Strategic Management in Marks and Spencer

Strategic
Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
1. Background information of Marks and spencer......................................................................3
2. Methods of development.........................................................................................................3
3. Analysing and evaluating leadership style in M&S................................................................7
4. Change Management...............................................................................................................8
5. Sustainability.........................................................................................................................10
6. Future recommendations.......................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
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INTRODUCTION
Strategic management is totally concerned for recognition and description of the plans
that are carried in organizations for acquiring competitive advantages and great performances. It
is a bunch of actions and decisions that are undertaken by a manager that decides the outcome of
the organization’s performance. This report covers all the functions of strategic management
which are implemented in the chosen organization that is Marks and spencer (Hitt and Duane
Ireland, 2017). It is the British multinational retailer specialized in providing home products,
clothing etc. This report describes the background of the company including tools, frameworks
and method that are utilized to analyse the rival environment and make developments.
Recognizing leadership style and management tools to manage the business strategy perfectly
and analysing appropriate strategy of sustainability in marks and spencer. It also provides future
recommendations to strengthen M&S current position.
MAIN BODY
1. Background information of Marks and spencer
Marks and spencer is a supreme British retailer popularly known for providing great
offerings and services. Its food is mainly famous for its freshness, quality and latest innovations.
Organization provides wearable styles of clothing and contemporary home ware goods at great
value to the consumers worldwide. It has 1,400 above stores across 57 countries and has
international websites more than 50. M&S provides a wide range of financial services including
saving and current account, credit cards, mortgages and insurances and also brings fully
renewable electricity services in a great value. Marks and spencer mission is make quality that is
inspirational and accessible to the buyers. Its vision is to deliver a level against which its rivals
may be consistent from consumer experience to keeping the environment safe. M&S values are
customer trust, finest quality, innovation and best services. Since the foundational years of the
company and facing many ups and downs, the company has undergone various changes for
implementing strategies that led to its success.
2. Methods of development
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The various strategic tools that can be used to evaluate the macro environment of the
company are VRIO framework, porters five force model, SWOT analysis, Porter generic growth
strategies and Ansoff matrix (Kukartsev and et.al, 2019).
VRIO framework of M&S
The VRIO framework will help in the analysis of the internal resources of Marks & Spencer for
assessment of its sustained competitive advantage.
 Valuable: The financial resources, highly differentiated retail products and the human
resources are the most valuable resources for Marks & Spencer. The perceived value of
the retail products and services of the company are significantly high and the presence of
economies of scale helps in cost reduction to keep a high profit margin.
 Rare: The employees and the high market value of the products of the company can be
categorised as rare. The company spends significantly in training the staff, and also the
marketing strategies have high rarity which increases the brand equity and uniqueness.
 Imitable: The employees, patents, distribution network, financial resources, tangible and
intangible resources, goodwill and brand equity are not easily imitable. However, certain
product categories can be imitable.
 Organisation: The financial resources capture high value and have been strategically
invested in the right areas and departments, the patent may not be well organised. The
distribution network of the company is vast and operates globally ensuring everything is
done efficiently (Ariyani and Daryanto, 2018).
From the VRIO it can be concluded that financial resources, economies of scale and distribution
network provide competitive advantage to Marks & Spencer.
Porters five forces of M&S
This framework is used for competitive analysis of Marks & Spencer in global markets in the
clothing and retail sector.
 Threat of new entrants: This threat is very low as the number of new entrants in luxury
fashion is very limited as there is high need of economies of scale, better distribution
network etc.
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