Context of Business - M&S Assignment

Context of Business

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PROJECT 2......................................................................................................................................3
History.........................................................................................................................................3
Vision , leadership style, management practices and strategies of M&S...................................4
Achievement and implementation of leadership styles, management practices and vision of
the company................................................................................................................................5
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
The present study is about management practices in the context of business which means
taking those steps that results in smooth running of business. Other than that a detailing is done
on leadership style, that includes autocratic, democratic and Laissez Faire, and the one which is
adopted by Marks and Spencer in its organisation along with this a briefing is done on types of
management practices that includes reward effort, participation, commitment to workers and
many more. A depth discussion is done on various theories related to leadership style. There are
various policies and practices adopted by M&S that will be discussed in the current study
(Bhaskar and Harshitha, 2017).
PROJECT 2
History
The present study is done on Marks and Spencer, a private company and a large retail
sector of UK , that was founded by Thomas Spencer and Michael Marks in 1884 .presently the
CEO of Marks and Spencer is Steve Rowe since 2016. M&S, which has its headquarters in UK
and London. It has initiated its business with selling Kellogg's Corn flakes. Apart from that it has
979 stores across UK . It mainly sold food and cloth with the brand called St. Michael. It has
opened its first Asian Store in Afghanistan and Kabul. Apart from that M&S is listed in London
Stock exchange and Financial Times Stock Exchange. Along with this it has introduced its
campaign of label marketing in 2006 , the objective of which is to highlight environmental
friendly aspect of the business. M&S is also engaged in conducting ethical activities like
sustainable fishing, using textile dies which are not harmful for humans,using fair trade practices
etc.(Bhaskar and Harshitha, 2017).Apart from that it has taken various initiative like improving
standard of living of the people in its supply chain , help in improving lifestyle of employees and
customers, management of carbon dioxide etc. Talking about its financial position its net profit
has been fluctuating , from 1996 to 1998 profit has been increased from 652 £ M to 815.9 £ M
gradually it has been declined in 1999 to 372 £Million till 2001 (2.8 £ M).This Study is done on
marks and Spencer as it is a leading retail sector Of UK to identify management practices used
in its organisation ,but its productivity has been gradually decreased , so to study its leadership

styles as leadership plays important role in encouraging and motivating workers which directly
affects the productivity of M&S .Also various theories are described in order identify which one
is applied by M&S(Hutchinson, 2018).
Vision , leadership style, management practices and strategies of M&S
Vision of M&S- The long term objective of Marks & Spencer is to become the top most
retail sector of the country. Apart from that it has plan to carry out sustainable practices , to
expand its business in various other countries, and to become a multi channel retailer in all over
the World. Apart from this M&S aims at customer loyalty and employee participation. Along
with this it has decided to implement better ways of doing work that will improve partner's and
customer's experience. That should encourage potential consumer to purchase products. In
addition to this M&S aims at improving lives of employees and customer. As per the recent plan
of Marks and Spencer is focusing on improving today's business model to forecast its future
capabilities (Hutchinson, 2018). M&S has always emphasized on four things -the first one is In
touch that is listening carefully what customer want and redressing their grievances till they get
satisfied., another principle that M&S follow is integrity that aims at doing right things at the
right time by the right person. The third principle is Inspiration that aims to inspire customers.
Apart from that last principle that M&S follows , is Innovation that aims at adding more value to
the product.
Leadership style of M&S- There can be broadly three kinds of leadership style
Democratic, Autocratic,Laissez Faire and strategic leadership style. In Autocratic leadership
style leader takes decision without consulting its followers or subordinates. The instructions are
given by leader after taking decision. Another kind of leadership style can be Democratic in
which leader give chance to its follower to put their views and opinions on particular problem
but the final decision is taken by leader itself. On the other hand Laissez Faire is a kind of
leadership style in which leader gives full freedom to its team member to take decision. M&S
use Strategic leadership style which aim at influencing others so that they voluntarily take part in
decision , as it does not only increase participation but it will have direct impact on its
productivity(Ismail and et.al., 2018).
Apart from that there are different types of theories like Situational, participative and
behavioural. Here situational theory explains that action taken by leader is based on situation.
For ex. If leader is experienced and having good skills then it may use autocratic leadership style.

On the other hand if leader is unaware of some facts or having less experience then it can use
democratic leadership style. On the other side participative theory states that effective leadership
style is one which consider other's views and opinion into account. Also there can be behavioural
theory which is based on the belief that great leaders are made not born , means people can learn
to become leaders by learning and teachings (Coffie, and Blankson, 2018).
Management Practices of M&S- Marks and Spencer conduct following management
practices -
Reward Effort- it is very essential to recognise work of an employee and making them
feel valued in the organisation thus appreciation their work will not only motivate the employee
but it will helps in building employee loyalty.
Stay Committed- trust among the team member will increase cooperation while
performing any function of M&S, this will reduce conflict occurring situation. So staying
committed will lead to god decision making and increase in productivity.
Making responsible - Marks & Spencer focused more on engaging workers by assigning
clear authority and responsibility that and will create enthusiasm in workers and employees . That
will also help in finding out employee's capabilities(Pinto and et.al., 2017).
Strategies Of M&S- To make an effective organisation M&S has adopted following
strategies-Optimum utilisation of human resource- M&S focuses on assigning right work to the
right worker, so that that particular task done, should give effective result.Focus on Education-
M&S lay emphasis on providing knowledge and education for each area or department of its
organisation. Apart from that it always keep its customer in mind to improve quality of the
product.
Achievement and implementation of leadership styles, management practices and vision of the
company.
The vision of Marks & Spencer is to become a top most retail sector in the World, for
which it has taken many initiative like it is implementing sustainable practices for providing
organic and environmental free products that helped M&S to achieve completive advantage.
Apart from that it has implemented better ways of doing work that results in optimum utilization
of resources and ultimately it leads to decrease in cost of production. Another achievement of
M&S is increase in customer loyalty as they consider feedback of employees very
seriously(Pinto and et.al., 2017). In addition to this M&S aims at doing right work through right

person which has increased the efficiency of the work that ultimately leads to fulfil demand of
the customer on time. Also it lay emphasis on innovation that has increased the value of product
of Marks and Spencer .
By implementing strategic leadership style, workload of board of directors has been
reduced because half of the responsibilities are discharged by other members itself as strategic
leadership influence its team member to work itself. Along with this strategic leadership style
helped in providing a framework of decision making, within which all the members of the have
to carry day to operation. M&S also achieved cooperation and understanding among its
employees. It helped M&S in performance appraisal of their employees as strategic leadership
style lead team member to create their own ideas that improves in identifying their skill that will
be applied by members while they are doing task ultimately this will improve their performance
and improved performance will be considered by the management while appraising the
performance of the employees(5 Strategies to Improve Organizational Effectiveness,2016).
Marks & Spencer believes on situational theory as it rely on the thing that style of
leadership should be based on situation , if their leader have more knowledge and skill then it
will adopt autocratic leadership style on the other hand if situation requires free decision making
then it will adopt democratic leadership style(Wahyuni and Ratnatunga,2015).
Marks & Spencer have adopted different management practices in its organisation like
recognising the work of employees that has increased the enthusiasm of the worker as well as
motivated employees which reduces the employee turnover of the company and increased the
no. of talented employees. M&S has also focused on team effort which helps in reducing
workload of individual team member. In addition to this commitment towards employees have
build strong trust among employees.
Strategies which M&S have adopted also helped it in achieving consumer satisfaction,
quality improvement. Apart from this It conducts training program to educate its employees and
staff regarding new methods of doing work(Martinez and et.al., 2017).
Recommendations
It is recommended that company should adopt strategies like using new technology which
is essential for the effectiveness and efficiency of the company . For this company should recruit
technological professional so that best method of doing business operation can be identified. It
should use software programs to improve efficiency of office, which will help in storing big data

without any fear of distortion. By working with technical professionals, leader of the company
will get new ideas that will help in reducing cost and improving productivity(Hutchinson, 2018).
Apart from that company should make informal organisational structure as strict formal
structure will restrict employees to initiate something which will reduce their confidence. In
addition to this co. should adopt more strategy of marketing like TV advertisement , that should
have high impact on the audience. For this marketer of M&S can use impactful tag lines and
punchlines , that will help in cover larger segment of potential people. Along with this it requires
to bring more innovation to its product to get competitive advantage. M&S also need to increase
its operational efficiency to align all the activities that needs to be performed for discharging a
function that guides decision making and discussion of management in determining requirement
of resources to accomplish operational related objectives(Das Nair, and Dube, 2017).
It I highly recommended that M&S needs to be proactive rather than reactive , means it
should prepare plan or strategy in advance to meet uncertain situation rather than reacting at the
time of occurrence of event(Das Nair, and Dube, 2017).
CONCLUSION
From the above study it can be concluded that effective leadership plays an important in
smooth running of the organisation, it can be identified that appropriate selection of leadership
style is essential for influencing members and increase their participation in management .Apart
from that it can be found out that for achieving vision and objective companies should have
proper strategies and policies. In addition to this it can be analysed that strategic leadership is
one of the effective leadership style, that helps in increasing skills and capabilities of employee
and reward effort also an aid to boost the confidence of the employees. It can be identified that
assigning important responsibility will have direct impact on the productivity of the employees.
Then there is democratic leadership style and autocratic leadership style which can be be used
situational y. It can be concluded that the more effective management practices a company will
adopt the more effective their organisational structure will be.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bhaskar, K. and Harshitha, N., 2017. Retail Marketing in India: Challenges, Strategies and
Opportunities. In National Conference on Marketing and Sustainable Development
October (Vol. 13, p. 14).
Cherono, V., Karugu, W. N. and Njuguna, P. M., 2016. Influence of Customer Service and Firm-
Level Characteristics on Customer Satisfaction Among Large Retail Supermarkets in
Kenya: Theoretical Framework. European Journal of Business and Management. 8(33).
pp.179-194.
Coffie, S. and Blankson, C., 2018. Strategic prescriptive theories in the business context of an
emerging economy.Journal of Strategic Marketing. 26(5). pp.373-384.
Das Nair, R. and Dube, S., 2017. Growth and strategies of large, lead firms-Supermarkets.
Ghasabeh, M. S., Soosay, C. and Reaiche, C., 2015. The emerging role of transformational
leadership. The Journal of Developing Areas. 49(6). pp.459-467.
Hutchinson, K., 2018. Leadership purpose. In Leadership and small business (pp. 53-68).
Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Ismail, M.K. And et.al., 2018. Sustainability in Retail Industry: Competition Factors among
Small Retailers and Supermarkets Agro-Food Business. International Journal of
Entrepreneurship. 22(4). pp.1-7.
Martinez, M. P. and et.al., 2017. THE REVERSE LOGISTICS AS TOOL FOR WASTE
MANAGEMENT OF SUPERMARKETS RETAIL. Revista De Gestao Ambiental E
Sustentabilidade-geas, pp.150-165.
Petljak, K. and et.al., 2018. Green supply chain management in food retailing: survey-based
evidence in Croatia. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. 23(1). pp.1-15.
Pinto, G.L. and et.al., 2017. Innovation strategies in retail services: solutions, experiences and
meanings. European Journal of Innovation Management.20(2). pp.190-209.
Wahyuni, D. and Ratnatunga, J., 2015. Carbon strategies and management practices in an
uncertain carbonomic environment–lessons learned from the coal-face. Journal of Cleaner
Production. 96. pp.397-406.

Online
5 Strategies to Improve Organizational Effectiveness.2016.[Online].Available
Through<https://myonline.centralchristian.edu/news/2016/08/17/5-strategies-improve-
organizational-effectiveness>