Impact of COVID-19 on Retail Business Operations: A Case Study of Marks and Spencer

Assessment project 1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................3
Project Aim.............................................................................................................................3
Project Objectives...................................................................................................................3
Problem statement..................................................................................................................3
Literature review....................................................................................................................3
Time constraints.....................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a very brutal effect on multiple aspects of life
including the personal and professional life of people and it has had the same bearings on
businesses as their operations which are traditional in nature have been disrupted at regular
intervals (Hwang, Nageswaran and Cho, 2020). The main idea behind this project is to measure
the impact that the coronavirus has had on retail business operations and the way operational
digitization can help and has aided to a certain extent in helping companies in this industry
combat the ill-effects. This project will be executed in the organizational context of Marks and
Spencer which is one of the major multinational retail companies of UK.
MAIN BODY
Project Aim
The main aim of this project is to digitize the major retail operations and workplace of
Marks and Spencer by analysing advantages of such workplaces and their impact on COVID-19
Project Objectives
 To study the advantages and processes involved in digitizing the business operations of
Marks and Spencer
 To analyse the impact of COVID-19 on Marks and Spencer's business
 To develop ways in which digitization can help Marks and Spencer recover from the ill-
effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
Problem statement
Being a traditional retailer, Marks and Spencer has suffered devastating consequences
due to the coronavirus and rapid digitization is required for sustained future growth
Literature review
According to Leigh Sparks, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effect on
the retail industry of UK and the results have been very unpredictable due to many structural