Tesco PLC and the Global Business Environment: A Retail Case Study

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This project analyzes Tesco's global business environment.

RESEARCH PROJECT
To identify the pros and cons of global business environment on retail industry in UK- case study
of Tesco

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................2
RESEARCH AIM.........................................................................................................................3
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES.............................................................................................................3
RESEARCH QUESTIONS.............................................................................................................3
RATIONALE............................................................................................................................... 3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................ 4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY......................................................................................................7
TIMELINE OF THE ACTIVITIES................................................................................................... 8
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 10

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INTRODUCTION
The global business environment can be referred to as the environment which exists within
the different sovereign countries. This environment is exogenous to the environment in the
home country of the organization and therefore, influences the decision making activities of
the company for the capabilities and use of resources. The global business environment
comprises of both the external environment and the internal environment of the
organization (Hamilton and Webster, 2018). The external business environment of the
company comprises of social, technological, cultural, legal, regulatory, tax and political
environment. The organizations which operate in the global business environment must
strive to efficiently understand the external environment of the host country in which it
would be performing its operations for ensuring efficiency and effectiveness of operations.
With the increasing competition, there is an intense need for organizations to become
players in the global market and ensure the growth and sustainability of their operations.
However, the global business environment has both positive and negative impact on the
operations of the company (Lasserre, 2017). The business environment is providing
opportunities for companies situated in the United Kingdom. It also has an impact on the
standard of living of the individuals, the balance of trade, general economic conditions in
the UK and inflation among others. The multinational corporations within the United
Kingdom are focusing on exploring more opportunities within the global market with the
objective of gaining a competitive advantage (Beitzen-Heineke et al., 2017). Thus, it can be
said that international business has a huge impact on the economy of the United Kingdom,
which leads to overall economic growth.
This study has been aimed at determining the positive and negative impacts of the global
business environment on the companies in the United Kingdom, by taking a case of Tesco
Plc.

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RESEARCH AIM
The research project aims to identify the pros and cons of the global business environment
on the retail industry in the United Kingdom, by taking the case study of Tesco Plc.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1. To analyze the global business environment and determine its impact on the retail
Companies in the United Kingdom.
2. To understand and evaluate the pros of global business environment on Tesco.
3. To critically evaluate the cons of international business environment on the
operations of Tesco.
4. To understand and form an opinion on the overall impact of the business
environment for the retail companies in the United Kingdom
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The research questions which would be answered after the completion of this study are:
1. How are the companies in the retail industry affected due to the existence of the
international business environment in the United Kingdom?
2. What are the benefits of a global business environment on the companies of retail
industry in the United Kingdom?
3. What are the negative impacts of the international business environment on the
companies in the United Kingdom?
RATIONALE
This research project has been selected with a personal interest in investigating the global
business environment and its impact in detail. For the multinational corporations, it is of
vital importance to determine the pros and cons of the global business environment and its
effect on their operations. To expand the business operations and to ensure long term
sustainability of the business operations, the multi-national corporations must determine

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the external factors which impact their business operations and determine corrective
actions for avoiding them (Hernandez and Nieto, 2015).
The case study of Tesco has been selected as it is a major grocery retailer within the industry
in the United Kingdom. This case would provide the researcher with new and enhanced
insights about the various international environmental factors which would be impacting
the operations of the retail industry at large. The growth prospects which can be achieved
by the organization by entering into the international market can also be critically analyzed.
Thus, it can be said that Tesco as an example would be very effective in analyzing the pros
and cons of the international business environment in the retail industry of the United
Kingdom.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The international environment is going through a historic transformation. Adekola and
Sergi (201 6) have argued that there are drastic changes in the world economy, where the
business organizations are moving towards a world where the national economies are
merging with each other to form an interdependent economic system. This international
business environment is providing both opportunities and challenges for business
organizations. Hamilton and Webster, (2018) have classified the international business
environment majorly into the macro and microenvironment.
A microenvironment has been defined by Lasserre (2017) as the forces which have a direct
influence on the decisions of the business and which form a part of the immediate
environment of the company. The various components of the microenvironment are
suppliers, market intermediaries and also other service organizations. Knight and Liesch,
(2016) have stated in his studies that the Macro environment factors are those forces which
have an impact on all the organizations and its surroundings and also comprises of factors
such as political, economic, legal and social. The organizations must constantly monitor the
changes existing within both the micro and macro environment and also form appropriate
strategies which would be a helpful guide for coping with the different market conditions.
REASONS FOR ENTERING GLOBAL MARKET

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Entering into the global markets is one of the most strategic decisions which the business
organization can take. This impacts the management of the company along with the internal
and external environment. Ivanov et al., (2019) argued that the organizations must ensure
that their purpose of entering into the international markets is clear. The most common
objective for which the business organizations can become global is the increasing need to
pursue their potential in other countries and diversify the risks borne by them. Xu et al.,
(2018) stated in his studies that the companies enter into international markets majorly by
expanding their product lines and launching the new products within the market. In contrast
to this, Sassen, (2016) argued that the companies diversify their business operations to the
foreign lands with the objective of offsetting the adverse impacts of uncertainties such as
political intolerance and economic uncertainties.
Lasserre (2017) researched in his studies that the companies focused on entering the
international markets with the objective of achieving a higher growth rate. The developed
economies have substantially lower growth rates as compared to the developing nations.
Epstein (2018) stated that the companies entered the international market with the
objective of testing their products and strategies in comparison to its competitors. Also, the
companies believe in establishing their business units to foreign lands owing to the
favourable trade policies of the government of host countries.
PROS OF GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
There are several advantages while operating within the global business environment.
Hopkinson et al., (2018) has stated that the companies can enter into the international
markets which would provide them with benefits in terms of availability of natural
resources, cheap availability of human resources and others. The companies can enter the
international market to experience the benefits of a strong economy and also face
competition from the overseas market. Hamilton and Webster, (2018) stated that
increased competition would motivate the company to develop enhanced products and
would be helpful in ensuring that the company achieves increased sales and thus, higher net
profits. Similarly, Ivanov et al., (2019) have highlighted the benefits of the global business
environment in terms of diversification. The favourable external business environment has
helped in ensuring that the business organizations can diversify the product range by

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analyzing the needs of the larger customer base and also avail benefits in terms of free
trade policies from the government of the host country.

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CONS OF GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Despite the numerous benefits of the global business environment, Buckley et al., (2017)
have highlighted the negative impacts of the global business environment on business
organizations. The internationalization of the business operations fuels disputes and
conflicts amongst the different communities. Caizza et al., (2017) stated in his studies that
the developed countries have more instances of job insecurity, which are a result of the
outsourcing of the manufacturing activities to host countries where labour is easily
available. The price level within the economy is also impacted by the drastic changes in the
global business environment. Many countries are forced to lower down the selling prices of
products due to increased competition and thus, lower their profit margins. Hopkinson et
al., (2018) has argued that with the increase in foreign trade, the developing nations are also
motivated to adopt the culture of the developed nations. Despite this, the government of
the developing nations has focused on maintaining the tariff rates and trade policies, which
would be helpful in maintaining the global business environment.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter of the research has been aimed at describing the different methods which
would be adopted by the researcher for undertaking the studies.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND APPROACH
This research would be conducted by adopting the inductive approach. This means that the
case of Tesco Plc. would be undertaken for determining the impact of the global business
environment on the operations of this company. From the results obtained, results would
be provided for the retail industry in the UK at large (Burns, 2016). This would ensure that
the researcher can understand the overall industry and infer conclusions just by taking the
case of Tesco- a retail company.
DATA COLLECTION METHODS
The data for conducting this research would be obtained by the use of both the qualitative
data collection methods and the quantitative data collection methods. The primary data
would be collected by means of a questionnaire. This would ensure that the opinions of the
employees at Tesco are being obtained. This would help the researcher in obtaining
inferences from the industry players and also ensuring that the exact conditions within the
retail industry can be determined. This would be helpful in obtaining quantitative data
(Almalki, 2016). The qualitative data for the research would be obtained from the secondary
sources of data collection. This data would be collected by reviewing the previous literate
and studies undertaken by different scholars. This would include magazines, newspapers,
articles, research papers and other similar sources.
SAMPLE SIZE
With the objective of collecting the primary data for studies, a sample size of fifty has been
considered optimum by the researcher. This means that the questionnaire would be
circulated to fifty employees within Tesco, and their opinion would be obtained about the
impact of external global business environment on their business. The researcher will make
a structured questionnaire which would be aimed at determining the various positive and
negative aspects of the business environment which would be impacting the organization

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(Mackey and Gass, 2015). These respondents would be selected using a random sampling
technique by the researcher. On the basis of the results of the questionnaire, the researcher
would be in a position to derive the results for the study.
With the objective of undertaking the secondary research, the researcher would obtain
several types of research which have been previously conducted by the other scholars for
determining the impacts of the global business environment. The most relevant researches
would be sorted by the researcher based on certain criteria for further performing the
studies (O'Leary, 2018). The information which would be obtained from such secondary
sources would be subject to thematic analysis for assessing the research questions in detail.
TIMELINE OF THE ACTIVITIES
The research project must be carried out by considering the overall duration of all the
research. Determining the timeline for the project report is of crucial importance for
ensuring the successful execution of the research project. The timeline for this research
project would be made with the help of a Gantt chart. The Gantt chart is a systematic tool
which would guide the researcher in accomplishing the overall objectives of the project
within the stipulated time frame (Lewis, 2015). The Gantt chart also provides a detailed
description of the researched activities which the researcher would be required to perform
in a sequential manner.

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The Gantt chart depicting the timelines for this research project is depicted below:
Task Week
1
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Determining the research
problem
Defining the aims and
objectives for research
Undertaking the review of
available literature
Designing the research process
Collecting data from primary
and secondary sources
Drawing results from data
collected
Findings and recommendations

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REFERENCES
Adekola, A . and Sergi, B.S., 2016. Global business management: A cross-cultural
perspective. Routledge.
Almalki, S., 2016. Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Data in Mixed Methods
Research--Challenges and Benefits. Journal of Education and Learning, 5(3), pp.288-296.
Buckley, P.J., Doh, J.P. and Benischke, M.H., 2017. Towards a renaissance in international
business research? Big questions, grand challenges, and the future of IB scholarship. Journal
of International Business Studies, 48(9), pp.1045-1064.
CAIZZA, R., SHIMIZU, K. and YOSHIKAWA, T., 2017. Cross-border M&A: Challenges and
opportunities in global business environment [Guest editors' introduction].
Epstein, M.J., 2018. Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring
corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Routledge.
Hamilton, L. and Webster, P., 2018. The international business environment. Oxford
University Press.
Hopkinson, P., Zils, M., Hawkins, P. and Roper, S., 2018. Managing a complex global circular
economy business model: opportunities and challenges. California Management Review,
60(3), pp.71-94.
Ivanov, D., Tsipoulanidis, A. and Schonberger, J., 2019. Examples from Different
Industries, Services, and Continents. In Global Supply Chain and Operations
Management (pp. 17-43). Springer, Cham.
Knight, G.A. and Liesch, P.W., 2016. Internationalization: From incremental to born global.
Journal of World Business, 51(1), pp.93-102.
Lasserre, P., 2017. Global strategic management. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches.
Health promotion practice, 16(4), pp.473-475
Mackey, A. and Gass, S.M., 2015. Second language research: Methodology and design.
Routledge
Morrison, M.J., 2016. The Global Business Environment: Challenges and
Responsibilities. Palgrave Macmillan.
Sassen, S., 2016. The Global City: Strategic Site, New Frontier. In Managing Urban Futures
(pp. 89-104). Routledge.