critically evaluate the TESCO's exit from the Japanese market
Evaluate Tesco's strategy based on the four basic strategies a company uses to enter and compete in the global market
Examine the expansions and the contractions of an economy as a part of the economic cycle. Does this affect a company's global strategy?
Transcribed Image Text: "Convenience stores dominate, particularly in the city centres, and a culture of 'immediacy' supports large numbers of
vending machines. "Tesco had developed an own-label range and even a fresh kitchen to supply fish and other local
products to its stores but last year the business, which trades under the names Tsurakame, Tesco and Tesco Express,
made an operating loss of £5m on sales of £476m. "Unfortunately, it has proved to be very difficult to shift consumers
from stores they use into new ones," said Clarke. A formal sale process will now begin, but Tesco said the stores would
continue to trade as usual. Analysts estimated the sale would raise between £50m and £75m, a drop in the ocean for the
retailer, which made profits of £3.8bn on sales of £67.6bn last year. Tesco had already written down the goodwill on its
Japanese business and had halted further investment. The shares closed up 13.8p at 378.6p. Tesco made its first foray
overseas in the 1980s when it acquired H Williams in Ireland (although it later sold the business) and has gone on to open
2,750 stores outside the UK. Although 65% of the group's store space is now overseas, the domestic chain still generates
the lion's share of group profits and Clarke wants to focus on markets where it can be either the market leader or in second
place. In the UK, Tesco has a market share of 30.5%, whereas in Japan it has less than 1%. Building an international
empire has not been plain sailing: in 1997, one of Leahy's first decisions as chief executive was to sell French business
Catteau, the same year it also re-entered Ireland. In 2005, the retailer quit Taiwan by handing over the stores to Carrefour
in exchange for outlets in the Czech Republic and Slovakia Clarke insisted the decision to withdraw from Japan had no
1
bearing on the future of Fresh & Easy, but he has already made it clear that the next two years will be critical for the
business headed by deputy chief executive Tim Mason. The 176-store chain made a loss of £186m on sales of £502m
last year and Clarke wants to see a significant reduction in the current financial year and for it to reach break-even towards
the end of 2012. The stores are being refurbished after shoppers complained they were too clinical, with the introduction
of wooden flooring and flower stands at the entrances, while new products such as takeaway coffee and pastries, key
draws for US consumers, have been introduced.F&E will also trial an "Express" format this year which, at 3,000sq ft, will
be less than a third of the size of the stores it has opened to date. Leahy retirement has triggered a changing of the guard
at Tesco, with Andrew Higginson, one of his key lieutenants, announcing he was quitting last week. The head of its retailing
services division which includes the Tesco Bank said he would go next year after serving 15 years on the supermarket
group's board. Reid is retiring in November to be replaced by Sir Richard Broadbent, Barclays' deputy chairman.
(https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/aug/31/tesco-japan-pull-out-philip-clarke// Date Accessed 20th April 2023)
Transcribed Image Text: Tesco admits defeat and pulls out of Japan
After ploughing more than £250m and eight years into trying to crack one of the toughest retail markets in the world,
Tesco has admitted defeat and announced that it is pulling out of Japan. The retrenchment is a rare setback for the globe-
trotting British retailer, which has spent much of the past decade planting its red, white and blue flag in countries ranging
from Turkey to Thailand, and follows the promotion of Philip Clarke, the former head of its sprawling international business,
to group chief executive. At his maiden results presentation in April, Clarke set the scene for a major shakeup by promising
to improve returns from its overseas investments. "Having made considerable efforts in Japan, we have concluded we
cannot build a sufficiently scaleable business," he said on Wednesday. "We have decided to sell our operations there and
focus on our larger businesses in the region." The decision came after a review of the vast retailer's Asian arm, which
also takes in Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and China and had £11bn sales last year.
Clarke succeeded Sir Terry Leahy - the veteran chief executive behind the rapid overseas growth that turned the British
supermarket into the world's third-largest retailer - in March, and analysts said it meant he would not balk at pulling the
plug on its heavily loss-making US start-up Fresh & Easy if its performance did not improve. The Los Angeles-based
American business was the biggest gamble taken by Leahy during 14 years in charge.Shore Capital analyst Darren Shirley
said that although the Japanese chain was its smallest overseas chain it was "important from a symbolic and directional
sense". He added: "This decision should send a message throughout the group that Clarke it is not about flag-pitching
and is about creating a sustainable, balanced model for growth. Nowhere greater will this decision resonate than in the
US, where we forecast over £700m of accumulated losses by February 2012."Tesco is not the first foreign retailer to leave
Japan with its tail between its legs. Boots the Chemists and France's Carrefour have also admitted defeat there. The
Cheshunt-based supermarket chain arrived in Japan in June 2003 when it acquired Tokyo convenience store chain C
Two-Network for £173m. The push was led by David Reid, now Tesco's chairman, who at the time described it as a "neat
entry" to a market with higher operating margins than in the UK. It made a bolt-on acquisition the following year, acquiring
bankrupt convenience store chain Fre'c and taking on £16m of its debt. Analysts said it invested some £10m a year in
Japan in a bid to turn the business into a major force in the country. However Tesco appears to have underestimated the
difficulties it would counter in Japan, the world's third-largest grocery market after the US and China, with total sales of
$356bn. Gavin Rothwell, research manager at retail analysts IGD, said the country was "notoriously difficult" due to high
operating costs and extremely demanding shoppers, with even market leaders Aeon and Ito Yokado battling to increase
profits."The retail market is fragmented and there are many strong regional players, often family-owned," said Rothwell.
"Convenience stores dominate, particularly in the city centres, and a culture of 'immediacy' supports large numbers of
vending machines. "Tesco had developed an own-label range and even a fresh kitchen to supply fish and other local
products to its stores but last year the business, which trades under the names Tsurakame, Tesco and Tesco Express,
made an operating loss of £5m on sales of £476m. "Unfortunately, it has proved to be very difficult to shift consumers
from stores they use into new ones," said Clarke. A formal sale process will now begin, but Tesco said the stores would
continue to trade as usual. Analysts estimated the sale would raise between £50m and £75m, a drop in the ocean for the
retailer, which made profits of £3.8bn on sales of £67.6bn last year. Tesco had already written down the goodwill on its