Context of Business

This article provides a SWOT and PESTEL analysis for Marks and Spencer, evaluating how the changes in PESTEL factors has influenced the Opportunities and Threats business. It also recommends a suitable leadership style from Daniel Goleman’s (2000) leadership styles that will help M&S to meet their business objectives with focus on changes in the business environment since start of 2021.

Context of business

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Task 1 ..............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 SWOT and PESTEL analysis for marks and Spencer..........................................................1
1.2 Evaluate how the changes in PESTEL factors has influenced the Opportunities and
Threats business. Critically comment on how the business is addressing their Strengths to
negate Threats and Weakness affecting their Opportunities.......................................................5
1.3 Recommend a suitable leadership style from Daniel Goleman’s (2000) leadership styles
that will help M&S to meet their business objectives with focus on changes in the business
environment since start of 2021. Justify the choice using appropriate literature and examples. 6
1.4 Critically comment on their Corporate Social Responsibilities in the processes using
evidence from the research..........................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
.........................................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business context encompasses an understanding of the factors impacting the business from
various perspectives, including how decisions are made and what the business is ultimately
trying to achieve. In context to Marks & Spencer, it is used by IT to identify key implications for
the execution of its strategic initiatives. By using a purpose driven approach to document , track,
and monitor the business context of the organization before introducing strategic initiatives, it
can be made sure that initiatives take the need of the business stakeholders into the account. It is
the clothing brand which is famously known for its amazing collection almost all around the
globe, its a multinational British retailer with headquarter in London, England and it has also
been listed in London stock exchange(Sengan, and et.al., 2022).
Task 1
1.1 SWOT and PESTEL analysis for marks and Spencer
SWOT ANALYSIS
 It is a framework used to evaluate company's competitive planning.
 It can used for internal and external factors as well.
 And in context of Marks and Spencer's we will discuss its swot analysis(Saunders,
2022).
STRENGTHS WEAKNESS
1) Clear brand image
It has a huge name in international market and
has a widespread business and it targets
premium segments. This has resulted in a
clear branding and customers are sure of what
to expect from Marks & Spencer store.
2) Private labels
In order to sell premium brands like Louis
vuitton , M&S has its own labels so that it can have
clear brand name .These private labels have been
successful in making customers familiar with
1) Customer satisfaction
Customers are getting low satisfaction levels
and there have been a lot of issues with respect
to return policy. This has resulted in
poor brand loyalty and increased brand
switching.
2) Declining sales
Due to shortage of some items they are
continuously declining and they are not having
proper supply of products as demanded .
According to a report by Wood 2019, the sale
1

the name Marks & Spencer and also
improved brand recall.
in some of the stores of M&S was declining by
the end of 2019. It was because of the poor
supply chain system and the non-availability
of products(Krahnen, 2023).
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
1) NEW SEGMENTS
Fashion is an evolving business and new
segments come up on a regular basis. In Asia,
there is a huge demand for ethnic and
traditional wear which currently Marks &
Spencer has been unable to capitalize on. This
is one area which can show a lot of promise to
the retailer.
2) GLOBAL EXPANSION
As we know that Marks & Spencer is a
multinational brand and the company has
opened up stores in countries like India,
Russia, Brazil, Poland, and Indonesia. Now the
company needs to expand in those countries. It
means that the brand has to play an active role
by increasing more and more branches in those
countries.
1) HIGH COMPETITION
Some of the main competitors of Marks &
Spencer are Amazon, Tesco. If the company
doesn’t change its strategy, then it would fade
away from the market gradually because the
competitors are very strong. If the scale
company’s position in the global, brand’s
graph is moving downward.
2) OTHER BRAND PROMOTION
As it is evident that M&S is not providing
Indian and traditional outfits which is
demanded the most in market , due to this other
companies are gaining .
PESTLE ANALYSIS
2

Pestle is mnemonic which in its expanded form. It gives a brief view of whole
environment from different angles. In context to Marks and Spencer, it is a clothing and retailer
of prepared food expertise in home wares(Kosmaczewska, 2022). This provides a basis for
understanding the company external environment which can be addressed by the company.
There are some factors which are as follows:
 Political factors
Political factors relate to how the government intervenes in the economy. Specifically,
political factors have areas including tax policy. While free trade policies have been a massive
political benefit for Marks and Spencer it shows the positive side of company as it is great
aspect of modern days and has established between a multitude of countries.
Brexit shows the negative impact on the company. The United Kingdom’s decision to leave the
European Union is a Political factor that might hugely impact Marks and Spencer’s operations.
For example, if the United Kingdom were to leave the European Union in a so-called “hard
Brexit”, this might result in the loss of numerous free trade policies with European suppliers,
resulting in a higher product cost for end consumers.
 Economic factors
These factors include economic growth/decline, interest, exchange, inflation and wage
rates, minimum wage, working hours, unemployment (local and national), credit availability, and
cost of living.
They used their resources and subsequent capabilities to exploit their differences from the
competitors and create competitive advantage by Authorizing suppliers/manufacturers with
design responsibility(Kayas, Assimakopoulos and Hines, 2022).
As we know, price has been a big factor in retail industry. But the last few decades have seen
numerous budget retailers pop up in the United Kingdom. From budget clothing stores to budget
supermarkets, these new competitors are stealing away market share from more premium brands
and it is affecting company in a negative manner.
 Social factors
Social factors include cultural norms and expectations, health consciousness, population growth
rates, age distribution, career attitudes, health, and safety.
As company has positive side on food department ,The brand has however been able to counter
this factor by dominating the ready meals industry. There has been a sharp rise in the
3

consumption of ready meals all over the UK and the world as well. Marks and Spencer is
currently one of the top providers of ready meals within the UK(Jouanna, 2022).
It is a household name, but due to its long-standing existence it is not what one calls a brand of
the youth. Most of the population associates the brand with the past and without a top to bottom
regenerate of the business persona Marks and Spencer is projected to lose a majority of
customers from the latest generations this shows negative impact in company.
 Technological factors
This factor include the rate of technological change, the evolution of infrastructure, and
any government or institutional research.
M&S has introduced multiple such self – checkout stores and plan to increase the usage of AI
based checkout in the future . They have also established an e-Commerce store that is quite
effective within the UK. It is positive side of company and it is one of the biggest disadvantage
to company is that it do not have strong online selling as compared to amazon and eBay. Thus it
suffers from loss of sales accordingly. Legal factors
Legal factors pertain to any legal forces that define what a business can or cannot do.
As we know legislations in every country are ever changing . Marks & Spencer continuously
conducting training sessions on areas such as health and update them every single year in order
to keep themselves updated with the current laws and lawmaking(Hon, 2022).
 Environmental factors
This includes temperature , food, pollutants, population density, sound, light, and
parasites. The issue related with the current climate conditions, are being promoted on a regular
basis on televisions, in magazines and in newspaper as well, M&S have their own green policy
which they now refer as “PLAN A” It is an initiative adopted by the company to have a positive
impact on the well-being , communities and on the planet.
Environmental factors that are present in the acquisition of food, clothing, and home products .
Marks and Spencer’s move to become a more sustainable retailer is nothing too unique, however,
as many other UK retailers have pledged to do the same, which is being negative side of the
company.
4

1.2 Evaluate how the changes in PESTEL factors has influenced the Opportunities and Threats
business. Critically comment on how the business is addressing their Strengths to negate
Threats and Weakness affecting their Opportunities.
There are some of the factors of PESTLE which are influencing the opportunities and threats in
a major way and they have big role in dealings with the problems and chances
 Political factors influence on opportunities because free trade policies have been the most
used multitude which is impacting the chances to the people to join M&S and Brexit has
been the most harmful thing because it was the decision of united kingdom to leave
European union that an hugely impact the operations of M&S because the trade relations
and the dealings were compromised and there was a lot of problems due to this(Hassan,
Rahman and Paul, 2022).
 Due to interest, exchange, inflation the company has always tried to exploit the
differences with the competition and other leading rivals in the market standing. Also due
to low prices of other brand with the same quality the other rivalry brands have raised
their revenue by making same quality of goods M&S makes with low prices so that
people get inclined towards them and this has lead to fall in the sales of M&S and it is the
biggest threat to Marks and Spencer that others are doing well with the quality and
making their company efficient and profitable.
 Also ready made meal has been the famous for marks and Spencer as it is very important
to have the facilities what are most demanded in market by the consumers and customers
as it has been harp rise in ready made meal all over united kingdom and people are highly
inclined towards this kind of concept and hence, it is working as a positive aspect of the
business.
 Due to its long standing it is not what one calls a brand of the youth. Most of the
population associates with the brand of past and without top to bottom revamp of the
business persona. And because of this M&S is loosing the majority of customers from the
latest generations and it is negative impact on the business.
 Strengths of the company will help in coping up with the problems faced by the company
on the daily basis as Clear brand image, M&S has a huge name in international market
and has a widespread business and it targets premium segments and it will help in cutting
down the threat of other rivals as marks and Spencer has good brand name and it has
5

been the most demanded brand in clothing industry plus the food meal industry
also(Hanlon, 2022).
 Also the private labels of M&S is attracting a lot of customers as it is the youth
generation inclination towards showing off the brands and it is very good option for the
company to haver its own name labels on every commodity they are dealing in.
 Marks and Spencer has been the most demanded cloth internationally they are just
lacking behind the ethnic and Indian collection, so they just need to upgrade themselves
in the sector of ethnic and traditional wear so that the Indians get more attracted towards
them and then it will be the international trading work for them which is the great
advantage for the company.
1.3 Recommend a suitable leadership style from Daniel Goleman’s (2000) leadership styles that
will help M&S to meet their business objectives with focus on changes in the business
environment since start of 2021. Justify the choice using appropriate literature and
examples.
There are six emotional leaderships that are given by Daniel Goleman and they are as follows:
 The affirmative leader: this is the type of leadership in which the leader makes group of
all the employees and then make them understand about the working of the organisation.
 The democratic leader: this type of style appreciates the contribution of each employee
in the organization and including their part in decision making process, this type of
leadership is more useful when the leader is dependent on the team's expertise(Egger,
2022).
 The commanding leader: this approach is also known as carrot and stick approach, it
says when the leader has given a task to employee to execute, he has to complete that task
without complaining and without asking any question and on time.
 The pacesetting leader: This type of style is concerned with high quality of work and
good results and the members of the team are expected to deliver the desired quality of
work. Leaders expect the team to work independently and usually only require weekly or
monthly updates about the status of a project.
6

 The authoritative leader: This style is basically to motivate the employees to work hard
and contribute to achieving the goals of the company and these type of leaders are
frequently inspired because of their experience and contributions to the field.
 The coaching leader: This type of leadership is concerned with the development of the
team members and the leader attempts to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the
employees and encourage them to improve their skills and capabilities.
It can be recommended in this respective analysis that Marks and Spencer can opt the democratic
leadership style as it will help them in making the employees come together and appreciate all
the employees for their good work and contribution to the company and this type of leadership
will also be helpful to M&S that they can be more beneficial in terms of revenue and
sales(Duhayon and Boel, 2022).
1.4 Critically comment on their Corporate Social Responsibilities in the processes using
evidence from the research.
Corporate social responsibility can be defined as the set up of self- regulation which has
the main purpose of socially accountable in the society for any company. In other words, the
company has to adopt corporate social responsibility and has to be social to its stakeholders, its
customers and most importantly to itself. When companies adopt this model, they include every
aspect which internally or externally can affect the company in many ways, which includes the
environmental, social and the economic factors of the society. The thinking of the public or the
final customers plays a very crucial part for the company’s growth. That is why any business
running in the market wants a positive good brand image in front of the society and hence adopts
corporate social responsibilities in order to make its name shine in the market. Not every start-up
or business in the market has full pockets to do its marketing on point and to become a well
known brand in night. However, for the local communities and the small business it’s very
important to give all the efforts in the things which can actually buy them their reputation in the
marketplace. Marks and Spencer, if using this model can not only give them a long term
commitment for the future company’s growth but also make it more attractive among the
customers and they will choose them among the other multinational stores(Bryson, Crosby and
Seo, 2022). It will show that marks and Spencer actually cares about the society and the
environment as well and not only about its profit maximisation and competition with other
7

forms. The corporate social responsibilities one company including marks and Spencer can
follow to maintain its brand name is as follows:
1. ENVIRONMENTAL EFFORTS: A company’s liability towards the environment is
always there. Companies should take appropriate strategies for reducing all the large
carbon footprints which are because of the production they do. Marks and Spencer
however, can also take some other measures like to reduce plastic in the environment.
2. PHILANTHROPY: The social responsibility of any company includes the donation
they make towards the poor section of the society by donating the resources and the
charity amount they have and also help them to grow. Marks and Spencer can also give a
hand in this factor. By donating money or any other resources or by giving charity to the
small business or the individuals of the society can really help the company to gain a
good popularity among the general public.
3. ETHICAL LABOUR PRACTICES: employees are considered one of the main assets
of any organisation. Therefore, by keeping the employees and staff satisfied and treating
them ethically can make a huge difference. Marks and Spencer can also have this factor
by treating their employees well as they also come in the category of general people
which will again help the company to gain the positive position in the market
place(Aronson, Reilly and Lynn, 2022).
CONCLUSION
In this respective report it can be concluded that SWOT and PESTLE are the analysing tools
which is helping the company to know its worth and market standing. And in SWOT analysis
there are discussion of strengths of the company, weakness of the company, opportunities
available to company and the threats to company by some of he factors. Secondly the
explanation of how pestle factors have influenced the opportunities and threats of the company
and how strengths of the company has dealt with the threats and opportunities and the leadership
styles given by Daniel Goleman and one of the best leadership style which is recommended to
the respective company is the democratic leadership style as it is more suitable. Lastly
8

commenting on Corporate Social Responsibilities in the processes using evidence from the
research.
9

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Aronson, Z.H., Reilly, R.R. and Lynn, G.S., 2022. Understanding the role of team member
personal style in project performance: Does the type of innovation matter?. In Emerging
Issues And Trends In Innovation And Technology Management (pp. 143-182).
Bryson, J.M., Crosby, B.C. and Seo, D., 2022. Strategizing on behalf of social enterprises: the
case of the Metropolitan Economic Development Association and Catalyst. Public
Management Review, 24(1), pp.124-141.
Duhayon, C. and Boel, S., 2022. Comparative Advantages of the Mineral Processing of Deep-
Sea Polymetallic Nodules over Terrestrial Ores. In Perspectives on Deep-Sea
Mining (pp. 199-217). Springer, Cham.
Egger, R., 2022. Data Science in Tourism. In Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and
Marketing (pp. 1-3). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Hanlon, A., 2022. Digital marketing: strategic planning & integration. Sage.
Hassan, S.M., Rahman, Z. and Paul, J., 2022. Consumer ethics: A review and research
agenda. Psychology & Marketing, 39(1), pp.111-130.
Hon, S.S., 2022. Development of Singapore as a Financial Centre. In RESILIENCE
DYNAMISM TRUST: 50 Landmark Statements by MAS Leaders (pp. 398-403).
Jouanna, J., 2022. Sophocles: a study of his theater in its political and social context. Princeton
University Press.
Kayas, O.G., Assimakopoulos, C. and Hines, T., 2022. Student evaluations of teaching:
emerging surveillance and resistance. Studies in Higher Education, 47(1), pp.1-12.
Kosmaczewska, J., 2022. Geocaching. In Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing.
Edward Elgar Publishing.
Krahnen, J.P., 2023. Development finance as institution building: A new approach to poverty-
oriented banking. Routledge.
Saunders, E.N., 2022. Elites in the making and breaking of foreign policy. Annual Review of
Political Science, 25.
Sengan, S and et.al., 2022. Security-aware routing on wireless communication for E-health
records monitoring using machine learning. International Journal of Reliable and
Quality E-Healthcare (IJRQEH), 11(3), pp.1-10.
10