MMW226465 International Management Governance and Sustainability Report

INSTRUCTIONS

Description: This is an individual report with 70% module weight.

Maximum word count: 2,000 (10%) excluding tables, graphs, charts, and references.

Submission format: Microsoft Word document (PDF submission will be invalid).

Submission procedure:  Via GCU Learn/Turnitin link set up for ‘Coursework 2’. Any submission sent to the Module Leader or Seminar Tutor’s email is invalid and will not be marked. Also, any ‘mistaken’ submission of other student’s work as yours will be referred to the disciplinary committee. 

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this assignment are to develop your critical knowledge skills in the understanding of the ethical dilemmas and choices that global business organisations face; examine and debate some of the contested issues and complex international management, governance, and sustainability which international business leaders’ encounter; and evaluate alternative responses to contemporary challenges in international management, governance, and sustainability. This is an individual assignment worth 70% of the module weight. You may reflect on your group presentation findings in writing this assignment if they are relevant and helpful. 

This assignment also develops students’ postgraduate skills such as:

• Independent management of time and secondary research projects.
• Critical thinking and analysis skills in tackling dynamic international management problems.
• Creative problem-solving skills in governance and sustainability relating to international businesses.
• Taking responsibility for your own learning and development in the IMGS module.
• Critically examining texts and extracting the meaning
• Effective communication of strategic ideas about governance and sustainability in a synthesised and coherent manner. 
• Being a self-motivated and independent learner.
• Harvard referencing skills (In-text and bibliography).

DETAILS OF THE ASSIGNMENT

1. Adopt one Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) that underpins your work, and critically justify the rationale from a professional practice or academic paradigm focused on an international business organisation (not necessarily UK-based). Students are at liberty to choose the SDG that underpinned the group presentation or another one entirely.  

2. Critical analysis of the international management environment relevant to a chosen business organisation, and how the chosen international business organisation has adapted to changes in the international business environment over the past 5 years. This is an opportunity for the student to reflect on relevant theories and concepts on the uncontrollability of the international business environment. The chosen international business organisation may or may not be the same as the one applied as a case study in the group presentation. 

3. Critical analysis of the corporate governance system demonstrated the chosen international business organisation. This is an opportunity to reflect on the UK Corporate Governance Code or any other National or International Code, as well as relevant ethical theories and concepts. 

4. Critically analyse of how the business is addressing the focused SDG in (1) above. This is an opportunity to reflect on the latest progress report and UN Global Compact recommendations as well as the latest relevant academic reports.  

5. Discuss actionable recommendations based on your findings and analyses.

Solution

Introduction

The term "corporate governance" is used to describe the norms by which organisations are expected to run their operations. Companies may promote corporate sustainability by adopting governance practises that have a favourable effect on environmental, social, and economic development (Mallin, 2016). The quality of corporate governance has a direct bearing on the longevity of a company. A company's governance and long-term viability may be gauged by its global management practises. Market dominance may be greatly aided by focusing on sustainable development. Sustainable development is a game-changing shift that will trigger major shifts in the marketplace. The report uses the Tesco's social responsibility to examine the corporation and show how worldwide governance and management may lead to more ethical business practises. 

One Sustainable Goal

The worldwide management practises developed by Tesco thanks to its CR strategy are in line with the UN's sustainable development objective. The company's management is built on a commitment to doing well for the society at large, purchasing and selling goods in an ethical manner, protecting the environment, providing consumers with access to nutritious option with accomplishing SDG 12: Responsible production and consumption. The corporation may have built its worldwide operations on these principles, but it still didn't do enough to contribute to a more sustainable world.

The firm also offers community outreach programmes. It recruited 250 "community champions" at retail establishments throughout countries including China, Malaysia, and South Korea (Kim et al., 2019).

By introducing its community pledges, the corporation demonstrated to its workers how to make a difference. As a result of the company's efforts, the Marie Curie Cancer Care Foundation in the United Kingdom will receive 6.2 million pounds sterling(Kim et al., 2019).
The company's activities demonstrate how it incorporates sustainable development into its spending and business practises.

Corporate Governance of Tesco

Tesco is a global corporation that specialises in groceries and general product retail. The corporation is the world's third-largest retailer in terms of total revenue. As of the 28th of February 2009, eight executive directors made up Tesco's board of trustees. In addition to David Reid, who serves as the nonexecutive chairman, there are seven other directors, all of whom are independent and not involved in running the company. The company's shareholders must vote on any newly appointed directors within one year of their appointment, as stated in the company's articles of association (Corporate governance Tesco, 2022). When other methods of communicating with the company's leadership have failed, the company's senior independent director steps in to assist the shareholders in finding solutions to their problems and evaluate the chairman's performance. The board serves as a communication channel between the company's top management and its shareholders (Ismail, 2017).

There is a good distribution of executive and non-executive roles at Tesco. When it comes to serving the best interests of all stakeholders, the organisation in question fulfils the unified code. According to the code, the board must include at least 50% non-executive directors, and Tesco satisfies this requirement as well as the combined code (Chen, 2022). Tesco suggests that no one individual should hold both the CEO and the chairman positions at the same time. Many business failures may be traced back to a failure to divide responsibilities between the chairman and CEO. The chairman of Tesco's board of directors is a separate individual from the company's chief executive officer, who is responsible for running day-to-day business (Ismail, 2017). 

Codes of Practice

The unified code offers guidelines for the proper management of businesses, therefore increasing confidence in their direction. Companies trading on the London Stock Exchange must

inform investors of their corporate structure and how it relates to Section 1 of the Combined Code. There is now a disparity between the number of executives and non-executives at Tesco after the departure of two non-executives owing to a conflict of interest (Brannen et al., 2013). The firm needed to have this taken care of quickly so that it would be in line with the UK combined code. The process of selecting new board members is managed by the company's nominating committee.

If a director is a member of the board, they are expected to attend every meeting unless they have a legitimate excuse. When scheduling issues prohibit them from participating, they provide their feedback in advance (Codes of Corporate Governance, 2022). According to IR, Tesco has the worst corporate governance of any major corporation. The purpose of report is to demonstrate the importance of knowledge business, democracy, and sustainability by assessing the management techniques used by Tesco and comparing them to an external standard.

Tesco in International Business Environment

The UN Global Compact is the international norm used in this assessment. The United Nations Global Compact is an informal group that promotes environmentally and socially responsible business practises and requires companies to report on their progress. The UN Global Compact promotes honest and trustworthy business practises (Rasche et al., 2013). A company's participation in the United Nations global agreement demands unwavering support from the top executives. An annual report or other form of communication demonstrating the organization's commitment to responsible business practises and social support is required in order to maintain the organization's foundation of responsibility (Fussler and Van, 2017). There are ten pillars upon which the UN global compact's initiatives rest.

Human rights, fair trade, environmental protection, and fighting corruption are the four pillars upon which the ten principles rest (Rasche et al., 2013). There are two guiding ideas that fall under the umbrella of human rights. A company's first responsibility is to uphold and respect human rights as they have been declared worldwide, while a company's second responsibility is to refrain from engaging in any action that violates human rights. There are four fundamentals that apply to working conditions. Some examples include companies that support and recognise workers' rights to organise and bargain collectively, as well as those that have phased out such practises as child labour and forced labour. There are three rules to follow while discussing the environment (G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, 2022).

Technology development is guaranteed to maintain a cautious attitude to environmental concerns, take activities that promote better environmental responsibility, and encourage environment friendliness. Business organisations, according to the last tenet, should actively combat bribery, extortion, and other forms of corruption.

Business is Addressing The Focused SDG

Consumers and investors today are more aware than ever before, and they want companies to do their part to ease the strain on Earth's resources and population (Orzes et al., 2018). The general public is becoming more aware that companies must also think long-term if they want to succeed. Various factors, including climate change, societal upheaval, and economic inequality, might have a negative impact on the final tally. Those companies who recognise this
and take corrective measures will gain an advantage. On January 1, 2016, the United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda entered into effect, along with its 17 sustainable development objectives (Sethi and Schepers,  2014).

The UN Global Compact website states that the global objectives must be converted into enterprises in order to realise the success that the sustainable development agenda promises to bring to firms all around the globe. Under the UN Global Compact, businesses must disclose their financial, social, and environmental risks to investors in order to get significant funding, with the goal of preventing future global financial crises like the one in 2008 (Rasche et al., 2013). Investors are increasingly considering a company's impact on the environment, society, and governance when making investment decisions, as stated on the United Nations Global Compact website.

Firm valuations may be influenced by policies addressing climate change, water scarcity, human rights, and anti-corruption. Organizations that successfully manage their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks often have strong long-term financial results. The United Nations Global Compact works to ensure that all groups contribute to sustainable (Sethi and Schepers, 2014). With regards to the first category, firms, it aids them in analysing and managing with ESG risks by pushing them to incorporate them into their operations and investments. The second category consists of investors who are provided guidance on how to deal with the ESG risks inherent in their portfolios. The stock exchange market, which developed environmentally responsible stock market efforts, comes in last. Several frameworks have been created by the United Nations Global Compact that businesses may use to incorporate sustainability into their overall approach to business (Orzes et al., 2018).

As part of their dedication to environmental conservation, Tesco carbon labelled 100 of its own-brand goods in Ireland and the UK in 2009 and devised a plan to roll out the practise to other nations. The company intended to expand by constructing other stores that also used these carbon footprint-reducing strategies. Instead of doing nothing, Tesco consulted the Sustainable Production and Consumption Institute in Manchester and began using biofuel in its petrol stations (Jones and Comfort, 2021). Organizational efforts have been undertaken to lessen plastic packaging materials. It is disappointing that despite the company's efforts to promote sustainable growth, no steps were taken to address the issue of water usage by employees in the workplace as a whole (Kim et al., 2019). The firm is working toward sustainable development by measuring its actions against the principles of the United Nations Global Compact and the sustainable development agenda. The case study presents an in-depth analysis of Tesco's global environmental management policies.

When it comes to doing business in an honest and transparent manner, Tesco is not lagging behind. The firm engaged 726 competent auditors from 11 audit organisations to examine its worldwide distribution network. According to the case study, over 90% of Tesco's international suppliers feel valued. It seems from the case study that Tesco is making an attempt to adhere to the principles of the United Nations Global Compact. In other words, the business does not work with those that abuse human rights. The case study suggests the organisation cares about its clients (Jones and Comfort, 2021). 

Recommendations

In spite of the company's efforts, there is room for improvement in its approach to sustainable development. Activities promoting healthy eating inside the workplace are one option.

Tesco has to reduce the amount of salt and sugar in their products and increase the amount of healthy ingredients they use. Sustainable development will be advanced, and health will be improved, thanks to this activity. Concerning global warming, the business may provide clients access to goods and services with little carbon output. By learning about a product's carbon footprint, a corporation may cut down on emissions throughout the manufacturing process. There should be an effort to lessen the company's impact on the environment as it grows. Grocery store giant Tesco has to follow the government's lead in promoting renewable energy and the Kyoto Protocol. Even if the company's governance seems sound, it has a track of of poor disclosure and internal control. The firm must take action to counteract them. Sustainable development and moral business practises can't be attained with bad corporate governance.

Conclusion

A company's fortunes are affected by two distinct variables. Honesty and right conduct in business dealings. Research, comparison, and analysis all point to Tesco having a solid corporate governance system. Transparency with investors is a priority for the organisation, which helps assure its success. Tesco's progress toward a more sustainable future is thanks in part to the company's exemplary corporate governance. Recently, Tesco has launched several initiatives to guarantee compliance with the United Nations' universal compatible criteria. Since effective corporate governance has a beneficial effect on sustainability development, Tesco's adoption of these policies has helped the firm become more responsible in its operations and has facilitated further progress in this area. Tesco's annual report to the UN global compact provides a comprehensive account of the company's contributions MBA assignment expert

References

Adjudicator, G.C., 2016. Investigation into Tesco plc.

Brannen, M.Y., Moore, F. and Mughan, T., 2013, September. Strategic ethnography and reinvigorating Tesco Plc: Leveraging inside/out bicultural bridging in multicultural teams. In Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference Proceedings (Vol. 2013, No. 1, pp. 282-299).

Chen, J.J., 2022. Tesco Plc. In International Cases of Corporate Governance (pp. 27-44). Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.

Codes of Corporate Governance, 2022 [Online] [Accessed through] https://www.frc.org.uk/getattachment/88bd8c45-50ea-4841-95b0-d2f4f48069a2/2018-UK-Corporate-Governance-Code-FINAL.pdf [Accessed on 27th December, 2022]

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G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, 2022 [Online] [Accessed through] https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/9789264236882-en.pdf?expires=1667072353&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=31900F708A3B04B85A08F3A4F7C9A401 [Accessed on 27th December, 2022]

Ismail, I.N., 2017. The Roles of Corporate Governance and its Influences on Risk and Performance: Tesco Plc.

Jones, P. and Comfort, D., 2021. Leading European Retailers and the Sustainable Development Goals. Journal of Sustainability Research, 3(1).

Kim, W., Hallsworth, A. and Kim, H., 2019. On being local and being successful in Korea: Tesco and E‐mart. Area, 51(3), pp.461-469.
Mallin, C., 2016. Corporate governance. Oxford university press.

Orzes, G., Moretto, A.M., Ebrahimpour, M., Sartor, M., Moro, M. and Rossi, M., 2018. United Nations Global Compact: Literature review and theory-based research agenda. Journal of cleaner production, 177, pp.633-654.

Rasche, A., Waddock, S. and McIntosh, M., 2013. The United Nations global compact: Retrospect and prospect. Business & Society, 52(1), pp.6-30.

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Sethi, S.P. and Schepers, D.H., 2014. United Nations global compact: The promise–performance gap. Journal of Business Ethics, 122(2), pp.193-208.

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