IntroductionThis essay attempts to critically evaluate Tesco regarding the horsemeat scandal. The goal is to critically evaluate this event through the application of theories and readings. A brief history of the genesis of the scandal will be provided. The key question that needs to be asked is: has Tesco behaved badly? And if they had, how could they have justified their actions? According to Cooper and Owen (2007), accountability is a somewhat vague term. This is not because the exact definition of responsibility “is required or expected to justify actions or decisions; responsible” (Oxforddictionaries.com, 2014) is difficult to understand, as the question remains, to whom is the responsible person supposed to justify their actions? Three parties can be identified as possible recipients of this justification: shareholders, stakeholders and society in general (Cooper and Owen, 2007). If the first party (the shareholders) is the one to whom Tesco was accountable, then Tesco can be seen to have done nothing wrong since its main objective could have been to maximize shareholder wealth. However, if shareholders were not the recipients of liability and stakeholders and society in general were, Tesco undoubtedly committed wrongdoing. The main focus of this essay revolves around Tesco's problems with corporate social responsibility (known as CSR). because they did not hold themselves accountable to the stakeholders and society in general. These CSR issues can be explained by applying agency theory and various ethical theories. In addition, the measures taken by Tesco will be examined; both how they handled the scandal and the repercussions for...... middle of paper......, 32(3), pp. 247—262In the text: (Tesco Annual Report, 2013)Bibliography: Tesco Annual Report. (2013). Tesco Annual Report 2013. [online] Retrieved from: http://files.the-group.net/library/tesco/annualreport2013/pdfs/tesco_annual_report_2013.pdf [Accessed: April 1, 2014].In text: (The Week UK, 2014) Bibliography: The Week UK. (2014). Horsemeat scandal weighs on Tesco's profits. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.theweek.co.uk/business/53417/horsemeat-scandal-hits-tesco-profits [Accessed: April 1, 2014].In the text: (Turnbull, 1997)Bibliography : Turnbull, S. (1997). Corporate governance: its scope, concerns and theories. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 5 (4), pp. 180--205. In the text: (Wiese and Toporowski, 2013) Bibliography: Wiese, A. and Toporowski, W. (2013). CSR failures in food supply chains: An agency perspective. British Food Journal, 115 (1), pp... 92--107.