Introduction to Management and Business Functions of Marks & Spencer

This report covers the management structure and business functions of Marks & Spencer, including management and marketing functions, HR and talent management, and organizational culture. It also discusses different types of organizational structures and their advantages and disadvantages.

Introduction to
Management FY001

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................3
Management Structure and Business functions..........................................................................3
Different types of Organizational structures with respective advantages and disadvantages ....4
Business functions and their roles and responsibilities ..............................................................4
Management Functions...............................................................................................................4
Interrelation of management functions ......................................................................................5
Marketing functions....................................................................................................................6
HR and Talent management........................................................................................................6
Organizational Culture................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Management refers to the process of planning, organising, staffing , directing and
controlling the business activities of the organization. It supports the development, maintenance
and allocation of resources to achieve the objectives of organization (Stasinakis, Charalambous
and Vyrides, 2022). The following report will cover the management structure and business
functions of Marks & Spencer which is a multinational UK based public limited company
headquartered in England, UK and dealing in clothing home and food products. It will also cover
the management & marketing functions and HR & talent management of the organization.
TASK
Management Structure and Business functions
Meaning of organizational structure
Organizational structure is a system that defines the activities to be directed to achieve
the objectives of business. These activities involve rules, roles and responsibilities within the
organization (Sen, 2022). In context with Marks and Spencer, it follows the Flat organizational
structure that involves employees in decision making process.
Management and its Theories
Management is a process of planning, organising, staffing , directing and controlling the
activities of the business organization in order to achieve the predefined long-term objectives of
the business. The following are the theories of management in context with Marks & Spencer :
 Behavioural management theory : It emphasizes on human relations movement as it
considers the human dimensions of work. It focuses on improving productivity by
motivating the employees and understanding the human behaviour at work (Meissner,
2022). In context with M & S , it follows this theory as it wants to involve employees in
decision making process.
 Contemporary theory of management : It states the control of processes, resources and
innovations in the organizations for the accomplishment of predefined objectives with
existing functional and economic activities. M & S uses this theory to deal with high
production costs in the current situation.

Different types of Organizational structures with respective advantages and disadvantages
 Functional : It breaks up the structure according to the specialization of its workforce. In
this, the structure is defined by departments consisting of marketing, sales operations etc.
It enhances functional speed but cause lack of coordination among different departments.
 Divisional : It is used by large companies that has many business units. A company with
large product line uses this structure to make divisions of different business segments. It
facilitates specialization and efficiencies of segments but the competition among the
segments is its disadvantage.
 Flat : It flattens the hierarchy of structure and ease the chain of command. It gives
autonomy to the employees by reducing the chain of command. Its advantage is that it
creates innovation in the organization by involving employees and disadvantage is that it
can delay in decision making process (Song, 2022).
In context with M & S , it follows the flat organizational structure that provide autonomy to the
employees to take part in decision making process and bring innovation in the organization.
Business functions and their roles and responsibilities
They are the activities carried out by the organization to ensure effective production and
generation of revenues. In context with M & S , its business functions are as under :
 Purchasing : It refers to purchase of products from the suppliers. M & S purchase
department has its own portal to procure products from the suppliers.
 Sales and Marketing : It includes the promotion of products of the company. Its
marketing manager's function is to inform the customers about the fair dealings and
innovative products.
 HRM : It includes the management of human resources. Lauren Mallon is the HR
manager in M & S who manages this function.
 Distribution : It involves distribution of goods to final consumers. M & S has 19
distributions centres in Swindon and Bradford.
Management Functions
Henry Fayol's functions of management
 Planning : It is a goal oriented process in which managers plan strategic objectives to
successfully accomplish them. In this, the role of manager is to plan strategic objectives
and responsibility is to ensure a goal oriented planning.

 Organizing : It refers to organising the workforce in an efficient manner and structure
the activities of the organization. It involves training and recruiting the right people for
job. In this, role of manager is to assign the tasks and responsibility consists of proper
delegation of tasks (Dani, 2022).
 Commanding : It refers to direct the subordinates in their routine activities. Its role is to
supervise the subordinates. In this function, the responsibility of managers is to
communicate the goals and policies of the company to the subordinates.
 Coordinating : It refers to harmonizing the procedures of company and activities of
human resources. In this function, the role of manager is to harmonise the individuals and
responsibility consists of reducing the chances of any conflict.
 Controlling : It refers to monitoring the activities and processes of organization. For
performing this function, the responsibility of manager is to observe and report the
deviations from the planned objectives and role consists of whether the activities are
being conducted according to the policies and objectives of the business.
In context with M & S , it follows all the above functions for efficient conduct of activities and
for providing smoothness in its flat organizational structure.
Interrelation of management functions
 Planning : Planning is the fundamental function of management without which all other
functions cannot be executed. Every function is to be conducted according to the plans
set in the planning processes. Implementation and direction of activities are executed
according to the planning.
 Organizing : As it includes the implementation of the activities set in the planing
process, this function is directly connected with the planning function. It involves
assigning the tasks to the individuals which also requires controlling the activities for
improving performance and increasing productivity.
 Controlling : There are different methods of controlling that are set in the planning
process that relate planning to controlling. Controlling will be done only on the
implementation of activities and thus is connected with organising as well as planning.
Marketing functions
Marketing functions help in promoting the products of the company and increase the
brand awareness of the company. In context with M & S , its marketing functions are as under :

 Promotion : M & S uses print media, TV ads, mobile ads and social media campaigns to
promote its products. It also uses its own website i.e. www.marksandspencer.com to
promote its clothing brand.
 Pricing : M & S follows competitive pricing strategy for its product portfolio. It follows
medium to premium pricing for its premium quality products.
 Market Information management : M & S analyses the market for setting its target
market and for developing the market mix strategy regarding price , place, promotion,
distribution etc. for its target customers.
 Distribution : It outlines the distribution strategy of the company. M & S has 19
distribution centres and warehouses such as Swindon, Bradford etc.
How marketing department works with other business functions
The marketing department works with the production department so as to ensure proper
research and development in the target market for satisfying current and future customer needs.
It ensures that the sales department is selling the products that satisfy the needs of customers. It
closely works with the HRM department to ensure that the competencies and skills are in place
to meet the production targets as per research and development.
HR and Talent management
Role of HR and its responsibilities
The role of HR is to manage the employee life-cycle that is to manage the recruitment,
hiring, on boarding, interview process, training and other activities related to human resources in
the organization (Baruch and Sullivan, 2022). In context with M & S, the role of its HR is to
ensure talent management, providing compensation and benefits to the employees, conducting
training and development programmes , ensuring workplace safety by facilitating employee well-
being.
The responsibilities of HR include human resource planning, hiring the candidates,
designing the workplace policies , monitoring the performance, maintenance of work culture and
maintaining collaboration to reduce the chances of conflicts. In context with M & S, its HR
manager Lauren Mallon complies with all the above roles and responsibilities of HR and include
employees in the decision making process to ensure motivation in the organization.
Talent management and its contribution to the achievement of business objectives

Talent management refers to attracting, selecting and retaining the talented and skilful
employees by efficient integration of HR processes throughout the employee life cycle. It
involves the workforce planning , employee engagement, learning and development,
performance management , recruitment, on-boarding, interview and retention. Its purpose is to
improve performance of the employees and increase their productivity (Huque and et. al., 2022).
As the talent management facilitates employees in feeling engaged, skilled and motivated , it
makes them work in the goal-oriented manner that facilitates successful achievement of overall
objectives of the organization.
In context with M & S, it has more than 75000 employees across more than 800 stores in
UK. Its HR uses traditional cost cutting methods and technology to engage the staff. It also uses
KPI measures to assess the performance of its employees. It recruits fresh talent with excellent
academic knowledge in suitable areas and uses reward & recognition and training &
development to facilitate talent management for the achievement of objectives of the
organization.
Organizational Culture
Meaning and Types of organization culture
Organizational culture refers to internal values and behaviours in the organization that
creates the way of behaving in the organization consisting of shared beliefs and values developed
by the leaders for the workplace to create a positive and healthy working environment (de
Bienassis and Klazinga, 2022). The types of organizational culture include Adhicracy culture i.e.
dynamic; Clan culture i.e. people oriented ; Heirarchy Culture i.e. process oriented; Market
Culture i.e. result oriented or competitive culture. M & S follows Clan culture that is customer
and employee oriented culture.
Consequences of Strong vs Weak organizational culture
Strong organizational culture leads to positive working environment that increase
collaboration and motivation among the employees that leads to increased productivity and
achievement of objectives in an efficient manner. Weak organizational culture leads to
inefficiency in work and dissatisfaction among the employees due to low values and disgrace
towards others , creating conflicts arising environment. M&S has a strong organizational culture
in which every employee is treated with dignity that leads to hassle free and positive working
environment.

CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it has been concluded that management is required at every
area and function in the organization. Organization has to perform different business functions
such as planning, organising, controlling etc. The organizational structure supports in better
conduct of activities. Businesses need to perform various business functions such as marketing
functions while maintaining strong organizational culture and talent management.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Baruch, Y. and Sullivan, S.E., 2022. The why, what and how of career research: a review and
recommendations for future study. Career Development International.
Dani, R., 2022. Reformasi Administrasi Publik. CV. AZKA PUSTAKA.
de Bienassis, K. and Klazinga, N.S., 2022. Developing international benchmarks of patient
safety culture in hospital care: Findings of the OECD patient safety culture pilot data
collection and considerations for future work.
Huque, S.M.R., and et. al., 2022. Sustainable Career in Agile Environment: Cross-Sectorial
Investigations. In Career Re-Invention in the Post-Pandemic Era (pp. 216-253). IGI
Global.
Meissner, R., 2022. eThekwini’s green and ecological infrastructure policy landscape: research
paradigms, theories and epistocrats. International Environmental Agreements: Politics,
Law and Economics, pp.1-18.
Sen, S., 2022. Organizational activism undertaken and its ramifications faced by public relations
practitioners, examined through the lens of postmodernism. Public Relations Inquiry,
p.2046147X211071032.
Song, C., 2022. Analysis of the organization, management and operation of Blantyre Water
Board in Malawi: Future reforms and perspectives. Environmental Quality
Management.
Stasinakis, A.S., Charalambous, P. and Vyrides, I., 2022. Dairy wastewater management in EU:
Produced amounts, existing legislation, applied treatment processes and future
challenges. Journal of environmental management, 303, p.114152.