Tesco’s IS/IT strategies focus on key business processes in

relation to Henderson & Venkataraman.

Domains
 External (Strategy)
 Internal (Infrastructure)

External

 Business Strategy:
 branded themselves as a discount retailer
 products which they sell cheaper than their competitors are highly visible
 their own developed products can be seen too
 on the floor approachable Customer Service Operators and Manager to
identify that they are still a people organisation
 In their big stores – it acts as a one stop shop as one can eat in their cheap
affordable restaurants and use the toilet facilities
 Huge parking facilities for customers to park their vehicles(normal, disabled,
parents with car seats)
 Car washing facilities
 Fuel pumps attached to a smaller version of Tesco
 Trollies for all including disabled
 Disabled electronic wheelchairs for the disabled
 IT Strategy:
 Disabled electronic wheelchairs for the disabled
 Personal Mobile electronic scanning guns that allows customers to rally up
their totals before check out
 Loyalty Cards
 Online Banking
 Online Insurance
 Acting as agents for other Telecoms providers (Lyca, Lebara et al)
 Tesco Telecoms
 Self-Checkout Service
 Delivery Service
 Online Store
 Introduction of their own tablet (Hudl)
Internal

 Business Infrastructure:
 STRUCTURE
 Since it is a massive organisation with quite many a level, it is suffice
to say the organisational structure of Tesco is huge and complex and
therefore cannot be a flat organisation, but a multidimensional one.

The organisational structure for Tesco is huge and complex, given that Tesco is such
a large company with so many different levels. It delegates a lot of roles to a lot of people,
and down the ladders of management there are many teams, sub teams, managers and sub
managers that deal with all the issues that relate to the everyday success of Tesco as a
business.

Tesco is a multi-national company, too, meaning that there are delegatedroles that spread
across the world, too. A flat organisational structure would simply not work for Tesco, as so
many roles both financial, administrative and otherwise must be performed if it has any
chance of surviving in the competitive market that it operates in.

Given that Tesco is already operating in the crowded market of ‘supermarket’s in the United
States, taking on Wal Mart and other big competitors and currently not doing all that well,
it’s important for Tesco to maintain an organisational structure that sees different teams and
different departments focusing on their own problems and creating their own solutions -
instead of implementing an autocratic leadership style that could potentially ruin their
whole business plan.

As one of the world’s biggest supermarket chains, operating in an international market, it’s
important for the company to remember that every department and every little branch of
the company is incredibly important. Without its thousands of employees and without all of
its departments, communication and other areas of internal procedures would
completely fail. Hence, the organisational structure sees the company being incredibly
grateful and cooperative with all different branches. When there are problems, these
departments and branches work together, too, to ensure the success of the business
no matter what. Just remember, the organisational structure for Tesco is relatively similar to
all other large businesses out there.

PROCESSES

1. Service & Staff – more staff for existing stores, initially in fresh food departments
What this means: Tesco has already announced that it is hiring extra 20,000 staff, with 8,000
already in the process of being recruited into existing stores. Tesco’s main problem was that
it cut costs too severely and there were not enough staff to stack the shelves. This led to
gaps on shelves, something that drives shoppers mad.
2. Stores & Formats – faster store Refresh programme; introducing warmer look and feel
What this means: Philip Clarke, the chief executive, has said he needs to put “the love” back
into the shops, because they are too “clinical”. Some of this just comes down to nicer
lighting, less garish signs.

3. Price & Value – better prices and promotions, more personalised offers
What this means: Tesco has lost the price crown to Asda. Many analysts were expecting the
company to scale-back its “Big Price Drop” campaign, widely seen as a failure over
Christmas. In fact, Mr Clarke says it will in fact increase this, cutting prices on many lines. But
he says it will include a stronger “promotional element”, meaning it will increase the number
of £5 voucher it gives out

4. Range & Quality – better ranges, starting with relaunching the Tesco brands
What this means: It has already revamped its £1bn Tesco Value range. It now needs to work
on its other lines, especially Tesco Finest, which has been left behind by Sainsbury’s Taste the
Difference. The company was silent on this range today, but did say it was working on its
standard range, which makes up 40pc of its turnover

5. Brand & Marketing – better, clearer, more relevant communication with customers
What this means: Tesco is one of the country’s biggest advertisers, beaten only by Unilever,
Procter & Gamble and Sky, in the amount of money it spends. But none of the adverts really
explain to potential shoppers what the shop stands for. Its advertising account is up for
tender. Don’t be surprised if “Every Little Helps”, which has been used since 1992, was
dropped

6. Clicks & Bricks – Click & Collect roll out, transforming range and online presence
What this means: Tesco has an unrivalled store portfolio of 2,700. Yes, many find this scale
worrying, but it gives the company an opportunity to be a market leader in click-and-collect.
Tesco uses the even more annoying phrase “clicks and bricks”. Either phrase is the jargon for
an increasing trend in internet retailing. Shoppers want to buy online, but they don’t want to
hang around all day for the delivery. They are happy to pick up its parcels at a local shop,
especially if it is on their way home from work. Tesco wants to expand the current 770 stores
that offer the service of parcel pick up. It also, for the first time, wants to allow people to
pick up not just non-food, but groceries too, that they have ordered online.

7. Investment
It has also said it will invest £150m in improving its website, increasing the number of
products available
Wallop,H. (2012). Tesco: the six-point turnaround
plan. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9
210998/Tesco-the-six-point-turnaround-plan.html.

 SKILLS
Human Resources have used many different kinds of skillset to realise their vision
Amongst the skillset used are
 Experienced Professionals who the experience in identifying gaps and bridging that
gap in the market and have the ‘how it has been implemented elsewhere’ skillset
  New graduates who come in with fresh ideas and develop the brand
 Unskilled labour (yet skilled) who look after tills and customers
External Infrastructure:
 Hardware, Software, Database, Networks to design, implement and maintain
solutions
 Processes: Development, Maintenance, Operations for checks and balances including
quality gates to manage the solutions created
 Skills: What skills required to maintain architecture and execute the processes – IT
Consultants with different skill sets to design, implement and maintain solutions
created