Analysis and Evaluation of Problems at M&S in the Early 2000s

Case Study – Marks and Spencer

Running Head: Report
Contents
Analysis and evaluation of problems at M&S in the early 2000s..............................................2
Comparison of Turnaround styles of Holmes and Rose..........................................................4
Conclusion................................................................................................................ 7
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Running Head: Report
Analysis and evaluation of problems at M&S in the early 2000s
Leadership is the process of influencing people to align systems, organisational culture, and
its structure to ensure consistency with its strategy. It enhances the organisation by
empowering employees through partnering the decision making, thus helping the
organisation to achieve the desired outcome.
Until the 1990s, M&S was a successful business with substantial market share and profits.
The business was run on the remarkable lines of giving best to the customers, attractive
product line, quality control and well-knitted management –employee partnership. But by the
late 1990s, things started getting derailed for M&S with the coming of more ambitious
competitors like an oasis, who were bringing out better quality at the comparatively same
pricing. M&S could not sustain as it could no longer understand the needs of the customers. It
was more involved in the day to day operations rather than planning for long term strategy to
overtake the competitors. The result was that its competitors succeeded in overshadowing it.
New entrants were using technological advancements to their advantage, whereas M&S
depended upon the old methods of operations and management, which had an impact on their
effectiveness and efficiency. (Mellahi et al 2002, p23). In the global markets also, M&S
failed to use its brand name and could not establish its image. For instance, it did not change
the names of the US chains like Brooks Brothers and Kings Supermarket and carried on its
operations under their name, hence the company failed to create an impact on the customers
through its brand name, whereas the brand image is vital for businesses in terms of
marketing. Moreover, M&S could not perceive the overseas customer's needs and misread
the target markets. They continued on their formula of selling hi-end British fashion to the
customers who were now preferring casual clothes, as a result, M&S was losing its
marketplace. The CEO‘s at that time were more focused on the day to day operations rather
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