Conduct an external environment analysis for a company (tesco) of your Essay

Conduct an external environment analysis for a company (tesco) of your choice assessing the impact of the external environment o - Essay Example Current paper focuses on the examination of the potential impact of the external environment on the HR policies of a well-known firm in the British grocery industry: Sainsbury’s. The level at which the recession, and other elements of the firm’s external environment, have affected the organization’s HR policies are critically examined using appropriate literature. It is proved that, despite the market pressures, HR policies in Sainsbury’s have been slightly affected by the firm’s external environment, a fact that has been strongly related with the strategic choices of the organization’s leaders. 2. Sainsbury’s – interaction between the external environment and the firm’s HR policies Like all organizations, Sainsbury’s is also highly affected by its external environment. In fact, it could be stated that the external environment of the organization affects all aspects of the firm’s strategies and operations, i ncluded the HR policies. In order to understand the level at which the external environment can influence Sainsbury’s HR policies, it would be necessary to refer to the organization’s performance, as part of the UK grocery industry. Then, the firm’s HR strategy should be presented and compared with the external environment – which is analyzed using the SWOT analysis – aiming to show the key points of impact of the external environment on the HR policies of the organization. 2.1 Overview of the organization Sainsbury’s is one of the major competitors in the UK grocery industry. The firm’s employees have been estimated to 150,000; the firm was first established in 1869 and has now about 890 stores across Britain (Sainsbury’s, corporate website, 2011). The firm is part of the J Sainsbury plc, which activates in many industries, including the banking sector – through the Sainsbury’s bank (Sainsbury’s, corporate website, 2011). The performance of the firm in 2010 has been increased, achieving a profit of ?21,421m, while in 2009 the firm’s profits were estimated to ?20,383m; the specific fact is quite encouraging, taking into consideration the turbulences in the global market – due to the recession which has not been terminated – but also the strong competition in the British grocery industry. Of course, the level of increase of the firm’s profitability may be reduced compared to the past – see Graph 1, Appendix section where the performance of the firm for the third quarter of the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 is compared; in accordance with the above graph, the growth of sales of the firm in the third quarter of 2009 and 2010 may be reduced – compared to the third quarter of 2008 – but it is standardized at a particular level, at a percentage of 3.6%. 2.2 External environment analysis – SWOT analysis The impact of the external environmen t on the firm’s HR policies requires the presentation of the main elements of this environment; the SWOT analysis can be used for highlighting the key characteristics/ trends of the organization’s external environment and their impact on the firm’s HR policies. In the context of the SWOT analysis, the following elements