This report on Strategic Management of Marks & Spencer by Desklib covers the value of clear purpose, vision, mission and objectives in setting the strategic direction of organizations, competitive analysis using VRIO analysis, PESTLE framework analysis, Porter's Five Forces Model and more.
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Strategic Management - Strategy evaluation
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Table of Contents INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3 MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3 Determine the value of clear purpose, vision, mission and objectives in setting the strategic direction of organizations............................................................................................................3 In the process of assessing a competitive advantage, this can be evaluated using four attributes under the acronym VRIO. Evaluate the competitive analysis of the selected business with the help of VRIO analysis.................................................................................................................4 Determinethe externalenvironmentof the chosen business using PESTLEframework analysis........................................................................................................................................6 Determine the industry, market, sectors and assessing the competitiveness of the chosen organization by using Porter’s Five Forces Model......................................................................9 Based on the above analysis, review the organization’s strategy..............................................10 CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
INTRODUCTION Formulating sound organisational strategy becomes important in order to carry all the functional activity in a proper manner. Organisational strategies defines structures and procedure of how, when, why, what different activities are to be carried in a business accomplish corporate goals and objectives. In the context of Marks & Spencer which is a multinational retailer founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in the year 1884. This retailer business is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. With large number of employees deployed in the organisation, the revenue estimated in the year 2020 was 1018.19,00,00,000sGBP.Marks & Spencer has a well- established brand identity worldwide. Marks & Spencer have more than 1300 stores worldwide. Marks & Spencer conduct its retail business by delivering variety of products and services to the customers these includes apparels, home improvement tools, flowers, beauty products, services, banking services and also the organisation comes up with new products and services in the marketplace very often. Thus, taking Marks & Spencer as a chosen business organisation this report delivers the purpose, vision, mission and objectives of the chosen business organisation, evaluating the competitive analysis and strategies taken by the business organisation, macro environment analysis, Porters five forces model to evaluate the competitive attractiveness and at the end the report also talks about different organisational strategy that the business have implemented (Albert and Grzeda, 2015). MAIN BODY Determine the value of clear purpose, vision, mission and objectives in setting the strategic direction of organizations The main vision, mission and values of the businesses is discussed as: Values The values also reflect the policies, objectives and the procedures that that works as a benchmark for carrying all the business activities. Vision The vision of the business focuses what the company wants to accomplish in near future. The vision statement of the business defines over determining the objectivesof the business
(Alyoubi, 2015). The main vision of Marks & Spencer is to become the leading company in the global competitive environment. The vision of the business also says off good decision making and strategic planning, inspire emotion, reflect values and benchmarking. Mission statement The mission statement defines the purpose of the organisation. The mission statement involves goals, direction, decision making and actions of the organisation. The mission of Marks & Spencer is to become socially responsible and profitable by delivering new and creative market offerings to the customers and develop quality accessible to all and the values of the association is quality value, service, innovation and trust (Amason and Ward, 2020). Purpose Business the purpose of any organisation includes developing reputation, delivering and quality services, strong customer base and objective. The purpose of Marks & Spencer supports demographic market of the customers. The main focus of the business is to produce market offerings of high-end merchandise at best possible prices and other service oriented strategies to enhance the customer experiences. The business also purposes over enhancing its profitability goal, reduce the bad debtors, enhancing the cash flow, formulating strategies to develop new products and so on (Barca, 2017). In the process of assessing a competitive advantage, this can be evaluated using four attributes under the acronym VRIO. Evaluate the competitive analysis of the selected business with the help of VRIO analysis. ResourcesValueRareImitationOrganisationCompetitive advantage Brand positioning YesNoYesYesProvides temporary competitive advantageto the business. FinancialYesNoYesYesProvides
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resourcestemporary competitive advantageto the business. Abilityto Attract Talent inVarious Local& Global Markets YesYesNoYesProvides strong competitive advantageto the business. Opportunities intheE- Commerce Spaceusing PresentIT Capabilities YesNoNoYesProvides sustainable competitive advantageto the business. Opportunities forBrand Extensions YesNoYesYesProvides temporary competitive advantageto the business. Track Record ofProject Execution YesYesNoYesProvides strong competitive advantageto the business. TheaboveVRIOanalysisclearlydefinesdifferentfactorsthatrendersbusinessstrong competitive advantage to the business in the external marketplace. Ability to attract talent in various local and global market and track record of project execution renders the business organisation strong competitive advantage (Bettis and et.al., 2015).Human capital is like the
food to the organisation, thus, having a skilled workforce to manage all the core functional activities of the business becomes an essential aspect. Thus, capability of the business to identify the skilled candidate from both local and global market and recruit them into the organisation supports to have the best workforce in order to manage and conduct functional activities as per the working standards of the business. Ability to track record of the project execution is an important aspect for the association, where in the business focuses for keeping track records in order to identify the strengths, weaknesses and areas of development to get the quality working standard and business success at early stage. The other factors of the business including opportunities of brand extension financial sources and brand positioning delivers the business organisation a temporary advantage, as Marks & Spencer works for delivering differentiated products and services to the customers with high-end and personalized customer experiences. Such activities of the business supports to attain temporary advantage from the competitors. Opportunitiesinthee-commercespaceusingpresentITcapabilitieshelpsthebusiness organisation in order to accomplish sustainable competitive advantage. Marks & Spencer have introduced e-commerce website where customers can get personalized attention over their shopping experience, high-end technical support to improve the user experience by delivering them quick responses and convenient services further, supports the business to accomplish customer satisfaction and delivers competitive advantage to stand out in the market from other brands (Bondarenko and et.al., 2017). Determine the external environment of the chosen business using PESTLE framework analysis Pestle analysis includes different dimension such as political, environmental, economic, social, technological, legal factors in the macro environment that might negatively and positively affect business performances (Dagnino and Cinici eds., 2015). Marks & Spencer conducts Pestle analysis in order to evaluate the macro environment, how different factors of influence affects the business performance and how supported strategies businesses have formulated respective of different challenges and opportunities. Further, in Marks & Spencer is conducted as: Political factors There are different political factors that can be analysed in the macro environment such as: Political factors with implication of Brexit where UK have decided to exit EU, Brexit have negatively affected the business performance of Marks & Spencer. Such negative impacts can
reflect in losses numerous free trade policies with the EU suppliers, high cost incurred for acquiring raw material which also further burden the pockets of the customers and other negative impacts (Dzwigol, 2020). Environmental factors Sustainable produce Marks & Spencer have implemented the concept of sustainable approach by looking at the rising environmental concerns. The motive of the business is to introduce the concept of sustainable produce in each and every business activity right from acquisition of raw materials to distribution of products and services to the end prospects. Sustainable concept involves to control the carbon footprint from the manufacturing process, deforestation of land and other green practices carried in the workplace. carrying sustainable approaches greatly supports the business in many ways wherein the business fulfils its CSR, adheres to the regulations of the government of UK ad further works out to establish a brand identity worldwide to earn customer reliability and enhance market share. Marks and Spencer has come up with new product development range to promote the concept of sustainable produce wherein the business have introduced electricity energy supply with the help of wind energy which is renewable sources of energy. Promoting the sustainable energy consumption concept of the business reflects the strong brand identity and works on enhancing the market share in the global presence. Technological factors Self-checkout Marks and Spencer have introduced self-checkout options in the outlets to save businesses expenses for rendering to the cashiers and enhance the customer experiences. Self-service checkout options help the customer to make their final decisions for purchasing the products by themselves and also help them to deliver Personalized shopping experience with the help of high end technical solutions (Gallus and Frey, 2016). Online shopping With rising technological advancement where more than 70% of the people the week it UKhave switched to online shopping. Marks and spencer have introduced e-commerce website where in
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the business sell off its products and services to customers using virtual platform. With the help of e-commerce website, the customers can get personalised experience simply by sitting at home and business will deliver ordered products at the doorsteps.the growing online presence also helps to reach out large number of customers irrespective of the location, where the business can get in touch with each customers and offer them personalized shopping experiences. Social factors Non-trendy Marks & Spencer have established brand identity that is continuing from very long. As the business is operating from 135 years in the industry, which reflects the brand identity of the business as the old retailer that sell off clothes which are non-trendy. This long reputation has a negative consequence on the business especially in the minds of young consumers (Jenkins and Williamson, 2015). Ready meal sector Marks & Spencer have a well-established brand identity over the ready meal sector. Where in the business is also counted among the top 10 ready male distributors in UK. Marks & Spencer uses advance food technology in order to deliver high end customer experience. Economic factors Discount competitor of Marks & Spencer Prices play a significant role in the retail industry. Right from budget clothing to budget supermarkets. Where in large number of competitors are duplicating the concepts of the premium brands like Marks & Spencer and selling of similar products at lower prices. Such small competitor becomes a great challenge for the business like Marks and Spencer to lose their market share and sales margin as cheap product pricing concepts often motivates the customers to purchase more (Johnsen, 2015). Legal factors With implications of different legal norms and regulations by the government of UK for operating business in the country. Marks and Spencer adheres to all the regulations such as to
pay taxes, employee rights and welfare, health and safety and other regulation that focuses over conducting the business activities to the utmost transparency and in the most ethical manner. Determinethe industry, market, sectorsand assessing the competitivenessof the chosen organization by using Porter’s Five Forces Model Portersfiveforcesanalysisisastrategictoolthathelpstodefinetheindustry attractiveness, long run business sustainability in the marketplace and how the business can implement sound strategies to attain competitive advantage. Further, Porters five forces analysis conducted on Marks & Spencer is discussed as: Threat of new entrants New entrants in the industry can enhance the level of competition. The trade of new entrants is mainly relied on the barriers of entry in the particular industry. For a small business it generally takes 5 to 6 years to establish brand reputation in the marketplace irrespective of how larger or how big the advertisement campaign conducted the business conducts. Bargaining power of suppliers Suppliers are the one who renders raw materials to the businesses in order carry further production activities. The cost in which the suppliers sell off the product to the industry plays a significant role. In case if the suppliers have higher bargaining power then it might negatively affect the business performance and make the industry less attractive. Marks & Spencer selects multiple suppliers in order to limit the bargaining power of the buyers, the business also manages all the activities solely by itself in order to reduce the dependency upon the suppliers (Joyce, 2015). Bargaining power of buyers Buyers are the ones who generates the demand in the industry. Buyers always looks for products and services at least possible prices which reduces the profitability of the businesses. In order to limit the bargaining power of the buyers, Marks & Spencer develops new products and services in the market and very often provides discounts and offers for the old stock. Such instances positively impact the business performance and support to deal with the bargaining power of the buyers. Thus it can be said that the bargaining power of the buyers is medium.
Rivalry With number of small and large businesses in the country, there is also intense competition of environment that negatively affects the overall profitability of the business. In order to deal with the competition in the marketplace Marks & Spencer sell off differentiated products and services in the market place which customers cannot acquire or experience with other brands and collaborates with the competitors to join hands and together work for satisfying customer preferences which further helps out to enhance the market share of the business. Threat of substitute products or services There are varieties of products and services in the marketplace that satisfies the similar needs of the customers in different ways. Customers often purchases the one with cheap prices and maximum quality. There are different small businesses that copies the idea of brands like Marks and Spencer sell off them in cheap prices. Such cheap pricing strategies often attracts large number of consumers. In order to deal with the substitute products, Marks and Spencer formulates tactics to establish a strong consumer perception by working on all the touch points of the customers and keep up the business sustainability in the external marketplace. Based on the above analysis, review the organization’s strategy. Marks & Spencer, the main products of the business includes clothes and food, Marks & Spencer implements focus generic strategies in order to emphasis on the specific market segment, the buyer group, delivering product features and differentiated products and services from the competitor brands like Zara, Tesco’s Asda, BHS and others. The organisational strategy of Marks & Spencer can be evaluated with the help of BCG Matrix and hands Ansoff Matrix. Marks & Spencer sell off its own brand with the main objective of delivering quality products and services and attain consumer satisfaction. The market penetration is business tactic practiced by Marks & Spencer since very long time. The association adopts a group growing path with the help of strategic alliances and joint-venture with the suppliers and other stores in the country. The strategic approach of the business helps to diversify its product ranges into different geographical areas. Marks & Spencer focuses over developing new products in the country with innovative features and benefits driven (McKiernan ed., 2017).
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TheBCG Matrixis applied in order to derive the balance between business activity in respect of market share and market growth. The industry in which Marks & Spencer runs is mature and stable, thus such instances becomes more difficult for the business association to enhance its market share. The competitors of Marks & Spencer continuously look to grab the market share of the business. Thus, in order to combat with the intense competitive environment Marks & Spencer uses tactics for lowering down the prices of the products and services and its competitor and make huge investment on advertisement in selling activities. Ansoff Matrix Market penetrationis a strategy, where in the business emphasizes on offering the current products and services to the current market with the main motive is to enhance the market share of the existing market offerings which is also supported by conducting other business activities such as competitive pricing strategies, marketing and advertisement activities and personal selling. Marks & Spencer delivers the marketing objective of selling high quality goods to the customers in UK and Europe. Market developmentis a strategy, wherein the business focuses on selling the current products and services into new market with the motive of enhancing its customer base, new users of the market offerings, new segments of the market, enhancing the geographical areas. Some examples of market development strategies used by the association is as, in 2007, Marks & Spencer had introduced for opening the world’s biggest Store outside UK in Dubai festival city. In the year 2008, Marks & Spencer also introduced its physical store in China. Product developmentis a strategy where business looks for developing new products into the current market. In this strategy business focuses on developing new features and competency to bring modification in existing product and deliver better products and services to existing market. The examples of new product development strategy are adopted by Marks & Spencer can be financial service and banking services started by the Association (Siegel and Leih, 2018). Diversificationis a strategy where the business plans to move into new markets. Diversification strategies are riskier where in the business do not have experience and expertise knowledge about the new market. Some product diversification strategy adopted by Marks & Spencer is as
increasing its Number of market into 40 countries is the example of diversification strategy adopted by the association. CONCLUSION Thus,inthelightofabovediscussionitcanbesaidthatimplementingsound organisationalstrategy becomesimportantfor business success. For formulatingeffective organizational strategy, a business needs to rightly define the purpose, vision and mission to set the strategic direction. Analysing the macro and micro environment also becomes important in order to ensure that the business is able to sustain in the market place. Pestle Analysis, porters five forces model and VRIO analysis helps to define the industry attractiveness and competitive positioning of the business in the external market environment.
REFERENCES Books and Journals Albert, S. and Grzeda, M., 2015. Reflection in strategic management education.Journal of Management Education.39(5). pp.650-669. Alyoubi,B.A.,2015.Decisionsupportsystemandknowledge-basedstrategic management.Procedia Computer Science.65. pp.278-284. Amason, A. C. and Ward, A., 2020.Strategic management: From theory to practice. Routledge. Barca, M., 2017.Economic foundations of strategic management. Routledge. Bettis, R. A. and et.al., 2015. Qualitative empirical research in strategic management.Strategic Management Journal. pp.637-639. Bondarenko, T. G. and et.al., 2017. Optimization of the company strategic management system in the context of economic instability. Dagnino, G. B. and Cinici, M. C. eds., 2015.Research methods for strategic management. Routledge. Dzwigol,H.,2020.Methodologicalandempiricalplatformoftriangulationinstrategic management.Academy of Strategic Management Journal.19(4). pp.1-8. Gallus, J. and Frey, B. S., 2016. Awards: A strategic management perspective.Strategic Management Journal.37(8). pp.1699-1714. Jenkins, W. and Williamson, D., 2015.Strategic management and business analysis. Routledge. Johnsen, Å., 2015. Strategic management thinking and practice in the public sector: A strategic planning for all seasons?.Financial Accountability & Management.31(3). pp.243-268. Joyce, P., 2015.Strategic management in the public sector. Routledge. McKiernan, P. ed., 2017.Historical evolution of strategic management, volumes I and II(Vol. 1). Taylor & Francis. Siegel, D. S. and Leih, S., 2018. Strategic management theory and universities: An overview of the Special Issue.Strategic Organization.16(1). pp.6-11.