Rework-G130893V1

Leading and Managing Organizational Resources: e- portfolio (Assessment 1) Student Name Student ID Lecturer name: Word count: Reference style: Harvard 1

To From Subject line: Leading and managing organizational resources (Chosen organization: Tesco) Introduction and Purpose of the email, presenting an evidence-based argument, convincing the recipients. Hello, hope this email finds you well. This email aims to offer a summative assessment by addressing the topics covered in week 1, which is corporate governance, and in week 2, which is Leadership. Here Tesco has been chosen as the company to evaluate and critically analyze its corporate governance along with compelling leadership issues. Writing this e-portfolio targets to compel the proposition which holds immense value for the chosen company Tesco’s future success. Through extensive critical analysis and research made, an evidence-based e-portfolio is prepared which addresses the critical corporate governance and leadership issues faced by the company, Tesco. Through leveraging this e-portfolio, Tesco would have the opportunity to extend its image and draw attention and can retail talent, mitigate risk factors and also gain a competitive edge in the market. You are requested to kindly draw attention to this e-portfolio that encapsulates the research findings and also recommends actions. Critical Analysis and evaluation corporate governance According to OECD (2022) corporate governance includes, supporting building an environment of transparency, and trust along with accountability as per the requirement to foster financial stability, long-term investment, and business integrity needs support to inclusive societies and stronger growth. According to (Tescoplc. 2023), Tesco claims that they hold an effective corporate governance framework that supports their Board in the delivery of the company group’s strategy and guides for long-term sustainable growth. The company’s Board is committed to a suitable standard of 2

decisions that perfectly align with broader societal expectations and to generate long-term value for all stakeholders by placing a high priority on stakeholders' well-being. Issues in sustainability and corporate resilience: Apart from financial or ethical issues, there are sustainability corporate resilience issues that can be present in the company’s corporate governance which need to be addressed in the case of Tesco. Tesco has encountered corporate Governance issues related to these areas that have implications for Tesco’s long-run reputation and success. In The Guardian (2009), where notable environmental sustainability issues were revealed in the case of Tesco where this journal considered research done by Greenpeace which raised an accusation Tesco that they were engaged in contributing to deforestation through the supply chain. For instance, the company had also faced issues in this same area as per criticized by (The Guardian. 2021), which claimed that Tesco was engaged in plastic waste. This report illustrated the analysis done by Greenpeace and highlighted the area where Tesco was considered one of the UK’s top ten companies that were engaged in contributing to plastic pollution. Implementation of ethical and transparent sourcing policies and investment in regular monitoring, sustainable packaging, equal pay, and positive environmental impact are some important steps for the company to illustrate a commitment to corporate governance in sustainability. The stewardship theory can be used in this situation to address the problems with corporate resilience and pertinent sustainability. This implies that both managers and leaders can take on the role of stewards to make sure the organization is successful and sustainable in the long run (Rouault and Albertini, 2022). The company is able to prioritize ethical and sustainable practices, strengthening resilience, and protecting resources to lessen the impact of outside challenges by adopting this theory. Critical Analysis and Evaluation Leadership Traditional Leadership Definition and Qualities of a Leader Barack Obama who is the 44th president of the United States states that a person who has the ability to encourage, guide and mobilize individuals toward a general purpose. In his speech 4

along with writings, Barack Obama often emphasized the significance of empathy, vision, and integrity as the qualities of effective leaders (Fortune. 2017). As per Harvard Business Review (2018), Good leaders are also found to be adaptable as well as open to learning new things through showing ethical behavior, and integrity and also able to build credibility and trust among the followers. Role of Leaders in an Organization In all organization leaders play important roles where engaged in providing direction, establishing the strategic vision, and setting objectives for the organization (Forbes. 2022). An organization's leaders act as its compass, directing the organization's course and defining its vision while also motivating their subordinates to work together to accomplish common objectives. In order to successfully navigate challenges and promote innovation and a positive workplace culture, effective leaders must have a special set of traits, and qualities (Cortes and Herrmann, 2021). Organizational leaders give their followers a clear sense of purpose and direction by articulating a vision that is in line with their mission. Role of leaders in technological sector The leaders in the technological sector can prepare a roadmap for success by establishing specific goals and objectives, which ensures that every employee in a tech-company can understand their role and contribute as necessary. By exemplifying resilience, integrity, and other pertinent ethical behavior, leaders also serve as a significant role model for the organization's core values (Parker, 2020). It is well known that leaders play a crucial role in determining the success and expansion of the organization. In roleplay, leaders demonstrate their capacity to set direction, promote a positive workplace culture, create strong teams, and manage the changes needed to build the business. In the tech-company the leaders play an important role by driving innovation, navigating ever changing landscape and inspire teams to emerge new technologies. By exhibiting the traits of a strong leader, they can foster an environment where employees thrive and accomplish their objectives, allowing the company to reach its full potential. Efficiency or inefficiency of traditional leadership techniques or traits 5

General challenges observed in Leadership in the 21st Century (Leadership inefficiencies at current stage) As per Deloitte Insights. (2019) in the 21st century, there are a number of challenges faced by the leaders in every organization including the challenges of the rapid pace of advancement in technological adaption. As per the report (Deloitte Insights. 2019), with the increasing competition and disruption in digitalized business models, flattened organizations, and augmented workforces the leaders feel pressurized to hold their position in managing the challenges. With each passing time, organizations in this current century are struggling to get effective leaders. The Global human capital trends survey discussed in (Deloitte Insights. 2019), shows that nearly 80% of respondents rated leadership as the higher prioritized case for the growth process of the organization whereas nearly 41% of respondents respond about their perspective about the organization which is claimed to be ready to match their leadership requirements. Current Leadership inefficiencies in technological sector Though most 21st-century organizations have built digital leadership models with an update in their major frameworks and investment done in leadership programs. In the digitalized era people engaged in every UK-based Tech-organization no longer trust that the financial outcomes are the primary measure for considering business success where its social and physical movement, customers’ feedback, and engaged stakeholders are valued to measure the success factor. As a result, the engaged leaders of the Tech-organizations who followed the traditional criteria focused only on running and competing relentlessly in the market can be obtained as too narrow and not actually engaged with the organizational requirement at the pace of wider business and social environment. Apart from that, the leaders who are engaged in tech-sector also find inefficiencies in poor decision making, prioritizing lack of diversity and ineffective communication which are prevalent inefficiencies undermining leadership efficacy in current technological sector. 7

Leadership challenges in pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic has presented organizations, including those in retail businesses like Tesco, with a number of leadership challenges (Tedstone, 2021). These challenges have been faced by various operational domains. organizations faced a sizable operational challenge during the pandemic as a result of the abrupt shift to remote work. Leaders had to guarantee that their teams had the tools and resources necessary to conduct effective remote work. In remote jobs the company faces issues with productivity, communication, and teamwork. Tesco executives, for example, may have had to devise a way to provide uninterrupted remote access to key systems for their staff members. Leadership issues in Tesco Several leadership challenges have been noticed in Tesco which need to be addressed for finding a suitable way out of it. One of those issue is Tesco’s accounting scandal in the year 2014 where it has been observed that the leaders engaged in Tesco was manipulating the supplier's contracts and also engaged in accounting practices that led to the overstatement of the profit. This scandal raised the question among the general public that whether Tesco’s leadership was ethical and transparent. Another criticism has been obtained in the case of Tesco’s leadership which shows its treatment of the laborers. As per the report of Flynn-Richards, (2020), the engaged leaders in Tesco did not prioritize the required diversity management and engaged in partiality, supported unequal pay, bullying of employees from LGBTQ groups, and also support aggressive behavior which embrace the company’s poor working environment and weaken its supply chain. As per the analysis of Tescoplc (2023), a different range of initiatives have been considered by Tesco which includes concentration on the service and a significant program to restructure the company’s discipline through launching a program of renewal to restore trust in each aspect of the brand. The report also claims that Tesco plc in current times constitutes a comprehensive analysis for a better business leadership strategy. Conclusion of main arguments/analysis At the end of this e-portfolio the conclusion can be made that in this discussion, corporate Governance and leadership play crucial roles in the reputation, success, and sustainability of the 8

Reference  BBC News (2017) Tesco fined £129m for overstating profits , BBC News . Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39415681 (Accessed: 12 June 2023).  Cortes , J. and Albertini, E., 2022. Reconciling the social sector with external accountability requirements: Lessons from stewardship theory. Journal of Business Research , 142 , pp.485-498.  Deloitte Insights (2019) Leadership for the 21st Century: The intersection of the traditional and the new , Deloitte Insights . Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/human-capital-trends/2019/21st-century- leadership-challenges-and-development.html (Accessed: 12 June 2023).  Flynn-Richards, J. (2020) Discrimination and harassment of LGBT employees at Tesco , Salford University . Available at: https://www.academia.edu/43337106/Discrimination_and_Harassment_of_LGBT_Emplo yees_at_Tesco (Accessed: 12 June 2023).  Forbes (2022) Council post: Good leaders give directions; great leaders give direction , Forbes . Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/04/09/good-leaders-give- directions-great-leaders-give-direction/ (Accessed: 12 June 2023).  Fortune (2017) Barack Obama shares his lessons learned on leadership and power , Fortune . Available at: https://fortune.com/2017/05/10/barack-obama-leadership-power/ (Accessed: 12 June 2023).  Harvard Business Review (2018) Good leaders are good learners , Harvard Business Review . Available at: https://hbr.org/2017/08/good-leaders-are-good-learners (Accessed: 12 June 2023).  Khan, I.S., Ahmad, M.O. and Majava, J., 2021. Industry 4.0 and sustainable development: A systematic mapping of triple bottom line, Circular Economy and Sustainable Business Models perspectives. Journal of Cleaner Production , 297 , p.126655. 10

 Marjamaa, M., Salminen, H., Kujala, J., Tapaninaho, R. and Heikkinen, A., 2021. A sustainable circular economy: Exploring stakeholder interests in Finland. South Asian journal of business and management cases , 10 (1), pp.50-62.  OECD (2022) Corporate governance - OECD , OECD.org . Available at: https://www.oecd.org/corporate/ (Accessed: 12 June 2023).  Parker, J., 2020. Ethnic diversity enriching business leadership. The Parker Review . https://www.ukbaa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ey-parker-review-2020- report-final.pdf  Tedstone, L., 2021, December. Age Doesn't Matter: Digitizing the as-is Condition of Brownfield Assets is Part of a Leaner & Greener Future. In Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference . OnePetro.  Tescoplc (2023) Corporate governance , Tescoplc.com . Available at: https://www.tescoplc.com/investors/corporate-governance/ (Accessed: 12 June 2023).  Tescoplc. (2023) Our approach to human rights , Home . Available at: https://www.tescoplc.com/sustainability/documents/policies/our-approach-to-human- rights/ (Accessed: 12 June 2023).  The Guardian (2009) British supermarkets accused over destruction of Amazon Rainforest , The Guardian . Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/may/31/supermarkets-amazon-cattle- deforestation-greenpeace (Accessed: 12 June 2023).  The Guardian (2013) Horsemeat scandal: Where did the 29% horse in your Tesco Burger Come from? , The Guardian . Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk- news/2013/oct/22/horsemeat-scandal-guardian-investigation-public-secrecy (Accessed: 12 June 2023).  The Guardian (2016) Corporate governance: Tesco ranked lowest of FTSE 100 firms , The Guardian . Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/sep/06/corporate-governance-tesco-ranked- lowest-of-ftse-100-firms (Accessed: 12 June 2023).  The Guardian (2016) tesco-migrant-workers-treated-like-slaves , The Guardian . Available at: https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/18/workers-in-thailand-who-made-ff- jeans-for-tesco-trapped-in-effective-forced-labour (Accessed: 12 June 2023). 11