Dd101_Tma2

Essay Plan for TMA 02 Outline the view that big Supermarkets both provide and limit choice Introduction I will use the following claims to outline the view that big supermarkets have the power to both provide and limit choices. I aim to use two examples of each argument with assumptions and evidence to summarise. Main Body Limit choice Claim 1 – Supermarkets can restrict choices of where to shop. Supermarkets are said to gain at the expense of local high street shops. I will use (ch 2 making social lives) Claim 2 – Suppliers and workforces are paying the price of low cost shopping. Vulnerable workers are being exploited as a result of the supermarkets selling cheap goods. (ch 2 making social lives) Provide Choice Claim 1 – Supermarkets can provide low cost goods with a wide choice for consumers. Local communities and consumers are benefiting from more affordable goods. (ch 2 making social lives) Claim 2 – Living conditions for workers has improved. All parties involved are benefiting from cheap labour. Factory visits have led to improved living standards. (ch 2 making social lives), (learning companion 2) Conclusion I will draw on the different sides of the argument using two examples of claims and counterclaims and use the evidence taken from my course material (Making social lives and learning companion 2 various pages as above) to support these claims.   Outline the view that big Supermarkets both provide and limit choice The continual growth of Supermarket chain stores since arriving in the 1960’s has proved to cause a mixed reaction amongst communities in the UK for many different reasons. Some anti-Supermarket campaigners believe that the big supermarkets are gaining at the expense of local high street shops and by exploiting vulnerable workers to their advantage. Whilst the pro-supermarket lobby led by the big four supermarkets, (Tesco, Morrisons, Asda and Sainsburys) have argued that communities, consumers, workers and suppliers are all benefiting from their power. In this essay I will attempt to outline these views to support the claims and counterclaims by looking at assumptions made by both the anti-supermarkets campaigners and the pro-supermarket lobby and by examining both the related qualitative and quantitative evidence. With the four major supermarkets accounting for around three quarters of the UK food and groceries market (Ch 2 making social lives) anti-supermarket campaigners claim that supermarket domination is profiting at the expense of smaller local shops on the high street. It is said that because certain large chain supermarkets have the relative bargaining power between firms and their suppliers in their dealings with food manufacturers, farmers and clothing subcontractors, the smaller local shops cannot compete and so are driven out of their businesses. Tesco has attracted some negative attention due to its clear domination over the other three major supermarkets and issues are raised to question whether supermarkets are using their power for negative purposes or in the case of pro-supermarket lobby, for the power of good. Tescopoly Alliance, launched in 2005 (Ch 2 making social lives) is at the forefront of the anti-supermarket lobby. Its main aim is to highlight its views of how Tesco has a negative impact in the marketplace. With organisations like new economics foundation (nef) behind them, the issue of market power is at the forefront of the argument. As claimed by a leading campaigner for nef, Andrew Simms in his book ‘Tescopoly’ published in 2007, the dominant position of Tesco in particular has, in his view consequently ruined local neighbourhood shops by prevented others to do business. Suppliers claim that because of the large market share that the big supermarkets hold, they are in a dominant position with regard to buying power, in effect that they can buy at a cost so low that prices in the supermarket are kept to a minimum, therefore smaller local high street shops have found it impossible to stay in business and so subsequently have had to close down. Asda and Tesco have been particularly targeted by the non-governmental organisation, ‘War on want’. Their view was based on a survey that these two supermarkets in particular were boosting their profits at the expense of sweatshop workers in Bangladesh who were working long hours in an overcrowded and unhygienic environment for wages that did not meet the workers’ cost of living. An example of these working conditions is highlighted in ‘Lina’s’ story (Ch2 Making Social lives), one of 60 garment workers interviewed in Bangladesh, Lina who moved to Bangladesh at the age of 13 to start employment in a garment factory in order to help support her family. She is one of the many poor workers who is living on a wage which is said to be far less than the estimated living wage in Bangladesh. In addition to this she has to work between 60 and 90 hours a week to earn the maximum wage available to her. In contrast to these claims and as a direct result of working in a sweatshop, workers like Lina are gaining new skills in the workplace. Like in Linas case where she has learnt how to operate a sewing machine, so therefore she can command a higher wage. It could be argued by a pro-supermarket lobby that certain supermarkets have provided consumers with more choice by offering a wide range of diverse products at affordable prices all under one roof and located in convenient areas. In addition to this supermarkets provide employment, which in return can improve living conditions within the local community and to the subcontractors working through a global supply chain by providing them with a living wage and in turn gaining self-respect. Smaller businesses can also benefit from supermarket high street stores that are continuously opening up, like Tesco express, Sainsbury’s local and metro. These stores are actually drawing more consumers back in to the high street where there are specialist stores and local retailers who will all benefit (Ch 2 making social lives). Claims that workers’ abroad were suffering as a consequence of supermarkets providing cheap goods served to highlight these problems and as a result it has led to factory visits which has greatly improved working conditions including raised wages which has reduced poverty levels in these areas. As ‘Martin Wolf’ the economic journalist with the financial times put across in the argument that although some big supermarkets do indeed exploit the poor garment workers in places like Bangladesh, the workers in return can extract higher wages from outside firms. This arrangement is about ‘Mutual Exploitation’ and therefore both the supermarkets and the worker are said to gain from this global supply arrangement (Chapter 2 making social lives). It is an assumption that supermarkets prosper at the expense of local high street stores but data containing local market statistics shows the falling number of shops therefore one could argue that that would restrict choices. On the other hand Supermarkets in particular the main four, can widen choices by providing a diverse range of goods at affordable prices and by opening up smaller high street stores. The claim that the real cost is borne by suppliers and their workforces with evidence gathered from factory surveys and local case studies with the assumption made that cheap shopping is at the expense of vulnerable workers at home and abroad is also counterbalanced by the fact that these workers have and are still benefiting by gaining employment and increasing their earning potential by learning new skills amongst other things. To conclude, there are no right or wrong answers in this argument because data has been extracted from different sources and most of the views and supporting evidence can be interpreted differently according to individual ideals. Using the pro-supermarket lobby and the anti-supermarket campaigners as an example of this has outlined both sides of an argument of whether big supermarkets use their power to benefit others and expand choices or to limit them. Word count: 1209 Reference list Chapter 2 one stop shopping the power of supermarkets, John Allen, Making social lives 2010 Learning Companion 2 staples el all, 2009