchasing the products from Tesco at a low rate in comparison to the time they purchased before the inflation.

2.1.2 Research aim and objectives

The main aim of the research is to focus on the issues that are faced by Tesco, which include a decrease in the growth of profit due to depletion in the inflation rate in the UK market. The main objectives of the research are as follows:

• To assess the necessity of an increase in profitability of Tesco in the UK retail market
• To evaluate the reason behind the lower profit growth of Tesco in supermarkets in the UK
• To identify the factors responsible for the depletion of the inflation rate in the UK and the lower profit growth of Tesco
• To provide appreciative recommendations to Tesco more implementation of suitable strategies in order to overcome the issue

2.2 Planning

2.2.1 Identification of key stakeholders

The stakeholders of Tesco are counted to be one of the most important assets of the organisation as the entire supply chain is dependent on them. According to the view of Hashim et al. (2021), the stakeholders are further classified into two sections, which include both internal and external stakeholders; they have an influence on Tesco due to their high capabilities. Tesco's internal stakeholders include managers, executive committee, employees, shareholders and board committee. Among all the internal stakeholders, the most essential is the managers and customers, as they are equally important for Tesco to perform its business activities properly. Suppliers, local communities, customers, creditors, government and competitors are noted to be the external stakeholders of Tesco. The producers and suppliers of Tesco are responsible for providing high quality, sustainable, and healthy products to the target clients.

Stages/deliverables	Managers	Employees	Board committee	Customers	Government as well as competitors	Suppliers
Planning	R	A	R	C	R	I
Preparation	I	R	A	I	A	I
Identification of the issues of the concerned organization	R	R	R	A	C	I
Identification of the key Solutions of Tesco	R	A	R	A	I	R
Consultation process	R	C	R	I	I	C

Table 1: RACI analysis

(Source: Self-developed)

There are various external as well as internal stakeholders of the concerned organization. In addition to this, the external sources of Tesco include customers, government as well as competitors, and suppliers. Moreover, the internal stakeholders consist of employees, managers, and the board committee. The managers are responsible for the planning of the respective organization, and the employees are accountable. The customers are consultants for the planning and accountable for the issues of the concerned organization.

2.3 Key methods of collecting relevant primary data for the project

Secondary sources	Information needed	Research source	Justification for the source	Advantages of the source	Disadvantages of the source
	Appropriate data about the stakeholder's investment within the concerned company	Proper data are collected from authentic websites including the company’s original websites.	Authentic journals and websites help to get appropriate data for the stakeholder's investment in the respective company	Proper identification of the key variables of the study	Lack of relevance is one of the cons of the respective research method
	From the government departments the respective organization is able to get authentic data about the tax issues	The secondary sources are also collected from the departments of the government related to the tax of the respective organization	This approach helps to get more authentic data because it is taken from the governmental department	It helps to understand the ruthless landscape of the respective company	Political pressure groups is one of the disadvantages of collecting data from the governmental department's
Primary methods	Information needed	Research method	Justification for the method	Advantages of the method	Disadvantages of the method
	Proper data about the financial risks of Tesco	Personal Investigation	Personal investigation helps to explore detailed data of the concerned organization	It gives more accurate data Updated information Privacy is maintained	This method is very costly Very time-consuming process Require more employees
	Appropriate data about loss and profit of the respective organization	Indirect investigation	Indirect investigation helps to collect data from the close person orally	It is economical for the cost of the research Economical in the field of time	Huge chances of false data because it is collected from the third party Doubtful conclusions since the data are not appropriate

Table 2: Primary and secondary methods of data collection

(Source: Self created)

The primary data collection method helps the researchers of the respective study to collect the various types of data from the method. In addition to this, it includes personal investigation of the authentic data as well as indirect investigation in order to collect appropriate data for the profit as well as loss of the concerned organization. The information needed by the methods of primary is to explore the proper data of the respective organization (Angrisani et al. 2018). In addition to this, the indirect investigation helps to gather the information from a close person which is involved within the concerned organization as well as able to give proper data about the loss as well as a profit of the concerned organization. Moreover, it is claimed that personal investigations are the best way for primary research because it helps to get proper as well as authentic data about the respective organization (Sabatini et al. 2018). In addition to this, it is stated that personal investigation helps to get appropriate data about the financial risks in Tesco. Various advantages of the primary method are it gives suitable authentic data and updated information about the financial risks as well as profit and loss of the concerned company.

2.4 Key sources of secondary research

The important sources for the secondary research consist of the collection of data from authentic websites that include the respective company’s website. In addition to this, from the authentic websites of the respective company, the researchers are able to collect data about the investment of the stakeholders within Tesco (Garcia and Mayorga, 2018). Moreover, the authentic journals, as well as websites, help in the proper identification of the important variable of the issues within the concerned company. In addition to this, the main corn of the secondary sources is a lack of relevance to the data. The next secondary research source includes the data collection from the governmental data in order to get the appropriate information about the issues of tax of the respective company. In addition to this, the respective research helps in the search for the potential risks and tries to make solutions on that for the respective organization (Corujo et al. 2018). The major advantage of the governmental department it assists to understand the cruel landscape of the concerned company. Moreover, it is claimed that the crucial corns of the respective sources are the political pressure groups within the respective nation. The collection of data in the secondary sources helps to collect data quickly as well as is less costly.

2.5 Project plan

Project plan is very important for the respective organization for the positive growth of the respective organization. The aim of a project plan deals with the importance to increase the profitability of the respective organization. In addition to this, it also evaluates the cause behind the low-profit growth of the concerned company. At the same time, the responsible factors for the exhaustion of the rate of inflation in the nation of the United Kingdom will be identified with the help of the project plan. There is a phase of data collection where the primary data collection, as well as secondary data, will be collected based on the interview and the online websites. Finally, the probable solutions to the issues of the concerned organization and mitigation strategies of the respective issues are identified by means of action plan. 

Research activity and findings

2.6 Selection of primary research activity

Based on the primary research activity, it has been identified that I have planned to conduct interviews with the managers of Tesco. Interviews are essential to gather the relevant feedback from managers regarding such essential activities that are included in the project to deal with this existing issue. In order to do this, a total of 10 managers have been selected from the financial and operational departments of Tesco and each of them has a minimum of 5 years of experience in this field. I have developed some relevant open-ended questions in this regard and each of the questions is related to the existing issue (Alspaugh et al. 2018). I have also maintained the ethical perspectives properly which is much needed to avoid any such hazards in the mid-way of the research activity process.

This primary research activity is not only effective to gather the essential information that how Tesco is thinking to deal with this existing issue. This activity is also beneficial to collect the different opinions of those managers who are directly connected with the project and have a positive mindset to enhance business profitability. Based on the different opinions, I am also able to identify the most reliable business decisions and also able to predict the project's success effectively. In my opinion, with the help of this project, Tesco can be able to gain positive outcomes mainly.

2.7 Findings report

2.7.1 Brief overview of research activity

As per my planning to conduct the aforementioned primary research activity, initially, the higher authority of Tesco has been informed. It was essential to gain their consent at first before conducting the entire interview process. After getting permission from the higher authority, initially, I met with the managers in order to communicate with them face-to-face for providing a clear overview of the research project. Clear communication has been done in this context that was suitable enough to resolve all types of misconceptions among them about this project (Krizanova et al. 2019). Then, consent forms have been provided to each of the managers of the financial and operational departments in order to gather their consent before taking part in interview process. A 2 days time was provided to them to fill up the form and submit it. After gathering the consent forms and analyzing the responses, the interview schedule has been developed and it was quite a time taking procedure as relevant information needs to be gathered. In addition to this, identification of risk has been conducted here along with mitigation strategies to ensure appropriate risk management from the previous.

The entire schedule for gathering primary data was for 5 days and as per the ethical context, the personal information of participants has remained as confidential. Then, the collected information has been used to analyze the result properly. The collected data has been stored and it must be used for research purposes only. After getting the proper results, the collected data would be deleted in order to ensure the fact that rest information must not be used for other purposes. From the overall context, it is quite clear that the primary research activity has been done in a subjective manner through which it is possible to gain the proper information that would be helpful to evaluate the accurate results and also to make this project a successful one.

2.7.2 Research findings

In order to review the research findings, the opinion of stakeholders has been identified at first related to the existing issues. After that, the focus has been provided on the identified risk factor that the stakeholder is facing due to the issue such as lower profit growth. In this aspect, mitigation strategies have been provided as well to deal with this risk factor.

Stakeholder	Stakeholder’s opinion (Commentary)	Risk factor	Likelihood	Impact	Severity	Mitigation Strategies
Managers, executives, and board committee	In order to low profit, the organization is struggling to cope up with each type of business activity.	Operational riks	High	High	High	Operational activities need to be properly monitored and focus must be provided on the business growth (Rostiyantiet al. 2019).
Employees	Low profits have affected the pay structure which can raise employee dissatisfaction strongly (Diaz et al. 2020).	Controlling risk	Medium	High	High	In order to ensure better control over the workers, it is essential to maintain a satisfactory pay structure by exploring the business markets rather than the UK (Rostiyantiet al. 2019).

Table 3: Opinion of stakeholders and risk factors

(Source: Self-created)

Based on the above table, it is observed that operational risks and controlling risks need to be taken under consideration accurately by Tesco management to ensure a long-term profit. The presence of a competitive business market in UK has raised the need to resolve those risk factors as early as possible to ensure strong business growth.

Stakeholder	Stakeholder's opinion (Commentary)	Risk factor	Likelihood	Impact	Severity	Mitigation Strategies
Shareholders and government	Low-profit growth has affected the revenue percentage and long-term financial benefits of the firm.	Financial risk	High	High	High	Need to adopt cost-effective business perceptions that can be helpful to run the business smoothly (Rostiyantiet al. 2019).
Customers	In order to deal with the low-profit structure, the chance of price hikes in Tesco’s products raises such concerns.	Customer risk	Medium	Medium	Medium	It is essential to adopt effective market trends in this context along with such offers to retain the customers (Krizanova et al. 2019).

Table 4: Opinion of stakeholders and risk factors

(Source: Self-created)

As per the above table, it has been found that the financial risk needs to be managed properly in order to run the business smoothly in the long-term aspect. Moreover, customer risk needs to be taken under consideration and it is essential to retain the customer level as well for enhancing the revenue level. It is also important to identify the needs and wants of the customers properly and fulfills them as well to retain the customer level as well.

Conclusion

It can be concluded from the overall context that Tesco is going through such a difficult situation that requires a proper solution. The key stakeholders of this project need to be taken under consideration properly as they can help this firm to deal with this situation. The proper identification of key strategies is also relevant in this context to ensure the successful execution of this project. The use of the interview process is also relevant in this context to gather reliable information related to the issue such as low profit. The aforementioned mitigation strategies related to the risk factors are relevant enough to handle the negative consequences more appropriately.

Recommendation for change to project stakeholders

Focusing on the stakeholders for this project, it can be recommended that there is a strong necessity to acquire some essential changes here. Initially, the project manager needs to be undertaken among the key stakeholders as this individual is responsible to guide the entire project properly (Fairhurst and Lusinga, 2020). Moreover, it is also essential to appoint skilled professionals in this context to make sure that each of the project activities is fulfilled properly. The higher authority of Tesco such as the CEO and others, the UK government, and customers need to be included among the key stakeholders. In this context, it can be possible to ensure the positive outcomes of this project suitably. On the other hand, it is also necessary to use a stakeholder matrix here in order to separate the stakeholders based on their power and interest basis. Through this approach, it can be possible to facilitate the successful execution of this project.

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