The companies are the integral part of the society and they have both, the potential and obligations to the society and their obligations to the society is called corporate social responsibility. CSR is practiced by all the companies including SMEs. The CSR practices of the food retail sector of the UK have been a matter of prime concern as they are the major contributors to the UK economy. Tesco PLC is the largest food retailer in the UK and its CSR practices need to be examined with respect to its operations, activities and products. Generally, large companies claim their concern and commitment to CSR and announce it elaborately in their reports. The claims made by Tesco are different from the ground realities. The company claimed to reduce energy consumption and emission of greenhouse gases but could not achieve it for some or other reasons. Similarly, Tesco claimed to adapt to a compatible process of sourcing of its food products to be sold in its stores. The process claimed to investigate and monitor different stages of sourcing sincerely, but the recent horse-meat scandal revealed that there is a wide gap between the claims and the ground realities. The CSR is practiced by most of the companies for building reputation and the objective of the CSR to create value for the society is left behind.
Table of Contents
1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Corporate Social Responsibility
4. The Triple Bottom Line
5. The leading food retailers in the UK
6. Tesco PLC: Commitment to CSR
7. Operations and Activities of Tesco PLC and CSR
7.1 Reduction in energy consumption and emissions
7.2 Employees
7.3 Customers and communities
7.4 Key performance indicators of CSR
7.5 Products
8. "Horse Meat scandal" in the UK
9. Discussion
10. Conclusion and Recommendations
Research Objectives and Themes
The primary objective of this work is to critically evaluate the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices of Tesco PLC within the UK grocery retail sector. The research investigates the discrepancy between the company's publicly stated CSR commitments—regarding environmental sustainability, ethical sourcing, and social responsibility—and the actual operational realities, specifically highlighting the impact of the "horse meat scandal" on these claims.
- Theoretical foundations of CSR and the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) paradigm.
- Analysis of Tesco PLC’s green policies and environmental footprint reduction efforts.
- Evaluation of internal and external CSR dimensions including employee welfare and customer engagement.
- Critical review of CSR metrics, including Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the retail industry.
- Assessment of the gap between CSR rhetoric and actual corporate conduct.
Excerpt from the Book
"Horse Meat scandal" in the UK
An Irish-based beef processing giant ‘the ABP Food Group’ supplied beef burgers to Tesco which was tested to have up to 30% horse DNA. Larry Goodman, the present chairman of the ABP Food Group, preceded a food company, Freeza Foods, which was found with 80% of the frozen horse meat in its cold store. Larry Goodman was charged earlier also for fake records, cheating customs officials and having bogus meat stamps (Verbeke, 2013).
Presently, Larry Goodman accepted a breakdown in the internal control of the company and said that the meat used in beef burgers supplied to Tesco, has been supplied from a Poland based firm which was not in the approved list of the company. He refused to mention the name of the supplier from Poland. Tesco was the largest supermarket store which was caught up in this scandal and it decided to conduct DNA tests on the meat sold by the company which might cost £ 2 million a year. Tesco also announced to investigate its supply chain thoroughly to build up the confidence of its customers which was affected badly after the horse-meat scandal (Verbeke, 2013).
Manning (2013) said that the horse meat scandal has retarded the impact of the £1bn promotional programme of Tesco which was introduced to arrest falling sales of Tesco. There were other side effects of the horse-meat scandal on the food retail sector in the UK and the food prices increased in the name of maintaining quality, sales of beef burgers dropped substantially, shares of the food retail companies also dropped and sales of vegetarian food stuffs increased significantly. Tesco was voted by the shoppers as the worst superstore. In order to win the confidence of its customers Tesco announced that it would source most of the meat from Britain only and started with fresh chickens (Verbeke, 2013).
Summary of Chapters
Abstract: Provides an overview of the role of CSR in the food retail sector and highlights the discrepancy between Tesco's public claims and ground realities, exemplified by the horse meat scandal.
Introduction: Discusses the growing momentum of CSR in the UK retail sector and establishes the research context regarding the global and international obligations of major retailers.
Corporate Social Responsibility: Examines various definitions of CSR and outlines the stakeholder concept and the challenges related to human resource management within the CSR framework.
The Triple Bottom Line: Analyzes the TBL theory, its aim to balance economic, environmental, and social responsibilities, and critiques its practicality and usage as a potential "smokescreen".
The leading food retailers in the UK: Reviews the competitive landscape of the UK food retail market and the public commitments made by major players like Tesco to integrate CSR into their operations.
Tesco PLC: Commitment to CSR: Details Tesco's specific green policies, strategic factors for CSR, and declared achievements in sustainability and carbon management.
Operations and Activities of Tesco PLC and CSR: Evaluates Tesco's performance across key operational areas including energy consumption, employee relations, customer engagement, KPI usage, and product sourcing.
"Horse Meat scandal" in the UK: Investigates the details of the horse meat contamination incident and its severe impact on Tesco’s reputation and supply chain management.
Discussion: Critically analyzes whether CSR practices genuinely create value for society or if they serve primarily as marketing tools to enhance corporate reputation.
Conclusion and Recommendations: Summarizes the findings, noting the significant gap between corporate aspirations and operational realities, and calls for increased transparency and independent monitoring.
Keywords
Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, Tesco PLC, Triple Bottom Line, TBL, UK retail sector, Horse meat scandal, Sustainability, Corporate reputation, Stakeholders, Environmental impact, Ethical sourcing, Supply chain management, Business ethics, Key Performance Indicators.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research focuses on a critical evaluation of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies of Tesco PLC, the UK's largest food retailer, comparing their official corporate claims with actual business conduct.
What are the central themes discussed in the work?
The work explores themes such as the Triple Bottom Line (TBL), environmental sustainability, ethical supply chain management, employee welfare, and the effectiveness of CSR reporting in the retail industry.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to determine if Tesco’s CSR initiatives are genuinely aimed at creating societal value or if they are primarily utilized as marketing tools to build corporate reputation.
Which scientific method is applied?
The study employs a qualitative, literature-based approach, analyzing existing reports, academic studies, and performance indicators to provide a critical assessment of corporate practices.
What is covered in the main body of the text?
The main body examines the theoretical background of CSR, provides an analysis of Tesco's green policies, evaluates their operational performance regarding energy and labor, and investigates the impact of the horse meat scandal on their CSR credibility.
How would you characterize this work through keywords?
The work is characterized by terms such as Corporate Social Responsibility, supply chain integrity, stakeholder management, corporate reputation, and sustainability metrics in the retail sector.
How did the horse meat scandal impact Tesco's CSR standing?
The scandal revealed a major gap between Tesco’s public claims of rigorous supply chain monitoring and the reality, resulting in a significant loss of customer trust and damaging the company's reputation.
Does the author believe CSR metrics are currently effective?
No, the author concludes that in the absence of a proper, independent monitoring system, companies often provide data that is not fully evaluated, making it difficult to verify their true social and environmental performance.
- Quote paper
- Richards Macdonald (Author), 2011, Global Corporate Social Responsibility of Tesco (Grocery Retailer, UK), Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/213347
