Tesco boss tries ‘common touch’

Tesco boss tries 'common touch'New Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis is going for the common touch by using his first day in the job to call on his entire workforce to send him their ideas to improve the business.
In a message to staff on the Tesco intranet yesterday, Lewis wrote: “We have some urgent issues to deal with. I want to hear what you think we could do differently or better.”
Lewis, who joined from Unilever a month earlier than planned, has admitted that he has “never run a shop in my life” but answered critics who claim his lack or retail experience will be a hindrance by saying there were plenty of experts already in the company who he could call on.
Lewis will now launch an major review of the business, with the likes of the Clubcard loyalty scheme, Blinkbox, Tesco Bank and the Harris + Hoole cafe chain under scrutiny; some have already warned him it would be “suicidal” to ditch Clubcard.
However, Lewis struck an optimistic note in his message to staff, saying: “Clearly we all want to see an improvement in performance but I won’t take any hasty decisions. I will always communicate openly and transparently with you and I’d like to encourage the same from you in return. Hopefully we will get a chance to do this in person, but for the sake of immediacy please send any comments or ideas to me by email.”
From the off, his management style ad that of his predecessor Philip Clarke appears poles apart. During his tenure, Clarke was often accused of running down senior executives and mounting whispering campaigns against them. A report in the Sunday Times quoted one source who claimed Clarke was a bully.
But Lewis told the Evening Standard: “Phil Clarke is a great retailer. The issue for Tesco is: ‘Is that what they need now?’ because great retailing in that seat hasn’t been the thing that has worked, so they do need a fresh perspective.”

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1 Comment on "Tesco boss tries ‘common touch’"

  1. Tesco boss tries ‘common touch’ but where will his axe fall? http://t.co/4pEwhO44b1 #directmarketing #digitalmarketing #loyaltyscheme #CRM

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