Business Environment and Leadership– Case Study

Read this case study on Business Environment and Leadership and learn about SWOT and PESTEL analysis, different styles of leadership, and corporate social responsibility. Get expert insights and recommendations for Marks & Spencer.

Business Environment
and Leadership– Case
Study

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
SWOT and PESTEL analysis.................................................................................................1
In what ways PESTEL factors has made an influence on the Opportunities and threats of a
business. How company is using its strengths to negate their weakness and threats ............3
Compare and contrast the different styles of leadership. Comment if the leadership style is
appropriate for the company of your choice...........................................................................5
Recommend a suitable leadership style that help them grow and overcome the challenges
posed by the business environment........................................................................................7
Reflection Report ...................................................................................................................8
Corporate social responsibility of a company........................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business environment refers to that factors in which the business exists and operates their
all activities. The business environment exist of different factors which includes internal and
external factors where internal factors are those which are based on the business that means on
the basis of internal factors(Ajayi and Olaniyan, 2019) . Internal factors are related with the
employees, management which are controllable factors and if any difficulty is faced by the
business then they can make some changes on the other hand external factors are those which are
not under control and which needs to be identified by the company before it can make huge
impact on the business. Leaders act as an most important part for the business because they are
the only one in the enterprise which provides motivation to employees and on the other side
shows them the right direction as in which way they have to carry down their steps. Marks &
Spencer is a retail company in British which provides clothes, home products which was
established on 1884 and is having its headquarter in London, UK. This report will include
SWOT and PESTEL analysis, comparison between different styles of leadership, corporate
social responsibility.
MAIN BODY
SWOT and PESTEL analysis
PESTEL analysis
 Political factors- Political factors are related with the rules and regulations formulated by
government. The brand have made its global presence in many countries and this is the
reason why they have to formulate the rules of other countries. Brexit is the reason which
has made it difficult for the company to operate their operations as it will make huge
impact on the business.
 Economic factors- The company has to face the issue of higher inflation in the market in
which at some point of time they have to make their prices higher because higher price
production(Nayak, 2018). But with this they are also providing the benefit of
employment to the unemployed people. Marks & Spencer have also worked in providing
the discounts to people.
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 Social factors- Social factors is related with the society where Marks & Spencer have
always provided the things which matches with the preference of people. The trends and
fashion is always changing which used to force the company to make and produce those
things that is matching with the needs and preferences of the people.
 Technological factors- Marks & Spencer have used the technology in many ways which
includes providing online services to people which includes all the things related with
that of clothes or other things(Ali and et. al., 2021). The other is providing the facility of
self checkout where people can experience the things in a faster way rather than waiting
for other people.
 Environmental factors- Marks & Spencer is a luxury brand where they are using the
sustainable factors of producing the things which can be either related to food, clothing or
other things. They are also the one who have always tried to promote the sustainability
factors in the retail industry. Legal factors- Legal factors are related with the laws and regulations which Marks &
Spencer has to abide in terms of working with full authenticity. They have to follow the
rules of different country which are related with the employment or health and safety.
SWOT analysis-
Strengths Weakness
 It is one of the leading brand which has
established its business in many
countries and with that has also made
its name. The products which are sold
by them are according to the latest
designs and fashion(Earley and Greany,
2020).
 They always makes innovation in their
products and the products in which they
make some innovation are liked by
consumers also. Marks & Spencer is
famous for its uniqueness only which is
 Marks & Spencer have been failed in
expanding its business to new markets.
They have made an expansion in new
markets but they are unable to make
success in those markets.
 They are facing the difficulty of high
imitation of products by which
consumers like to make the purchases
from those company which are
providing the products at lower cost.
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juts out of the box style.
Opportunities Threats
 They can make the expansion of
company in new markets where it will
be beneficial for Marks & Spencer.
 They can also offer different segments
of products which will be unique for
the company and for consumers.
 Higher level of existing competition in
the market which has made it difficult
for them to develop different products.
 They have to face the issues of different
government policies which affects the
working of a business.
In what ways PESTEL factors has made an influence on the Opportunities and threats of a
business. How company is using its strengths to negate their weakness and threats
PESTEL analysis have made an influence on opportunities and threats in suitable manner.
 Political factors- Sometimes government of any country makes those policies which are
better for the companies where Marks & Spencer have always adopted those factors
which will act as good for them(Burrell, 2019). This was the best opportunity for them
but with this they have to also follow the restrictive policies of the government which
makes it difficult for the company.
 Economic factors- The inflation rate is the major risk and threat for the company which
will make it difficult for the company to operate their business. With the expansion they
will also have to make the search for taxation policies which is not going to make any
impact on the business operations. But comparing the business of Marks & Spencer with
others they have already established their business.
 Social factors-Social factors are those which are related with society as the designs in
clothes keeps on changing which is the best opportunity for the company to make those
things which will be liked by the consumers and which will be best for them. But with
this it also says, that if those designs got copied by other company then it will be the
biggest threat for the company.
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 Technological factors- This is the main factor which has helped Marks & Spencer to
become more modern in terms of other operating companies. They have made the facility
of self checkout in which there is no requirement of other staffs and the online facility
which has made it more famous. But the threat for them will be the higher cost which
need to be invested in it.
 Environmental factors- Environmental friendly things are liked by the consumers and is
also good for the society which helps them in the development of their business (De
Roeck and Farooq, 2018). Also, the other threat for them is to work on the basis of
sustainable factors which sometimes makes it really very difficult.
 Legal factors- Legal factors are related with the new rules and regulations which at time
becomes opportunity for people but on the other side it does not. There are many factors
which Marks & Spencer does and which is also for the benefit of the company itself.
INTERNAL FACTORS
EXTERNAL
FACTORS
Strengths (S) Weakness (W)
Opportunities (O) SO: The strength of
Marks & Spencer is
good financial
turnover and where the
opportunity for them is
to make the
diversification. In this
way company can
make the expansion of
their business.
WO: The weakness is
that they are unable to
make success in the
markets but with this
they are making the
diversification which
is the best way for
them to make those
changes which can
work the best.
Threats (T) ST: Strength of Marks
& Spencer is that they
have expanded their
business in different
countries but with this
high competition is
WT: The weakness of
products getting
imitated but with that
the major threat for the
company is high
competition(Shao,
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also the another factor
which makes it
difficult for the
business to operate
their business. They
have to make and
develop unique
products which cannot
be imitated by others.
2018). It is important
for Marks & Spencer
to develop unique
products to reduce the
difficulty of imitation.
Compare and contrast the different styles of leadership. Comment if the leadership style is
appropriate for the company of your choice
Leadership is a vital function for an organisation to maximizing efficiency of employees
and to accomplish company's goal. Leader or mentor is an individual whose behaviour motivate
or demotivate subordinates and provide them guidelines about how to achieve desired goal
productively (Zhu and Wang, 2018). The following are some leadership styles that leaders
implement in their respective organisation:
Autocratic Democratic Authoritative Laissez-Faire
 Leaders who
are executing
this leadership
style
centralized
power to
themselves.
 They order
their
subordinates
and assign
them their
 This leadership
style is also
known as
participative
leadership
where leaders
distribute their
power and
authorities
(Eagly and
Carli, 2018).
 They motivate
 Leaders using
this type of
leadership style
provide vision
and direction to
their
employees.
 They set clear
visions about
how to achieve
desired goals
and take
 This type of
leadership style
is executed by
those leaders
who just want
to ignore
power and
duties.
 Leaders pass
on their
responsibilities
to their
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responsibilities
without
discussing with
them. Leaders
take full
control on
overall
authority and
assumes they
have complete
knowledge
about business.
 This type of
leadership style
demotivate
employees as
they feel a
threat of
punishments
by leaders if
the given task
is not
performed
properly.
 Leaders keep a
close
supervision on
their
subordinates
and provide
them clear
their
employees to
take
participation in
decision
making
process. They
also seek
opinions of
their
subordinates
regarding
business
projects.
 This type of
leadership style
encourage
workers to
work
efficiently and
leaders support
workers to
improve their
skills or
abilities.
 This leadership
style helps in
growing
creativity
among
employees and
continuous
feedbacks from
employees.
 They assist
their
subordinates to
visualize the
future of
company and
what will be
the result of
their applied
approaches
when they will
accomplish
specific target.
 They take time
in analysing
their decisions
and explains
them to
employees
rather than just
ordering them
to complete
task (Smith,
2021).
 This type of
leader identify
threats or
potential
employees and
take minimal
initiative in
administration
(Kiplangat,
2017).
 These type of
leaders do not
provide any
guidance to
their
subordinates
and give them
freedom to
establish their
own targets.
 These leaders
have a belief
that when
employees are
left to take
decisions by
their own they
show their
maximum
efforts which
increases their
productivity.
 Employees feel
free when
having this
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directions
regarding any
project
(Lionardo and
et. al., 2019).
 Under this
leadership style
there is low
chance of
delegating
responsibilities
on other
employee or
share of
workload
among
workers.
provide them
an opportunity
to build
interpersonal
relationship
between them.
 Leaders
delegate
responsibilities
and lead them
through
persuasion
rather than
forcing them to
work.
barriers they
might face in
future related
to business and
try to remove
them while at
the same time
they
incentivize
success.
type of leader
and perform
according to
their desire
which
sometimes
could flounder
an organisation
as no direction
have been
provided to
them (Henkel,
Marion and
Bourdeau,
2019).
Marks and Spencer could implement democratic leadership style which could help the
company in achieving more success and flexible working environment might encourage its
employees to stay for long time in firm.
Recommend a suitable leadership style that help them grow and overcome the challenges posed
by the business environment
Democratic leadership style could be used by any leader to encourage its workers to take
accountability in decision-making. Ideas and opinions of employees are freely expressed by them
without having any fear of being judge. This leadership style has been recommended to Marks
and Spencer because of its several benefits which are explained below in detail:
Can be implemented by anyone:
This leadership style can be executed by anyone mentoring people even by those also
who are in coercive situation could still ask for opinions of employees in order to analyse all
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possible results (Hoyt and Simon, 2017). This leadership style provide a benefit of positive
workplace as workers feel free to express themselves.
Builds relationships:
Leaders motivate their employees to take part in group discussion and team building
exercises which ultimately results in strong bonding among workers. While facing any crisis or
issues team members feel like they are in same situation and have to solve them together which
develop interpersonal relationship between them. Employees working together give more better
outcomes to the company which benefits organisation in achieving desired goals on time.
Brings creativity:
The freedom of expressing reflects diversity in an organisation as people from different
culture and background bring diverse ideas or thoughts which could benefit the company in
improving its image in market. Leaders could also learn something new and innovative from
their subordinates. These types of leaders value their employees and motivate diversity in
company.
Helps in solving complex situations:
As many people execute their ideas in one situation or many minds are working on single
issue the chance of getting potential solution increases. The democratic leadership style allows
leaders to work with their subordinates and permitting every member to bring solution utilizing
their experience benefit them in solving complex or critical situations easily (Cruz and Wang,
2018).
Reflection Report
From the above discussion in this report I have observed that evaluating internal and
external environmental factors is very important for a company in order to take competitive
advantage in marketplace. I examined that governmental policies and economic factors are very
necessary to consider at the time of establishing a business. It is very important to consider
opportunities and threats a company might face in market as well as what measures it could take
to avoid any risks. I have also learned from the above discussion of leadership style that leaders
greatly influence behavior of employees. I have evaluated that democratic leadership style
provides an opportunity to interact more with subordinates which I will implement in my future
business.
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Corporate social responsibility of a company
Corporate social responsibility are those factors which are related and which are for the benefits
of a society. Some of the Corporate social responsibility factors of Marks & Spencer have been
explained below-
 Marks & Spencer have always in making donations and doing charity things which
provides lot of help to poor people and children. They are the one who make donations of
clothes to the poor people in every country where they have made an establishment of
their business (Mekhum, 2020).
 They have always provided their support to those areas which are affected with disasters
such as flood or the cyclones where thousand of people dies or suffers from food and
shelter.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that it is important for the business to identify
all the factors which can make an impact on the business. These factors are important to be
evaluated so that business can make their planning on that basis only and this will help in
achieving their business objectives. While leadership plays an important role for the company
because they are the only one who helps in establishing business objectives.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ajayi, O.A. and Olaniyan, T.A., 2019. Contextual understanding and utilisation of
entrepreneurial leadership in business development. American Journal of
Management. 19(3). pp.11-18.
Ali, M. and et. al., 2021. The role of ethical leadership in enhancing exploitative and explorative
learning simultaneously: what does it matter if employees view work as
central?. Personnel Review.
Burrell, D.N., 2019. An exploration of the critical need for formal training in leadership for
cybersecurity and technology management professionals. In Human Performance
Technology: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 1420-1432). IGI
Global.
Cruz, J. and Wang, H., 2018. An examination of the lean leadership practices in the supply chain
management. Available at SSRN 3135595.
De Roeck, K. and Farooq, O., 2018. Corporate social responsibility and ethical leadership:
Investigating their interactive effect on employees’ socially responsible
behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics. 151(4). pp.923-939.
Eagly, A. H. and Carli, L. L., 2018. Women and the labyrinth of leadership (pp. 147-162).
Routledge.
Earley, P. and Greany, T., 2020. The context and challenges of contemporary school leadership.
In Sustaining Depth and Meaning in School Leadership (pp. 41-56). Routledge.
Henkel, T. G., Marion Jr, J. W. and Bourdeau, D. T., 2019. Project manager leadership behavior:
Task-oriented versus relationship-oriented. Journal of Leadership Education. 18(2). p.1.
Hoyt, C. L. and Simon, S., 2017. Social psychological approaches to women and leadership
theory. In Handbook of research on gender and leadership. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Kiplangat, H. K., 2017. The Relationship between Leadership Styles and Lecturers' Job
Satisfaction in Institutions of Higher Learning in Kenya. Universal Journal of
Educational Research. 5(3). pp.435-446.
Lionardo, A. and et. al., 2019. Political concern and idealism as mediators for determining
political leadership styles. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and
Change. 7(10). pp.219-230.
Mekhum, W., 2020. Impact of Ethical Leadership on Organizational Outcomes through
Mediation of Emotional Labor and Moderation of Followers' Personality
Traits. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy. 11(3).
Nayak, A.K., 2018. Effective leadership traits from Bhagavad Gita. International Journal of
Indian Culture and Business Management. 16(1). pp.1-18.
Shao, J., 2018. The moderating effect of program context on the relationship between program
managers' leadership competences and program success. International Journal of
Project Management. 36(1). pp.108-120.
Smith, L. L., 2021. Principal Leadership Style and Strategies and Their Influence on Student
Literacy Outcomes (Doctoral dissertation, Grand Canyon University).
Zhu, Q. and Wang, P., 2018, August. The Influence of leadership style on employees’ innovative
behavior—The adjustment of bicultural self. In International Conference on
Management Science and Engineering Management (pp. 1109-1121). Springer, Cham.
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