Strategic Management: Theory and Practice

STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Compare theory and practice.......................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Strategic management is having a formed strategy for the business so that the goals and
objectives of the organization can be met. Strategies can make the organization get in a lot of
changes so that the satisfaction level of the customers can increase in the market. Marks &
Spencer is having its headquarters in London, United Kingdom and has been operating in this
industry from 136 years which is from 1884. The founders of this business are Thomas Spencer
and Michael Marks and now the business is operating worldwide. There are more than 80,000
employees working in the organization as of 2020. The competitive analysis of the organization
is going to be discussed in the further report and the measures the business is taking to be able to
compete in the market. The external factors of the business will also have to be understood so
that the decisions of the business are going to be effectively and the company can maintain their
standards and reputation in the market as well.
MAIN BODY
Compare theory and practice
The demand in the market is increasing which is why the company will have to
understand this aspect and make changes accordingly. There are tools which the business can use
like competitive analysis, business environment analysis and comparative analysis positions so
that the company will be able to achieve their objectives and goals.
Business environment analysis
There are a lot of environmental factors which can be understood and then further
decisions for the company can be taken (Kools and George, 2020). There are a lot of changes
which take place in business but before that there have to be better frameworks which have to be
used to analyse the market effectively. There is a lot of information collection which has to be
done so that the company will not just be able to complete but get a competitive advantage as
well.
PESTEL Analysis

There are a lot of external factors which are going to have an influence in the company to
be able to operate effectively and efficiently in the bazaar. The external factors include the
political, social, economic, technological, legal and environmental factors which will have to be
understood by Marks & Spencer have to be able to operate effectively in the market. The needs
and expectations of the customers from retail industry are high therefore the businesses in this
industry must select their measures effectively.
 Political Factor
The government is stable in United Kingdom which is a great advantage for M&S which is
because the policies and laws are the same in the country. There is a stable strategy and measures
so that there is going to be a better sense of direction which would be present in the company.
The taxation laws and trading laws have to be understood by M&S so that they can take the right
measures accordingly which is going to be good for the company (Punt, 2017). Due to Brexit
there have already been a lot of changes in the organization which were negative but the
company over came those factors. There are cultural, religions, etc which have to be maintained
in the organization which is going to be good for the company as well. There are a lot of
restrictions which are present in M&S because of Brexit and that factor will have to be controlled
by the organization.
 Economical Factor
Economic stability also needs to be present in the company because there are a lot of
investments which a business makes so that there is going to be a good balance which would be
present. The company has to make sure that there have to be good economic strategy which the
company is using so that they can invest accordingly and make the organization get the
maximum profits (Höglund and et.al., 2018). M&S has to have a long term goal so that there is
going to be a good functioning. Inflation is increasing which has to be controlled by the
organization and the currency values which are changing also have to be considered for pricing
the products in different countries so that there is going to be a better functioning.
 Social Factor
The customer’s needs and trends are changing and for that the company will have to
understand the culture and religion of the customers so that there are going to be better decisions
which can be taken (Alnoukari and Hanano, 2017). The social factor does make a lot of