Competitive Environment and Value Chain Analysis of Marks and Spencer

Report

Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................................4
Competitive Environment........................................................................................................................4
Analysis of inbound and outbound logistics along with operations of Marks and Spencer......................6
Analysis any two support activities in the porter ‘s value chain in the Marks and Spencer.....................8
Identify the key value adding activities...................................................................................................9
Summary and Reflection.........................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Marks and Spencer is a British multinational retailer of high-quality clothing, household,
food products. The company is headquartered in London, United Kingdom and is one of the
most widely recognized brands in the world. It was founded by Michael Marks and Thomas
Spencer in the year 1884. Marks and Spencer has nearly 1300 stores around the world, with a
minimum of 910 stores across United Kingdom only. The company manufactures and delivers its
products both to its offline retail stores as well as online to its website (Bryson, 2017). Marks and
Spencer own the chain of men’s clothing stores, Brooks Brothers. Although the company is one
of the oldest retailers, it has still been able to maintain its competitiveness by constantly
innovating its products and coming up with different offers.
In the early 20th century, the company came up with a policy wherein it said that it would
only sell goods that are British. Marks and Spencer came into relationships and long-term
partnerships with different British manufacturers as well as suppliers. The products were sold
under the brand name St. Michael. The company started selling food items like Christmas cakes
and puddings in the year 1958. It was after this, that the company started expanding its business
overseas and in the year 2016 Marks and Spencer expanded its operations across the European
market. Respective company has a vast distribution network across different parts of the world
and also shares positive as well as healthy relations with its suppliers. Due to its international
reach, the company has a large number of applicants who are willing to work for it.
Prior to the year 1939, the company’s primary focus had been on advantages associating
with the reduction of prices and bulk buying. Apart from its research development, the company
set up its own approach of the buying process (Busse, Meinlschmidt and Foerstl, 2017). This was
done by training its employees working in different departments which helped it in attracting a
greater number of customers. The company offers products for people of all age groups for men,
women and kids. The company’s products for men as well as women include shirts, linen, skirt,
cardigans, jeans, dresses, etc. On the other hand, footwear range for women include loafers,
pumps, boots, sandals and heels. Famous brands that sell products for women are Classic,
Indigo, Autograph, Foot Glove and Twiggy.

Marks and Spencer is also known for offering products for home as well as furniture
section which includes furniture for living room, dining room as well as home accessories. The
company is also known for selling food products for lunches and dinners. The main unique
selling proposition of the company’s food products is that they are known for quality, freshness
and innovation. Whereas the clothing items are contemporary, wearable and are a value add for
the customers. This is one of the reasons behind the company having a large base of loyal and
satisfied customers. Lastly, Marks and Spencer also provides a wide range of financial services
that include credit cards, current accounts, mortgages and insurance.
MAIN BODY
Competitive Environment
Porter’s 5 Force Analysis can be defined as a framework that is used in order to analyze
the competitive environment of an organization (Cuganesan, Hart and Steele, 2017). It can help
an organization in identifying and understanding the overall intensity of competition that can
impact its overall performance. This is of the most important tools that an organization can use in
order to gain a competitive advantage against competitors in the market. Also, it can help the
company by providing access to different opportunities of growing overall business operations as
well as profitability. This can further help in making effective decisions. This can contribute to
the organization’s overall performance as well as productivity. Marks and Spencer operates in a
highly dynamic as well as competitive environment. And since the company has operations
globally, it is important for it to analyze the different forces as well as their impact on it. Porter’s
Five Force Analysis for Marks and Spencer is explained below –
Threat of New Entrants – This is a weak force because it requires huge amounts of
investments to set up a chain of stores that are profitable as well as successful. This means that a
new entrant in the market wherein Marks and Spencer operates will need to offer its customers
something innovative and new, which is difficult. All major retailers have brands that are well
established and have loyal customers, which will make it even tough for them to start their
business (Porters 5 Forces Analysis Of Marks And Spencer Marketing Essay, 2020). But there
can be some new entrant that can put pressure on the company and its operations through low
prices, reduced costs etc. Therefore, it is important for the respective company to innovate its