Tesco PLC is a multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. After Walmart, Tesco it is the second-largest retailer in the world measured by profits and the second-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues. It has stores in 12 countries across Asia, Europe and North America and is the grocery market leader in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Business ethics is a form of applied ethics it deals with ethical rules and principles within a business or commercial context, the various moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business setting, and any special ethical duties or obligations that apply to people who are engaged in commerce, including workers and managers, customers and suppliers, and the larger group of people who have some interest in the business.
Ethical issues affect all businesses, if a particular business is becoming a victim of bad ethical problems it could close down because the public perception would be very low. But if a company focuses on good ethical actions like recycling and only buying fair trade produce it would increase their popularity with consumers and boost sales.
Tesco mission statement is 'To create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty'. Tesco’s mission statement is to retain loyal customers, this shows the world that Tesco hope to make sure that the clients they have come back to them and don’t go to their competitors.
There corporate objectives are to meet the needs of customers by constantly seeking, and acting on, their opinions regarding innovation, product quality, choice, store facilities and service, and to support the well-being of the community and the protection of the environment.
Tesco’s corporate aims are to grow the UK core and remain the market leader, and to be responsible for the development of communities located in proximity to Tesco.
Tesco ethical issues
Ethical Issue 1- Trading fairly
Fair trade is an organized movement developed to promote standards of environmentalism and fair wages, alleviate global poverty and ensure that companies negotiate with the growers, manufacturers and producers of products for a fair price.
If the standards of the farm in which the product is supplied from, are not abiding by common laws of animal cruelty and hygiene factors, it can be seen for the company who uses them for supplies are unethical in their method of supplies. A main supplier of Tesco’s, Bowes Group, which supply all of Tesco’s, pork bacon and other meats, was video, it was found that the animals were suffering in cages that were too small for them and animals sharing pens with rotten maggot infested corpses. This will show that Tesco are acting unethically regarding were they get their farming supplies from and give a bad impression to the public, which could then result in sale losses. Tesco now have a policy to ensure that this will not be repeated, in the policy it states, “The code sets demanding but achievable standards of production, incorporating the requirement to the farm being in an environmentally friendly state” it was also said by Tesco’s that “We expect the highest standards from our suppliers and they are audited regularly to ensure these are met.” With these policies in place that will provide a solution to this issue.
Ethical Issue 2 – Human Rights
Low unemployment in UK can cause companies to employ out of the country, but this can also cause a big cultural issue within the workplace because of the language barriers of the different cultures. Tesco’s had announced that they would be employing people from Poland. By employing these Polish people it would create a language barrier between both customers and employees, effecting the performance and efficiency of