M RahmanStakeholders of Asda (An analysis of Asda’s stakeholders)
This is a detailed analysis of the stakeholders of Asda. It aims to examine the retailer’s internal and external stakeholders. It also aims to identify how it communicates with the stakeholders. Asda is one of the biggest supermarket retailers in the UK. It is headquartered in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
Internal stakeholders of Asda
The main internal stakeholders of Asda are the owners, Executive Board, employees, managers, and shareholders. Asda is owned by the Issa brothers (Super-rich brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa). The billionaire brothers from Blackburn bought Asda from Walmart, in a deal that values the supermarket chain at £6.8bn (Jordan, 2022).
Asda’s Executive Board consists of several leaders i.e. the Chairman, Co-owners, Chief People Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Chief Customer Officer, General Counsel and Company Secretary, Senior Vice President – E-commerce, Chief Customer Officer, Managing Director – George, and Non-Executive Director (Asda, 2022). These are very powerful stakeholders who chart the direction of the company.
One of the most important stakeholders of Asda is its employees. The staff are what make the company work; therefore, it is crucial that they are happy and healthy. Asda understands the importance of the matter very well and has designed the reward systems accordingly. For instance, it offers the employees up to 4% discount each time they purchase or re-load their Asda gift card. It has more than 145,000 people working for it currently (Asda, 2022). However, its basic staff hourly pay falls behind those offered by some of the competitors.
External stakeholders of Asda
The main external stakeholders of Asda are customers, suppliers, creditors, competitors, pressure groups, local communities, and the government. Asda serves more than 18 million customers who shop in its stores every week (Asda, 2022). They are its most important stakeholders as the determine it’s success. Without them, there is no business to speak of. However, it is worth noting that Asda needs to improve on customer satisfaction as it was rated one of the least favourite supermarkets in a Which? survey (Armstrong, 2021).
Asda faces a number of big competitors in the UK grocery market. Tesco is the market leader and well ahead of it in terms of the market share. However, the competition between Asda and Sainsbury’s to occupy the 2nd position in the market is absolutely fierce. Other big competitors are Morrisons, Co-op, Waitrose, Lidl, Aldi, and Iceland.
The grocery industry is very competitive in the UK and therefore, Asda needs to stay on top of the emerging trends. It monitors the key competitors closely, so as not to miss out any potential opportunity or threat. It also looks at ways it can differentiate itself from competitors in different areas.
Suppliers are pivotal to the success of Asda. They affect it in many different ways. They provide it with goods and services that it sells, from fresh produce to cleaning products, as well as providing packaging and other materials. In return, many suppliers rely on it as their primary customer. Asda works with a good number of suppliers; however, its treatment of suppliers has drawn criticisms. In fact, it was once named as the worst of the UK’s major supermarkets in its treatment of suppliers.
On the contrary, Asda (Through Asda Foundation) funds a number of projects to transform the lives of local people in the UK. It provides significant financial contributions to the community in which it operates. For instance, it was committed to giving £1.4million to thousands of local good causes through digital Green Token Giving in 2021 (Asda, 2022).
Pressure groups are people who lobby and campaign on behalf of a cause or issue that they feel strongly about. They can have a huge impact when they choose to target particular companies, like Asda. For example, if a group feels that Asda’s actions are harming the environment, they could start campaigning against it.
How does Asda communicate with its stakeholders?
Asda uses different communication methods to keep in touch with its stakeholders. For instance, the official website of the company (www.asda.com) contains detailed information about its history, products and services, career opportunities and many more. Likewise, it issues regular press releases to keep the stakeholders informed of any updates and developments.
Asda also carries out extensive advertising campaigns to reach out to both existing and potential customers. If stakeholders have any complaints, they can email or phone the company. The email address and the phone number are available on the official website. Similarly, they can join online conversation through social media and the company website and leave any feedback they wish.
We hope the article ‘Stakeholders of Asda (An analysis of Asda’s stakeholders)’ has been helpful. You may also like reading PESTEL analysis of Asda & SWOT analysis of Asda. Other relevant articles for you are:
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Last update: 03 March 2022
References:
Armstrong, M. (2021) The UK’s favourite supermarkets, available at: https://www.statista.com/chart/17117/uk-favourite-supermarkets/ (accessed 03 February 2022)
Asda (2022) Company Facts, available at: https://corporate.asda.com/our-story/company-facts (accessed 03 March 2022)
Jordan, D. (2020) Asda bought by billionaire Issa brothers in £6.8bn deal, available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54383131 (accessed 03 March 2022)
Photo credit: ASDA Corporate
Author: M Rahman
M Rahman writes extensively online and offline with an emphasis on business management, marketing, and tourism. He is a lecturer in Management and Marketing. He holds an MSc in Tourism & Hospitality from the University of Sunderland. Also, graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a BA in Business & Management Studies and completed a DTLLS (Diploma in Teaching in the Life-Long Learning Sector) from London South Bank University.
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