Change Management in Retail: Strategies and Impact at Mark & Spencer

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of change management strategies at Mark & Spencer (M&S), a British multinational retailer. It explores how organizational strategies and operations are affected by internal and external factors, including governmental changes like Brexit and environmental concerns. The report compares M&S with Burberry, examining their respective approaches to strategy, operations, and environmental considerations. It identifies drivers for change, differentiating between remedial and transformational changes and their impact on organizational performance. Furthermore, it investigates the internal and external factors affecting leadership, team, and individual behavior, including resources, financial management, and SWOT analysis. The report concludes with recommendations for M&S, emphasizing the importance of proactive planning, employee involvement, and adapting to market changes to maintain a competitive advantage.

Understanding and
Leading Change

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
Change management is a wider process which manages changes in the organisational
objectives, mission and plan of actions in order to achieve the aims and targets. Changes are
necessary for any kind of organisation as it assist an association to get competitive benefits and
higher success. In this file the chosen organisation is Mark & Spencer which is a British
multinational retailer. M&S is dealing in the high quality clothing brand and its headquarters are
situated in London and Westminster. This file will cover about that how the changes are effect
on the organisation strategies and activities. In addition, examine that how the changes in inside
and outside factors affect on the leadership and how can minimise the pessimistic impact of these
factors on the business. Also, several barriers which have to face during the leadership decisions
and how can reduce it with implement an appropriate leadership approach.
TASK 1
P1 Compare organisations that how the changes on their strategies and operations
Organisational strategy is a long term plan which consist a set of actions which is
implemented by a company in order to achieve its vision. It is essential for the organisation to
make a proper strategy before executing their activities as it will helps them to get competitive
advantage, higher success and growth in the marketplace(Hintz and Bahia, 2013). Proper
management of strategies and operation will also helps the M&S to implement the changes
successfully. For capturing a big market share it is essential for them to implement new changes
in their production process according to the market segments and trends. To better understand
that how the changes can impact on the organisational strategies and activities, here are given
strategies and operations of different organisations. For understanding this the taken
organisations are M&S and Burberry, the strategies and operations of them are defined below:
M&S Burberry
Government
al change
In the UK Brexit have greatly affect
on the retail sector as because of this
the various rules, policies have been
changed and implemented on the
retails sectors. Due to which M&S
have to face the lower sales and
Burberry is also greatly affected by the
Brexit due to which their profitability
and sustainability is going in a
downfall position day by day. For
sustaining their position according to
the political changes they are

decreased profitability(Gnan, Hinna
and Scarozza, 2013). Also, these have
great impact on the operations and
strategies of the M&S which are
defined below:
Strategies: Before Brexit, company
was followed the skimming pricing
strategy in which they are selling their
products at higher price but now
company is following the economy
pricing strategy for attracting the
more customers in their products and
services and can uphold in the
marketplace for a long duration.
Operations: For effectively operate
their activities M&S is following the
just in time method in which they are
focussing on the management of
inventory. They concern about that
quantity of inventory should be
sufficient according to their
requirement. So they will be able to
reduce the overhead inventory
expenses.
focussing on their strategies and
operations which are defined below:
Strategies: Before any kind of political
change they were using the higher
pricing strategy as they are dealing in
the luxury products which contains
higher cost but because of Brexit they
have to shift on the skimming pricing
strategy is which at the initial level
company will charge higher amount for
their products but lesser than previous
but with the expanding their business
they will sell their products at lower
price.
Operation: Burberry is also trying to
sustain their position in the changing
environment by implementing new
innovations and technologies in their
operations so they will be able to
reduce their production cost and
increase their productivity. It will helps
them to deliver high quality products at
lower price which results higher
customers base and higher profitability
in the business.
Environment
change
As the organisation is operating their
activities in the environment so they
must focus on this that they should
not produce those products which can
harm the environment. These changes
occur because of the technology
Changing in the environment also
impact on the performance and
operations of the Burberry. As
Burberry is a luxury brand so it is
essential for them to keep their eye on
the environmental changes so that they

changes, climate changes etc. For
preventing themselves from
decreasing the growth and brand
value M&S consider all the changes
because of this are described below:
Strategies: While operating their
activities company always concern
about their environment. For maintain
their business growth in the market
they are inspire the people to
abandonment the use of plastic bags
and also they are promoting the cash
less payment so that the deforestation
can be reduced.
Operations: For preventing the
environment from the negative impact
M&S is using Six sigma which will
help them to improve their
organisational activities according to
the environment and reduce their
extra cost form their operations. Also,
they will be able to change their
processes and find the inappropriate
process which can badly impact the
environment so they will be able to
improve in this and get the success
and growth in the market.
can apply these modifications
immediately in their organisation and
able to maintain their business
position(Goldstein, Sauer and
O'Donnell, 2014). Here are described
about the strategies and operation of
Burberry:
Strategies: For maintaining their brand
value in the changing environment they
are focussing on track their inventory
level so they can save their extra cost
and save their from the wastage. They
are also motivating the online
proceedings rather than the cash
payments so they can decrease the use
of paper .
Operations: They are conducting their
actions according to the environment
changes like they are attending and
contributing in various social welfare
programs and other they are indulging
in providing effective educational
programs for enhancing the skills of
their employees so they will do their
efforts by considering the effect of
environment on their business
activities.

M1 Drivers for change in each example and types of organisational change they affected.
Each of the drivers have their specific role towards the performance of the organisation.
As internal drivers effect the function of the organisation by their different rules, regulation,
labour laws, employment act etc. and external drivers are the one which consists of the factors
that influences the business in the direct manner such as inflation rates, tax rates. These drivers
have also affected the organisational changes such as:
Remedial changes : Remedial changes is the one which is caused due to the shortage or
deficiency in the performance of the employees as well as the organisation. To reduce this
problem the company like Mark and Spenser is arranging various programmes to train their
employees to overcome the deficiency level within a short period of time(Bolton and et. al.,
2013).
Transformational changes : These changes are the essential one as this is adopted by
the business by researching the current market trend. If the market is undergoing a frequent range
of modification then these changes occurs . The management of M&S will take this into the
much consideration so that whenever required they can adopt the new strategies by investing the
suitable amount of funds.
D1 Conclusions and recommendations with valid justifications
As per the above mentioned study in can be concluded that the business of Mark and
Spenser is also affected with both the drivers in positive as well as negatives . This also helps the
business by monitoring and reducing the cost of the operation. These factors also provides the
business with competitive advantage over their rival firms. In relation to this there are some
recommendation and conclusion have been mentioned beneath :
 The manager of M&S must concentration on the estimating in advance about all the
uncertainties which can affect their business operation(van der Voet, Kuipers and
Groeneveld, 2015). So that corrective measures regarding this can be taken in advance.
 They must involve their employees in the judgement making process regarding the
establishment of change in their organisation so that the employee of the business feels as
a valuable assets to them and works with the greater amount of efficiency.
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TASK 2
P2. The internal and external factors that affect leadership, team and individual behaviour
The inner and outer factors have huge effect on the overall activities of the organisation.
As in the present corporate world business is flourishing day by day due to which they have to
face various problems from the internal and external factors. For reducing the impact of these
factors M&S needs to evaluate and examine these factors so they will be able to formulate the
strategies and adopt some new plans according to this(Tombetti and Mason, 2018). Also, M&S
needs to analyse the market segments and customers preferences so they will be able to know
that the changes in the organisation should be implemented or not. Here are two type of
modification drivers that are defined below:
Internal drivers: In this category those components are included which are incurred in
the enterprise and these factors are those on which company can easily control. There are defined
about the some of the internal drivers which are defined below:
Resources: This can be defined from the all resources which are using by M&S to
operate their activities effectively. These resources include capital, machinery, manpower, raw
material and many others. So the management of M&S needs to focus on these resources that
they are appropriate in the organisation or not or they required some changes.
Financial management: It is the most important factors of the internal factors as it
related to the fund. For taking appropriate decisions it is essential for M&S to regulate effective
financial management so they able to distribute the funds appropriately in the purchase of raw
materials, implement new assets, and implement new strategies and plans(Martin, 2012).
For evaluating that how these elements can effect on the overall performance of the
organisation M&S can use SWOT analysis which will help them to analyse about the Strengths
and weaknesses of them and also assist them that how they can take advantage of their
opportunities and reduce the threats which they have to face in their business. Here are defined
about the SWOT analysis of M&S:
Strength Weaknesses
The major strength of the M&S that it is the
high recognised brand and dealing in the
variety of products.
Weakness of the M&S that many people
considered is a non trendy store.
Change drivers: For preventing themselves
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Change drivers –M&S should focus on the the
market and customer segment and product
according to them. They can do this with their
skilled and talented employees(Wilkinson and
et. al., 2013).
form this weakness M&S needs to focus on the
adopting new techniques and customers
preferences so that they will be able to produce
according to the customers demand.
Opportunity Threats
As M&S is dealing in the ethnic and traditional
clothing that it is huge opportunity for them to
cover Asia market as there are huge demand of
ethnic clothes.
Change drivers:- M&S can get more success
if they are producing western wear with
traditional clothes that will helps them to cover
a huge market place.
M&S has the threat of competition due to
which they might lose their profit and brand
value in the market.
Change drivers: It is essential for them to
adopt new strategies and plans and focussing
on producing products according to the
customers needs.
External Drivers: These are those factors which are related to those situations, things,
incidents, and events which are happening outside the organisation. These factors have great
impact on the business schemes and transactions and these are not under control of the business.
These includes innovations, economy changes etc. For analysing these factors M&S can use
PEST analysis which will help them understand the impact of these factors on the business:
Political factors – These are those factors which are made, run, and organised by the
government. In this various laws and regulation are included such as trade policy, labour law,
political stability etc. For operating their business activities effectively M&S should consider
these rules in their operations. For instance, if the government in UK adopt free trade policy then
M&S will able to decrease its sourcing costs(de Sousa Jabbour, 2015).
Economical factors– These are those factors which have direct impact on the
performance of the company which includes interest rate, inflation rate, foreign exchanges rate
etc. These all have big impact on the strategies and activities of M&S as they have to face
various difficulties while adopting new techniques and operations. For example, if the inflation
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rate will rise then it will direct effect on the prices of the Mark and Spencer products and services
and purchasing power of the customers.
Social factors– This factors is concerned about the changes in people
preferences,demand and needs which influences the business and marketing strategies. For
becoming successful in the market M&S should focus on the customers preferences and wants
otherwise it will effect on the profit and sustainability of the business. Moreover, changes in
these factors have also impact on the working of the leaders as they have to more focussing on
the motivational activities and new marketing strategies(Zeiler and Fergus, 2014).
Technological factors- These factors are related to the changes in technologies and
innovations. The changes in technology also effect on the behaviour of the organisation as they
have to change their working processes. With the changes of technology leader have to do more
efforts as they have to give more training and organise development programs so they can
compete their competitors in an appropriate manner.
M2 Appropriate theories and models to evaluate organisational response to change.
The business of M&S must concentration on the establishment of the different theories
and models in their business as these theories will enable their business in determining the areas
where the business needs to work. For this Mark and Spenser have focused on the concept of
PDCA cycle which support their business in preparation of the strategies and policies which
would help them to responds to the frequent occurring changes so that the firm can achieve a
competitive advantage over the rivals. Some of the drawbacks can be that if the business does
not focuses on the establishment of the theories in their organisation they may suffer from the
lack of efficiency and deficiency in the profits.
P3 Analyse measures to minimize negative impacts of change on organisational behaviour
Changes are necessary for adopting the the business as it brings the sufficiency and
growth opportunities in the business. In the procedure of adopting changes an organisation have
to face various negative points like the major issues occurs while changes are implemented in the
organisation is losing employees(Choon and Embi, 2012). Mark and Spencer needs to do
exertion for retaining their employees, for this they can do various activities which are as follow:
 Increase the involvement of workers in alteration process: It is essential to M&S for
getting the support of its subordinates in implementing the changes successfully. M&S
should try to introduce employees with the benefits of the new changes and techniques
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and include them in the decision-making process so they will be realise that they are
essential part of the administration and give best efforts in achieving the goals(Wilkinson
and Kemmis, 2015).
 Expansion of communication channels: This is the another crucial part for organisation
to establish various communication within the organisation so that the employees will be
able to easily communicate with their seniors regarding to the new techniques and new
changes.
Along with this, if M&S wants to reduce the pessimistic effect of the modification on the
workers then they should follow PDCA model which will help them to operate flawless activities
and also assure that the employees are motivated through the applying changes. The description
of this model are defined below:
Plan: It is the foremost part of this model in which M&S will make a plan of their
strategies and changes that which changes they should implemented and which strategy they
should adopt. While making a plan of implement a change they needs to do proper market
research so they able to know about the cost, resources, funds and many more. This research will
help the company to produce various products after considering the marketplace segments which
will helps them to get competitive advantage and success in the market.
Do: In this step, M&S will implement the strategies for accomplishing its goals and
objectives. In this activity they needs to higher support of their employees and huge amount of
capital so they will be able to operate their activities without any conflicts.
Check: This stage comes after the implementing the strategies as at this level they can
check the effectiveness of their schemes and ideas. They will check about that their strategies are
profitable or not for the organisation. For this they can compare their estimated data and actual
results as it will helps them to find the reasons that why the differences are arising and how they
can improve it in order to achieve its organisational targets(Lozano, Martinez-Cerdeno and J
Hagerman, 2015).
Act: It is the final stage in which the Mark & Spencer will works on their drawbacks and
then will focus on the measuring of the success and failure. So that they can identify whether the
strategy should be followed further in the business or not.
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Hence, it is a simple model which will helps the M&S to avoid continual mistakes and
also improve processes. Moreover, with the involvement of employees in each and every step
they can get more success and growth in the marketplace.
TASK 3
P4 Determine various barriers and their impact on the leadership decision-making
Adopting changes is must for every organisation to sustain in the market and beat their
competitors(Saha and et. al., 2013). For becoming more effective and increasing revenue an
organisation have to take some modifications in their activities. But implementing the change is
not an easy task, various barriers try to prevent the company to adopt changes and moving
forward. There are defined about some of the barriers which prevent M&S to implement
changes.
 Ineffective leadership: This is the biggest cause which prevents the organisation to
implement changes. For properly executing necessary changes the management of M&S
needs to respond positively to their employees related to that what they should do, when
and how they should do. As employees are the most important supporter in the change
management procedure so the M&S should motivate their employee and inspire them in
order to meet the organisational goals and aims. Ineffective leadership will also hinder
their decision making process as the leaders himself wont be able to decide what is
beneficial and what not then how they will motivate their employees to works within the
changing environment.
 Broken Communication: It is an important part when an organisation introducing a
change management process in their organisational activities. While executing changes
M&S must focus on the communication channels that they are able to communicate with
each and every level of employees. Proper communication helps the employees to share
their conflicts, ideas, opinions with their management so that the management will be
able listen about their problem and take effective decisions(Nagarajaiah and Begum,
2014).
At the present world the customers demands are increasing day by day due to which
company have to focus on the launching new products and services in the marketplace. For
covering a big marketplace and sustaining in the market M&S have decided to launch a new
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products in the marketplace. They are launching the products after considering all the current
market trends and customers segments. But to achieve the success in these changes, they should
follow Force Field Model which will helps them to know about that forces which are in favour or
against the changes. Moreover, by using this model they can identified those factors which can
impact the position and progress of the association. These forces are defined beneath:
Forces against changes:-
 Enhancing value:- While introducing new products and services in the market it is
essential for M&S to produce high quality products and have to give training to the
employees due to which the product price and cost might be increase(Lloyd, Boer and
Voelpel, 2017).
 More labour turnover and absenteeism:- As introducing new products and services in
the market, M&S needs to more labour efforts and time due to which it might be possible
that employees are continuously losing their interest. It will increase the labour turnover
rate which results decreasing brand value and sustainability.
Forces in favour of changes:-
 Consumers wants changing products:- As M&S is dealing in the high quality products
so customers of M&S always want new products from them so that they will satisfied
their needs and wants.
 Vast products aggregation:- By unveiling a new products in the marketplace they can
get more success and increased their brand value as they will be able to attain more
consumers attention in their variety of products.
 Governmental support:- The authorities of all the nation always support those
companies who are producing those products which are favourable to the economy. As
M&S is always follow all the rules and regulations while producing their products due to
which they are able to get more support of the government in developing the new product
like they will take the benefit of lower tax rate in their new products(Cahill and Sedrak,
2012).
Hence, form the above discussed model it can be say that evolution of new producta will
be beneficial for the M&S as they will able to accomplish its aims and targets in an appropriate
manner.
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