Innovation and Enterprise: A Case Study on Marks and Spencer

This report provides an in-depth analysis of innovation and enterprise, using Marks and Spencer as a case study. It begins with an introduction to the concepts of innovation and enterprise, defining them within the context of business operations and market dynamics. The report then delves into the significance of innovation, emphasizing its role in product differentiation, maintaining market share, and adapting to globalization. It discusses the theory of disruptive innovation, explaining how new entrants challenge established companies by offering products at lower prices, thus catering to underserved customer segments. The report then examines Marks and Spencer's business model, pricing strategies, and customer base, highlighting its focus on innovation in areas such as sustainable practices and technology integration. Examples of Marks and Spencer's innovations are discussed, including recycling programs, eco-friendly stores, and collaborations with Apple. Finally, the report concludes by emphasizing the importance of continuous innovation and adaptation to remain competitive in the ever-changing market landscape. The report also references academic journals and books to support its claims.

INNOVATION AND
ENTERPRISE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Innovation and Enterprise............................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
The study is based on innovation and enterprise. Innovation is the creative process which
involves ideas and formulating them to make a new product or policy. Enterprise is basically the
mode in which an organisation works. It can be a public set up, public private partnership pr a
privately owned company. The company being referred in the case study is Marks and Spencer.
Marks and Spencer is a British multinational retailer which sells home products, beauty products
and food products using own label. The study discusses theory regarding innovation and how
innovation has helped the business.
Innovation and Enterprise
Innovation involves creativity in approach where people of an organisation sit together and use
their intellect for bringing changes in the product. The organisations have been globalising and
thus because of competition product differentiation is necessary to catch the customer attention
and maintain the market share. Innovation can be about inventing a new product or making
changes in the existing product. The importance of innovation is that it can be seen in many
organisation that they are allocating a significant amount on research and development. This
practice will help them stay in touch with current market trends and stay in competition (Tait, J.
and et.al., 2021).
Enterprise is a means of using the business as a model type which can be private public
partnership, public owned or a collaboration of companies coming together to mutually benefit
each other’s products and forming strategies which can benefit each other’s brand. It can be a
joint-advertising campaign, a combination of products being sold of different brands etc. The
different modes of enterprise will have different means of generating capital.
Theory of Innovation
Talking of theoretical implications in innovation, it would be wise to talk about the theory of
Christine’s disruptive theory of innovation. The theory basically tells about the process where
expensive products accessible to some part of the customer segment is made accessible by new
entrants in the market at affordable lower prices (Samonte and et.al., 2018). The established
companies catering to the customers are driven by profitability and be the leader in market share.
For this, they will focus more on products which are generating good revenue. However, the

certain aspects which the customers need get overlooked by them. Here comes the new entrants
who fill the gap by providing those products at affordable prices thus catering to the demands
overseen by established players. There becomes a target customer segment for them, the big
players don’t seem to mind as they have different customer segment. After the entrants have
made profits on their venture, they start moving towards the main market stream while they also
maintain their original set of customers. If the main stream customers start moving towards the
entrants in higher numbers, the disruption has occurred in the market. The process can be seen
followed in retail industry. The companies who offer products at low prices have a target
segment in mind of the middle-class customers. They know they have to keep the customer
segment intact while launching sideways premium products which will be aimed at customers of
higher income group. Although middle class customers who have been getting quality at a place
would also sometimes like to purchase premium products from their favourite retail store and
would not mind paying extra (Cusumano, Gawer and Yoffie, 2019).
Marks & Spencer have a pricing strategy of medium to high range. It thus caters to a
segment which is middle class as well as upper middle and higher income class. It also has a
premium pricing strategy for its products. The company has a sound customer base and has been
doing many innovations. It although has to be careful of the new entrants who can provide goods
not being catered by the company at lower prices. It has to bear in mind the theory of disruption
and also start focusing on inclusion of new customer segment.
Examples of Innovation
Innovations at Marks and Spencer has been about using the recycle option for garments and
opening of eco-friendly stores will be some of the leading changes. M&S have thought to
improve the quality of the food products by adding new ingredients which will make the food
more healthy. The company has launched a store in Holland where customers would be able to
buy food and also shop for clothes with video panels installed to help them in the process. The
monitor panels allow access to the whole catalogue of clothing range and let the customer order
through it with payments also being done online. Also there are staff to help the customers in
making orders (Cusumano, Gawer and Yoffie, 2019).
Marks & Spencer have collaborated with Apple which can also be classified as enterprise
collaboration. The Apple watch has the app launched by marks & spencer. The app keeps a track

of the recipe looked by customer and recommends items to be purchased when they visit M&S
store. It also helps them in reminding of the steps used in recipe and customers can keep a track
of the cooking process.
Marks & Spencer have launched a trial of footwear using 2nd generation RFID technology
where customer can choose a shoe and keep it near a digital platform which will show a recorded
trial of the shoe along with product specifications and also a suitable hand bag for it. The process
is on trial and gives a digital experience to the customer. The customer can mail self the product
specifications and can choose to buy the product later. This is a good innovation technique used
of product marketing.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that innovation is an enriching way of keeping business live for its
customers. The companies have to bear in mind that innovation can be done by competitors too
and thus have to be on the lookout for changing innovative practices.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Tait, J. and et.al.,2021. Responsible innovation: Its role in an era of technological and regulatory
transformation. Engineering Biology, 5(1), pp.2-9.
Samonte, M.J.C. and et.al., 2018, April. Aquacloud: A saas disruptive innovation for enterprise
business ecosystem. In Proceedings of the 2018 International Conference on Internet and e-
Business (pp. 84-89).
Cusumano, M.A., Gawer, A. and Yoffie, D.B., 2019. The business of platforms: Strategy in the
age of digital competition, innovation, and power. New York: Harper Business.
Anheier, H., Krlev, G. and Mildenberger, G., 2018. Social Innovation [Open Access]:
Comparative Perspectives. Routledge.
Online
Author surname, First letter of name., 2020 [Online]. Available through: <online-website-link>
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