Competitive Environment Analysis of Marks and Spencer

MANAGING INFORMATION AND
TECHNOLOGY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................2
Competitive environment analysis of Marks and Spencer..........................................................2
Porter’s 5 Force analysis..............................................................................................................2
Analysis of inbound logistics, operations and outbound logistics...............................................4
Analysis of human resource management and firm infrastructure..............................................5
Identification of key value adding activities................................................................................6
REREFENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Overview
Due to advancement in technology today it has become extremely important for
organizations to adopt and implement advance information technology within the organization
for growth and development of an organization for this it is important for organizations to
analyse their internal and external environment. This assignment will lay emphasis upon
introduction and background information about marks and Spencer organization, analysis of
competitive environment by applying Porter’s 5 Force analysis model. In this assignment
analysis of primary and supportive activities of the organization with the help of Porter's Value
Chain model will also be done and lastly ways in which information technology can be deployed
within the business will also be analysed.
Organization Introduction
‘Marks and Spencer’ is a multinational British retailer that was founded in 1884 whose
main Headquarter is in London, England, UK. It is a public limited company that operate
globally and are focusing upon expanding further more. This organization was founded by
Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer together (Marks and Spencer about, 2020). Currently Marks
and Spencer have their stores in more than 1487 locations. Out of these 1043 stores are located in
UK itself and rest of the 444 stores are present at other locations all around the world. They have
employees approximately 80 thousand employees working for them. For of these 80 thousand
approximately 70 percent are of the employees are female employees. In 2019 their overall
revenue was £10,377.3 million.
Background information of the organization
This organization was started by partnership of Michael Marks who had migrated to
England in 1880 and Thomas Spencer who was a cashier from English market town. In 1884
Marks acquired a permanent stall in the Leeds covered market and invited Spencer to become his
partner. From their marks and Spencer was started. In 1903 they acquitted a pair of stalls in
central aisle and opened Penny Bazaar. In early 20th century by selling British made goods they
build a reputation and their business started growing. Till 1970’s they had continued to expand
domestically but in 1973 they focused upon expanding internationally and opened approximately
47 stores internationally. But in 1999 approximately 38 shops were closed due to losing money
in Canadian operations.
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Products and services of the organization
Marks and Spencer specialize in selling home products, food products and clothing’s. In
2008 they also started selling Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. They provide clothing products for all age
group people and for men, women and kids. They are also known for providing quality and fresh
food products. Other than these they also have Marks and Spencer Bank subsidiary which is
owned by HSBC bank since 2004 (Marks and Spencer about, 2020).they have other Brands such
as Per Una, Autograph, Limited, Rosie, Blue Harbour, M&S Collection, and M&S Energy.
Marks and Spencer bank provide financial services to people including services such as credit
cards, current accounts and savings, insurance and mortgages. marks and Spencer Energy focus
upon providing renewable electrical energy to people.
MAIN BODY
Competitive environment analysis of Marks and Spencer
A competitive environment is an environment in which an organization compete with other
organizations in order to gain competitive advantage. Today due to increasing competition it has
become extremely important for organizations to analyse their competitive environment and
develop their organizational strategies accordingly (Kurnianto and et. al., 2019). There are
various kinds of models that can be used by organizations for analysis of their competitive
environment. One of the most common models that can be used for analysis of competitive
environment is Porter’s 5 Force model. It is one of the most appropriate models that can be used
for analysis of competitive market and environment in which Marks and Spencer operate.
Porter’s 5 Force analysis
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis is a model that was defined by Michael E Porter. It is a
kind of strategic management tool that can be used by companies for analysis of their
competitive landscape. This model focuses upon five significant forces that can impact an
organization’s profitability and operability. Five forces upon which this model focus are: Threat
of New Entrants, Bargaining Power of Suppliers, Bargaining Power of Buyers, Threat from
Substitute Products, and Rivalry among the existing players. This model can be used to analyse
the competitive environment in which Marks and Spencer operates and ways in which these
external factors can impact their business.
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