Impact of Pandemic on Sustainable Practices at Marks and Spencer

This article discusses the impact of pandemic on sustainable practices at Marks and Spencer, their competitive stance, market positioning through SWOT and PESTLE analysis, and strategies to strengthen sustainability in the market. Marks and Spencer adopted a robust environmental, social and governance strategy, and a culture of health, safety and wellbeing. The company's products are preferred by customers over its competitors due to the holistic approach adopted towards sustainability. The changing needs of the customers can present numerous opportunities for the company to grow and develop.

Strategic Management
& Sustainability

Table of Contents
2...................................................................................................................................................1
3. Impact of pandemic towards development of sustainable practice.........................................1
4. Competitive stance of the organization...................................................................................2
5. Market positioning of company through SWOT and PESTLE...............................................3
6. Strengthening sustainability to compete in the market............................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

2. Background information
Marks and Spencer is a British retailer which is headquartered in London. It is involved
in the design as well as distribution of ready to wear garments including clothing, home products
and food products. Among its range of products lie separate articles for men, women and
children. The purpose of the company is to believe that creativity leads to new arenas. The
company works to unlock the power of imagination and provide new opportunities to the people
(Schaltegger and Wagner, 2017). It also works with the purpose of providing new possibilities to
the customers and communities.
During pandemic, a number of challenges were faced by Marks and Spencer. The sales
growth of the company has been low due to Covid. Due to lockdown, there were store closures
leading to a decline in the sale of the company. Though Covid did not affect the customers of
Marks and Spencer much. But people shop for its products to have a physical experience
(Baumgartners and Rauter, 2017). Hence, closure of stores affected Marks and Spencer’s sales to
a greater extent.
3. Impact of pandemic towards development of sustainable practice
The consumption habits of consumers have been drastically changed due to Covid- 19
pandemic. There has been rising consumer demand for health, safety and hygiene options during
shopping (Suriyankietkaew and Petison, 2019). Many customers have also transitioned towards
online shopping. This increases the need for retailers like Marks and Spencer to develop
sustainable practice.
Robust environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy
Marks and spencer designed a robust strategy for meeting the challenges faced by
business during pandemic as well as for meeting the expectations of the customers regarding
sustainability. It made planet based goals along with reporting transparently about its supply
chain. It also strives to reset its community program 2022 after reflecting upon the changing
needs of society post pandemic.
https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/sustainability/sustainability-at-mands
Using technology for reducing waste
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The company introduced an app in 2020 which was integrated with the shelf life of the
product and real time sales data. This was done so that the colleagues can conveniently donate
leftover food. The impact of pandemic was that the roll out of the app was accelerated to all its
stores. This helped the company in raising their food donations.
Centrality of sustainability
The pandemic has increased the urge for the companies to include sustainability as
central element for business resilience. The organizations like Marks and Spencer started
focusing upon integrating sustainability and transparency into their business operations.
Culture of Health, safety and wellbeing
The health and safety aspects related to staff as well as the customers also became central
to the organizations (Baumgartner and Rauter, 2017). Most important for Marks and Spencer and
other organizations was to develop a culture that supports sustainability and satisfies the changed
needs of the customers. During pandemic, the people realized the importance of using resources
wisely and minimalist lifestyles. They also realized the importance of taking small steps towards
the betterment of community and the environment. This impacted the behavior and mindset of
customers. They now prefer the brands that take care of not only the customers but also the
society and environment. The concept of sustainability was slightly changed whereby people
began understanding the need for ethical sourcing. This impacted the sustainability practice of
Marks and Spencer whereby the organization planned to take steps towards environment and
community.
4. Competitive stance of the organization
The steps taken by marks and spencer to involve and empower customers in adopting
sustainability is the competitive stance of the organization. Many other retailers have adopted
sustainability practices post pandemic (Muriuki, Thomas and Joyce, 2017). They have also
transformed their practices. But, Marks and Spencer made significant efforts in involving
customers in the process. This made them stand ahead of the competition. The company’s
approach to show that change can be undertaken individually and collectively made them unique
in their stance towards sustainability.
Inviting customers to look behind the label
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Marks and spencer sensed the need of its customers who wanted to take action and do the
right thing for the planet. However, they did not have the direction to do so. In response to this,
the company started sharing stories behind its products which provided information to the
customers and helped them decide. This proved to be of significant use post pandemic when the
customers because conscious about sustainability concept even more.
Iconic products
Marks and spencer provided an opportunity to the customers to have a conversation on
climate change. This was made possibility by partnering with Reboot The Future. It also
launched ‘Shwopping’ which comprised of shopping for pre- loved clothes. This was an
initiative taken by the organization so that the clothes going to the landfill can be reduced.
Reducing food waste
The company went a step ahead and helped the customers in reducing the food wastage
as well. For this, Sparks Live event was established which would provide tem with the recipes
and tips and tricks for reducing food wastage.
Rationale
All these efforts made by the organization to incorporate sustainability throughout the
supply chain from sourcing to the end users, make them stand out of the competition (Cavaleri
and Shabana, 2018). This is because it is a holistic approach that Marks and Spencer has adopted
towards sustainability, which its competitors could not. Pandemic has made this approach even
more refined and useful.
5. Market positioning of company through SWOT and PESTLE
The market position of Marks and spencer can be analysed with the help of SWOT and PESTLE
Analysis:
PESTLE analysis
Political factors
The factors such as political stability and favorable government policies for retailers
positively impacts the competitive stance of Marks and Spencer. However, due to Brexit, there
are shortages of certain articles which may impact the company negatively.
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Economic factors
The UK economy has been found to be recovering which supports the organizations like
marks and spencer. With recovery, the disposable income of the people will also be better thus
leading to an increase in sales of the company. Being a highly responsible company, customers
will prefer to buy its products.
Social factors
Post pandemic, customers have become more aware of their impact on environment
(Fuertes and et.al., 2020). Pandemic has made people experience global disruption and made
them conscious about the impact their actions have on environment. In this regard, as Marks and
Spencer adopts a holistic approach towards sustainability, it would make customers prefer its
products to other companies. Hence, it would add to the competitive stance of the company.
Technological factors
Both the industry and the customer needs require adoption of latest technology. This
would impact Marks and spencer as it would have to adopt technology at each stage of
production as well as customer service. The company has latest technology that provides
convenience to the customers which further provides it competitive advantage.
Legal factors
There are various laws related to Labor and workplace discrimination. These impact
Marks and Spencer as the company needs to follow the laws by bringing amendments in its
policies and processes.
Environmental factors
Due to the growing concern about environment, there is a need for the organizations to
ensure that their actions do not have any negative impact (Schaltegger and Wagner, 2017). These
factors impact marks and spencer as the company has to follow various guidelines and adopt
procedures which are environment friendly. In this regard the company adopts ethical sources
and waste reduction measures.
SWOT analysis
Strengths
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The company has taken various measures to adopt sustainability in it ways of working
and serving customers. It has efficient research and development department that provides novel
methods of satisfying consumer needs and wants.
Weaknesses
The company lags behind as the diversified portfolio of products that it provides makes it
unable to compete. The company does not adopt any innovation to attract customers.
Opportunities
The changing needs of customers after pandemic provides numerous opportunities to
manufacture innovative products for meeting them. There are various other developing countries
in which the company can expand.
Threats
Rigorous marketing done by competitors acts as a threat for the company as it may lose
its customers. Political instability may also act as threat as it would impact smooth functioning of
the organization (Breuer and et.al., 2018).
6. Strengthening sustainability to compete in the market
In order to compete in the market, the company should:
Adopt Omni channel strategy and online presence
It is important for Marks and Spencer to engage its customers consistently. This can be
done efficiently by investing in online presence through use of social media there is specific ned
for Marks and Spencer to shift its investments from offline to online. It should scale up its
portfolio and increase its online visibility.
Supply chain resilience with diversified sourcing
Marks and Spencer should regularly review the sources of its products so that resilience
and agility of supply chain is kept in check. Reliable local sources should be secured by the
company. Further, the organization should execute better demand planning (Bini, Bellucci and
Giunta, 2018). This will assist in sustainable growth after pandemic.
Sustainable value proposition
5

Marks and Spencer can strengthen sustainability by including all the other stakeholders
such as trade associations, governments, suppliers, communities etc. The stakeholder objectives
need to be aligned so that new ways of doing business can be adopted which satisfy both external
as well as internal stakeholders. This will require the organization to focus on stakeholder
satisfaction performance (Suriyankietkaew and Petison, 2019). This could be done better when
Marks and Spencer redefines productivity in the value chain by setting clear sustainability
objectives. In this way, sustainable value proposition can assist in competing with the
stakeholders.
Enhancing management systems
In order to strengthen sustainability and stand out of the completion, Marks and Spencer
needs to incorporate the concept of sustainable development into the polices and processes of
business. It should opt for new cultural orientation. It should also bring extensive refinement to
the systems as well as the procedures and practices. During this, the company can focus on both
decision making and corporate governance. At all levels, the decision making should be more
responsive to the issues that are related to sustainable development.
Invest in research and development
Marks and Spencer should invest in research and development activities. This would
assist the organization in developing innovative products and inventing new ways of
manufacturing them. Ethical procurement and transparency could also be improved with this
strategy. It needs to reach to its suppliers and analyses the sustainability of the processes used by
them.
Optimize logistics and shipments
The company can adopt sustainability by going a step ahead and choosing route
optimization to reduce its carbon footprint (Baumgartner and Rauter, 2017). Marks and spencer
can go for strategically packing the shipments and containers in such a manner that there is space
left for delivering the maximum quantity of products every time.
Conclusion
Pandemic has impacted the development of sustainable strategy at Marks and spencer. It
has adopted a robust environmental, social and governance strategy. This helped the company in
meeting the expectations of the customers. I9t also adopted technology for reducing waste.
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Further, a culture of health, safety and wellbeing was adopted by the company for meeting the
sustainability needs post pandemic. Marks and spencer is large retail organization that is ahead
of its competition by adopting the strategy of Inviting customers to look behind the label. It has
also taken several steps to reduce food wastage. The market positioning of the company is such
that its products are preferred by customers over its competitors due to the holistic approach
adopted towards sustainability. The changing needs of the customers can present numerous
opportunities for the company to grow and develop. It can also expand to various developing
countries. For strengthening sustainability. The company should opt for supply chain resilience
with diversified sourcing. It should also adopt sustainable value proposition. Further focus
should be laid on enhancing management systems and investing in research and development
activities.
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REFERENCES
Journals and Books
Baumgartner, R.J. and Rauter, R., 2017. Strategic perspectives of corporate sustainability
management to develop a sustainable organization. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140,
pp.81-92.
Bini, L., Bellucci, M. and Giunta, F., 2018. Integrating sustainability in business model
disclosure: Evidence from the UK mining industry. Journal of cleaner production, 171,
pp.1161-1170.
Breuer, H. and t.al., 2018. Sustainability-oriented business model development: Principles,
criteria and tools. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 10(2), pp.256-286.
Cavaleri, S. and Shabana, K., 2018. Rethinking sustainability strategies. Journal of Strategy and
Management.
Fuertes, G. and et.al., 2020. Conceptual framework for the strategic management: a literature
review—descriptive. Journal of Engineering, 2020.
Muriuki, J.W., Thomas, C. and Joyce, K., 2017. Strategic management practices and
sustainability of state corporations.
Schaltegger, S. and Wagner, M., 2017. Managing and measuring the business case for
sustainability: Capturing the relationship between sustainability performance, business
competitiveness and economic performance. In Managing the business case for
sustainability (pp. 1-27). Routledge.
Suriyankietkaew, S. and Petison, P., 2019. A retrospective and foresight: Bibliometric review of
international research on strategic management for sustainability, 1991–
2019. Sustainability, 12(1), p.91.
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