SWOT and PESTLE Analysis of Marks and Spencer

Context of Business

INTRODUCTION
Business environment is being considered as an encircle of various factors which has a
huge impact on business in various orientations. It comprises of various decisions which have
been taken by the higher authorities and what they are trying to achieve(Andone and
Frydenberg, 2019). It is very important for an organisation to monitor their objectives and
prepare a track to achieve all these objectives. In order to understand the business context in a
proper manner Marks and Spencer has been taken into consideration. The respective company is
a well known multinational British retail company, which was founded in 1884 by Michael
Marks and Thomas Spencer. The headquarters of the firm is situated in London, United
Kingdom and in the present time they have around 959 stores all across the nation. The company
have a well known brand image all across the globe. The following report is going to evaluate
the internal as well as external analysis of the company by conducting SWOT and PESTEL
analysis respectively. This report also provide the information about the change in macro
environment factor influence the opportunities and threat if the respective company. Afterwords,
different business leadership style has been elaborated in order to under the impact on these on
an organisation.
TASK
Performing SWOT and PESTEL analysis : -
SWOT analysis :- this analysis is being considered as the most important strategic management
technique which are used by the organisation in order to analyse that what is suitable for the
company right now(Boffa and Maffei, 2019). With the help of this tool, the organisation is able
to understand their overall strength and opportunities and along with this get the in-depth
information about the weaknesses and threats which are faced by the company. This tool not
only assist the company in reducing their risk but also help in developing the strategic plans for
the competitive market. In context to the Marks and Spencer SWOT analysis has been discussed
below : -
Strengths : -
This factor describes as what an organisation excels and what are the factor which makes
them different from their competitor. These are basically the internal positive attributes like

strong image of the brand, loyal and potential customer's base, etc. These attributes provide the
provide the competitive advantage to the company over their rivals in the market. In relation to
the Marks and Spencer, the global presence of the company is being considered as the most
important strength of the company because of the vast line of product and 138 years of
experience in the retail field. In addition to this the impressive marketing strategies and Research
and development of the company are able to acquire the loyal customer base and help in
developing a reputable brand image of the company in the market.
Weaknesses : -
The weaknesses of the organisation stop them in performing their functions and operation
at optimum level (Dinh and Hilmarsson, 2020). This factor is related to those areas where
company lacks. In order to become more competitive in the market it is very important for the
firm to overcome from these weakness. This factor comprises of bad brand image, weak supply
chain management, inadequate stock and many more. In relation to the Marks and Spencer, relay
on manpower is being considered as one of the most important weakness of the company. The
company heavily depend on manual operation due to which cost of producing the goods has been
increases and also it's very time consuming. Along with this the company also suffer from the
poor supply chain management system due to which the company is not able to fulfil the demand
of the consumer. The non availability of the products in the stores leads to decline in sales and
loss of brand image.
Opportunities :-
This factors comprises of those favourable factors which help the firm to grow and
developed in the competitive market(Dobrovič and et. al., 2021). These factors not only help the
organisation in garbing the potential customers but also help in enjoying the competitive
advantage over their competitors. In context to the Marks and Spencer, the company have an
opportunity to enhance its online presence which help them in competing with the online
competitors like eBay and Amazon. In addition to this, the management of the company also
have to paid focus on the market segmentation in order to identify the need and demand of the
consumer which help in incresing the profitability.
Threats :-
This factor comprises of those unfavourable factors, which have the potential to harm the
different functions of the organisation and also hamper the performance of the company. In

context to the marks and Spencer, financial issues before Brexit has been faced by the company
because of the instability with in the economy. Moreover to this, stiff competition in the retail
sector is also being considered as one of the most important threat for the company. In order to
overcome from this issue the management of the company have to make proper strategies and
policies.
PESTLE analysis :- this analysis is being considered as a tool or framework which help the firm
in identifying and monitoring all the external factor which have a huge impact on the different
functions of the company. The management of the Marks and Spencer is going to utilize this
framework in order to understand the impact of the external factors on the decision making and
different functions of the organisation. With the help of this, in-depth knowledge has been gain
by the company which help them in developing the proper strategies and plans. In context to the
Marks and Spencer this analysis has been discussed below :-
 Political Factors :- this factor is being considered as one of the most important element
of this analysis. In this factor such as government policies, regulation and de-regulation
of the tax policies, stability of the government and many more has been comprises
(Komljenovic and et. al., 2019). These factors not only affect the functioning of the firm
but also hinder the overall productivity. In context to the Marks and Spencer, unnecessary
losses has been incurred by the company due to Brexit, which impacted their sourcing
cost. In addition to this, changes in the tax policies also had a bad impact on its
operations.
 Economical factor :- this factor comprises of economic growth, unemployment and
employment rate, inflation rate, interest rates and many more which has a huge impact on
the overall operations of the business. These factors are not controlled by the firm. In
context to the Marks and Spencer, the management of the firm highly impacted by the
Brexit as well as COVID 19 pandemic. Management has been forced to increased the
price of the product because of instability in the currency. Due to this conflicts has been
arises between the company and customers.
 Social Factor :- this factor includes such as demographic, attitude and behaviour of
consumer, opinion and social-culture changes and many more which not only affect the
operations of the company but also reduces its efficiency. In context to the Marks and
Spencer, backlash has faced by the company from its customers due to excessive chain of