Tesco PLC's Corporate Social Responsibility: A Comprehensive Analysis

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Assignment 2

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Brief Summary of Business.............................................................................................................4
Company Rank with Regard to CSR...............................................................................................4
Examples of corporate actions that resulted in Tesco company's ranking......................................5
Influence of the company's approach to CSR on purchasing decision............................................6
The relevance of CSR in the current business environment............................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

Introduction
This report is prepared in order to understand the concept of corporate social responsibility
within the company Tesco. There will be discussed all the aspects of corporate social
responsibility in a systematic manner and this report will also provide deep insights into the
ranking of the business in reference to CSR. The corporate actions taken by the business will be
provided in this report. The approach of CS can bring some influences on the purchasing
decisions of a person. The justifications regarding this will be provided in between this report.

Brief Summary of Business
There are several numbers of organizations which are operating their business domestically in
the UK as well as internationally and they are also playing a major role in fulfilling their
corporate social responsibilities. The organization selected for this assignment is Tesco PLC
which is the largest organization in the UK dealing in the retail grocery market. It is the British
multinational general merchandise and groceries retailer which is headquartered in Welwyn
Garden City, England, U.K. The business of Tesco is considered as the third largest retailer in
the world in reference to the gross revenues and it is considered as the ninth largest retailer in the
world by its revenue. It is operating and has its stores in the seven countries across Asia as well
as Europe and it is also the market leader of the groceries in the retailing market of UK,
Hungary, Ireland as well as Thailand. There is a wide range of the shop portfolio of Tesco in the
UK. It includes Tesco Extra, One Stop, Tesco Metro, Tesco Superstore, Dobbies, Tesco Express
as well as Tesco Dotcom Only. Tesco has also made several steps in order to ensure the
completion of its corporate social responsibility and is having a good place in the market in
reference to fulfilled such corporate social responsibility (Schrempf-Stirling, et. al., 2016).
Company Rank with Regard to CSR
The corporate social responsibility is considered as the efforts of the company made in order to
bring some improvements in society in some way. These efforts can be varied in different ways
of making efforts for the improvement in society. There can be made the donation of money in
order to implement environmentally friendly practices at the workplaces. The corporate social
responsibility is very important for employees, non-profit organizations as well as the
companies. It is very necessary for the organizations to contribute towards the welfare of society
as they are also operating their businesses in society. The main purpose of corporate social
responsibility is to make improvement in the environment and develop the good conditions of
working for the employees at the workplace (Shamir, 2017).
The ranking of the company Tesco is 86 percent approximately related to CSR as compared to
31,583 companies which are quite high and represents that Tesco is fulfilling its corporate social

responsibility in the most appropriate manner (CSR Hub, 2019). The company is making great
efforts as well as the contribution in making the society a better place by including several
numbers of strategies to improve society and make better arrangements for its welfare. The
company is also following the objectives of sustainable development which are based on the
environment, poverty as well as gender equality. It is really a good practice adopted by Tesco in
order to do something good for society while operating its business successfully. CSR is referred
to as the responsibility of the company for its influence on society.
Examples of corporate actions that resulted in Tesco company’s ranking
There are several numbers of the corporate actions taken by Tesco which has resulted to have
such ranking of Tesco in the corporate social responsibility. Tesco has made a great contribution
to the development of society and making it a better place. These efforts have helped the
company in achieving such a position in the CSR world.
In order to provide support to the local communities, the Tesco Company has made the donations
of GBP 55 Million which is accounted as 3.96 percent of the pre-tax profits of the company to
the various charities as well as the good causes. Approximately, GBP 37.9 million was raised
from the employees of Tesco and through the customer fundraising (Wang, et. al., 2016).
The company has also made a contribution in order to empower as well as educating the workers
and employees of the company. Approximately seventy percent of the workers have stated that
Tesco is one of the best places to work. Seventy-seven percent of the managers as well as
business leaders have made great career progress in that company. The Company Tesco has also
contributed towards the labor as well as human rights. The company has declared its
commitment to the UN universal declaration of human rights and the international labor
organization core conventions.
The company has also paid its attention to employee health as well as safety. Approximately
1500 employees in the retail, as well as distribution, were injured at the workplace which was
taken care completely by the business. Gender equality is also maintained at the workplace in
Tesco Plc. The gap between the male as well as the female in the payment within the UK is not
more than 1 percent and approximately 57% of the employees are female.

One of the examples that made the business so good at the ranking of CSR is that the Tesco is
aimed to provide healthy food to society (Crowther and Seifi, 2018). The company pays attention
to the health and well being of the people consuming the products of the company. There have
been taken the point of views and opinions of employees as well as the consumers in order to
make the products healthier. The company is focused on reducing the amount of sugar from the
soft drinks which are produced by it. It is focused on reducing the 5 percent of the average sugar
in each year in order to cut the 4.5 billion calories intakes as well as 1400 Tonnes of sugar
(Tesco Plc, 2016).
There is one more example of such corporate actions which is the charity partnerships with the
other organizations by Tesco. The Tesco is focused on establishing the charity programs which
can prove to be useful for the business to help and assist the society in the development and
improvement. There have been established the partnership among Tesco Charity, Diabetes UK as
well as British Heart Foundation which is focused on helping the people of society in the
treatment of heart diseases and diabetes. They are making sure that these diseases are prevented
to a great extent. The funds collected by the business of Tesco from the partners as well as
customers are utilized in the improvement of the quality of food as well as the wellbeing and
health of people. The business of Tesco PLC has also paid its attention to sustainable sourcing.
The company has been engaged in the creation of several numbers of the sustainable farming
groups which are consisting of around 650 dairy farmers. Apart from this, the company is also
focused on the recycling of wastage. The company is engaged in the recycling, reuse or the
conversion to the energy about 84% of the wastage within related to the food as well as non-
food items.
Hence, these examples have helped the business in building the value of the business and a great
image of business in reference to the fulfillment of corporate social responsibility.
Influence of the company's approach to CSR on purchasing decision
Tesco is the largest food delivery organization and retailer within the UK. There are other
businesses also which are operated by Tesco PLC. IT has made several numbers of long term
strategies in order to be successful and be sustainable in the market. The company has also

followed the approach of corporate social responsibility by making improvements in society as
well as creating the value of the business for shareholders (Tesco Plc, 2016). It has completed its
obligations by being a part of the communities and assisting the community with support from
the customers as well as the charity partners. The CSR policies are important for a business
organization in order to create its brand value as well as attaining the loyalty of the customers.
The company makes the strategies in order to do something good for the society which creates a
good impact on the mind of customers. Acting as a responsible organization as well as creating a
good social impact has become essential for each and every organization. The customer
generally weights on the ethical as well as the moral actions of any company while making their
purchase decisions.
There are several numbers of customers who consider social consciousness as a very important
factor in choosing that from where they should shop. The company’s approach to the corporate
social responsibility has helped it in converting the purchasing decisions of the customers in
favor of the business of Tesco.
The CSR approaches have more impact over the purchasing decision of the individuals than the
prices of the products they are offering. The commitment of a company towards the social
responsibility and giving back to the local community has been considered as a great factor
which has an impact on the purchasing decision of the customers more than the prices. The
customers generally like to purchase from such places or the stores where they know that the
organization is adopting the ethical practices and doing something for the welfare of society. The
organizations can also desire to make a great image in the society. Such kind of organizations is
being preferred by the customers to purchase anything that has a good image in the society. They
can be able to create trust among shareholders, customers as well as the business.
Purchasing decision is the thought process that leads a person to identify a requirement,
generating several options, and then selecting a specific brand. There is surely the influence of
the corporate social responsibility approaches adopted by the Tesco on the buying behavior and
purchasing decision of the customers as the customers have started to trust on the Tesco
Company. They have the idea that the products of the company are good and prepared after
considering the health and well-being concerns of the customers.

The relevance of CSR in the current business environment
In the current business environment, awareness regarding corporate social responsibility is
increasing with time. It has been identified that the business which pays attention towards their
principles of the socially responsible behavior is favored by the general public and community
and the buying behavior of ten customers is also in favor of such kind of organizations.
Corporate social responsibility is rooted in the agenda of global businesses. There are several
outcomes of positive nature which arise when the businesses use the practices of the CSR in their
businesses. The financial performance of a business can be improved by using corporate social
responsibility policies in their businesses. The operating costs of the businesses also get reduced
to a great extent for such companies which are using CSR policies. Customer loyalty, as well as
the revenue of the business, also gets enhanced to a great extent. The businesses which use such
practices tend to have great retention and attraction rates of the employees in their businesses as
the attention is also paid on the employees of such organization. Hence the corporate social
responsibility is still a very relevant concept for the businesses in the current world.

Conclusion
It can be concluded from this report that the corporate social responsibility has become one of
the most important practices used by the business organizations in order to contribute towards
the improvement in society. The businesses like Tesco are using the approaches or corporate
social responsibility in order to ensure that the company is creating a good brand value and the
customers also trust the organization.

References
 Crowther, D. and Seifi, S. eds., 2018. Redefining Corporate Social Responsibility.
Emerald Group Publishing.
 CSR Hub, 2019. Tesco CSR/ ESG Ranking. Available at:
https://www.csrhub.com/CSR_and_sustainability_information/Tesco-PLC/.
[Accessed on 23.02.2019]
 Schrempf-Stirling, J., Palazzo, G. and Phillips, R.A., 2016. Historic corporate social
responsibility. Academy of Management Review, 41(4), pp.700-719.
 Shamir, R., 2017. Between self-regulation and the Alien Tort Claims Act: on the
contested concept of corporate social responsibility. In Crime and Regulation (pp.
155-183). Routledge.
 Tesco Plc, 2016. An update on our Corporate Responsibility commitments.
Available at: https://www.tescoplc.com/media/391787/corporate-responsibility-
update_nov-2016-final.pdf. [Accessed on 23.02.2019]
 Tesco Plc, 2019. About Us. Available at: https://www.tescoplc.com/about-us/.
[Accessed on 23.02.2019]
 Wang, H., Tong, L., Takeuchi, R. and George, G., 2016. Corporate social
responsibility: An overview and new research directions: Thematic issue on
corporate social responsibility.