GLOBAL CHALLENGES FOR BUSINESS

Global Challenges for Business, Management & Leadership Individual

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Global Challenges for Business, Management & Leadership Individual

Introduction

Tesco PLC is an international seller. The company is engaged in retail and related activities, in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, China, and the United States. The company also provides retail banking and insurance services through its subsidiary of Tesco Personal Finance PLC (formerly Tesco Personal Finance Group Limited) (FPT). The company has two business segments, retail and financial services. Services of retail channels include online shopping company, tesco.com and Tesco Direct, Telecommunications, Tesco Personal Finance (TPF), and business consumer research (Wrigley, 2000). Today it is the third largest global retailer based on revenue, behind Wal-Mart and French Carrefour, but the second largest based on profit, ahead of Carrefour. In 1919, Tesco Plc got established by Jack Cohen, by utilizing the bonus which he achieved for his services in the World War I army. Then in 1924, he purchased a tea consignment from the company TE Stock well. He decided to put the initial three alphabets of TE Stock well, and the initials of his name Cohen collectively to name his brand 'TESCO'.

In 1929, Cohen opened the very first Tesco store in Edgware, London. Originally, Cohen's formulated the strategy of "Piling it high, selling it cheap"(Achrol, 2003, 146). Despite the fact that this strategy assisted Tesco in attracting a great amount of consumers, it also assisted Tesco in branding itself as a store for average class consumers and even earned an image as a low-end store. The structure of Tesco or the management structure of Tesco consist of the hierarchal levels of an organization; this management structure helps Tesco in the development of the guidelines on the topic of subordination and responsibilities of the different employees, and has the potential to impact the culture of Tesco (Bennis, 2002, 102).

The culture of Tesco can be defined as an intimate and conjointly held packet of values and ideas, in addition to the different relationships, in the workplace and the different ways of doing things in Tesco. The culture of Tesco is directly dependent on the management structure of it, because the management structure defines the hierarchy of Tesco and this in return, helps in development of the culture in Tesco. The hierarchy of Tesco is related in direct proportion, to the culture of Tesco and has a serious impact on the performance of the business. A flat management structure would ensure an open culture in the environment and the employees would have the chance to express them openly and convey their concerns openly, this would motivate the employees. On the other hand, a highly defined organizational structure would mean that the employees would have to follow a lengthy process before they have a chance to have a chat with the top management of the Tesco. Therefore, the management structure and the organizational culture can affect the performance of ...