Morrisons are the worst supermarkets due to the fact that they have the weakest policy on sustainable seafood and they sell the largest range of destructively fished species. Another reason for being the worst is that Morrisons sell poorly labelled seafood products and have failed to support any initiatives aimed at improving the environmental performance of fishing practices
The aim of this assignment is to give me the opportunity to apply the concepts and techniques of environmental analysis to a sector and company of my choice. In so doing, it will help me to understand the complex world of business.
I’ am required to make balanced judgements, conclusions and recommendations.
This assignment aims to develop my research, analysis and evaluation skills, including the collection and interpretation of information from secondary (and sometimes primary) sources.
Part 1 of the assignment is the Group Report, for this we will need to choose a business sector that interests us.
Our report should answer the following question:
‘What are the main current and prospective drivers in the UK business environment that might encourage your chosen business sector to improve its ecological, ethical or social performance?’
To do this, we will need to identify and review Social, Legal, Economic, Political and Technological, as well as Ecological and Ethical trends. These should be relevant to sustainability issues in the business environment of the chosen sector.
We are also to review these trends generally, and then show how they relate to your specific sector.
Our chosen sector is to be Supermarkets, and my part of the assignment is to do the Political and Technological trends of the above mentioned sector.
Political Trends
Political trends are dealt with different people and canGlobal, national, regional, and community trends, changes and events
Here is a list of potential political issues associated with the supermarket industry sector; the government and their politicians would claim to be at least slightly concerned about the following issues:
- Global warming
- Traffic congestion
- Illness and injury caused by road traffic
- The balance of payments deficit
- Loss of bio-diversity in the countryside
- Britain’s ‘waste crisis’
- Poor diet and its effects
- Pollution and ill health caused by chemical dependant agriculture
- The well being of developing countries
- Our absolute dependence on oil
- Falling employment in agriculture and allied industries
- Animal welfare
- Loss of community
- The cost to the taxpayer of propping up agriculture and the rural economy
When people, farmers, small businesses or politicians complain about ‘the supermarkets’, the fundamental concern is about market share and the power it brings.
What is and what isn’t a ‘supermarket’ must therefore be defined according to how much market share a business has.
Over two-thirds of the supermarkets do not produce a report on their environmental impact. Pesticides are an example of the lack of environmental momentum in the supermarket sector. Even if people don’t buy organic they want food that is free from contamination. Government Pesticide Safety Directorate results have shown that supermarkets have failed to reduce overall pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables during the last five years.
Fairtrade is connected to political trends as they involve Global and Government Issue. For every £1 that shoppers in the UK spend on bananas, banana plantation workers receive only 1.5p, resulting in orkers labouring 11- to 12-hour days and still not being able to feed their families. Even in supermarkets, which claim to champion Fairtrade products as an example of the company’s ethical integrity, only 15% of bananas sold are Fairtrade, meaning a poor 85% result from unfair trade. 90% of chocolate consumed in this country is produced in West frica, a region where growers are often exploited and cheated by middlemen, and where plantations have been found to use slave labour often comprising children sold by poor families into the plantations.
Working conditions for the staff are also a political trend
Working conditions in most supermarkets are pleasant, with clean, well-lighted, climate-controlled surroundings. Work can be hectic, however, and dealing with customers sometimes can be stressful so the supermarkets have to takes these things into account
Supermarkets are open to the public many hours each day, most supermarkets are now open 24/7, so workers are needed for early morning, late night, weekend, and holiday work. With employees working fewer than 30 hours a week, on average, these jobs are particularly attractive to workers who have other family or school responsibilities or another job.
Technological Trends
Technology has a grip on us. It's everywhere, from cars, to food, to medicine. It can be very useful, but also has a way of taking over.
It has provided great benefits and advances in the supermarkets sector such as: communication systems, internet shopping, ‘Chip and Pin’ etc.
Home delivery or internet shopping options offer another means of purchasing goods. Many supermarkets now offer both. Orders may be placed by phone or fax at your local store, or you can drop in your shopping list or shop as usual and request home delivery at the checkout. A survey by ‘Which?’ in 2001 found that none of the supermarkets’ internet shopping services stood out above the others.
The supermarket industry pioneered, and it could be argued, created the science of retail technology in the 1970's through adoption of the Universal Product Code (UPC) and point-of-sale scanning technologies. Today, supermarket technology touches virtually every aspect of total store operations from DSD receiving, to electronic time clocks and payroll systems, to warehouse management systems, even printing and display technologies.
I believe that technological trends have helped the supermarket industry grow as part of a boom in retail sales as shown in the graph below.
The volume of retail sales indicates modest growth over recent months, following a period of no overall growth from late 2004 to mid 2005.
The volume of retail sales in the three months August to October 2005 was 0.7 per cent higher than in the previous three months. This follows growth of 0.4 per cent in the three months to September and compares with growth of 0.9 per cent at the same time in 2004.
Some technological advances-such as computer scanning cash registers and automated warehouse equipment-have boosted productivity, but these innovations are not expected to severely threaten employment levels. In fact, past technological improvements like scanners and electronic data interchange are expected to improve opportunities in areas such as category management and distribution. Increasing competition from large discount department stores will encourage the industry to continue to improve its efficiency by adopting new technologies and procedures and by reducing redundancies, especially in the supply lines. However, many tasks, such as stocking shelves on the sales floor or accepting payment from customers, cannot be performed effectively by machines. In addition, many consumers have demonstrated their strong desire for personal services. For example, customers want managers to answer questions about store policy and services; they want cashiers and courtesy workers to answer questions, bag goods, or help them bring shopping to their cars; and they want workers in specialty departments to advise them on their purchases and fill personal orders by providing special cuts of meat, fish, or poultry.