Business Strategy Analysis: Tesco's Scan as You Shop Initiative

This essay provides a comprehensive business strategy analysis of Tesco's 'Scan as You Shop' initiative. It begins with an introduction to change management and its importance in the retail industry, specifically highlighting Tesco's context. The essay then delves into the implementation of the 'Scan as You Shop' technology, discussing both the internal and external factors that facilitated this change, such as market competition, customer service improvements, and technological advancements. It also identifies factors that acted against the change, including employee understanding and training, communication issues, and customer adoption challenges. The essay concludes with recommendations for improving the change implementation process, such as adopting a structured change management model, enhancing communication, and increasing employee engagement and training. The overall aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of Tesco's strategic change and provide insights for future business development.

Running head: BUSINESS STRATEGY ANALYSIS
BUSINESS STRATEGY ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1BUSINESS STRATEGY ANALYSIS
Introduction
As discussed by Al-Haddad and Kotnour (2015), change management is considered to
be systematic process that is implemented in order to deal with transformation or transition of
the goals that have been set by the organizations. The major purpose related to change
management plans is based on the proper development and implementation of new strategies
that are able to improve the revenues of the organizations (Alvesson and Sveningsson 2015).
Change management can be considered to be a collective term related to approaches
that include, preparing, supporting and helping the individuals, organizations in
implementing the organizational changes. The major change drivers that exist in different
industries based in change management include, process reviews, technological evolution,
changes in consumer habits, mergers, acquisitions, restructuring of organizations (Brunsson
and Olsen 2018).
The essay will be based on a change that had been implemented by a major retail
organization like Tesco. The factors within the organization that have facilitated the change
will be discussed in the essay along with the factors that act against the changes.
Tesco is a multinational British grocery based organization that sells general
merchandise and grocery based items. The headquarters of Tesco are located in Welwyn,
Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom (Tescoplc.com 2019). Tesco has
gained the third largest position in UK retail industry with respect to the total amounts of
revenues that have been gained. The shops of Tesco are located in around seven countries
across Europe and Asia. Tesco was established in the year 1919 by Jack Cohen. The name of
Tesco had appeared in the year 1924 and their shops were opened in different parts of the
country (Tescoplc.com 2019).

2BUSINESS STRATEGY ANALYSIS
Discussion based on change implemented
Strategic change implemented in Tesco
As discussed by Erisman et al. (2015), the implementation of changes is considered to
be an important part of the operations of modern organizations in the industry. Tesco operates
in the retail industry of UK and the levels of competition in the industry are high. The change
that has been implemented by Tesco in different stores in UK and different parts of the world
has been termed as “Scan as you Shop”. The services have currently been applied in around
350 stores in the UK. The technology has been able to provide self-service based
opportunities to the consumers (Retailgazette.co.uk 2019).
According to Helfat and Martin (2015), the time required for shopping based
activities has also been reduced in this case due to increase that has been experienced in the
speed of services and operations. The ease of shopping of the consumers has been increased
due to the implementation of this technology in the operations (Retailgazette.co.uk 2019).
More than 600,000 customers are currently using the “Scan as you Shop” policy in the last
few years. Many customers have started using this technique and have gained a lot from this
implementation. The awareness of this scheme has been increased with the help of a TV
advert based on the service (Retailgazette.co.uk 2019).
Factors that facilitated change
External drivers of change – As discussed by Lin, Su and Higgins (2016), the
changes that have taken place in the retail industry of the UK have been able to affect the
ways by which the particular technology has been implemented by Tesco in different stores.
The suppliers, local stakeholders and mainly the consumers are able to affect the ways by
which Tesco in order to improve the services that have been provided to them. The macro

3BUSINESS STRATEGY ANALYSIS
environment based factors in the United Kingdom are also able to affect the operations of
Tesco and the change that has been implemented (Ocasio, Loewenstein and Nigam 2015).
According to Petrou, Demerouti and Schaufeli (2018), the growth in the market is
considered to be another major factor that is able to drive change within the organizations.
The competition that has increased in the industry has been able to drive the changes that are
required in order to be implemented in the organization (Schnackenberg and Tomlinson
2016). The growth levels that have been set in the retail industry are high and the
development and implementation of changes is considered to be highly important for Tesco.
The major rivals of Tesco in this case include, ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons. The
competition that is provided by these organizations can be mitigated by Tesco only with the
implementation of proper changes (Ocasio, Loewenstein and Nigam 2015).
Internal drivers of change in Tesco – According to Schnackenberg and Tomlinson
(2016), the internal environment of Tesco has also been able to provide many different
triggers or drivers based on change implementation. The drastic level of change that has been
made to the customer service are also related to implementation of new and improved
technologies. The organization has also implemented many qualified people in the operations
in order to enhance the services that are provided to the customers. Tesco has also made
changes in services with the help of surveys that have been made based on their needs and
demands (Smither, Houston and McIntire 2016).
According to Stephan et al. (2016), the benchmarks that are being developed by Tesco
in the retail industry have been able to drive the change implementation process in a huge
manner. The large number of customers who are served by Tesco on a daily basis are
influenced in a positive manner by implementation of modern technologies. Tesco also tries
to improve the levels of customer loyalty with the help of proper implementation of the

4BUSINESS STRATEGY ANALYSIS
technologies in different operations of the organization (Smither, Houston and McIntire
2016).
The levels of customer loyalty are considered to be highly important for the ways by
which an organization is able to maintain its position in the industry. Tesco aims at creating
value for the customers in order to retain them within the organization for a longer period of
time. The enhancement of the experience that is provided to the customers is considered to be
an important factor related to the ways by which growth of the organization can be ensured
(Tjemkes, Vos and Burgers 2017).
The implementation of “Scan as you shop” policy will be able to play a major role in
the ways by which the organization can enhance the experiences that are offered to the
consumers. The speed of services that are offered to the consumers are also increased in an
effective manner with the help of technologies. The technological innovations are able to
affect the ways by which Tesco has aimed at improving the revenues and profitability of the
organization in an efficient manner (Tescoplc.com 2019).
Factors that were against change
The implementation of changes in organizations is not an easy process and involves
different types of barriers and issues. The process of change management in an organization
thereby faces major levels of issues based on the ways by which changes can be implemented
in an effective manner. Tesco had also faced some major barriers during the implementation
of changes in the organization (Vaara, Sonenshein and Boje 2016). The barriers that are
related to proper implementation of changes in Tesco are,
Limited levels of understanding based on the implementation of change and the
impact that this has on the employees and the organization as a whole. The employees of

5BUSINESS STRATEGY ANALYSIS
Tesco have not been able to understand the change that has been implemented. Lack of
proper training had a negative impact in the ways by which Tesco is able to maintain the
proper implementation of technologies (Vance and Paik 2015).
Tesco has not been able to involve and engage the employees in different
organizational processes and the implementation of change as well. The change had been
implemented in different stores of the organization without the proper involvement of the
employees. The process of change that has been developed in the organization is considered
to be an important factor that has affected the culture and work process of the employees as
well (Vaara, Sonenshein and Boje 2016).
The communication process that has been developed and implemented by Tesco is
able to play a major role in failure of the change process. The organization had not been
implemented the change in an effective manner due to the lack of effective levels of
communication. The employees were not aware of the effect of the entire change process that
was implemented in the organization. This was able to cause major issues based on the
success that was gained due to implementation of change (Smither, Houston and McIntire
2016).
The customers were sometimes not able to use the “Scan as you shop” technology that
had been implemented in the stores of Tesco all over the UK. The lack of proper
understanding has been able to affect the proper usage of the technology in different stores
that are located in the UK. Improper usage of the technology has been able to affect the ways
by which Tesco is able to maintain the operations in the retail industry (Retailgazette.co.uk
2019).
Although the implementation of technology was effective for the operations of Tesco
the lack of understanding by the employees of the organization has been able to affect the

6BUSINESS STRATEGY ANALYSIS
change process in a huge manner. The customers of the organization have also not been able
to take part in the change implementation process in an active manner (Ocasio, Loewenstein
and Nigam 2015). The change based initiatives had not been communicated effectively to the
employees. The communication process is able to affect the ways by which the organization
has been able to maintain the position in the retail industry (Petrou, Demerouti and Schaufei
2018).
Recommendations
The major recommendations that can be provided to Tesco based on improvement of
the change implementation process are as follows,
A proper change management model can be implemented by Tesco in order to plan
the proper development change management process. The Lewin’s three step change
management model can be implemented by the organization in order to maintain the
operations in an effective manner.
Tesco needs to develop a communication process within the organization in order to
implement the change process in an effective manner. The communication based activities of
the organization will be able to play a major role in the ways by which Tesco can improve the
experiences that are offered to the consumers in the stores that are located in different parts of
the world.
Tesco needs to increase the levels of employee engagement within the organization in
order to implement the changes in an efficient manner. The change process will be improved
and the effect of the implemented technology will also be quite high for the organization. The
organization will be able to improve the ways by which experiences are offered to the
customers in the retail industry.

7BUSINESS STRATEGY ANALYSIS
The employees need to be provided with proper training based on the ways by which
they can use the technology that had been implemented in an effective manner. The training
that can be offered to the employees can further improve the ways by which customers are
able to use the technologies that have been implemented in the stores of Tesco all over the
world.
Conclusion
The essay can be concluded by stating that Tesco will be able to develop the
experiences that are offered to the customers with the help of proper collaboration that can be
provided by customers. The organization will be able to develop a competitive position in the
industry with the support that is provided by proper development and implementation of the
modern technologies. The improvement of training process will be able to play a major role
in the methods that have been implemented in order to provide appropriate levels of training.
The employees as well as the customers are able to play the most significant role in
development of the operations of Tesco in the retail industry of the UK.

8BUSINESS STRATEGY ANALYSIS
References
Al-Haddad, S. and Kotnour, T., 2015. Integrating the organizational change literature: a
model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), pp.234-
262.
Alvesson, M. and Sveningsson, S., 2015. Changing organizational culture: Cultural change
work in progress. Routledge.
Brunsson, N. and Olsen, J.P., 2018. The Reforming organization: making sense of
administrative change. Routledge.
Erisman, J.W., Brasseur, G., Ciais, P., van Eekeren, N. and Theis, T.L., 2015. Global change:
Put people at the centre of global risk management. Nature News, 519(7542), p.151.
Helfat, C.E. and Martin, J.A., 2015. Dynamic managerial capabilities: Review and
assessment of managerial impact on strategic change. Journal of management, 41(5),
pp.1281-1312.
Lin, H.F., Su, J.Q. and Higgins, A., 2016. How dynamic capabilities affect adoption of
management innovations. Journal of Business Research, 69(2), pp.862-876.
Ocasio, W., Loewenstein, J. and Nigam, A., 2015. How streams of communication reproduce
and change institutional logics: The role of categories. Academy of Management
Review, 40(1), pp.28-48.
Petrou, P., Demerouti, E. and Schaufeli, W.B., 2018. Crafting the change: The role of
employee job crafting behaviors for successful organizational change. Journal of
Management, 44(5), pp.1766-1792.

9BUSINESS STRATEGY ANALYSIS
Retailgazette.co.uk 2019. Tesco expands its "Scan as you Shop" service - Retail Gazette.
[online] Retail Gazette. Available at: https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2016/09/tesco-
pushes-its-scan-as-you-shop-service/ [Accessed 6 May 2019].
Schnackenberg, A.K. and Tomlinson, E.C., 2016. Organizational transparency: A new
perspective on managing trust in organization-stakeholder relationships. Journal of
Management, 42(7), pp.1784-1810.
Smither, R., Houston, J. and McIntire, S., 2016. Organization development: Strategies for
changing environments. Routledge.
Stephan, U., Patterson, M., Kelly, C. and Mair, J., 2016. Organizations driving positive social
change: A review and an integrative framework of change processes. Journal of
Management, 42(5), pp.1250-1281.
Tescoplc.com 2019. Tesco rolls out Scan as you Shop service in more stores. [online] Tesco
plc. Available at: https://www.tescoplc.com/news/news-releases/2016/tesco-rolls-out-scan-
as-you-shop-service-in-more-stores/ [Accessed 6 May 2019].
Tjemkes, B., Vos, P. and Burgers, K., 2017. Strategic alliance management. Routledge.
Vaara, E., Sonenshein, S. and Boje, D., 2016. Narratives as sources of stability and change in
organizations: approaches and directions for future research. Academy of Management
Annals, 10(1), pp.495-560.
Vance, C.M. and Paik, Y., 2015. Managing a global workforce. Routledge.