Knowledge Management and Information System in Tesco plc

This report discusses the concept of knowledge management and information system in the context of Tesco plc, a British multinational retailer. It evaluates the internal and external factors impacting the business and operations of Tesco, and recommends the best knowledge management information system for the company. The report also assesses the management challenges faced by Tesco and provides an overview of the company.

Knowledge
Management and
Information system
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Table of Content
Contents
Contents...........................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Introduction of an organisation....................................................................................................3
Critically evaluate internal factors and external factors that impact business and operations....5
Recommend best knowledge management information system in the context of chosen
organisation..................................................................................................................................7
Critically assess management challenges that are faced by company.......................................10
Give a short overview of chosen company................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
The Knowledge management is the procedure of sharing, exploring, forming and
handling the knowledge and information of respective company (Alam and Raut-Roy, 2019). It
derives about the multi tasker approach that help to achieve organisational goal to utilize the best
knowledge. The main role of knowledge management is to improve an organisation productivity
or growth and procure the knowledge for the company. As Information system is refers to
providing information through technology that assorted by organisation, and also the way which
interact by people to support the technology factor and optimise to generate the valuable
information such as from internet, newspaper, article and books etc.
In this report, the organisation is been considered is Tesco plc which is British
multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer and headquarter in Welwyn Garden
City, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom. As it is affiliated to be third largest retailer in the
world that measured by its gross revenue. Its having shops in seven countries across Asia,
Europe and the market leader in United Kingdom. As per the topics which is commence to be
cover and highlight the Swot analysation that challenges to the company by considering all the
environmental factors, discuss the most appropriate knowledge management information system
as per relate with company which improvise the organisation performance. To be explain three
key that implements the organisation.
MAIN BODY
Introduction of an organisation
Tesco Plc. Is one of the British multinational company that was founded in 1919 by Jack
Cohen which is headquartered in England, UK (Berente, Lyytinen, Yoo, and Maurer, 2019). The
company deals in varieties of products like food products, home wares, clothing, furniture,
electronics etc. this organisation operates on an international level. The firm works for gaining
higher profits by attracting the large base of customers and fulfilling all their demands.
Corporate objectives
 Vision- The major vision of the Tesco plc. Is depends on five basic elements that are
innovation, organisation will become a largest brand in international market, capturing
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full opportunities and constantly growing business enterprise, managing and retaining the
loyal customers and inspire new one to buy the offerings, lastly become a local and
international winner in the marketplace.
 Mission- The mission of the Tesco Plc. represents the aims and objectives of the
company that is earn a high amount of profits and run a business enterprise with strong
operational resources so that goals can be attained on time and get high success by
focused plans and business tactics (Bruijl, 2018).
 Values- The essential values of the Tesco Plc. Is that they mainly focus on gaining the
competitive market and adopts the change to sustain in the market place with good brand
image. The company are working for fulfilling the needs and wants of the customers so
that attracting so that company will earn higher profits. In this Tesco believe in satisfied
their staff members by providing them best working environment so that goals can be
achieved productively.
Business overview
Tesco Plc is the British multinational company that is established in 1919 and recognize
as a world best grocery retailing company (Davis and Yen, D.C. eds., 2019). It was founded by
the Jack Cohen as a small shop in the corner of the road and now it will become a global leading
supermarket chain. In this firm provides the food and non-food items with existence in financial
and telecommunications field also. The business enterprise may have around 6800 stores in the
global market such as Thailand, Malaysia, Germany, Poland, India etc. It is one of the biggest
general grocery item stores in the UK. In this they have large number of loyal customer base that
enjoys the company offerings, due to this organisation will sustain for a longer period of time.
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Illustration 1: Tesco market share, 2020
Corporate structure
In Tesco Plc organisation may follow the Hierarchical level corporate structure in which
employees can follow the orders and share their issues to their superior manager of the
department. It is the best structure to deal in the critical situation because there is simplicity is
present due to this manager can take decisions effectively and systematically (Dong, Hung, and
Cheng, 2016). This helps in done the work systematically because task can be divided into the
proper hierarchy.
Illustration 2: Tesco organisational structure at store level, 2020
Outline business model of organisation
Key partners
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Key activities
Value Proposition
Customer relationship
Customer segments
Cost structure
Critically evaluate internal factors and external factors that impact business and operations
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SWOT Analysis of Tesco Plc.:
Strengths Weaknesses
 Tesco Plc. is the strongest brand in the
market which is highly preferred by
people and recommended by
customers. Mouth publicity is one of
the potential marketing action
contributing to the goodwill of Tesco
Plc.
 Company's financial performance is
very efficient and strong enough to
keep running the operations smoothly
and potentially.
 Flexibility is a major weakness of
Tesco Plc. And it affects the operations
and other functions of the firm. Tesco is
a global brand which automatically
raises the need for adaptability.
 Also, failed operations in Japan and
USA is another weakness which is
affecting Tesco and its functions.
Opportunities. Threats
 Diversifying and spreading operations
into new markets is the most potential
and efficient option available for Tesco
Plc. as growth and success option.
 Another opportunity which Tesco
should explore is of engaging with
small businesses and retailers in
Japanese and American markets which
can help firm to overcome its
weaknesses.
 Tesco's supply chain is affected after
post-Brexit and the current supply chain
is not capable enough to deal with the
changing environment and which is a
huge threat.
 Increasing competition regularly and
existing rivals becoming more
aggressive in the marketplace while
doing business is a threat as Tesco have
to take measures rapidly for keeping up
with the changes and maintaining its
competitive edge.
Porters Five Forces Model:
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FIVE
FORCES
DESCRIPTION
Existing
rivalry
The existing competitors and rivals have high power over Tesco Plc. The
firms or competitors are becoming more aggressive while conducting their
operations and in order to match with them Tesco also have to take
appropriate measures and keep everyone updated (Ervural, and et.al., 2018).
Bargaining
power of
customers
The bargaining power of customers is basically their abilities and power over
the brand which is high. Main reason behind is numerous options are available
in market for customers and switching cost is low. Tesco Plc. servers around
80 million consumers on weekly basis but market is changing and so is
competition.
Bargaining
power of
suppliers
The bargaining power of supplier highlights the power of external raw
material and other goods suppliers have over the brand. Tesco Plc. is an
independent firm which is manufacturing its own goods and also in contact
with many suppliers rather than depending upon one.
Threat of
substitutes
The threats of substitutes goods and other retail stores is low over the
company like Tesco Plc. The organisation as big as Tesco is not affected by
small businesses and retail stores these firms cannot match and render
competition to global brand like Tesco Plc.
Threats of new
entrant
The threat of new entrant is low too because of numerous reasons and the
most significant is high entry barriers for other to enter the industry on such
large levels on which Tesco Plc. is operating. Complex and difficult policies
and procedures are involved in developing a company on higher level for
becoming a competition for Tesco and therefore, it is not a threat for
company.
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Recommend best knowledge management information system in the context of chosen
organisation
Information Communication Technology is most trendy nowadays as it provides radical
improvements in overall business process and systems (Evans and Mason, 2018). The use of
information technology (IT) has changed the entire business scenario as it provides a great ease
of convenience and facilitate smooth conduct of business effectively. Knowledge management
system help in sharing and collection of relevant information as it aids in gaining an insight level
and provide better understanding in different aspects of a corporation. In addition to this, it also
provides an adequate support level in improving the technology as well as quality measures so
that it could provide a better support to the business level and thus improve the profitability ratio.
This system provides a great platform to business as it provides an expertise knowledge in
different aspect of corporation and provide a great success in future.
The manager of Tesco introduces the facility of online shopping and aims to render fast
and efficient services amongst their clients so that they could provide better services. The
concerned firm use Management Information System (MIS) as this help in evaluating and
managing results and provide a software that help the managers to facilitate a best decision that
provide to be advantageous for the company as it aids in running the operations in an effective
manner (Guha, and Kumar, 2018). Furthermore, the senior authority of Tesco use SAP so as to
make ease in recruitment process and it also aids in analysing the trends as it provides proper
accuracy of decisions in a best possible manner. The concerned firm emphasise on using new
and innovative technology and render fast solution to their clients as it uses Oracle software that
has multiple uses such as Oracle HR, Oracle marketing platform and many more as it helps in
rendering an information regarding the buying habits of consumers and targeting audience plus
the nature of competitors so that it could fulfil their requirements by gaining customer loyalty.
The training sessions in case of Tesco is conducted through Oracle HR system that aids
in improving the knowledge base which develop confidence among them and preparing them for
challenging roles so that they could achieve a maximum level of output. Currently, the manager
of firm uses Point of Scale (POS) as it aids personnel and finance department to make changes in
information such as updates related to bank information as well as tax contributions. The age of
digital platforms provides a greater ease and reliability to Tesco as it improves the overall
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business process and system and thus provide greater prospects of success. This maximise the
overall productivity as it helps in handling day to day operations smoothly and thus promote
better coordination. This is possible due to the reason that investment in technology would
provide fair returns and aids in contributing towards the significant positioning in a marketplace.
By using modern technology, Tesco would gain a strong rivalry edge over its competitors such
as Sainsbury, Amazon, Walmart and so on and thus generate maximum revenue which help in
expansion and diversification of a business in different parts of a country and thus accelerate the
market share (Hislop, Bosua and Helms, 2018). Additionally, the respective firm use Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) as it is the most emerging trends which aids in determining the
preferences of customers and provides information in a systematic manner by providing a best
solution to their clients.
This software also determines the availability of resources and help the manager in
formulating a best planning by deciding a proper alternative so that it could enhance a better
picture of the company. Tesco is considered as one of the sophisticated retailing stores in UK
that deal with more than 11 million customers everyday and has generate a strong global
presence across the worldwide as it deals in different operations of a business that emphasise on
gaining more satisfaction of customers (Laudon and Laudon, 2017). This provides a greater
feasibility and assist in meeting the criteria and requirements of consumers and thus generates
brand loyalty. Another aspect that the respective firm use is batch processing that help in
processing of giant amount of information by using fewer resources as it aids in meeting the
targets within set time frame and thus render a better convenience among their customers on a
regular basis. With new management system and change in planning process would aids in
meeting the needs and demands of consumers by maximising the sales of Tesco. The IT based
system has brought a big revolutionise in technological era as it has brought a rapid change in
companies that prove to be more beneficial in future within the confines of retailing company.
The manager of Tesco would emphasise on total quality management by making constant
improvement in their merchandise or services as it tends to minimise the defects by taking
corrective actions so that it could gain sustainability for a long time.
The senior authority of concerned firm focuses on using advanced technology in their
operations and provide high quality services and also make improvement in speed, cost as well
as quality. The use of outsourcing ICT in Tesco would improve the overall performance as they
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would get highly specialised labour which are expertise in their own field as they would aids in
completing the work and saves a lot of time plus cost in infrastructure facilities, hiring expertise
and so on (North and Kumta, 2018). The role of IT has driven a vast success which help Tesco to
face several challenges and provide a better competitive environment as it ensures quality
specification and boost the customer satisfaction. The senior executive of Tesco uses an
innovative approach as it focus on creating a strong supply chain management which is
considered as foundation of success and provide a greater viability in future which in turn
maximise the profit margin.
There are several recommendations that could be made so that the performance of
business operation would improve and thus shape a better future of a company which brings a
light of success. The Management Information System (MIS) could be prepared on the basis of
user friendly as most of the individuals are pertaining to new and advanced applications which
become very difficult to operate as it hampers the overall working procedure minimise the level
of growth. The overall expenditure incurred by alone Tesco is more than 1 million as it proves to
be more costly while implementing the overall maintenance system and thus proves to be a
cumbersome procedure. Therefore, by looking this, the senior management of Tesco could
formulate an effective strategy of declining the cost of maintenance by using best technology
which help in countering the similar problem (Obeidat, Al-Suradi and Tarhini, 2016). Another
determination that could be used by the firm is that they could frequently update the system in a
race of advanced technical awareness which help in meeting the current and future requirements
while increase giant exposure which in turn aids in attainment of corporate objectives
successfully. It is highly recommended that the control of MIS could be done by top
management so that effective decision could be taken that light a future success and provide
prosperity of company growth to the next level.
Critically assess management challenges that are faced by company
The business environment is considered as dynamic so the top management of Tesco has
to be kept itself updated regarding the modification to be taken place as it must emphasise on
rendering an effective and excellent facilities among their clients so that they could produce
excellent results. For this, the manager has to incur heavy expenditure on research and
development so they would make judicious usage of funds in an appropriate manner which
provide a vast growth of a firm in a desirable manner. Another challenge that is faced by senior
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management is that there is flexibility in technology and risk of obsolescence so it has to prepare
an appropriate planning regarding the upgradation of technology which improve the overall
efficiency and functioning of a company and thus maintain a proper hierarchy in a workplace
which bring a peaceful environment (Sligo, Gauld, Roberts and Villa, 2017). Another aspect that
is faced by the senior manager is that Management Information System must be possessed on the
basis of learning mechanism as it scrutinises cause and effect scenario and maintain a proper
record which ensure proper transparency and accountability of a firm.
The senior authority of Tesco would emphasise on creating a large distribution of
network by creating mutual relation with its suppliers so that it could fulfil the demands of
buyers and provide them with best services in such a manner so as to build a mutual trust among
them. The last challenge that is faced by the senior authority is that they should ensure
intellectual rights and must abide all rules and regulations which depict the fairness and
transparency of a business. The manager of a concerned firm divides the work among their staff
very carefully in such a manner that matches their talent and skills so that they could work with
zeal as the human resource manager would focus on hiring an attractive workforce in order to
enable higher performance.
The manager of a respective would follow a proper organisation structure as the MIS
should be designed in such a way that it helps in facilitating proper coordination. Additionally,
the firm also focus on designing an effective ICT and other operating system so that they could
maintain a systematic operation of a business and tends to avoid duplication of activities by
developing a proper clarity among them (Yehya and Coombs, 2017). In relation to this, the
manager of Tesco would implement the activities and render ample incentives to MIS which
promote a best culture and increase the overall efficiency which create a significant phase of
growth in a desirable manner. Lastly, the management of Tesco should focus on developing
merchandise on the basis of buyers demand and give them access to gain new customers and
help in lagging behind its competitors within a marketplace. Therefore, this maximise the
productivity and increase the profitability of company in case of retailing sector.
Give a short overview of chosen company
Tesco is one of the giant and renowned retailing company which deal with several
varieties of merchandise such as groceries, electronic goods and other household essentials as the
major aim is to meet the wants of customers by providing highly standardised products to them.
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This firm is ninth largest retailing store in the world which is measured in terms of gross revenue
as it has been spread in different counterparts of countries such as Asia, Europe and has become
a most prominent market leader in relation to retailing sector. Currently, the total number of staff
working in a company is around 4,50,000 as it has generated an approximately 63 billion
income. Tesco is founded in the year 1919 by Jack Cohen as it has diversified its operations in
different sectors such as financial services, telecom, electronics, software as well as internet
services. The concerned firm has also listed on London stock exchange which has developed
strong brand image across the worldwide and also it adopts new and emerging patterns in their
business platforms that provide a way to generate more and more satisfaction of their customers.
The manager of concerned firm provides different offerings in the form of several ways such as
supermarket, convenience shop as well as hypermarket.
The respective firm has developed renowned brand by winning the hearts of customers
and by meeting their expectations and criteria within a marketplace. It also makes best use of
technology by making goods available at the doorstep of customers and follow the proper
recruitment and selection strategy in order to boost the productivity and enhance the greater sales
and revenue within retailing industry as it uses social media marketing so that it gain greater
visibility of clients. This report covers several internal and external analysis through various
models such as SWOT analysis, Porter’s model which aids in determining the availability of
resources and to monitor the environmental aspects. These analyses assist the firm in making
decisions as the firm identify both positive and negative aspects of a business by exploiting the
threats and making best use of opportunities present in a marketplace.
This report also consists of knowledge information system which involve transfer of
information from one aspect to another as it assists in gaining redundancy and improve the level
of business process which depict a fair and sound picture of the company. Also, there are several
challenges that are undertaken by the management while implementing a new system such as
Oracle, MIS and so on which bring smooth conduct of activities and help in bringing proper
cooperation plus coordination in retailing industry. They also maintain proper delegation of
authority by creating a balance between authority and responsibility which facilitate discipline in
a respective workplace.
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CONCLUSION
From the above information, it can be summarised that knowledge and information
system play a crucial role in an organisation as it help in improving the capability of business
performance and assist in managing and carrying the activities in a coordinated manner which
aids in accomplishment of business goals within respective time period. Porter five force model
is conducted which provide several ways to a firm to achieve existence for a longer time period
as this model determine the level of attractiveness and profitability. Knowledge management
information system is also presented in this report that emphasise on improving the overall
business performance in future and help in attainment of corporate objectives and several
challenges that are faced by the management is also covered in this report.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alam, S. and Raut-Roy, U., 2019. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Reward Strategy at Tesco:
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Bruijl, G.H.T., 2018. The relevance of Porter's five forces in today's innovative and changing
business environment. Available at SSRN 3192207.
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Davis, W.S. and Yen, D.C. eds., 2019. The information system consultant's handbook: Systems
analysis and design. CRC press.
Dong, T.P., Hung, C.L. and Cheng, N.C., 2016. Enhancing knowledge sharing intention through
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Firm, Global Edition. Pearson.
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learning. Springer.
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