Developing Collaborative Relationships: A TESCO Case Study Report

This report examines collaborative relationships within TESCO, a multinational retailer. It analyzes stakeholder management approaches, emphasizing the importance of identifying and engaging stakeholders like suppliers, customers, and the government. The report evaluates cross-functional working across departments such as finance, marketing, HR, operations, and customer service, highlighting their interdependencies and the positive impact on business results. Furthermore, it explores the impact of collaborative working and strategies for managing difficult conversations with both internal and external stakeholders. The report concludes by underscoring the significance of collaborative efforts for achieving organizational goals and fostering a positive work environment.

Developing Collaborative
Relationships

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
Analyse the approaches to stakeholder management and engagement for their own employer 3
Evaluate the cross functional working into delivery of positive results for the business .........5
Explore about the evaluation of impact of collaborative working and managing difficult
conversations with external and internal stakeholders................................................................7
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Collaborative relationship refers to the condition where two or more people work
together for accomplishing the common goals. Collaboration has become the preferred solution
to work with different individuals who have different point of views. Collaborative relationship
is important because without these kind of relationship it is very challenging to achieve the
objectives and goals into appropriate terms(Al Mulhim and Eldokhny., 2020). In the present
report, TESCO organisation is taken into consideration. TESCO is a multinational merchandise
retailer which is headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. The present report will cover
discussion about the approaches to stakeholder management and engagement for their own
employer. In addition to this, the report will cover analysis about the cross functional working
into delivery of positive results for the business. Moreover, the report will cover analysis about
the impact of collaborative working and managing the difficult conversation with external and
internal stakeholders.
MAIN BODY
Analyse the approaches to stakeholder management and engagement for their own employer
Stakeholder management refers to the process of maintaining of good relationships with
the people who have major impact on their work. It is an important activity which has been used
in order to gain the mutual understanding of the expectations and objectives of all parties. For
identifying the stakeholder management it is very important that to do stakeholder analysis .
Stakeholder analysis basically refers to the process of identifying the organisation's stakeholders
and their interests (Al-Omoush and et.al., 2020). It is also about assessing their influence or in
which manner they are impacted by the organisation in order to formulate strategies for
managing the relationship with them. There are certain steps which needs to be followed into
stakeholder analysis. It includes the brainstorming the list of possible stakeholders and then
determine the interest level as well. It is important to decide what the organisation requires from
every stakeholder and then needs to stakeholder mapping as well. At the end, plan the
stakeholder involvement as well.
At the organisational level there are certain benefits of stakeholder analysis which include
the highlighting the interest of stakeholders into context of purpose of the activity. It also
evaluate the capacity of different stakeholders and stakeholders group to participate as well.

Stakeholder analysis is also important because it support in terms of assessing the kind of
participation by different stakeholders at the successive stage of the project cycle. It also evaluate
the capacity of different stakeholders and stakeholders group to participate. Stakeholder
management approach basically add the focus level to the systems approach through building the
strategic constituencies. Stakeholder engagement refers to the systematic analysis, identification,
implementation and planning of actions which has been designed in order to influence
stakeholders(da Silva Poberschnigg and et.al., 2020). The stakeholder engagement strategy
basically identifies about the requirements of key groups. It has been observed that sponsor also
plays a vital role in ensuring about the needs of business which have been met. There are certain
approaches to stakeholder management which has been defined into the following manner:
First of all it is important to identify about the stakeholders of the organisation of TESCO
which includes suppliers, customers, creditors, competitors, local communities and the
government. After that it is necessary to describe about the stakes into proper terms where stake
is an interest or the share in the performance or success of an organisation. It has been observed
that shareholders, employees and other groups which have such a stake within the organisation
of TESCO. Next step is about considering the significance of stakeholders stake or claim.
It is necessary for TESCO organisation that to evaluate about the opportunities and
challenges that stakeholders present to the organisation. In the further step, it is necessary to
consider the responsibilities to stakeholders which means that ethical obligations which are held
with regard to disclosure, decision making and also maintain the long term relationship which
engender the trust(Eskerod and Larsen., 2018). At the end, it is important to consider the actions
and strategies which an organisation should take in order to enhance the relationships with its
main stakeholders. In this manner, the approaches has been used within the organisation of
TESCO for stakeholder management.
Stakeholder engagement is important because effective engagement with stakeholders
allows the organisation in order to identify the groups who may not support the project. It
basically helps the organisation in order to proactively consider the desires and needs of anyone
who has a stake in their organisation. There are five main approaches to stakeholder engagement
in order to incorporate the stakeholders views and opinions as well.

For identifying the approaches Evi EM initiates the five stage process where first of all
it is important to identify the stakeholders and identify the practice and policy relevant topics.
After that it is necessary that to prioritise and frame the review questions. After that it is
necessary to establish the particular scope of the review and at the end public review has been
done of a draft. In this manner, the approaches has been defined for the stakeholder engagement.
So in the overall manner, from the employers point of view it is very important to
manage the stakeholders otherwise it creates a negative image of the brand due to which
shareholders looses the interest in terms of making investment into positive terms(Le Meunier-
Fitzhugh and Massey., 2019). Stakeholder management is important because it act as a support
system for the healthy relationship at the organisational level. It is not only about knowing the
stakeholders but also need to understand their communication requirements at different points.
At the organisational level, stakeholders opinion contribute into the context of shaping the
opinions of others into positive manner. The approaches of stakeholder management are very
important because without these approaches can't give a proper direction and path to the
organisation due to which it becomes challenging to work into positive manner.
Evaluate the cross functional working into delivery of positive results for the business
A cross functional team is a work group which is made up of employees from different
functional areas within the organisation who collaborate in terms of reaching towards the
particular objective. Within the business, the cross functional team refers to the work group
which is made up of employees from different functional areas within the organisation who
collaborate in order to reach towards the objective(Le and et.al., 2020). There are different
departments within the organisation of TESCO who work with each other in collaboration with
different departments. There are different departments which include marketing and sales,
finance, human resource, operations, production , administration, customer service, etc.
Finance and marketing departments: It has been observed at the organisational level
that there is a relationship between finance and marketing department. In context to TESCO
organisation, for the promotion of their brand they require a proper budget so they are dependent
on the finance department. For enhancing the performance level and revenue percentage, TESCO
organisation is dependent on marketing department so that promotion of brand can be done into
positive context.

When they are able to attract large number of customers then they can sell out products
and services on the larger scale due to which they can earn profits and revenue on a larger scale.
Within the organisation, these are very important departments and their collaboration factor with
each other also results into achievement of new results as well.
Finance and human resource departments: Finance department help in terms of
allocating the resources in order to support the organisational goals and maintains the balance
between revenue and costs(Manickam and et.al., 2020). HR has the main role at the
organisational level who hires, recruits and motivates people in order to advance those same
goals. Human resource department of TESCO company is dependent on the finance department
because this department requires a proper budget in order to hire and retain the employee for a
longer period of time. Finance department of TESCO organisation is also dependent on the
human resource department because without the details of employees they can't take care about
the financial aspect of every employee working at the organisational level.
Operations and production department: The production department of TESCO
organisation is related to the aspects of production only whereas operation department is related
to the regular business activities in the organisation. These departments have interrelationship
with each other because the production part of the company is dependent on the operational
instructions of the department so that they can accordingly work for it into positive manner. The
daily basis activities of the company is dependent on the production level because it decides that
how the working should be mould according to the requirement of conditions.
Administration and customer service department: Administration department has
various responsibilities which ranges from ordering office supplies, answering incoming phone
calls, maintaining databases to book keeping tasks, greeting office visitors(Oviedo and et.al.,
2020).It basically provides administrative and technical support in the areas of budgetary, human
resource, strategic planning, facilities, legal affairs and security as well. The administration
department is dependent on the customer service department because on the basis of customers
response this department takes their further steps and actions as well. The customer service
department of TESCO organisation is dependent on the administration department because on
the basis of their instructions and guidance this department works accordingly for it.

So in the overall manner it has been observed that all the departments of TESCO
organisation are inter dependent on each other for their working. These departments can be
finance, human resource, production, marketing and sales, operations, administration and
customer service (Pelyukh and et.al., 2021). It has been observed at the organisational level that
every department has inter relationship with other department so that they can fulfil their daily
basis tasks into positive manner. From the business perspective of TESCO organisation, it has
been observed that every department requires certain kind of information from other department
so that they can fulfil the objective of their department into result oriented form.
For achieving the positive results at the organisational level, it is very important that
every department has to work into collaborative terms so that they can successfully achieve their
targets into positive context. When there is inter relationship with each other among different
departments then it lead towards the innovation and insight level as well. Cross functional
working also result into collaborative culture due to which positive environment has been created
at the organisational level of TESCO(Rasmitadila and et.al., 2022).When there is collaborative
working then it lead towards the colleague appreciation level and also gives the opportunity to
develop leadership skills as well. Collaborative working also result into conflict resolution
situation due to which it is easier to achieve the goals into appropriate terms. It also lead towards
enhancement into team performance due to which it result into positive attainment of goals
That's why it is very important that every department should cooperate with each other
into result oriented terms. So cross-functional working is very significant in order to achieve
positive results at the organisational level. Without cross functional working it made the
environment of organisation very rigid and complex as well due to which there is no openness
and flexible nature at the organisational level. So cross-functional working is very necessary for
the organisational out of box manner performance and for its success as well.
Explore about the evaluation of impact of collaborative working and managing difficult
conversations with external and internal stakeholders
Collaborative working refers to the act of two or more people or organisations who works
together in order to fulfil a particular purpose. It is also known as the joint or partnership
working which basically covers different ways that two or more organisations can work together
into positive terms.

Collaborative working is important because it helps the organisation or team to achieve
the objectives or targets within a set period of time. At the organisational level, every team
member has different skills, talent and expertise due to which every team member collaborate
with each other where they are able to utilise the knowledge, experience and skills where every
body is involved in order to achieve the shared goal.
The main impact of collaborative working at the organisational level of TESCO is that it
help in terms of problem-solving parameter and also it brings people closer together in terms of
working and professionalism as well. Within the collaborative working, the major impact is that
they lean from each other by helping into positive manner and also it opens up the new channel
of communication as well (Sangeetha and Kumaran., 2018). It also boosts the morale level
across the organisation due to which it lead towards the higher retention rates as well. It has been
observed at the organisational level, like problem-solving, adaptability is also the result of a
collaborative team. When employees work into collaborative nature then the participation level
has been increased due to which the performance level also get enhanced.
At the organisational level, when employees work into collaborative terms then it also
shares skills with other people due to which employees become more experienced and skilled
person as well. The impact of collaborative working at the organisational level of TESCO is that
team is able to communicate, forecast the change and contributes into the context of problem
solving but it can't be possible without the exchange of knowledge. Within the collaborative
working there is clarity about the role and purpose of work as well which means that the
individual is able to combine the knowledge and abilities in order to improve the work flow and
also achieve the common goal as well. There is one more impact of collaborative working it
increases the engagement level due to which productivity, profitability, retention level also get
enhanced.
At the organisational level of TESCO, there are different kinds of stakeholders whether it
can be external or internal. The main internal stakeholders of TESCO organisation basically
include employees, managers, board and executive committee and shareholders as
well(Serravalle and et.al., 2019). There are also certain external stakeholders of the company
which include suppliers, customers, creditors, competitors, local communities pressure groups
and the government as well.

It has been observed that different stakeholders have their different expectation level
from TESCO organisation. At the organisational level for managing difficult conversations with
stakeholders are defined into the following manner:
 For managing the difficult conversations, it is very important for TESCO organisation to
closely observe them into positive terms. A stakeholder is someone who is affected by
the work and also has influence over it or has an interest in its success(Suprapto and
et.al., 2018). There are different kinds of stakeholders which can be categorised
according to the satisfaction level factor which includes highly satisfied, moderately
satisfied and highly satisfied as well. The initial step is to closely observe them and also
need to figure out what motivates them into positive context.
 It is important to listen them into proper terms so that they accordingly take actions and
steps for it. TESCO organisation need not to close the communication channels and try
to evaluate that from where difficult stakeholders are coming from. They have to make
an effort in order to understand their point of view and when their opinions are valued
then it is easier to handle the stakeholders.
 It is necessary for TESCO organisation to take this step to meet them on the individual
basis so that further actions can be taken accordingly for it. When company has decided
to meet on the one on one basis then it is important to schedule a time to meet with
difficult stakeholders. Managing stakeholders one on one basis also prevents the
negative opinions from influencing others.
 After that it is important to determine the motivation factor so that they can find out
what interest them to work towards it into result oriented terms(Vereen and et.al., 2018).
There are certain questions which needs to be asked in order to get to the bottom of their
motivations. It includes most pressing business needs, best way to communicate with
them, details do they want, who influences them, what are they responsible for, who do
they influence for and who do they report to.
In this manner, the difficult conversations can be managed with the stakeholders of TESCO
company and these stakeholders can be internal and external(Wetzel and Hofmann., 2019).

If the organisation does not take initiative in terms of managing the difficult
conversations then it becomes very challenging to retain stakeholders or shareholders to invest
from longer perspective. So its a very important step in order to manage the stakeholders into
successful terms. That's why its very necessary for the TESCO organisation to make a good
relationship with stakeholders.
CONCLUSION
The above stated report concludes that collaborative relationships are very important at
the organisational level. It has been concluded that there are different approaches to stakeholder
engagement and management according to the view of identifying the strategies for
improvement. It has been determined that there are certain cross functional working in order to
deliver positive results. For achieving this objective, every department of this organisation have
to work into collaborative nature so that the overall performance of the organisation can be
enhanced into positive terms. It has been observed that the impact of collaborative working is
that it enhances the performance of not only the organisation but also enhances the overall
performance of employees as well. It is important to manage the difficult conversations with
external and internal stakeholders. So at the organisational level, it is very important that every
team member work into cooperative nature so that proper results can be achieved within a set
period of time.

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In 50th Decision Sciences Institute Annual Conference (DSI) proceedings:
Transforming Decision Sciences Through Emergent Technologies (pp. 533-544).