P6 – Influences effecting Tesco and Great Ormond Street

Political

Political Stability
Political stability is how secure the countries government is. There are many different factors that come into this including financial state, predictability and reliability. If a country has not got a stable political system, it will be affected and this will show.
Tesco will be able to determine how well they will do depending on how stable the political system is. They will see the country’s plans for the future and be able to forecast how well they will do. If the country makes changes, for example to minimum wage, this could affect Tesco. If the government put the minimum wage up this will affect how much money Tesco have to pay out for wages. Also if Tesco want to open a store in a country, they will look at the political stability of the country which will determine whether they open the store or not.
Great Ormond Street is also affected by political stability. If the country has good stability, Great Ormond Street will be able to get funding for their charity and hospital. Also if the country is stable, people will have more money to donate to GOSH. If the country is unstable, it will affect the decisions that the charity makes.

Government support
Government support means the way the government helps out the community by giving their support in order to help others. Things such as funding come from the government to help businesses grow.
Tesco isn’t really helped out by the government as it is a well-recognised business that has established itself to become one of the most successful food stores in the UK and the world. The government will hardly ever fund Tesco as they are a multi-billion pound company. The government tend to only help Tesco out with planning permission for new stores. When Tesco want to open a new store it has to go through the government and the council.
Great Ormond Street is supported by the government and receives funding from them. On April 5th 2012, GOSH got news that the government were going to fund a new £250 million programme to bring a new radiography treatment to the UK. The government also have a lot of new medical schemes that could potentially affect GOSH. Great Ormond Street need support from the government a lot whereas Tesco does not.

Taxation
Taxation is another word for tax, which all businesses get and have to pay. Tax in the UK is at a 20% basic rate which is quite high. The higher the tax, the less money the business gets at the end of the year.
Tax effects Tesco in quite a big way. It determines how much the company will have at the end of the year and how much profit they will make. The higher the tax percentage the worse it is for Tesco. When Tax changes Tesco will have to make changes to the decisions they make because if Tax goes up they will have less money to spend on things like expanding or improving their product range.
Great Ormond Street isn’t affected by taxes as much as Tesco is. Because they are a charity they require paying less tax meaning the money they get from donations and also funding all goes towards helping people and improving the facilities and services that the charity and hospital provides. This is good for the charity as people’s money is not going to the government in is there to aid people instead.

EU Trade
This is all the trading that goes on in the EU. There are different rules in every country and businesses need to make sure they stick to the rules and guidelines for the EU. This can sometimes be a problem for businesses as they may not be able to bring new products to the country due to guidelines.
Tesco are trading all the time within the EU meaning they have to stick to all the rules when bringing in a new product. This can sometimes be a problem for Tesco when trading as they may not get what they want.
Great Ormond Street will also have problems when trading in the EU. They need to bring in new medicines a lot which can be a big problem as medicines can be dangerous to people. They need to make sure that they have the right safety procedures in place. Also when they want to bring in new equipment such as medical machines they have to make sure they take the same precautions.

Legal

Sales of goods Act
A sale of goods act applies to all products a store sells. It ensures that the customer buying products from a store has confidence because all items have to be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. If goods are not up to the standards they should be, a customer can claim against the sales of good act.
Tesco is a big company and have a reputation to uphold and maintain. All their good must to up to the quality they promise. Tesco have a good reputation in doing this, which is why they make as much money as they do. They have to be careful because if they sell an item that is not up to standards, it could potentially make someone ill as they sell a lot of food products. If this happens a customer can potentially sue and claim against the sales of goods act and could receive a lot of compensation. This could also give Tesco a bad reputation, which reflects badly on the company’s image.
Great Ormond Street also has a reputation to uphold and have even bigger stakes than Tesco. GOSH have thousands of patients to cure everyday and need to make sure they carry out all necessary procedures to ensure the patient is safe. If GOSH get sold a bad or faulty piece of machinery, it could go wrong in something like an operation which could potentially be life threatening for the patient. GOSH however, have a good reputation and do not have this problem. If they did, someone could make a massive claim against them and could result in a big compensation pay out or shutting down. GOSH could also claim against the company that sold them the machine or other faulty goods.

Consumer Protection (Contract Law)
Consumer law is an area of law that protects consumers and businesses. It covers a wide range of things including product liability, privacy rights, unfair business practices, fraud misrepresentation and other interactions.
The law effects businesses from engaging in fraud or unfair practices and includes Tesco. It stops them engaging an advantage over other competitors in its sector. It also protects the consumer buying the products in the store. This also concerns GOSH as it protects their patients from giving out any disclosed details about their condition, address and other things that come under disclosed details etc.

Consumer credit act
The consumer credit act of 1974 monitors all credit card purchases and also give the consumer protection when you take out a loan, mortgage or hire agreement. It covers the consumers content and form or credit agreements, credit advertising and under section 75 gives extra protection on things costing from £100-£30,000.
This act makes sure all customers shopping at Tesco are protected when paying by credit card and also if they take out a loan or from of credit in Tesco. It ensures the customers confidence as they do not want to be victims of fraud because of their details being copied and monitored. Some people however, breech the terms of this act, which could result in a heavy fine or even imprisonment.
This act applies to GOSH consumers as well. If someone wants to pay for treatment by credit card or even give donations by credit card they want to know that it is safe to do so. Also if a patient wants to take out a loan for treatment this act also applies and protects them from any from of fraud.

Employment Law
The employment rights act of 1996 protects all employers and employees. It states that the main terms of the contract must be given to the employee within 8 weeks of their employment. The employment law also includes protection for the employee when treated unfairly and disrespectfully.
When Tesco employs someone they are covered by the employment rights act. It makes sure all employees are treated fairly, given a fair wage and also given holiday pay etc. It also applies to employees at GOSH and all other businesses. The employee and employer have rights and if someone breeches these rights, the necessary punishment is given.

Social

Changes in structure
A change in structure occurs when a business chooses to expand and build a new building or when a structure of a building is old or at risk.
Tesco often open new stores, as they want to expand their company. They also design for new structures to be put into place, as they want to try new ideas and then get customer feedback. GOSH however, have been in the same structure for decades and have only conducted minor renovation. The structure is basic and was built in 1852 and is still in the same exact place. Tesco may have problems when they want to make a new structure and expand because the local council and government may not agree with their structure.
Religion
Religion is a big thing now and has been for thousands if not millions of years. Religions have been discriminated for many years and to this day still exist. When someone is employed this must not be discriminated due to their colour or religion. All employees and all people should be treated fairly.
Tesco and GOSH must always ensure they are not discriminating against any religion when employing someone. If some fells they are being treated unfairly as a result of their religion, the company could face massive consequences and have their reputation at jeopardy. Employers cannot chose to not employ someone due to their religion, as it is a serious matter. Also whilst an employee is working they do not have to do anything that is against their religious beliefs.
Ethics
Ethics concern an individual’s moral judgement about right and wrong. When making a decision it might be influenced by culture of the company. The people making the decision have to make the right decision and cannot make a decision against something because of culture.
When Tesco or GOSH make a decision on what products they buy and where, they must make a decision on what is the best option for the company. If it is the best for short-term profit this should be the option the company should take, regardless of culture. For example a lot of company’s use fair trade items because it is good for the companies reputation as they are helping the less fortunate people in 3rd world countries. If Tesco or GOSH make a decision because of where the products are coming from this could breech the ethics law and could result in a bad reputation for the company.