Ethical Nature of Tesco

BUSINESS ETHICS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
1. Ethical nature of Tesco............................................................................................................3
2. Ethical Philosophy followed by Tesco....................................................................................5
3. Role of senior management for maintaining the business standards of the company.............7
4. Role of employees to maintain the company’s business standards.........................................8
Reflection.........................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Business ethics is generally studying about the appropriate policies of business and the
practices related to potential subjects that are controversial which includes insider trading,
corporate governance, discrimination, insider trading, corporate social responsibility and
fiduciary responsibilities. Ethics mainly involves learning about the right and wrong and then
doing the right thing especially in businesses. In order to maintain good image in the
marketplace, most of the companies prefer following the set of rules or principles through which
standards are set for regulating the behaviour of the organisation.
The report will focus on the ethical policies and philosophy of the British multinational
company named Tesco which is following the various kinds of ethics in its operations and
activities in order to gain rapid success and profitability. The company is headquartered in
England, UK. It deals in retailing of groceries and general merchandise and performs its
operations in different countries across the world (Ethical behaviour of UK Supermarket Tesco,
2020). The company has become the market leader in the retailer industry of UK, Thailand and
many more. The report will start by discussing the company and the reason behind its being
ethical. This will be followed by highlighting the ethical philosophies followed by the company.
The role of senior management and the employees will be evaluated for maintaining the business
standards of Tesco Company.
MAIN BODY
1. Ethical nature of Tesco
Tesco is the largest supermarket chain of UK which is considered as the target for many
campaigns due to its unique approach to business. Tesco is described as the international
company which has gained greater reputation for providing quality products and services. The
company aims to provide best services to its consumers as well as stakeholders. The company
believes in maintaining its valuable reputation and building on its success. Tesco commits to
follow the ethical business practices (Tesco Corporation: Code of Business Conduct and Ethics,
2016). All the employees of the company and even the directors, agents, officers and the
representatives of the company consider their responsibility towards following the ethical values
of the company. In order to show that Tesco is ethical, the cultural values tree of Tesco
demonstrates its commitment to the ethical business conduct. The core values of the Company
3

are deeply rooted in the ethics, safety and compliance. Tesco never compromises with its value
system as the ethics is built over its foundation (Tonthat, 2017).
Tesco strives hard to provide a positive work environment which helps in supporting the
dignity, productivity, pursuit and the self-esteem of personal goals. The policies and procedures
related to the employment helps in providing equal opportunity and fairness regarding the
decisions of employment. The company do not discriminate in terms of race, ancestry, religious
belief, age, gender, physical or mental disability, source of income, family status and any other
factors. They ensure that employees are fairly treated in terms of performance appraisals,
opportunities for advancement, employment relationship etc. The company also keeps the
personal information of the employees confidential and those too using well-defined procedures.
The company ensures that the employees are treated with dignity and self-respect (Sutherland,
2021). The company also follows all the sustainability practices which ensure that the operations
of the company do not harm the environment in any way.
The three values which drive the business of Tesco are they considers the needs of the customers
as its first priority, treating the people in the way they want to be treated and also the slogan of
the company which is Every Little helps is able to make a big difference in the society as well as
the company. Tesco is considered as the company which follows all the ethical values such as
4