Leadership Theories and Styles in Tesco: Organisational Culture and Diversity

This report discusses the leadership theories and styles used in Tesco, a global organisation with diverse organisational culture and expansion in many countries. It covers the importance of effective leadership, motivational theories, and various leadership styles used by leaders in Tesco.

Leadership

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................2
Organisational Culture and Diversity..........................................................................................2
“Management is doing the things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Peter F Drucker 3
“The only safe ship in a storm is leadership.” Faye Wattleton...................................................4
“A diverse mix of voices leads to better discussions, decisions and outcomes for everyone”
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google ..................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
REFERNCES:..................................................................................................................................8
Books and Journals:....................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Leadership refers to the actions that are taken by an individual to lead a group of people
or individual. It is essential for any organisation to have an effective leadership to succeed in the
market. There are so many organisation who are able to have an effective organisational culture
and diversity which helps to provide them dedicated staff and attain their goals and objectives.
Taking an example of Tesco, the company is one of the largest retailers of the world having their
headquarters in Welwyn Garden city, England, United Kingdom. Tesco is a Global organisation
having 7005 stores all over the world in different locations and provide employment to 4,23,092
employees (Aboramadan, Dahleez, and Hamad, 2020). This report is going to explain about the
culture and diversity in Tesco and various leadership theories and styles that are used by leaders
in the company.
MAIN BODY
Organisational Culture and Diversity
Tesco is a large organisation and have their stores in more than 11 countries all over the
world (Statistics and facts about Tesco PLC, 2021). The stores of Tesco in different locations
depicts that the company has employees who belongs to various cultures. Tesco has an inclusive
organisational culture in which the leaders of the company has effective communication about
the problems of their employees (Statistics and facts about Tesco PLC, 2021). The culture of the
company is completely based on the creation of trust, respect and discipline among their
employees for attainment of goals of the company. The leaders of the company encouraged the
diverse culture in the company which creates a sense of belongingness in the employees and they
feel connected with the organisation (Domański, and Łabenda, 2020).
(Bellibaş, Gümüş, and Kılınç, 2020).
“Management is doing the things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Peter F Drucker
According to the quotation of Peter F. Drucker, the management and leadership are
different to each other based on various aspects. Management has their focus on doing the things
in right manner. Whereas the leader has their focus to do the right things for their people. This
requires a leader to use both leadership styles and motivational theories (Uhr, 2021). In
accordance to the quotation leaders has their focus on people or human resource of an
organisation and requires to follow effective leadership style to manage and lead them. The

theory which is best suited for the leadership according to the saying of Peter F. Drucker in
TESCO are given below:
Transformational Leadership
The Transformational Leadership style is a leadership style which helps a leader to bring a
positive change in the systems and the individuals. An organisation is require to have right and
motivated employees in the company which will helps them in achieveing their specific goals
and objectives. A transformational leadership style is a style in which a leader is responsible to
inspire, encourage and motivate employees in such a manner that they can have a capability to
innovate and create changes in the organisation. This transformation can be made by an effective
leader only and not the management (What is transformational leadership? A model for
motivating innovation, 2018). In case of TESCO some of the leaders have effective qualities
which motivate and inspire their followers to give their best to the company and it is due to the
effective leadership in the company that they are able to expand their business in effective
manner.
Apart from this, motivation also plays a vital role in this situation and motivational
theories also helps leaders to engage their employees completely in the work. Motivation theory
adopted by the leaders will help Tesco to achieve their goals and objectives which is a part of
effective leadership (Eide, Saether, and Aspelund, 2020). In this Case, the leaders of TESCO has
an option to use this McGregor's theory X and theory Y motivational theory.
McGregor's theory X and theory Y
According to this theory, to increase the participation of employees in the business the
company is required to use two theories that is theory X and Theory Y. In order to manage the
inherently lazy, self- centred and lack of ambition the management or leaders are requires to use
strong style with the top-down control on employees and it is considered in theory X (Difference
Between Theory X and Theory Y, 2017). Whereas Theory Y includes the workers that are
motivated and always ready to take the responsibility, in this case the leaders are requires to
create a positive working environment for them by giving them rewards.
“The only safe ship in a storm is leadership.” Faye Wattleton
According to the above given quotation, whenever an organisation stuck in a tough situation, the
management requires to adopt effective leadership as their only option. It is because leadership is
a source to mange the most precious resource of any organisation that is human resource (Ford,

Ford, and Polin, 2021). Leadership has a capability to solve effective problems in an
organisation. Leaders are responsible to lead their employees in such a manner that all the
employees can provide use their creative minds for the betterment of the organisation. In case of
TESCO the leaders use several kinds of leadership styles which help them to drag themselves out
of the stormy situation. The three leadership styles that are useful in this scenario are explained
below:
Authoritarian Leadership
In case of Authoritarian Leadership, the leaders gives orders to their employees and their
followers are liable to follow the instructions only. It is based on the concept of “Follow me” and
employees are required to follow the exact orders and instructions provided by the leaders in the
business. In tough situation of TESCO, the leaders are required to complete the work in
accordance to their guidelines as it depicts the confidence of the leaders for their ideas and orders
that are implemented that they will help the company in achieving their targets.
Pace setter style of Leadership
The leader can adopt the style of pacesetter to motivate their employees so that they give
their best in the organisation. Some of the leaders use this theory in the Tesco Company at the
tough times of the company in which they set high targets for their teams to push them towards
their finish line. It helps the company to boost their productivity and enhance the capabilities of
the employees in the company (Hartiwi, Kozlova, and Masitoh, 2020). The management of
TESCO provides a proper targets to the teams and these are allotted to the employees by their
respective leaders. Taking an example of sales target, it helps the company to make more and
more sales and take themselves out of the tough situations with the help of employees.
Transactional Leadership
Transactional Leadership style is generally refers to the managerial leadership. It means a
leader is require to focus on managing the supervision of work, organization of work and take
care of the group's performance. The transactional leadership style is based on the reward and
penalties that are provided or imposed on the employees for their work that requires supervision
only. This type of leadership style helps to focus on attainment of goals of the company which is
the essential element at the time of storm in the company.

“A diverse mix of voices leads to better discussions, decisions and outcomes for everyone”
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google
The above given quotation helps to understand that voice of many people help a leader to
have better discussion, decision and outcome for an organisation (Hermassi, 2020). With the help
of this quotation Sundar Pichai who is CEO of Google, wants to explain that management of an
organisation requires to make the environment of the company to be inclusive. A leader is
required to include their followers in the discussion for the major decision making so that the
reward can be enjoyed by every employee of the company. This requires a proper leadership
style which is explain with the help of democratic or participate in leadership style. Democratic
or participative leadership style is best suited in the quotation of Sundar Pichai. It is becauseit
provides the leaders of Tesco that can be able to make better decisions for the company with the
help of discussion with their followers.
Participative leadership style
A participative leadership style is a leadership style which has its impact on the
employees as it provides high level of job satisfaction to them. The participative leadership style
helps a leader to engage their followers in their decision-making with the proper discussion about
the topic and solve the problem that is related to the decision making in the organisation. This
style empowers employees to take initiative and enhance their creativity in the business with the
help of their opinion in the decision making of a company. There are various stores of Tesco in
which leaders use participative management style which helps them to take effective decisions
for the company as well as their employees. The use of participative leadership style and Tesco
will help the company to encourage collaboration and facilitate free flow of ideas in the company
which improves the creativity of employees. It also helps the company to expand and diversify
their business. This leadership style also motivate the employees to work effectively in the
company as they are working with the ideas of employees (Masyhum, 2021).
Apart from the leadership styles the company is also require to follow leadership theories
which will help them to have effective management. In case of Tesco, the company deals with so
many cultures and leaders are require to follow an effective leadership theory to manage the
diversity in the company. For this purpose the company is require to use the situational
leadership theory.

Situational theory of leadership
Situation theory of leadership is a theory which helps a leader to apply their leadership
style on the basis of situation faced by the organisation (Park, and Pierce, 2020). According to
this theory, one leadership style is not best suited to all situation. In order to manage the
organisation in effective manner and do the right things the leaders of TESCO are required to use
the situational leadership styles. They can use different kind of leadership style in the company
that is best suited for that situation. Being a global organisation Tesco faced several problems
and situations which are required to be managed by the leader by using various kinds of
leadership styles as it is not compulsory that one leadership style is treated for every situation
which has been faced by the organisation (Tuan, 2020).
CONCLUSION
The above discussion helps to conclude that Tesco has diverse organisational culture and their
expansion in so many countries depicts its organisational culture and diversity. The company
involves a lot of people who belongs to different cultures and requires effective leadership to
manage and motivate them. The quotation which has been given by different authors helps to
identify the use of various leadership styles in Tesco and also provides for some motivational
theories which is beneficial for the leaders of the company to attain their goals and objectives.
The quotation given by Peter F. Drucker to identify the use of transformational leadership style
and McGregor's theory X and theory Y motivation theory whereas the quotation of Faye
Wattleton helps to identify the authoritarian leadership style transactional leadership style and
pacesetter style of leadership.

REFERNCES:
Books and Journals:
Aboramadan, M., Dahleez, K. and Hamad, M.H., 2020. Servant leadership and academics
outcomes in higher education: the role of job satisfaction. International Journal of
Organizational Analysis.
Bellibaş, M.Ş., Gümüş, S. and Kılınç, A.Ç., 2020. Principals supporting teacher leadership: The
effects of learning‐centred leadership on teacher leadership practices with the mediating
role of teacher agency. European journal of education, 55(2), pp.200-216.
Eide, A.E., Saether, E.A. and Aspelund, A., 2020. An investigation of leaders’ motivation,
intellectual leadership, and sustainability strategy in relation to Norwegian
manufacturers’ performance. Journal of Cleaner Production, 254, p.120053.
Ford, J., Ford, L. and Polin, B., 2021. Leadership in the implementation of change: Functions,
sources, and requisite variety. Journal of Change Management, 21(1), pp.87-119.
Hartiwi, H., Kozlova, A.Y. and Masitoh, F., 2020. The Effect of Certified Teachers and
Principal Leadership toward Teachers’ Performance. International Journal Of
Educational Review, 2(1), pp.70-88.
Hermassi, E., 2020. Leadership and national development in North Africa. University of
California Press.
Masyhum, M.A., 2021. Headmasters Leadership On Task Load And Job Satisfaction Of Special
Education Teachers In Malaysia. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics
Education (TURCOMAT), 12(11), pp.5294-5299.
Park, T. and Pierce, B., 2020. Impacts of transformational leadership on turnover intention of
child welfare workers. Children and Youth Services Review, 108, p.104624.
Tuan, L.T., 2020. Environmentally-specific servant leadership and green creativity among
tourism employees: Dual mediation paths. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 28(1),
pp.86-109.
Uhr, J., 2021. Political Leadership. The Oxford Handbook of Politics and Performance, p.421.
Woo, E.J. and Kang, E., 2020. Environmental Issues As an Indispensable Aspect of Sustainable
Leadership. Sustainability, 12(17), p.7014.
Domański, R. and Łabenda, M., 2020. Omnichannel of private label grocery products in Tesco and
Carrefour retail chains on the Polish market. Ekonomski Vjesnik, 33(1), pp.191-202.
Statistics and facts about Tesco PLC, 2021. [Online] Available Through:
<https://www.statista.com/topics/3807/tesco-plc/>
What is transformational leadership? A model for motivating innovation, 2018. [Online]
Available Through: <https://www.cio.com/article/3257184/what-is-transformational-leadership-
a-model-for-motivating-innovation.html>

Difference Between Theory X and Theory Y, 2017. [Online] Available Through:
<https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-theory-x-and-theory-y.html>