Analyzing Transparency and Accountability: A Case Study of Sainsbury's

This case study delves into the significance of transparency and accountability within organizations, using Sainsbury's as a focal point. It encompasses a literature review exploring corporate governance concepts, the impact of transparency and accountability issues on organizational performance, and strategies for addressing these challenges. The study incorporates both primary and secondary data analysis, critically reviewing research results and providing recommendations with an action plan for developing solutions to identified problems. Key themes include the role of corporate governance in mitigating risks, fostering a culture of integrity, and enhancing stakeholder engagement. The analysis also covers the relationship between transparency, accountability, and employee performance, highlighting the potential negative impacts of lacking these elements, such as decreased trust and increased employee turnover. The study concludes by offering insights into building a motivating and transparent working culture to improve organizational performance at Sainsbury's.

SUMMATIVE Assignment
The importance of transparency and accountability
in a organisation. A case of Sainsbury`s

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
Literature Review.........................................................................................................................4
Discussion of primary and secondary data..................................................................................9
Critical review of the results of the research.............................................................................16
Recommendations and Action plan...........................................................................................20
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................24
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................26
QUESTIONNAIRE...................................................................................................................26
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT......................................................................................................27
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................28
Problem statement......................................................................................................................28
Research aim:.............................................................................................................................28
Research Objectives:..................................................................................................................28
Research Questions:...................................................................................................................28
LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................................................................29
Concept and importance of corporate governance within an organisation................................29
Impact of issue of transparency and accountability on the performance of Sainsbury’s...........29
Strategy that would be used by Sainsbury’s for dealing with the issue of transparency and
accountability at workplace.......................................................................................................29
Research Methodology..................................................................................................................30
Gantt Chart.....................................................................................................................................31
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................33

INTRODUCTION
Corporate governance is that system in an organization that the companies which are
directed and controlled for the boards of directors are responsible for the governance of their
companies. This is very important for the shareholder's role for appointing the directors and the
auditors for the satisfaction of the appropriate governance for being able to develop a structure in
the organization. The corporate governance is the factor which influences the organizational
shareholder, suppliers, customers and other stakeholders. In this formative assessment the
selected organization is Sainsbury's which is UK based and is the second largest chain of
supermarket in UK. This organization was founded by John James Sainsbury in 1869. This
company at present is also known as the largest UK retailer of groceries. In this organization
everything including groceries and clothing to homewares, electricals and other. It allows the
business to offer a great range of financial services. This supermarket has 16% of the market
share of the total supermarket industry. J Sainsbury's Plc is public limited company which is
listed on FTSE. This organization is also able to provides Sainsbury's business direct
transactional websites that is helpful for selling the products online. It has been the key towards
the organization's success especially during the pandemic period. Due to the increase in the
organizational operations after the pandemic this company has focused on entering new markets.
For Sainsbury's the focus of the company's board of directors is the primary force that is able to
influence the corporate governance.
For a company a bad corporate governance can cast the doubt on company operations and
its ultimate profitability. Corporate governance is known as the factor which is helpful for the
areas of environmental awareness, ethical behaviour, corporate strategy, compensation and also
the risk management. The major basis of the principles of corporate governance are
accountability, transparency, fairness and responsibilities. Governance refers to the specifically

establishment of the set of rules, controls, policies and resolutions that is able to put in place the
dictatorship of the corporate behaviour. The focus of the company's corporate governance is
considered to be very important for the investors to show whether the company is moving the in
the direction of the business integrity. In an organization the corporate governance is very
helpful for the company to develop their trust with the investors and community. The investors
of the organization look towards the corporate governance practices for investing in their shares.
The issues that the corporate governance of Sainsbury's faces are related to lack of transparency
and accountability. This is related to the insufficient cooperation with the auditors which is
helpful for the business to ensure the compliance of the financial documents. Poor structure of
the boards helps the business to make it ineffective for the incumbents. In this project the
discussion of the key areas of the theory which are applicable for the given case will be
explained through literature. This assessment will provide a critical analysation of the result of
both secondary and primary research. It will also consist of the recommendation with an action
plan for developing the possible solutions for the problem of issue.
The objectives of the project include:
 To analyse the analysis of the corporate governance concept at Sainsbury’s.
 To evaluate the evaluation of the consequence of corporate governance on the
performance, if transparency issues occur, as well as the analysis of a strategy to be used
by Sainsbury’s, in order to effectively deal with the issue.
Below, the project incorporates a discussion of the key areas of the theory, explained
through literature, followed by the provision of a critical analysation of the result of both
secondary and primary research.
MAIN BODY
Literature Review
Theme 1
As per the view of Zaman and et.al., (2022) corporate governance is able to cover both
the social and institutional aspects of the business. This is the system of the organization in
which it is director or managed. Corporate governance has been known to be influencing the
objective of the business for setting and mitigating the risks. Monitoring and assessing of risk is
the part of cooperate governance which helps in optimization of the internal performance. Bhagat
and Bolton, (2019) also added that the corporate governance is the system of principles, policies

and procedure which are defined as the responsibilities and accountabilities that is used by the
stakeholders for the work that is helpful for the inheriting the conflicts of interest. It has also
been known as the interaction between the different participants for shaping the corporation's
performance and direction in which it wants to proceed.
According to Adnan, Hay and van Staden, (2018) the strong and effective corporate
governance is helpful for the cultivation of the company culture of integrity that leads to the
positive performance and sustainable business overall. It can be said that the existence of the
increasing the accountability of the individuals in the team is helpful for the company. This is the
factor that is able to bring accountability in the organization. A company which has a strong or
good corporate governance is able to signify the market which is helpful for the business to
increase its interests towards the management. Aguilera, Marano and Haxhi, (2019) is able to
add that the stakeholders of the organization can provide the company strong competitive
advantage. Hence, corporate governance is very important to be measured in the organization.
Corporate governance is known for all its references to the laws, regulations, codes and practices
which are able to define the company towards the administration of the rights and responsibilities
for the active agents in an organization.
Gerged, (2021) explains that the importance of the corporate governance is helpful for
making an apparent that is helpful for the creation of a positive impact that occurs with the risk
of controlling the organizational procedures and streamline with the consistent. Corporate
governance is able to make the business develop an efficient process that is effective due o the
repeatability and consistency of the tasks that are performed. Visibility of Errors are also known
for the repeatability and consistently helping the business bring new and quick identification of
the nonconformities that are in the process of the growth. Scherer and Voegtlin, (2020) also
explains that the reduction of the costs is able to streamline the companies that can allow the
business to eliminate the waste from the scrap, rework and any other cost of inefficiencies.
Smoother running of operations are known for the regular disruptions that are known to be
inconsistent process of eliminating operations specifics such as either conform or non-conform.
The compliance of the organization is also the culture that is helpful for supporting the corporate
governance for allowing the product to reach the market.
Theme 2

Sofyani, Riyadh and Fahlevi, (2020) explained that the role of transparency and
accountability for an organization has been considered to be the study which is extensively
administered for providing the quantitative evidence regarding the impact of accountability on
the organizational performance. It is the examination of the association between the levels of
organizational performance and accountability which have the three major functions of human
resources. It was also noticed that the level of autonomy perceived by the employees was the
reason for influencing the association between accountability and performance. Agustin and
Arza, (2020) suggested that the accountability is the reason for manifesting in staffing,
performance evaluation and compensation of all positively significant organizational
performance.
Shin and Park, (2019) has focused on the specific roles of the accountability which is the
mechanism that defines. Accountability is factor for an organization which tells its employees
and managers for being accountable for their actions and duties. This is effective for the keeping
the employees attached to the best standard of output and make them responsible for their work.
In this organization the different terms of structure and hierarchy is what allows organization to
position their employees for the achievement of organizational goals and principles. Wadesango
and Nhubu, (2021) explains that for better work-life balance there needs to be a trade-off
between work and life. This is the extra work that is expected from the employees.
Accountability in employees is important for engaging into organizational culture.
Study of Heimstädt and Dobusch, (2020) explains that transparency has been the key
factor which is the top priority for the company. The management of creating openness and
accountability is the right thing for seeking the things which are more clear for boosting the
employee engagement. The issues that has been noticed in an organization with lack of
transparency is development of the blaming culture. In this culture the employees in the
organization find ways of blaming each other. Lyrio, Lunkes and Taliani, (2018) added that lack
of transparency is also the reason for decreasing the trust in the organization. This is also the
factor which can result in cheating and also creates increase in the resistance of the organization.
Accountability in an organization as per Bhimavarapu and Rastogi, (2020) is very
essential and should not have any issues otherwise it can create negative impacts. Lack of
accountability can create the stress and frustration for managers at all the levels within an
organization. This is the current trend for the organization which pushes the decision-making of

the organization that has been able to empower people for being more efficient towards this
department. Ejiogu, Ejiogu and Ambituuni, (2019) explains that the managers are able to find the
most of their efforts for yielding the results that the business is able to achieve. Poor
accountability in an organization can be the reason due to which the organization can have
unclear roles and responsibilities. On the other side, Nikbakht, Weysihesar and Fateri (2020)
said that lack of the transparency can lead the employees to get distracted for the organizational
goals. This can result in effective results which can create the unbothered working performance
in the environment. This type of the non directional and doubtful scenario does not motivate the
employees to get reason for working in the organization which enhances the employee turnover.
It can increase the cost and decline the goodwill of enterprise in market which might affect the
capacity of coordinating with corporate governance.
In the views of Sodhi and Tang (2019) there are various factors that affect the
performance of enterprise so having en effective evaluation is important in turn gaining success
by obtaining competitiveness. The one of the significant reason for the success that is identified
is to develop the proper accountability of organization so that higher level of responsible
working situation can be created. This enables the employees to eliminate the conflict arising
situation by ensuring that they are properly taking the responsibility for the conducted actions. It
can provide the assistance in achieving the positive working environment so that ensuring that
staff is effectively coordinating with the prevailing corporate working culture. On the other side,
Koroleva and Tikhomirova (2021) depicted that in order to eliminate the issue arising
circumstances firm require focusing on building such working culture which is motivating as
blaming and disrespectful circumstances which can decrease the morale of employees. Thus,
employees can get negatively impacted and provide lower productive results so that ineffective
performance of enterprise can be derived so having transparency become essential to offer clarity
of organizational expectation.
Theme 3:
In the views of Ghasmi and et.al., 2019 there are different types of the strategies which
can be taken into consideration for overcoming the issues prevailing in the organization. The one
of the crucial strategy that can be adopted by the enterprise for overcoming the issue regarding
the transparency & accountability which involves creating provision for disclosure of data and
designing an open data policy. This type of the legal provision can provide assistance in gaining

the threat of indulging into complications so that proper functioning by ensuring accountability
can be obtained. On the contrast to this, Santri and et.al., (2022) stated that there are various
requirements of the business which are needed to be adhered by the enterprise in respect to
achieve successful results. The one of the major tactic that can be implemented by the
organization includes. Offering the training & development so that significance of accountability
can b explained. This can permit the firm to get the appropriate responsible working pattern in
turn optimum utilization of the resources can be become possible. The mentioned kind of the
strategy is helpful in giving the competitiveness among the employees so that achieving the
significant outputs of managing and adhering with implemented rules and regulations can
become possible.
According to Schilling-Vacaflor (2021) in order handle the issue of conflict that is
arising due to the lack of transparency which can be resolved by having the employee
engagement in turn better performance can be achieved. Employee management allow the staff
to get opportunity to share their views and opinions with the management in turn goal of firm
regarding building transparency can be developed. This can be helpful for the organization to get
the major competitiveness by ensuring that higher belonging feeling among staff can be created.
In against to this, Sumantri and et.al., (2022) to avoid the situation related with blaming and
disrespectful scenario better emphasis on having employee relationship via ensuring that
significance of their role and outputs for organizational success can be make understood. This
can permit getting positive & successful outputs by enabling employees to achieve job security
so that higher productive & favorable relationship can affect firm in positive manner.
As per the views of Rajala and Kokko (2021) in order to have the effective
accountability in firm the one of the crucial technique that can be used is feedback mechanism.
This can permit the firm to get information regarding the lacking areas such ineffective job
security, cutting off payments, etc so that crucial improvement action can be taken. Having
detailed information regarding the prevailing problems in the firm which is not allowing
employees to have accountability can be improved by offering relevant & reliable solutions to
motivate them. On the contrast to this, Gu, Hasan and Lu (2022) for having effective
transparency and accountability regarding the exiting circumstances of the organization is
building fair performance appraisal technique. This can allow the staff to get the corrective form
of the outcomes for taking the accountability related with the executed course of action and

maintaining transparency. This aids in promoting motivate & reliable situation so that achieving
the desirable results can be derived.
According to Shkromyda, Gnatiuk and Shkromyda (2021) in respect to gain the good
and effective the organizational performance major strategy that can aid in receiving the
desirable results. This can be done by applying the digital security system through encrypting the
data so that employees would not become able to take any fraudulent action. The particular
action can provide assistance in getting grater level of efficiency and effectiveness in meeting the
goal of having higher level of security. It can provide assistance to the organization to obtain free
from the burden and concentrate on having greater productive results. In contrast to this, Shapira
(2021) articulated that in the current era, there are various factors which can negatively affect the
performance of organization but possessing the effective accountability & transparency helps in
gaining benefits. The approach of creating the respectful working culture by socialize with co-
workers can formulate the concern possessing environment. This can aid in achieving the
outcomes by maintaining accountability by thinking to not to harm other people in company. It
can benefit in gaining greater extent of coordination & cohesiveness so that good impact on
organization can be derived.
On the basis of this, it can be specified that transparency & accountability are crucial
which can affect in both postie & negative manner and can be improved by feedback mechanism,
performance appraisal, etc strategies.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 Research methods- in general there are two different types of the methods which
researcher can use in order to attain the objective of study. deciding for the appropriate
method of research is very important for the reason that in case the research type will not
be correct then the working and completion of the project will be affected to a great
extent (Snyder, 2019). This involves qualitative and quantitative type of research. In the
present case of analysing the corporate governance the use of quantitative research is
being used in order to analyse and develop the theoretical knowledge in better manner.
 Research approach- the approach of research is being defined as the methods and
propceduere which is being used in order to select the research methods in appropriate
manner. There are generally two types of the approach that is inductive and deductive
approach. in the present case of the analysing the corporate governance the researcher has

used the deductive approach in order to gather the data which is quantitative research.
this is being used in order to make the research more evident and authentic.
 Research philosophy- the philosophy refers to as the beliefs which underlies the
selection of the of methods of research in better manner. There are two different types of
the philosophy that is interpretivism and positivism. in the current research relating to the
corporate governance the use of positivism philosophy will be used as it is more suitable
for quantitative research.
 Sampling- the sample is being defined as the selection of the some of the people from the
whole population on which the test is being done. In case the population is very large
then study cannot be done on whole population hence some sample are being selected. in
the present study the sample of 20 employees of Sainsbury is being selected with help of
random sampling method in order to fulfil the research objectives.
 Data collection- this is the most crucial element for the successful completion of the
research. this is pertaining to the fact that in case the data will not be gathered from
authentic sources then this will be affecting the working efficiency of the research. Thus,
in the present case the combination of data collection sources that is primary and
secondary is being used in order to gather the research data (Pandey and Pandey, 2021).
with respect to the primary research the data will be gathered with help of questionnaire.
further for the secondary data, the use of different books, journals, articles and others
relating to the research topic is being used.
 Data analysis- it is being defined as the analysis of the collected data in order to attain
the research objectives. in general, there are two different ways through which the
gathered data can be analysed that is with help of thematic and through frequency
distribution as well. hence, in the present study relating to the corporate governance the
use of frequency distribution analysis is being undertaken. within this method the
researcher analyses the gathered data using the frequency distribution.
Discussion of primary and secondary data
DATA ANALYSIS
Theme 1: The recent propagation of codes of corporate governance is helpful.

From this survey question we were able to find out that the code of corporate governance
at Sainsbury is very effective and has been considered to be very helpful by most of the
respondents. The governance codes are established for addressing the deficiencies in the
corporate governance of the system. Hence, it has been recommended Bhagat and Bolton, (2019)
that system of principles, policies and procedure which are defined as the responsibilities and
accountabilities in the code of corporate governance. This is the factor which is responsible for
the growth of the organization. With the help of corporate code the business has been able to
develop new strategies that can allow the relationships with the shareholders to be improved in
the organization. It is very important for the auditing and information disclosure and selection,
remuneration of the organization.
Theme 2: Corporate Governance is an ethical issue.

According to this survey question 14 respondents have selected corporate governance as
more of an ethical issue in comparison to a financial issue. Agustin and Arza, (2020) explains the
importance of corporate governance for maintaining accountability and reliability in the
organization. With the help of this the business is able to manage the ethical and cultural
responsibilities in the organization. Corporate Governance is also very important for the
management of the financial operations of Sainsbury's however, this is not the practice which
helps the business make profit. Therefore, from this result it can be understood that the corporate
governance is more of an ethical issues rather than a financial one.
Theme 3: Rate of transparency of Sainsbury's employee performance expectations is high.

As per the survey the Sainsbury employee performance expectations transparency is very
good. As majority of the people either rated it 4 or 5. It is the transparency which aims to provide
the customers with clear objective vieimportance of leader transparencyw of the expectations of
the company. It has been considered to be the factor which is responsible for creating certainty
which the employee feel out of the loop that is helpful for trusting the managers and colleagues
less. Heimstädt and Dobusch, (2020) in the study explained how transparency is important for
the organization to meet the objectives. Having high rate of expectation from the employee
regarding their transparency has allowed the organization to increase and develop consistency in
their performance.
Theme 4: Leadership at Sainsbury is somewhat transparent.

The study of Nikbakht, Weysihesar and Fateri (2020) explains the importance for an
organization and its leader to be transparent. It has been considered that the is very beneficial for
the leader to be transparent in the organization as it helps in the development of the culture of
transparency. This is the factor which leads to business to a higher level of trust. This is the
factor that influences the individuals to gain more trust and like for the business to gain success.
Survey shows that the employees in this company do believe that their leadership and executive
team is transparent in nature which has helped them to gain success. It is helpful for the company
to understand the expectation of the business. Being transparency as a leader helps the
organization to improve performance and accountability.
Theme 5: Accountability in Sainsbury is extremely important

Shin and Park, (2019) has explained that accountability is the factor which eliminates the
time and effort is spend by the employee towards getting distraction and unproductive
behaviours. This is considered to be the factor which helps the business in being able to achieve
actions that have effective teaching that value their work which has been done right. This is the
factor which increases the team members and their skills. In this survey it was found that the
employee at Sainsbury believe that the accountability in this organization is important because it
being responsible makes the organization effective towards the success of the management.
Hence, it can be determined that the accountability in an organization can help it to gain the
growth that it requires and also be able to manage the ethical responsibilities.
Theme 6 : Yes, employees get recognition in Sainsbury.

From the study of Shapira (2021) it was found that respecting individuals with
recognition and importance help them to feel more engaged. The concept of the relation of the
employee engagement and accountability is absolutely true. Accounting to which engaged
employees are the ones which have been known to be more accountable towards their actions
and they are also considered to be the ones which thrives on taking responsibilities.
Accountability is can be increased with a person gets recognition as this influences the sense of
responsibilities and for maintaining the image the employees are more accountable. Having
recognition is also good for better communication in an organization which is directly linked
with the transparency in an organization. Hence, sharing the key information is very effective for
the growth of the business.
Theme 7: Employee satisfaction has absolutely helped in increasing accountability and
transparency.

It has been explained that the employee satisfaction has its relations with the employee
performance and motivation. Although it is also true that the employee satisfaction is the factor
that is responsible for the influencing the increase sense of responsibility. So is the case in this
survey in which the respondent has explains how by being more satisfied the employees are able
to increase their accountability and transparency. Santri and et.al., (2022) explained that in order
to factors like rewards, recognition, training & development and basic needs are helpful for
improving the sense of accountability, transparency and employee satisfaction. Application of
these practices allow the business to gain the success which is essential for the management of
their operations.
Critical review of the results of the research
The results that have been derived from this research highlights the ways in which the
Sainsbury's corporate governance for gaining growth in the operations. These results have been
able derived from both the primary and secondary research. Corporate governance has been
explained in the research was related to the company stakeholders including shareholders which
was considered to be the factors which helps the corporation of the government rules and
regulations. The board of directs are considered to be the ones which are responsible for creating

the frameworks for the corporate governance. This is helpful for aligning the business with
conduction with objectives. In the first theme of primary research the importance of the
propagation of the code of corporate governance has been explained to be very helpful. This is
considered to be the factor which is responsible for the growth of the business. For Sainsbury the
defining of the code of conduct for the board members and its executives have needs to be
considered to be the factor that will help in meeting the ethical, financial and cultural standards
of this organization. The study of Kovermann and Velte, (2019) has explained that the for that
the governance policies and procedures needs to be transparent or disclosed for being relevant to
the stakeholders. Within this code the importance of treating the individuals equally and fairly
and their rights have also been explained.
In this study the importance of the corporate governance was explained by the
organization. It can be said that the strong and effective corporate governance can be considered
to be the factor which helps in the cultivation of the company culture for integrity for leading to
positive performance and sustainable for business overall. Essential, it exists for increasing the
accountability of the individuals. This is considered to be the estimation of the exists in
increasing the accountability of the individuals and teams in the company. This is helpful for
avoiding the mistakes that has been made by the organization. Bhagat and Bolton, (2019)
explained how the company which has a strong corporate governance has been able to signal the
market of the organization the interests of the management that is helpful for aligning with the
external stakeholders. This is helps the company to develop results which are helpful of the
company to gain the competitive advantage. The primary research question explains how the
corporate governance is effective for an organization to manage its ethical issues. As per the
respondents not having proper corporate governance can lead to the organization towards an
ethical issues. This can be supported by the secondary research as better corporate governance
helps the organization in compliance with the culture specific practices for allowing the
organization to grow while meeting its needs that are specific towards working correctly.
Transparency means openness and willingness by the company can provide a clear
information to shareholders and other stakeholders that has been able to develop openness and
willingness which is able to disclose the financial performance. It can be said that the
transparency plays a very important role towards the shaping the corporate governance of the
organization. The information which was collected by the primary research explains that the rate

of transparency in the employee performance management for Sainsbury is very high this is able
to indicate the performance management of the organization which is able to develop the
strategies that bring growth to the organization operations. This helps the management of the
organization to help and support the employees which can develop the organization and its
practices that are related to the operations. This can be supported with the help of Adnan, Hay
and van Staden, (2018) study that explains that transparency at the work place can help the
company to encourage communication and sharing information. It is also the factor which is
considered to be responsible for better employee engagement and happiness and its also allows
the business in developing the stronger workplace culture and values that can bring growth to the
organization.
Transparency for an organization that needs to provide the information about the
activities about the governance to the stakeholders that are considered to be accurate, completed
and made available in a way that it can be more accountable. This is the factor that helps the
business in the gaining information about the publicly available operations. Being accountable in
the organization can be said to be the factor which has been able to develop the strategies that are
considered to be relevant towards the policies and procedures. These policies and process has
been known to develop the program on the basis of the visible practices that are public and can
also support the growth of the organization. In the primary research the leaders it was found that
the responsibilities of the leaders to wards the management of the values is the factor which is
known to be the reason that allows the business to gain the results that are required for their
corporate governance. Han and Perry, (2020) supported that transparency in leadership results in
increased trust of the employees and the management hence the employees are more honest,
responsible and accountable towards the decisions and can also help the business in gaining
strategies that allows the business to develop their operations.
For Sainsbury the accountability has been considered to be very important as it has been
known to provide the business with the creation of proactive atmosphere of responsibility that is
negative approach to the reactive culture of the management through rules. Ways in which the
business is able to set the goals are considered to be the factor which is helpful for defining the
pillars of corporate governance that is helpful for the business in the management of the
strategies that can be helpful for the business in conceptualizing the transparency in the
company. In the primary research has been able to understand the importance of the organization

for the development of the operations. This can be said as the factor that impacts the
transparency of the business and also allow the business to create new development. Han and
Robertson, (2021) has been able to support the importance of accountability as the way in which
the business is able to shift the process for businesses that can manage the risks, to protect
existing value and enabling the further value creation. This is the factor which is able to develop
the accountability for the success and challenges. Being able to manage the risks, protect existing
value and enabling the further value creation can help the company and its board to be effective
publicly accountable for its success and challenges.
Employee recognition in the work place has been considered to be the factor that has
been helpful for the acknowledgement of company and staff that helps in the business in
reinforcing the particular behaviours practices and activities that have been able to provide better
results in the organization. This primary research has explained how the Sainsbury has given its
employee recognition that is the strategy which helps them to gain the growth that is required.
The recognition of the company staff for the exemplary performance has been considered to be
the factor that has allowed the business. Monteiro and et.al., (2021) added that it is helpful for
the employees to enhance the employee loyalty and also promote the collaboration for the
environment to be able to enforcing positive promotion and constructive feedback for embracing
the promotion to the organization. This is the factor which allows the business to develop new
strategies and also retain the employees. It is also considered to be the factor that is able to
increase the accountability and transparency for the business.
Improving the employee satisfaction in an organization has helped the company to
influence the increase in the accountabilities of the employees which are helpful for the creating
new strategies that bring the employee's growth. The organization has been able to gain new
ways in which it has been able to gain increase in the performance that allows the organization
gain growth and also be able to retain its employees. Kurland, (2018). has explained that the
rewards and recognition provided by the company is able to influence the company to develop
the accountability and also expand the operations of the company in the terms of rewards the
recognition that can help in influencing the financial incentives that can raise bonuses and stock
options. Primary research of this organization has been able to explain the Sainsbury has been
able to satisfy their employee for gaining their trust and accountability. Accountability is the
practices which for an organization is very important as an employee. Hence, it can be said that

the growth of the environment that can help in improving the experience of the business. Survey
results show that in Sainsbury the business has been able to gain and establish the growth with
the help of practices that can discover the results of the managers that can help in shouldering the
responsibilities and stress. Han and Robertson, (2021) has been able to explain how the business
can achieve the growth that is required via employee satisfaction to generate accountability and
transparency.
Recommendations and Action plan
In order to mitigate the issues related to the corporate governance and improving its
practices for Sainsbury the following strategies can be recommended,
 It is important for Sainsbury to understand that the corporate governance in an
organization cannot be just improved with the help of compliance of legislation,
regulation and codes of practices. Corporate governance needs to be improving the
performance of the organization through the strategy formulation and policy making. It is
going to be important for Sainsbury to focus on the practical aspects of the corporate
governance which is related to the sense of accountability and transparency culture in an
organization.
 Monitoring of the organization performance has been considered to be the factor which is
helpful for the business for meeting the function and ensuring the legal compliance for
the major aspect of the board monitoring role. This is considered to be the factor which
will help Sainsbury to identify the gaps in the management and the employee which are
responsible for affecting corporate governance exceptions to the company. It is also
helpful for identifying the key performance drivers in the organization.
 For this organization the establishing of a sound system of risk is considered to factor that
is responsible for meeting the effective risks of the business. Being able to understand the
key insights of the business can help the organization to gain new rewards and trade off
that the organization can face. Recognition of the risks is the factor which would help
Sainsbury to make changes in the operations.
 The accountabilities of the employees can be improved by the business with the help of
providing the employees the balance that is understandable for the presentation of the
company's position and prospects. Hence, this organization can increase accountability

gain new strategies that is helpful for the determination of the nature and extent of the
significance.
 Employee satisfaction has been considered to be the factor which supports the employees
to be more engaged in operations. It is said that for this organization being effective can
be related to the growth of the organization. In this organization development of the
employee practices can be considered to be the factor which would bring the sense of
responsibility. In order to develop new strategies it is important for this organization
motivate the employees. Motivated employees are the ones which are able to get engaged
in the operations.
 For Sainsbury one of the most significant ways in which it can influence the interaction
of the organization through the company and its investors are considered to be the factor
that impacts the stakeholders. For the company investors, employees and other
stakeholders have joint interest which is able to stimulate the company's growth and also
be able to ensure the company's position for the adaptation of the changing demands. It is
considered to be very important for the company to have positive interactions and be
effective between the management and investors for the being able to related to the other
stakeholders. Better corporate governance can be established with the use of appropriate
frameworks that will enable the investors for entering into a new dialogue that the
company and its management is able to establish. For this organization the transparency
and investors for the stakeholders.
 Openness and transparency are required for the company to invest and also develop
investors and other stakeholders to have regular access towards the evaluation which are
related to the company. This is considered to be the factors that involves the engagement
of the constructive dialogue and company on their basis. It has been considered to be the
factor which is helpful for the ensuring an appropriate and balanced development of the
company in both short and long term.
 This organization has been practising corporate social responsibility practices in its
operations for the last couple of years. However, there are always room for development
in magnitude of CSR objectives for this organization to achieve. Hence, it can be said
that the board of directors in company's possible adoption is the recognized national and

international voluntary initiatives which can help the business develop its image and also
be ethical and responsible.
 In this organization the remuneration management is also a very important practice that
has the power of resolving the issues that the organization has towards the development
of the company policy. This is helpful for offering the members of the management the
essential company policy that supports the long term value creations. The growth of the
business has been considered to be the factor that has been able to provide the
remuneration according to the components of the organization that helps the business to
be reasonable with reflection to the management's performance, responsibilities and value
creation for the company.
ACTION PLAN
Action
Description
Responsible
Departments
Required
Resources
Potential
Blockers
Outcome
Revising code of
corporate
governance will
be an effective
action taken by
Sainsbury to be
able to maintain
the standards of
expectations for
the corporate
boards.
Board of
Directors are
most responsible
for the updating
of code of
corporate
governance.
For making this
change
consultation with
the investors,
stakeholders and
management is
important.
Lack of support
can be major
issue faced by
this action.
This will help in
mitigating the
issues which are
helpful for
responsibilities of
the companies for
their role.
Employee
satisfaction can
help the
organization in
development of
strategies for
Human Resource
management are
responsible for
the growth.
The resources
required for this
would be talented
individuals for
hiring in the
market.
Unions and lack
of proper
collaboration will
be the blockage.
This will help the
employees to
become more
engaged resulting
in accountability.

adopting
New technology
for better growth
management of
rules and
regulations.
IT department
and operations
department will
be responsible for
the operations.
For this the
organization
would have to
invest new
properties. This
will help in the
development of
new operations.
Unethical
practices related
to hacking can be
potential
blockage.
With this
organization will
be able to achieve
new strategies.

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APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE
Q1 What do your think about the recent propagation of codes of corporate governance?
 Helpful
 Not Helpful
 Not Sure
Q2 What do you think of Corporate Governance?
 Financial Issue
 Ethical/Cultural Issue
Q3 How would you rate transparency of Sainsbury's employee performance expectations?
 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
Q4 Is leadership or executive team at the company transparent?
 Extremely transparent
 Somewhat transparent
 Not Very transparent
 Not at all transparent strategies for dealing with transparency
Q5 What is the importance of accountability in employee of the company?
 Extremely important
 Very Important
 Somewhat Important
 Not so Important
 Not at all Important
Q6 Do you get recognition for the work done at organization?
 Yes
 No

 Sometimes
Q7 Has employee satisfaction helped you to increased your accountability and transparency?
 No
 Yes
 Absolutely
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
INTRODUCTION
Corporate governance is defined as the combination of processes, rules and laws by which
an organisation are regulated, operated and controlled as well. In addition to this, it is the
external and internal factors which impact on the interest of organisation’s stakeholders that is
shareholders, suppliers, customers and so on. For the present study, Sainsbury’s is taken into
consideration. It is the second largest supermarket chain which was founded in year 1869 and
headquartered in London, UK. The main objective of the report is to identify the impact of issue
associated to corporate governance that is lack of transparency and accountability within an
organisation.
Problem statement
Corporate governance is associated with how corporations are managed, controlled and
directed and held accountable to shareholders. In addition to this, it consist odd many issue and
one of the major issue is lack of transparency and accountability which directly impact on the
performance of an organisation. Transparency and accountability is one of the significant
principle of good governance and give clarity regarding how decisions are taken to manage
activities and maintain financial performance is an important goal for a company. if the
transparency and accountability is not maintained at workplace then the activities are not
implemented properly and an organisation is not able to maintain its financial performance.
Research aim:
The aim is to identify the issue of corporate governance such as lack of transparency and
accountability along with its impact on business performance of an organisation using
Sainsbury’s as a case study.
Research Objectives:
 To analyse the concept and importance of corporate governance within an organisation.

 To evaluate the impact of issue of transparency and accountability on the performance of
Sainsbury’s.
 To analyse the strategy that would be used by Sainsbury’s for dealing with the issue of
transparency and accountability at workplace.
Research Questions:
 What is the concept and importance of corporate governance within an organisation?
 What is the impact of issue of transparency and accountability on the performance of
Sainsbury’s?
 What are the strategies that would be used by Sainsbury’s for dealing with the issue of
transparency and accountability at workplace?
LITERATURE REVIEW
Concept and importance of corporate governance within an organisation
As per the viewpoint of Shailza, (2020), corporate governance is a set of procedures, policy and
internal controls that helps in making a plan to deal with the company operations that comprises
of government, management, customers, employees and dealing with the stakeholders (Shailza,
2020). The main objective is to have a sound management and achievement of organisational
goals and objective and welfare of the shareholders. Corporate governance plays an important
role within an organisation as it assists to cultivate positive working culture that leads towards
sustainable business and positive performance. Moreover, it also allow a company to manage
internal and external activities which further help to attain competitive advantage at marketplace.
Impact of issue of transparency and accountability on the performance of Sainsbury’s
According to Carothers and Brechenmacher, (2020), the issues and challenges of
accountability and transparency have a major influence on the organisation's performance. In
context to Sainsbury's, the major issues involves unrealistic goals, unclear responsibilities and
roles, poor strategy and limited resources (Carothes and Brechenmacher, 2020). On the other
hand, when it comes to transparency it involves issues such as distrust, blaming culture and spark
resistance which can adversely affect the performance of organisation.
Strategy that would be used by Sainsbury’s for dealing with the issue of transparency and
accountability at workplace
As per the viewpoint of Carothers, et al. (2016), there are various strategies which are
adopted by the organisation in order to deal with the various challenges and issues of

accountability and transparency at workplace (Carothes and et.al 2016). The main strategies
implemented by the company involves formulation of a clear theory and linking between
accountability and data, creating legal provisions for disclosure of data and designing an open
data policy. In reference to organisation, to achieve transparency it is important to provide
sufficient data and information related to stakeholders and activities.
Research Methodology
Research method: There are mainly two types of research which are qualitative and
quantitative. According to the research topic, quantitative research is effective as it helps
investigator in developing in-depth knowledge about topic and gather numerical information
(Leedy and Ormrod, 2019). Along with this, it also assists in collecting as much as information
from small sample size.
Research approach- It is mainly categorised into two forms that is deductive and inductive
research approach. For the present study, deductive research approach will be used as it help in
gathering quantitative data in less time period. In addition to this, it also assist to develop valid
and reliable conclusion in a timely and effective manner.
Research philosophy- Positivism and interpretivism are mainly two forms of research
philosophies but as per the research topic. Positivism research philosophy is effective and useful
(Tabuena, Hilario and Buenaflor, 2021). The main reason to select is it help to conduct
quantitative study and in an effective and proper manner and does include factual data.
Data collection- It is referred as the process to collect data by primary and secondary
method of data collection. In context to the present study, both primary and secondary method
will be used. The reason to select primary data is it help to gain in-depth knowledge regarding
topic because of which positive conclusion is drawn. On the other hand, secondary data consist
of viewpoint of various authors on topic that leads to development of valid and reliable outcome.
Data analysis- It is defined as the process of analysing and interpreting the collected
information so that findings can be represented in a proper manner. There are mainly two forms
of data analysis that is thematic analysis and frequency distribution analysis (Lê and et. al.,
2019). In relation to present study, frequency distribution analysis is appropriate as it assist to
analyse primary data in more effective and proper manner.
Sampling: In order to collect primary data, the 20 employees of Sainsbury’s is selected as
respondents through random sampling which is a part of probability sampling method. The main

reason to select employees is it they have knowledge about ground workings and policies of
company because of which they provide appropriate information to researcher.
Gantt Chart
It is defined as a chart which illustrates each and every activity associated to starting and
ending time. In addition to this, it assists researcher to complete the study within the given time
period. The Gantt chart of present study is given below:

REFERENCES
Books & Journal
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on-transparency-and-accountability-pub-63318>