Leadership and Business Environment: A Case Study of Marks and Spencer’s

LEADERSHIP AND
BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
PESTLE Analysis of Marks and Spencer’s.................................................................................3
SWOT analysis of Marks and Spencer’s.....................................................................................5
Impact of COVID19 and Brexit on the Marks and Spencer’s.....................................................6
Impact of strengths and weaknesses on the opportunities and threats.........................................6
Recommendations:......................................................................................................................7
Corporate Social Responsibilities activities by Marks and Spencer..........................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business environment can be defined as those features which revolves around a business
organization which affects the functioning and operations of a business either positively or
negatively. The present report is based on the business environment and leadership within the
Marks and Spencer’s. The report aims to include a PESTEL analysis and a SWOT analysis for
the company. It identifies, the impact of COVID-19 and Brexit on the functioning of Marks and
Spencer’s. It includes how the strengths and weakness of the company has impacted its
opportunities and threats. Moreover, the reports suggest a leadership style with respect to the
organization and includes critical analysis of the Corporate social responsibility activities with
the help of proper research.
MAIN BODY
PESTLE Analysis of Marks and Spencer’s
PESTLE analysis is a tool which is used by organizations in order to determine the
external factors affecting the business operations (Bismark, and et.al 2018). These factors
include political, environmental, economical, technological, legal and economical. These factors
with respect to the Operations of Marks and Spencer’s are as follows:
Political factors
There are a number of political factors which have affected the operations and
functioning of the Marks and Spencer’s negatively. These includes government policies, political
stability, tax rates, industry regulations and global trade agreement within the United Kingdom.
The Brexit deal i.e., the exit of Britain from the European Union has affected the operations of
Marks and Spencer’s as the company has around 1500 stores across the globe and the Brexit deal
has led to imposition of tax rate on imports and exports processing within the boundaries of
European. The Brexit deals has also impact the value of pound negatively and has resulted in an
uncertain environment for the organization (Kuusela, 2019). Moreover, the outbreak of
COVID19 has also affected the business operations and led to a decline in the sales. Because of
the imposition of lockdown, most the stores of Marks and Spencer’s had to remain close and
restricted the people from making a purchase within that time period.
Economic factors
Even though the Marks and Spencer’s is a prestigious company operating within United
Kingdom with huge share in the market and serves the customers across the globe. However, it

has been noted the consumers of Marks and Spencer’s are shifting towards the budget buying.
The people within the market of United Kingdom prefers buying from local stores as compared
to premium outlets. This is so because not everyone can afford to make purchase of premium
products. This is affecting the sale of Marks and spencer’s and leading to a decline in the revenue
of the company.
Social factors
There was a time when Marks and Spencer’s was one of the most preferred premium
brands operating with the market of UK and across the globe. But, it has been observed that there
is a shift in the consumer preferences in the market. The young people falling within the age
group of 16 to 40 years of do not prefer buying from the outlets of Marks and Spencer’s. The
major reason behind the shift is that the company do not keep up with the trends that are
persisting within the industry relating to the young generation. This has also affected the revenue
of the company (Phan, 2021.). For the same reasons, the company had to widen its offerings and
provide the customers with groceries, home décor, accessories, etc.
Technological factors
Marks and Spencer’s implemented the use of technology and automation within the
organization. They have self-checkout based retail shopping stores as well as the food counter
which has helped the company attracting new customers towards the brand as well as retaining
the existing base of customers (Puyt, and et.al 2020). The e-commerce platform of the company
has also served its customers with the ease of making a purchase while sitting at home and
getting the orders delivered at your doorstep. This has helped the company in widening its
customer base.
Legal factors
There are certain legal factors which have led to a negative impact on the business
operations of the Marks and Spencer’s. The company has been involved in a number of legal
disputes during all these years which has affected the brand image of the company. Recently, the
Marks and Spencer’s was involved in the legal dispute with Frascati landlord. The change in
trading laws and procedures after the Brexit deal has also affected the brand.
Environmental factors
In today’s world, the consumers are well aware of all the negative and harmful impacts of
a business operations on an environment. Therefore, it is necessary for brands to take steps in