Analyzing Leadership Responsibility and Change at Tesco PLC

This report assesses Tesco's leadership challenges, including unclear objectives, resistance to change, and reputation management. It explores transformational and situational leadership theories to address these issues. The report recommends strategies such as cultural change through transformational leadership, strategic planning for growth, and enhanced promotional activities to improve Tesco's market position and employee trust. The analysis highlights the importance of adapting leadership styles to specific situations and fostering a positive organizational culture for sustainable success. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

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Leadership: Responsibility and Change 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Theories and Frameworks Addressed..............................................................................................1
Impact of Issue.................................................................................................................................2
Strategies Recommended.................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................6

Leadership: Responsibility and Change 2
Introduction
This paper is in following to the assessment one conducted about the company Tesco. The
assessment one evaluated details about the company Tesco and the issues that they are facing in
the current environment. Along with the issues, theories and frameworks are also being
discussed in the report. These theories lead to the impact of issues on the functioning of the
company and future strategic recommendation for Tesco as well. It is very important for every
business to initiate accurate leadership strategy so that they can successfully lead the company in
the competitive target market. Tesco is a retail organization based in UK that is currently facing
the issues of difference in business objective, resistance to change (Personal Today 2010). Also,
the company is facing problem in managing a dignified reputation in the target market. Further,
the transformation theory or leadership along with situational theory will help the company to
successfully lead the strategies properly. Further, more details about the report are discussed
below:
Theories and Frameworks Addressed
Transformational Leadership Theory: transformation style of leadership refers to the leadership
under which the leader works with the team to identify the changes needed by the management.
A transformational leader creates a vision and guides the subordinates to implement changes to
complete the vision in the environment. This type of leaders is very flexible who believes in
working with the employees rather than supressing them with their decisions in the environment.
Transformational style leadership motivates the employees and job performance of the followers
by providing them a sense of identity and self in the project that they follow. With the help of
this type of strategy, the employees get a sense of recognition in the project that motivate them to
the maximum extend to complete the project (Renko, et. al., 2015). The transformational leader
becomes the role model of the follower due to which they inspire them and raise the interest of
the employees for the company. The transformational leadership style motivates the process of
intrinsic motivation and positive development of followers. Such leaders also initiate cooperation
and harmony at workplace. Thus, in this way transformation leadership works by employing the

Leadership: Responsibility and Change 3
leader in project so as to make them understand the required changes in manage to create a
collective identity of the employees as well (Popli, and Rizvi 2015).
Contingency or situational theory: The situational style of leadership states that there is no
leadership style that can be regarded as the best style for the business. Effective leadership
strategy is task relevant, it cannot be said that single type of leadership is fit for all the business
function. There are diverse business activities, so one leadership cannot act rightly for all the
activities of the business. Thus, according to this type of leadership, a successful leader is one
who adapts their leadership style to performance readiness of individuals with an aim to
influence them. Effective leadership varies on the basis of the requirement of task and the type of
employees present with the company. So, a situational leader is one who matches the right type
of leadership skill with the right type of business event (Anderson, and Sun 2017).
Impact of Issue
The fact should be noted that issues faced by each and every company in the target market lays
negative impact on the business. Similarly, in the case of Tesco Plc. the below mentioned issues
impacted the growth of the company in a negative way:
No clear set of goals and objectives at Tesco: The company has faced in managing a clear set of
goals and objectives for the company. Due to such differences, the company has struggled in
convincing the employees to move in the right direction. The employees themselves are getting
confused because of lack of proper objectives for the company that is subsequently increasing
problems for Tesco (Fiona Cumming, Bettridge, and Toyne 2005). This issue has affected
adversely in the position of the company. After the resignation of Terry from the company, the
customers have started shifting to other supermarkets present in the industry. The quality of the
products offered by the company has also reduced due to which the consciousness of the
customers have increased. Customers have started believing that the products offered by the
company are filthy and unhealthy for them. There has been a significant change in the position of
the company (Pradhan, Panda, and Jena 2017).
Employee’s resistance to change: Post retirement of Terry Leahy from Tesco, the employees
have become insecure and resistant to change as well. This is human tendency that people trust

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only those people who have worked with them and spent time with them. So, introduction of new
director in the company has made the employees insecure due to which they have become
resistant to change. The impact of this issue has portrayed on the company in such a way that
employees have started resisting towards any new program initiated by the board. Each and
every leader present in the society have their own way of working so, changes implemented by
Clarke were not supported by human resource that created a conflict of interest in the company
(Mekraz, and Gundala 2016).
Maintaining the reputation in the market: The Company underwent various changes with an aim
to maintain dignified reputation in the society. The company initiated various change
management program along with changes in leadership and culture just to consistently maintain
the image of the company (Antonakis, and House 2014). But this aspect negatively affected the
interest of stakeholders in the society. Because of implementing changes on regular basis, the
employees and investors started losing confidence from the activities of the company. If the
people of the company will not have confidence on the actions of the company then the image of
the company will definitely go down no matter how hard the board tries to grow (Elliot 2018).
Strategies Recommended
Below mentioned are the strategies that the company Tesco should use considering the
leadership styles and the issues faced by the company:
Change in Culture using Transformation Leadership: The Company is facing a real need to make
changes in the culture in order to maintain the image in the target market. As the organization is
facing the issue of employees where they do not trust the activities of the leader in the market.
So, the leader Clarke should make use of transformational leadership style to change in culture of
the company. After the retirement of Terry from the organization, the environment has become
negative and the employees and investors have started losing trust from the company. So,
introduction of transformational approach in the business will help the employees to regain
positive energies from the environment and grow (Wehrmeyer 2017). Tesco is facing problems
in the external environment as the employees have stopped trusting on the activities of the
company, so if the leader will make use of transformational style of leadership then he will
invest more of his time with the employees of the company. If the leader and subordinates will

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work together under one roof then the subordinates will slowly start to change their perception
for the leader and will attain respect for him. When the employees will start looking at Clarke as
their role model, then Tesco’s environment will turn into positive one and then employees will
start to support the decisions of the leader. So, the company should make use of this type of
strategy to regain their position and eliminate issues from the business (Tesco PLC 2018).
Plan to Grow: Every business requires a solid plan for the future growth. A plan helps the leader
to lead the subordinates in the right direction and reach at the desired position as well. Planning
process effectively increase the efficiency of the company by letting them know the standards
that they want to achieve and complete as well. Effective planning also reduces the level of risks
connected with the company and helps the business in implying innovation positively. However,
if the company does not have a solid plan then the employees certainly face difficulty in
following the right path and collectively grow as well (Nwagbara 2010). Tesco is facing an
emergent need to attain effective planning process for the business. Effective planning will help
the management to eliminate the problem of filthy reputation in the environment. As the
company is struggling to maintain a qualified reputation in the environment, so effective
planning process will provide an effective path to the management that will help them to move in
the right direction in order to attain competitive edge in the market. Lastly, it should be noted
that planning process provides evidence to the future activities of the company as well. For
instance, in future if the management want to follow a different approach then past planning
activities and outcomes received will help the company to create new planning strategies in the
environment (Management Today 2014).
Good Promotional Strategies: Good promotional strategies never hurt the business of any
company. As the fact is known that the name of the company Tesco has gone down in recent
years, so if the company will introduce good promotional and branding strategies in the
environment then it will definitely help them to reduce their struggling the environment. The
company should initiate promotional strategies in front of the middle class customers so that they
would change their mind to purchase the products of the company (Haddock-Millar, and Rigby
2015). The management should provide goodies and offers to the loyal customers present in the
market and they should also provide different offers to the prospective customers that are willing
to buy the products of the company in the market. The management should make the product

Leadership: Responsibility and Change 6
more approachable so that customer does not need to go another store to buy the product
(Financial Times 2015). Quality of the product should be considered as the most important
aspect for the business. Quality is the biggest attracting factor for the customers in the market.
So, the company should work on the quality of the products that they deliver along with the
promotional strategies in the market (Butler, & Farrel 2014).
Conclusion
Thus, in the limelight of above mentioned events, the fact should be noted the paper evaluated
details about the company Tesco. It has been noted that in recent years the company Tesco has
started facing problems in management. Post retirement of Terry, the new director is facing
difficulty in involving with the employees due to which trust issues, quality issues etc. have been
aroused. So, the above mentioned report evaluated strategies with the help of which the company
Tesco will effectively maintain their current position in the market. The strategies recommended
will also help the leader to initiate effectively leadership strategies in the business as well.

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References
Anderson, M.H. and Sun, P.Y., 2017. Reviewing leadership styles: Overlaps and the need for a
new ‘full‐range’theory. International Journal of Management Reviews, 19(1), pp.76-96.
Antonakis, J. and House, R.J., 2014. Instrumental leadership: Measurement and extension of
transformational–transactional leadership theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(4), pp.746-771.
Butler, S. &Farrel, S., 2014. Tesco must change culture and reinvent brand, new boss tells
employees. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/sep/26/tesco-must-change-
culture-reinvent-brand Accessed on: 24.11.2018
Elliot, K.J., 2018. Investor case study. In The Business of Farm Animal Welfare (Vol. 97, No.
101, pp. 97-101). ROUTLEDGE in association with GSE Research.
Financial Times, 2015. Tesco puts a brave new face on old problems. Available at: Accessed on:
https://www.ft.com/content/9fe25e7c-5d5e-11e5-a28b-50226830d644 24.11.2018
Fiona Cumming, J., Bettridge, N. and Toyne, P., 2005. Responding to global business critical
issues: A source of innovation and transformation for FTSE 350 companies?. Corporate
Governance: The international journal of business in society, 5(3), pp.42-51.
Haddock-Millar, J. and Rigby, C., 2015. Business Strategy and the Environment: Tesco PLC’s
Declining Financial Performance and Underlying Issues. Available at:
http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/18143/1/RBFS-V6N3-2015-9_PublishedVersion.pdf Accessed on:
24.11.2018
Management Today, 2014. 6 challenges new Tesco chief Dave Lewis will have to tackle.
Available at: https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/6-challenges-new-tesco-chief-dave-lewis-
will-tackle/article/1304346 Accessed on: 24.11.2018

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Mekraz, A. and Gundala, R.R., 2016. Leadership style and retail store performance-A case study
of discount retail chain. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 10(2).
Nwagbara, U., 2010. Managing Organizational Change: Leadership, Tesco and Leahy's
Resignation. E-Journal of Organizational Learning and Leadership, 9(1), pp.56-79.
Personal Today, 2010.Tesco HR team to face change management challenges after Leahy
retirement. Available at: https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/tesco-hr-team-to-face-change-
management-challenges-after-leahy-retirement/ Accessed on: 24.11.2018
Popli, S. and Rizvi, I.A., 2015. Exploring the relationship between service orientation, employee
engagement and perceived leadership style: a study of managers in the private service sector
organizations in India. Journal of Services Marketing, 29(1), pp.59-70.
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Renko, M., El Tarabishy, A., Carsrud, A.L. and Brännback, M., 2015. Understanding and
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