Tesco Retail Business Analysis

Tesco Retail Business Analysis Tesco is one of the largest food retailers in the world, operating around 2,318 stores and employing over 326,000 people. As well as operating in the UK, it has stores in the rest of Europe and Asia. It also provides online services through its subsidiary, Tesco.com. The UK is the companys largest market operating under four banners: Extra, Superstore, Metro and Express. Tesco sells approximately 40,000 food products in its superstores, as well as clothing and other non-food lines. The companys own-label products are at three levels, value, normal and finest. Own brand accounts for approximately 50% of sales. As well as convenience produce, many stores have gas stations. The company has become one of Britains largest petrol independent retailers. Other retailing services offered in the UK include Tesco Personal Finance and Tesco.com. Tesco Personal Finance is a joint venture with the Royal Bank of Scotland. It has over 3.4 million customers, and provides various financial products and services. The company has operations in the rest of Europe, including the Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Turkey. In Asia, the company operates in Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. Tescos Republic of Ireland business operates in the region of 82 stores, and around 60 stores in the Hungarian market. Tescos Polish operations include former HIT operated stores. It operates around 66 hypermarkets and supermarkets in this country. In the Czech Republic and Slovakian markets, Tesco operates 22 and 23 hypermarkets respectively. Tesco also operates stores in Asia, including Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan. The company operates 64 stores in Thailand and 28 stores in the South Korean Market, while in the Taiwanese and Malaysian markets it has three stores in each nation. HISTORY: Tesco was originated in the markets of Londons East End, where in 1914, war veteran Jack Cohen began to sell groceries. The brand name of Tesco first appeared on packets of tea in the 1920s. Tesco was an amalgamation of the initials of T.E. Stockwell, a partner in the firm of tea suppliers, and the first two letters of Cohen. The first Tesco store was founded in 1929 in Burnt Oak, Edgware. Following the success of self service stores in the US, Mr. Cohen opened the first Tesco self-service store in St. Albans in 1948. Gradually the business expanded from stores to supermarkets, and by the early 1960s, Tesco had become a familiar household name, selling household goods and clothing. In 1974, the company set up petrol stations at its major sites, selling fuel at competitive prices. In 1979, the companys annual turnover reached  £1 billion for the first time. In the 1990s Tesco continued to tighten its grip on the UK with more store openings and an aggressive marketing campaign in an attempt to overtake Sainsburys as the UKs leading grocer. In 1992, the company launched is slogan every little helps, followed by the Tesco Value range in 1993. This was followed by the launch of the Tesco Club card scheme in 1995, helping Tesco to overtake rival Sainsburys as the UKs largest food retailer. 1996 saw the retailer introduce its first 24-hour store while it also expanded overseas opening shops in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. In 1997 Tesco appointed Sir Terry Leahy as chief executive. Tesco.com was launched in 2000 and the supermarket continued to expand its range of products, which now includes clothes, electrical and personal finance products. In 2004 Tesco entered the broadband market. Two years ago, in 2006, the retailer announced ambitious plans to open stores in the US under the name Fresh and Easy and funded by existing resources. Tesco now operates in 13 countries. Today it reported that group sales were  £51.8bn in the year to February 23 2008. Pre-tax profit rose to  £2.8bn. In 2008 the retail giant took its conquest of the UK one step further by buying up some rival Somerfield stores on remote islands in Scotland, giving Tesco a presence in every single postcode area in the country. As it stands there is only one postcode in the UK in Harrogate in North Yorkshire which does not have a Tesco. MAJOR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES: Tesco is the largest food retailer in UK, operating around 2,318 stores worldwide. Its Products and services include: ENVIORMENTAL ANALYSIS What Is an Environmental Analysis? Environmental analysis is relatively qualitative and involves the identification of and analysis of environmental variables, which affect the business. Definition: Environmental Analysis Environmental analysis for a business looks at the factors inherent in a businesss environment that may have some impact thereof. This type of analysis is relatively qualitative and involves the identifying, scanning, analyzing and forecasting of the environmental variables. Some frameworks of environmental analysis have received large amounts of attention in the world of business management literature, such as SWOT analysis and PESTEL analysis. Why Environmental Analysis? Environmental analysis will help you understand what is happening both inside and outside your organization and to increase the probability that the organizational strategies you develop will appropriately reflect your organizational environment. Three Levels of Organizational Environment In order to perform an environmental analysis, you must thoroughly understand how organizational environments are structured. For purposes of environmental analysis, you can divide the environment of your organization into three distinct levels: internal environment, operating environment, and general environment. COMPETITORS ANALYSIS What Is a Competitors Analysis? Competitive analysis is the practice of analyzing the competitive environment in which your business operates (or wishes to operate), including strengths and weaknesses of the businesses with which you compete, strengths and weaknesses of your own company, demographics and desires of marketplace customers, strategies that can improve your position in the marketplace, impediments that prevent you from entering new markets, and barriers that you can erect to prevent others from eroding your own place in the market. Definition: Competitors Analysis Competitors Analysis also called competitive analysis, the process of identifying the performance and marketing strategy of competitive brands or products in the marketplace. In order to plan an effective marketing strategy, marketers need to know about the competitive environment and to find out all they can about competitors products, prices, communication channels quality, and service so as to determine areas of competitive advantage and disadvantage. Why Competitors Analysis? Some businesses think it is best to get on with their own plans and ignore the competition. Others become obsessed with tracking the actions of competitors (often using underhand or illegal methods). Many businesses are happy simply to track the competition, copying their moves and reacting to changes. Competitor analysis has several important roles in strategic planning: To help management understand their competitive advantages/disadvantages relative to competitors To generate understanding of competitors past, present (and most importantly) future strategies To provide an informed basis to develop strategies to achieve competitive advantage in the future To help forecast the returns that may be made from future investments (e.g. how will competitors respond to a new product or pricing strategy? Questions to ask What questions should be asked when undertaking competitor analysis? The following is a useful list to bear in mind: Who are our competitors? What threats do they pose? What is the profile of our competitors? What are the objectives of our competitors? What strategies are our competitors pursuing and how successful are these strategies? What are the strengths and weaknesses of our competitors? How are our competitors likely to respond to any changes to the way we do business? ANALYSIS OF THE MARKETING OPERATION What Is an Analysis OF THE MARKETING OPERATION? Marketing Operations is the function responsible for marketing performance measurement, strategic planning and budgeting, process development, professional development, and marketing systems and data. Definition: Analysis OF THE MARKETING OPERATION The purpose of the Marketing Operations function is both to increase marketing efficiency and to build a foundation for excellence by reinforcing marketing with processes, technology, metrics, and best practices. Marketing operations enables an organization to run the marketing function as a fully accountable business. Marketing operations is about performance, financial management, strategic planning, marketing resource, and skills assessment and management. Why Analysis OF THE MARKETING OPERATION? The marketing operations plan is designed to identify where we are as a district now and where we are going. It is a usable planning document that reviews the past years production and identifies strong points and problem areas. The operations plan is designed to accomplish the following: Stimulates thinking to make better use of available resources Reduces crisis management Assigns responsibilities and schedules work Improves communications within the command Coordinates and unifies efforts Facilitates control, monitoring, and evaluation of results Provides source marketing information for current and future reference Facilitates progressive advancement toward a goal ANALYSIS OF THE MARKETING STRATEGIES What Is an ANALYSIS OF THE MARKETING STRATEGIES? Marketing strategy is a method of focusing an organizations energies and resources on a course of action which can lead to increased sales and dominance of a targeted market niche. A marketing strategy combines product development, promotion, distribution, pricing, relationship management and other elements; identifies the firms marketing goals, and explains how they will be achieved, ideally within a stated timeframe. Marketing strategy determines the choice of target market segments, positioning, marketing mix, and allocation of resources. It is most effective when it is an integral component of overall firm strategy, defining how the organization will successfully engage customers, prospects, and competitors in the market arena. Definition: ANALYSIS OF THE MARKETING STRATEGIES Marketing strategy is a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. A marketing strategy should be centred on the key concept that customer satisfaction is the main goal. Why ANALYSIS OF THE MARKETING STRATEGIES? A marketing strategy can serve as the foundation of a marketing plan. A marketing plan contains a set of specific actions required to successfully implement a marketing strategy. For example: Use a low cost product to attract consumers. Once our organization, via our low cost product, has established a relationship with consumers, our organization will sell additional, higher-margin products and services that enhance the consumers interaction with the low-cost product or service. A strategy consists of a well thought out series of tactics to make a marketing plan more effective. Marketing strategies serve as the fundamental underpinning of marketing plans designed to fill market needs and reach marketing objectives. Plans and objectives are generally tested for measurable results. A marketing strategy often integrates an organizations marketing goals, policies, and action sequences (tactics) into a cohesive whole. Similarly, the various strands of the strategy , which might include advertising, channel marketing, internet marketing, promotion and public relations can be orchestrated. Many companies cascade a strategy throughout an organization, by creating strategy tactics that then become strategy goals for the next level or group. Each one group is expected to take that strategy goal and develop a set of tactics to achieve that goal. This is why it is important to make each strategy goal measurable. Marketing strategies are dynamic and interactive. They are partially planned and partially unplanned. PESTLE ANALYSIS OF TESCO: POLITICAL Following the European Integration and Free Trade Agreements, the market has opened up for British Companies to invest in Eastern Europe. Tesco already has 60 Hypermarket store in Hungary. Lidl is uncompromisingly fighting to maintain its market share with an aggressive pricing strategy. ECONOMIC the Retail sector is fairly recession prawn and also very sensitive to changes in interest rates. Since the events of September 11th the world economies have suffered heavily, stocks plummeted and prices are at all time lows. The world economy is however, now on the up post September 11th. Consumers are optimistic and the retail industry is once again booming. SOCIAL changes in consumer taste and lifestyle represent both opportunities and threats for the industry. Opportunities in terms of new market and consumers, however, there are added threats in terms of alternative established Swedish national retailers (foreign company bias). TECHNICAL Changes in retailing methods as such clothes sales via the Internet is now a common place in retailing. Paperless operation, the management and administration of the company are undertaken on IT systems, which are accessed through secure servers; provide flexibility in the running of the business. As Sweden is at the forefront of technological advancement with national companies like Ericsson, Tesco would enjoy the comprehensive logistics and distribution channels already in place. LEGAL National legislation for health and safety both in terms of consumer rights and also in terms of production of own natural renewable resources for making clothes. ENVIRONMENTAL The renewable source of resources used in production, namely cotton and wool are environmentally friendly. The threats are in terms of legal consequences for livestocks in terms of health and safety. TESCOS STRATEGIC OPTIONS: GENERIC STRATEGIES: Generic Strategies are characterised by an individual retailers response to the industry structure. For a giant retailer, such as Tesco, to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage they should follow either one of three generic strategies, developed by Porter. The first strategy of cost leadership is one in which Tesco can strive to have the lowest costs in the industry and offer its products and services to a broad market at the lowest prices. This strategy will be based on the Tescos ability to control their operating costs so well that they are able to price their products competitively and be able to generate high profit margins, thus having a significant competitive advantage. If Tesco uses another strategy of differentiation, than it has to try to offer services and products with unique features that customers value. Tesco will be able to create brand loyalty for their offerings, and thus, price inelasticity on the part of buyers. Breadth of product offerings, technology, special features, or customer service are popular approaches to differentiation. The last strategy of focus can be either a cost leadership or differentiation strategy aimed toward a narrow, focused market. In pursuing a cost leadership strategy Tesco focuses on the creation of internal efficiencies that will help them withstand external pressures. Therefore, it appears reasonable to think that Tesco will have frequent interactions with the governmental/regulatory and supplier sectors of the environment MARKET OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES IMPLEMENTATION Strategy frameworks and structuring tools are key to assessing the business situation. Risk and value trade-offs are made explicit, leading to concrete proposals to add value and reduce risk. Explicit plans for action, including effective planning need to be developed by Tesco as the strategic alternative. From the generic strategies discussed above, Tesco is likely to employ two strategic options that are also likely to be primary market objectives of focus on market development though partnerships and diversification through new product development. Market Development Strategy: Joint Developments and Strategic Alliances By entering new markets like China and Japan it can serve as a key growth driver of the companys revenues and expansion strategy. Tescos interests in Japan are likely to continue growing in due course, as Asian markets are showing an increase in consumer spending and increased trend towards retailing. These new markets are also demographically high opportunity markets. In the case of Tesco, one of the suggested strategic options is in international alliances with the local retailers in Asian markets. It will be considered as a method of development and may be formed to exploit current resources and competence. By entering into joint ventures or partnerships, in order to gain a larger economy of scale and larger market presence, Tesco will draw on the extensive local knowledge and operating expertise of the partner whilst adding its own supply chain, product development and stores operations skills to deliver a better shopping experience to customers. However, given the huge scale, potential and complexities of these markets, Tesco may feel that being the first mover is not necessarily an advantage. The success of the partnership will be related to three main success criteria: sustainability, acceptability and feasibility. Sustainability will be concerned with whether a strategy addresses the circumstances in which the company is operating. It is ab out the rationale of this expansion-market development strategy. The acceptability relates to the expected return from the strategy, the level of risk and the likely reaction of stakeholders. Feasibility will be regarded to whether Tesco has the resources and competence to deliver the strategy. CONCLUSION The success of the Tesco shows how far the branding and effective service delivery can come in moving beyond splashing ones logo on a billboard. It had fostered powerful identities by making their retailing concept into a virus and spending it out into the culture via a variety of channels: cultural sponsorship, political controversy, consumer experience and brand extensions. In a rapidly changing business environment with a high competitors pressure Tesco have to adopt new expansion strategies or diversified the existing in order to sustain its leading market position in an already established retailing market. The company must constantly adapt to the fast changing circumstances. Strategy formulation should therefore be regarded as a process of continuous learning, which includes learning about the goals, the effect of possible actions towards these goals and how to implement and execute these actions. The quality of a formulated strategy and the speed of its implementation will therefore directly depend on the quality of Tescos cognitive and behavioural learning processes. In large organizations as Tesco strategy should be analysed and implemented at various levels within the hierarchy. These different levels of strategy should be related and mutually supporting. Tescos strategy at a corporate level defines the businesses in which Tesco will compete, in a way that focuses resources to convert distinctive competence into competitive advantage.

America’s Postwar Divide

The end of the Civil War brought opportunities and disadvantages for many Americans depending on one’s race, ethnicity and abilities. Chapters seventeen through twenty of â€Å"The American Nation† explains the changes which occurred in American society post civil war due to industrialism. The following essay examines the barriers created by an inefficient government causing discrimination of the poor in the mid-to-late 1800s. Severe discrimination of minorities and the poor led to a corrupt American government working only to benefit themselves and important wealthy voters.Congress used bribery to ensure their financial needs were met while those of American citizens were ignored. Many tactics were uses to ensure Congress remained Republican, such as criticizing Democrats as rebels and using the â€Å"bloody shirt† as a reminder of the violence and untrusting nature of Democrats during the Civil War (449). Many Americans were distrustful of Congress, and with go od reason. An example of such distrust was seen in Americans desire for American currency to be changed from paper money back to bullion because they feared government would print as much money as necessary to cover an increase or decrease in taxes (450).Civil service reform was a concern during the post Civil War era but the barriers were immense (450). There were many factors contributing to the need for civil service reform. There was a long list of ineffective presidents and the hiring of unqualified lieutenants by politicians because of their involvement in the Civil War. In order to keep their congressional status, politicians needed loyal employees and by celebrating America’s patriots, they were adding on votes to ensure their success.As the author wrote in â€Å"The American Nation†, â€Å"patronage was the lifeblood of politics† (451); basically politicians bribed soldiers with high paying jobs and preferential treatment in return for their votes. Refo rmers wanted nonpartisan professional civil service and both democratic and republican politicians made a mockery of them (451). Although the Reconstruction era looked promising for America’s black men and women, it quickly became a failure. Minorities were treated very poorly postwar.One ineffective president, President Hayes, could have made a difference in the lives of black Americans, but when President Hayes realized his hopes were useless, he did not pursue the problem further (451). Poll taxes created an â€Å"economic barrier† to blacks an poor whites and the Fifth Amendment was not upheld for blacks (451). The literacy tests for the right to vote were rigged for illiterate whites and not for illiterate blacks; giving white votes the majority. Because blacks were treated as stupid and inferior, white law makers felt it was okay to restrict their rights.Rather than improving American society by addressing equal rights and liberties, congress spent their time mak ing sure the rich and the white succeeded by restricting the rights of others who could get in the way. The Civil Rights Cases (1883) and Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) gave way to legalized segregation laws in schools, prisons, hospitals and anywhere public services were available. The only way blacks found success was through separatism, where they established communities of their own, and financially supporting the community through black business ownership (453).Blacks were forced to make â€Å"the choice between confrontation and accommodation† (454). Immigrants suffered as well, they were seen as a drain on society and were accused of taking the jobs of other Americans because of their cheap labor (454). Immigrants rushed to America with the rise of industry and manufacturing, yet they could only afford the slums where disease and violence were abundant. This gave them a bad reputation and therefore Americans demanded laws be made to protect their jobs and money from immigra nts.The Plains Indians were removed from their land and many violent attacks caused the death of thousands of Indians. White influence threatened to take culture away from the Indians, as Indians began buying new technologies from Americans. White man wanted to civilize the Indians by passing the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 which was a promise of education and some land which resulted in the Indians loss of culture and tax increases on land resulting in a loss of land (462). American greed such as seen during the gold rush, trampled on the lives of the Indians.Rich, powerful industrial leaders took away land for railroad development, killing of the tribes’ food source and killing off most of the Indians (462). Wealth rose among the business tycoons but not for the average American citizen. It was a kill or be killed society. As population increase, food and transport demand also increased, bringing wealth to industry giants (472). Government was so ineffective in creating reg ulations for businesses that many business owners took it upon themselves to fix things, such as seen with the oversupply of cows.However, the ranchers for the most part destroyed their businesses by unintentionally killing their cows with barbed wire fences (473). The exploitation of natural resources brought expansion to American manufacturing, farmers were getting replaced and they lost the respect of many Americans and the government did nothing to help (477). The rise of new and competing technologies made businesses and their products quickly become obsolete (487). Lowering product prices to in order to compete with similar companies caused job loss and other problems in society.Mergers took place without any government regulations and peoples’ jobs were very unstable. The government tried to get their act together by creating business regulations, such as the Sherman Act, which were essentially ineffective (495). Labor unions caused more strikes and violence than actua l assistance for workers. Employees were in constant distress from more skilled workers taking over jobs, employers who could throw them out at any time and union opportunities met with employer disapproval (498). Wealth was unevenly distributing to only a few and the few became smaller with every year (500).The wealthy business owners held ordinary citizens fates in their hands because their money controlled the government and the court systems (500). The middle class society benefited from big businesses and lived well and extremely wasteful (505). New technologies caused many workers the inability to keep up with the needed skills and once new schools and colleges were opened many college grads got the jobs while both male and female unskilled industrial workers suffered low wages and could not live decently (505).The uneven balance of society’s wealth can be demonstrated through the type of work women maintained. Although all women were paid less; middle class women worke d as nurses teachers and lower class as sales and cashier clerks (505). Stability was a problem; middle class workers saved money if their jobs were not stable where stable workers would spend their money (507). Social culture was important to the rich and middle class but the poor were discriminated against enjoying such privileges (516). Even the church discriminated against the poor.Protestants were the only ones to take a step in the right direction and help the poor improve their lives, not with charity but with reform (524). Socialist ideals became popular towards the turn of the century likely because of government’s inability to help all Americans and not just themselves and other wealthy citizens. Society wanted to see welfare, unemployment benefits, nationalizing industries, public housing and many other beneficial programs for the needy and equal opportunities for all Americans (524).

College Isn’t for Everyone

The words â€Å"You can’t†, have been apart of my mind set since day one. I was always told that it isn’t possible for me to be as smart as my sister, or on the same level of my brother who is special needs. I was always in the in between, but the main reason I am striving for success is because I know I can and even though at times I don’t think college is for me, I know I can achieve anything I set my mind to. In less than three years I will have a whole new life started for myself, all because I made it possible for myself to receive a college degree and start the perfect life full of success, money and happiness.Throughout W. J Reeves â€Å"College Isn’t For Everyone†, he point outs many topics that I believe effects me personally but also my peers. Attendance, happens to be one of them. If you don’t give your classes the time needed, you begin to slack in every way possible. â€Å"After four years, the bad habits of not being on time and attending sporadically have become second nature. Such habits are unlikely to make for a very productive worker†.In all honesty, this is one of the main things that I have problems with, because of health issues and the thirty minute drive to class sometimes I believe it isn’t worth it. But almost 99% of the time it is worth it, for all I know missing a class could end in my failing the class cause I missed certain notes or a quiz. With that in mind, referring back to â€Å"College Isn’t For Everyone† Reeves says â€Å"It is hard to be a productive worker if one appears occasionally, yet token appearances, sometime just cameos, are tolerated in college†.I believe if I make the effort to not miss class then I’m not wasting my education or money, I’m making it possible for the life I want three years from now. Experiencing college so far at community college has been everything I expected but so much better. I take pride in tell ing others I am a college student, because it shows that I have the initiative to strive for higher education to become the woman I want to be and have the life I dream of. With having only a day or two to socialize and spend time with friends, school has been my main priority.Which includes less time on my phone texting, or any social media sites. This relates back to Margaret Soltan’s essay â€Å"Better Living Through Consciousness: Why You Should Take Your College Education Seriously†, she discusses how technology should be limited to reduce distraction of students. She wrote â€Å"Students are gazing at all manner of stuff on their laptops (and in doing so distracting those students trying to pay attention to the front of the room); professors are staring down at their PowerPoint slides and reading the words on them aloud.In some classrooms, professors report that groups of students are gathering in various corners to watch films together on someone’s scree n while the professor attempts to lecture†. Many students use technology whether it’s a laptop, cell phone or IPad almost every class period you will find at least one student on a device. College depends on the amount of time and effort you put into it, I recently examined the amount of time I spend on work, school and the free time I do have.According to my time blog, I spent 8 hours working, 12 hours studying or doing school related things, and my free time was limited to sleeping. In total I spent 20 hours out of those two days working, studying or sleeping. With that in mind, my determination to be as successful as possible shines through, even with some struggles along the way. I truly believe success comes from your desire to be successful. As long as your mind is right about the life and future you have planned out then that dream can come true with a few dozen essays, a few math tests, maybe some biology labs too.But in today’s society a high school dipl oma can get you a job as good as a waitress at a restaurant, not a Oncology Nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. The reason behind me attending college is because I want to have my dream job of being a nurse at night, a stay at home mom during the day and the money and happiness to have the lifestyle I had growing up. According to Margaret Soltan’s; Better Living Through Conciousness, â€Å"All brains eventually fade, but we shouldn’t, before our time, collude in that fading.We should cultivate the highest forms of consciousness that we can, while we can (Soltan). To me, I believe that if I’m not giving something my all from the beginning then there is no point in my doing it. I believe by sitting in this classroom today, I am saying yes to my education and to my future. Also in one of W. J Reeves articles, he says, â€Å"that 70% of the workers in the coming decades will not need a four-year college degree, but, rather, an associate degree from a community college or some type of technical certificate (Reeves).I have never been more shocked by a statement in my life, with this many people won’t have to say yes to their education for four years but two which might strike people to want to further there knowledge NEED HELP ON CONCLUSION! Works Cited Reeves, W. J. â€Å" College Isn’t for Everyone. † USA Today. CBS Interactive, 01 May 2003. Web. 29, Feb 2012. Soltan, Margaret. â€Å"Better Living through Consciousness: Why You Should Take Your College Education Seriously. † Inside Higher Ed. (2008): Web. 29 Feb. 2012.

The Existence Of Gender Discrimination - 2843 Words

The existence of gender discrimination in workplaces is not under dispute (Acker, 2006). In virtually all societies across the world, women are known to be in a lower position in labour market than men. Women are overrepresented in positions at the bottom echelons of organisations; they have less status, prestige, power and authority on the job. Besides, women are segregated into roles and jobs that offer poorer rewards and have fewer opportunities for progression to positions of power (Walby, 1988). Women receive less pay and rewards than men, even if they work in similar jobs with similar levels of responsibility and requiring a similar level of ability (Cockburn, 1992). Although it has been argued that the poorer labour market position†¦show more content†¦Neo-classical economists explain discrimination in labour market in two ways: through the notions of the ‘taste’ for discrimination and through statistical discrimination (Sawyer, 1989They argue that emplo yers exhibit prejudices against certain groups based on their personal belief system. In the case of women, it is suggested that employers discriminate based on the belief that women are not as capable as men in certain roles. An excellent example of this is provided in a litigation case that was brought against the financial services and auditing company Pricewaterhouse Coopers (Case, 2014). Ann Hopkins took her employer to court when she was passed over for promotion in favour of a male colleague in spite of the fact that objective records showed that her performance on the job was far superior to that man’s. The court found that Pricewaterhouse Coopers had discriminated against Hopkins simply because she was a woman, and they did not believe that she would be capable in the new role. Neo classical economists, however, state that this form of discrimination is logical for employers (Sawyer, 1989). This is due to the presence of uncertainty and asymmetric information, as well as the fact that employers are rational in their decision-making. Although information is available in CVs, application forms, and other selection mechanisms, employers are still unable to be certain that any new employees will fully meet the criteria for