Tesco Plc Leadership and Management Practices Report

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Context of business
Assessment 2: Report
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Introduction
Tesco Plc is Multinational groceries in British and retailer of general merchandise with
headquarters in the city of Welwyn Garden, Hertfordshire, UK. In the whole world, it is
considered as the third largest retailer by gross revenue. The products of Tesco include a
supermarket, superstore, hypermarket, and convenience shop. In this business report the different
styles of leadership, management practices followed by the Tesco will be discussed. The
organizational culture and structure will be explained along with analyzing how the business
strategies and functions can be influenced by the organization culture and style of management.
In the end recommendations for the improvements will be provided.
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LO3. Discuss the leadership, management, and development of people
Leadership refers to the individual's or group's ability to influencing and guiding the followers or
organization’s members. It is the art which is practiced by the leader for a motivating group of
people for acting towards the achievement of common goals (Ward, 2019).
The vision of Tesco is to become the high valued business by the customers served by the
company, communities which are operated, colleagues and shareholders.
Leadership styles-
There are various styles of leadership which are followed by Tesco. Autocratic style of
leadership is the one-dimensional leadership style in which the authority and power are given to
the manager or leader. All the decisions are made by the leader of Tesco without consultation
with team members or subordinates. Tesco’s leaders adopt the strategic leadership style in some
of the situations in which the leaders influence others for making voluntary decisions so as to
enhance the Tesco’s prospects of getting long term success. It is the potential of the leader for
expressing the strategic vision for Tesco and persuades them for pursuing the vision with the
help of right tools and strategies. With the help of this leadership style, well-equipped and well-
trained team members can be created for dealing with unforeseen threats and risks (Bhatti, et.al,
2012).
Management practices-
Management practices are the innovations and working methods that are used by the managers
for improving the work system’s effectiveness. Some of the management practices that the
Tesco’s managers follow include organizing the regular training for employees, staff
empowerment, different schemes are introduced by the managers for quality improvements and
operations management approaches such as total quality management, six-sigma, and just in time
inventory for decreasing the wastage of resources, cost reduction and making improvements in
the production enhancing the quality of products and services offered by the company. Economic
incentives are designed by the company so that the employees of Tesco work with full
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productivity which positively impacts on the company's productivity and higher profitability
(Ruggieri, and Abbate, 2013).
Organizational culture-
Organizational culture is very important in successful operations and functions of management.
It encompasses behaviors and values that contribute to the unique psychological and social
environment of business. There is the great influence that the culture of the organization has on
the interaction of employees within the organization, the behavior of employees towards the
change and resistance to change, the context in which the creation of knowledge take place and
way of sharing knowledge. The collective beliefs, principles, and values of organizational
members are represented by the organizational culture and is product’s factors such as strategy,
technology, market, history, product, management style, culture of nation and culture includes
organization’s assumptions, norms, vision, values, systems, beliefs, habits, and environment
(Bloom, et. al, 2012).
There are two organizational culture theories that the managers of Tesco adopt namely
Hofstede’s culture dimension theory and Trompenaar’s cultural dimension. Hofstede’s culture
theory focuses on cultural differences occurring in the organization at the time of the merger so
as to distinguish the different nation's culture. This theory helps the managers of Tesco in
understanding the cultural differences across different frameworks and different countries.
Trompenaar’s theory of culture facilitates communication among the different cultures in the
business organization and management. The organizational culture theory is the set of the shared
assumptions by which the behavior is guided. By the application of the organizational culture
theory in Tesco, the group of people can interact with each other effectively and even with their
clients and stakeholders. Every organization has its own culture that is unique and makes it
different from others (Jones, 2013).
Impact of management style and organizational culture on business functions-
The business strategies and functions of Tesco are greatly influenced by the culture existing in
the organization and the management practices that are adopted by the management team of the
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Tesco. There is the practice of giving incentive to employees in the organization and due to this
the employees work with full productivity and this makes the effective functioning of business
and operations. The morale and loyalty of employees are built by the support of management.
Organizational culture of Tesco impact the behavior of employees and functioning patterns as
they can adapt to changes easily and welcome them without putting resistance; the autocratic
management style of managers of Tesco helps the organization in completion of work on time
without causing any delay as all the decisions are taken by the top level authorities. There is a
clear line of control, crisis benefits can be gained fast. Fast decisions can be taken without asking
or waiting for the reply or feedback from the senior consultants or managers with the leadership
team. The pressures on employees are removed through this and they work with enhanced
productivity levels. The business functions are not hindered by the inexperienced workers and
productive results are produced by them (Norsworthy, et. al, 2012).
The employees in the Tesco are from different cultural background the management of Tesco
make such strategies and follow such management practices by which the employees work in full
coordinated manner by the adoption of the strategic leadership style. The capabilities of each
employee can be utilized as the authority and responsibility delegation is done accordingly.
There is a strong corporate culture in Tesco which make the employees be like-minded and they
hold similar ethical values and beliefs. By the alignment of these ethical values and beliefs with
the organizational objectives, the team can be built effectively due to the quick trust and rapport.
Due to the good bonding, the team can build a strong relationship with each other and helps in
avoiding the conflicts and the main focus is on completion of the task.
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LO4. Discuss the development of appropriate policies and strategies within a changing
environment to meet stakeholder interests.
Change is the rule of nature. Every organization has to introduce positive changes in its
organization for the growth and success of the business and to gain a competitive advantage.
Organizational change can be disruptive also if not guided by the proper strategies and practices.
Stakeholders are a group of persons or individual having an interest in the organization. They are
much affected by the decisions of management. It is very essential for the management to take
decisions after considering its impact on the stakeholders.
It is significant that in the changing environment effective policies and strategies should be
developed by the Tesco’s management which includes the following-
 For driving the employee's buy-in redefines of cultural values are must. By the
establishment of continuous improvements’ culture minds and hearts of employees ask
for the changes in which the employees work.
 The new structure can be created by the Tesco's management and management can take
advantage of adapting to the new organizational structure. The new structure can include
the new process, values, beliefs and workflow and employees can be transferred
gradually from the old ones.
 The communication should be two ended. The reasons for changes should be explained to
the stakeholders and they should be told about the benefits they will have through the
change (Gleeson, 2019).
 The preferred method of communication of stakeholders should be considered as by
making use of the effective communication manner help in ensuring the stakeholders’
content. By the adoption of wrong method lack of confidence and trust will be there
among the stakeholders. The timely update should be given to the stakeholders as this
will keep them engaged throughout the process.
 The stakeholders can be involved in the process of decision-making as this will not
hinder their interest at the time of introducing changes in the organization. The whole
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process of the project is remembered by the stakeholders so the manner in which the
project is accomplished is of vital importance. The finished goods are not just the
measure of success but the way goals are achieved are of great value.
 Regular training should be imparted to the employees so that they can easily adapt to the
changes. The training becomes must in case if changes involving shifting in processes
and technologies (Alvesson, and Sveningsson, 2013)
 Changes should be monitored on a regular basis. Metrics should be defined for measuring
the success and continuous monitoring keep the employees and management for ensuring
that they are working on the track.
 Feedback should also be welcomed by the stakeholders so that their views and opinions
can be taken into consideration for the further formulation of policies and strategies and
decision-making.
 Strong leadership should be demonstrated so that the employees can be motivated to
work in the changing business environment, and inspire the team, be open-minded,
flexible and demonstrate strategic thinking.
After the adoption of these policies and effective strategies, the stakeholder's interest can be met
resulting in developing the satisfied stakeholders who are the key people for the organization's
success and are much affected by the profitability of the company.
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LO5. Discuss the design and development of organizations.
The hierarchical organizational structure is followed by Tesco. In this structure, the obligation
and positions are divided into various parts for ensuring the smooth and effective completion of
work. Tesco managers should also make policies so as to ensure the alignment of corporate
culture policies with the system of performance management. Effective rewards schemes and
incentives should be formulated for optimal capacity enhancement. Employee’s performance
should be monitored well with meetings and check-ins. frequent feedback should be offered to
the employees so that they can be made aware of their work performance and the areas where
they need improvements. Regular meetings should be set for the discussion of results and
outcomes. Management should also provide support to employees when it is needed so that the
employee’s engagement can be ensured and they work with dedication and motivation and their
productivity level is not affected (Shook, 2012).
The democratic leadership style should be followed by the Tesco’s management as this will
allow for the active participation of employees and team members are involved by the leaders
while making the decisions that are critical. This wills effective work in case of the organization
that has highly experienced and skilled workers. This will enable two-way communication
among the employees and managers. Transformational leadership style can also help in creating
the thriving work culture through strong communication among the team members (Chaudhry,
and Javed, 2012).
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Figure: Organizational structure of Tesco
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Conclusion
Hence, it can be concluded from the overall business report that the leadership practices and
management styles such as the autocratic style, democratic and strategic style impact the
functioning and operations of the business to the great extent. The organizational culture theories
help the employees in adapting to different working conditions. So it is significant that the
employees should work in a corporate cultural environment so that no resistance to change is
imposed by them and they work in the changing environment easily and ineffective manner. But
change can prove disruptive also if proper strategies are not adopted by the organization so the
management should formulate the effective management practices for the effective business
functions and the employees should also work in a coordinated manner and with full motivation.
The management policies should be such by which the interest of stakeholders can be met.
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References
 Alvesson, M. and Sveningsson, S., 2015. Changing organizational culture: Cultural
change work in progress. Routledge.
 Bhatti, N., Maitlo, G.M., Shaikh, N., Hashmi, M.A. and Shaikh, F.M., 2012. The impact
of autocratic and democratic leadership style on job satisfaction. International Business
Research, 5(2), p.192.
 Bloom, N., Genakos, C., Sadun, R., and Van Reenen, J., 2012. Management practices
across firms and countries. Academy of Management Perspectives, 26(1), pp.12-33.
 Chaudhry, A.Q. and Javed, H., 2012. Impact of transactional and laissez-faire leadership
style on motivation. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(7).
 Gleeson. B., 2019. Strategies For Making Organizational Change Stick And Building A
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 Jones, G.R., 2013. Organizational theory, design, and change. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
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 Ruggieri, S. and Abbate, C.S., 2013. Leadership style, self-sacrifice, and team
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 Shook, A.C., 2012. A study of preservice educators’ dispositions to change behavior
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