Political, legal, social factors affacting Tesco.

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The factors I have chosen to explore for the stakeholders of Tesco and the business activity are:

  • Political Factors
  • Economic  Factors
  • Social Factors

Political Factors

There are various laws nationally and locally which affect Businesses especially large ones such as Tesco and the NHS. International bodies such as the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO) effect both Tesco and NHS, however not in the same way.

As Tesco is arguably the largest Supermarket chain in the UK it is always in the spotlight when decisions have to be made.  Should Tesco ever decide to open another store or expand an existing one they will have to apply for planning permission and that impacts them as they have to wait and can’t do nothing until they get the go ahead.  

Also a large issue at the moment is the environmental situation which attracts huge attention and the EU has set a number of laws which Tesco must abide by including:

  • How much waste can be thrown away by the business from packaging which was placed as law in 1999 and amended in 2004.This law also helps Tesco to attract customers as if they for instance use less packaging on their Tesco brand Cereal it will them to sell box and help keep them on top of competitors.
  • The Hazardous Waste Directive (1998) is another act which impacts Tesco into how they deal with the dangerous waste. If they were for example to throw it into the sea it would put sea creatures under danger and they would have a bad reputation from the unions which look after animals. This law has stopped the freedom that large businesses such as Tesco have had with dangerous chemicals as before because of their size they were able to do what they wanted but now with the EU looking over the UK they can’t.

Also due to the amount of interest that the environment has bought Tesco have to ensure they stay up to date with the latest green ways as they must keep their stakeholders happy such as:

  • Customers who want to know what they are buying is not effecting the environment and that they are instead helping it.
  • Pressure Groups as they are groups which work to keep the environment clean and can easily give Tesco bad publicity which will take away customers.
  • Employees must also be kept happy as they may not work at 100% if Tesco aren’t doing their part to look after the planet.  

Legal Rights which protect Employees at Tesco

The Employment Act 2002

This act gives employees the right to ask to work flexible hours, and also maternity and paternity leave for mothers and fathers. All employees should be given pay during certain periods of illness. All employees should be told what the consequences are and what will happen if they break the rules.

The Employment Relations Act 1999

This act states that the employees have the right to join trade unions.

The Minimum Wage Act 1998

All adult workers must be paid a minimum wage in the UK according to this act. The minimum wage in the UK for adults is £5.73. Legal Rights

All employers and employees are protected by the different laws which have been passed by the government.

The Equal Pay Act 1970

This act means that employees who are doing to same work as the opposite sex are entitled to equal rates of pay.

The Sex Discriminations Act 1975

This act is introduced to ensure that both sexes are treated equally. All employees are protected against discrimination over gender, race and disability. The Sex Discrimination Act states that it is unlawful for someone to be discriminated against because of their gender.

 The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

Organisations must produce a health and safety policy requiring employers and employees to create a place of work which is both safe and healthy. The employers must provide suitable training in health and safety. Employees are obliged to report any potentially hazardous situations or actions and follow all the company guidelines.

The Data Protection Act 1998

This act is so the employees can look up any previous business documents

The Race Relations Act 1976

This states that it is unlawful for anyone to be discriminated against their race. Items that are covered include discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic

The European Working Time Directive 1998

This act restricts the number of hours the employee can work. It will also allow employees to take breaks during the day and to also take holidays.

Social Factors

Now also a lot of social factors affect how a business does its activity. This includes:

  • Ageing Population
  • The Hosting of a major sporting event

Ageing Population

At this current time the age of Britain is increasing with a majority being dependent on working people. With only a small percentage of the population working it is hard for businesses to attract workers and the one way for them to employ workers is to increase wages. Due to this Tesco now look towards the young generation and have graduate schemes to help get new graduates into work. Also Tesco have 25% of retail workers under the age of 21 which is one of the highest in both the public and private sector.

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Hosting of a major sporting event

One of the most effective ways for a business to get publicity is by various ways such as sponsoring and running events. For instance recently Barclays recently bought the naming right to the end of year tennis event and also have the rights to the Premier league in football. Tesco have now learnt from that and are funding Everton FC in making a new stadium. This will help brand the name Tesco as thousands of people watch Everton play.

In order for Tesco to stay up to date in the social market ...

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