Business Strategy Report: M&S Strategic Analysis and Planning

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Marks and Spencer's (M&S) business strategy. It begins by examining the company's mission, vision, objectives, and overall strategy, including the role of strategy, strategic direction, and various planning directions like benchmarking and business analysis. The report then delves into the impact of the macro-environment on M&S using PESTLE and SWOT analyses. The internal environment is assessed using strategic capabilities, the resource-based view, and the McKinsey model. Porter's Five Forces model is applied to evaluate competitive forces within the market. Finally, the report integrates these analyses to interpret and devise strategic planning for M&S, incorporating concepts like the VRIO model and providing a framework for achieving competitive advantage and long-term sustainability. The report includes an Ansoff growth matrix for strategic decision-making.

BUSINESS STRATEGY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
LO1.............................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Analyzing impact and influence of macro environment on given organisation and strategies............3
LO2.............................................................................................................................................................7
P2 Analyse internal environment and capabilities of a given organization using appropriate framework
.................................................................................................................................................................7
LO3.............................................................................................................................................................9
P3 Applying porter’s five forces model evaluate the competitive forces of a given market sector in
organisation.............................................................................................................................................9
LO4...........................................................................................................................................................10
P4 Applying a range of theories, concepts and models interpret and devise strategic planning for a
given organisation.................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Business strategy is a prominent term that is used by an organisation to gain the
competitive advantage and longer sustainability in the marketplace. It is an integration of all the
decision that is taken place to accomplish the desired goals in a specified time. This report
includes the Marks and Spencer Company that is one of the largest British retailing companies in
the UK. It includes the analysis of internal and external environment that helps in gaining the
success in the market. It also helps in showing the porter’s five forces model that helps in gaining
the competitive advantage in the competitive market. At last build an strategic plan that is based
on the strategy that is develop by using specified theories and model so that it gives the effective
results in making the strategic plan and also helps in earning more profits and larger customer
base(Yuliansyah, Gurd and Mohamed, 2017).
LO1
P1 Analyzing impact and influence of macro environment on given organisation and strategies
Mission
The mission of M&S is to offers the inspirational quality products to their customers that
helps in enhancing the customer base and helpful in earning profits.
Vision
The major vision of M&S is working to gain global congruence for the national and
globally present organizations so that they can measures their key performance according to that.
Objectives
The main objective of the M&S is to became a leader in food and fashion sector that
helps in renowned the global brand that can create the tough competition to the rival
firms(Martinez-Simarro, Devece and Llopis-Albert, 2015).
Strategy
It refers to a action which is taken by the manager of the company to accomplish and
achieving the targets in an appropriate manner. It is followed in proper direction so that high

objectives can be achieved. In case of M&S this strategy can be helpful in achieving the goal and
allow company to follow various strategies in an effective direction. So that they can achieves
the success in the local and international market.
Role of a strategy
The major role of a strategy is to attain the overall objectives so that company will sustain
for a long term in the marketplace. In case of M&S the role of strategy is to satisfy the
customer’s demands and gaining the competitive advantage in the market so that firm will earn
higher profits.
Strategic direction
It refers to the strategic direction that is helpful in attaining the goals and place the
company vision on top priority so that company will face more success and profits in the long
term.
Different strategic planning direction
Benchmarking – In this strategic direction M&S will compare their performance with
the leaders in the market that helps in analyzing the market position in which firm operates. it
helps in suggesting the best strategy to increase high profits.
Business analysis – It is very essential to analyse business by the M&S so that they know
the strength and weakness that helps in attaining the goals and taking the right strategy for longer
sustainability.
Stakeholder’s matrix
This matrix is very essential for M&S because it shows the important stakeholders and
their power and interest in the company. It includes some steps that shown below(Burlton, 2015).
Step1: In this step M&S prepare a list of their stakeholders that includes employees,
shareholders, customers, sales department, suppliers, government etc.
Step2: After preparing the list by M&S manager it can examine them by their interest
and power.

High power, high interest – This type of stakeholders are very important because it
helps in performing the company in an effective way. it includes shareholders, investors etc.
High power, low interest- It influence the working in the M&S and they have no interest
in activities and projects.
Low power, high interest- This type of stakeholders of M&S can provide the
information regarding the projects so that firm will does not face any issue.
Low power, low interest- This stakeholder does not hold high power and high interest in
the operations and profitability of company.
PESTLE analysis
Political – As political condition of UK is stable and tax rate is also low due to which
operating the business by M&S is very beneficial and this helps in attracting large profits.
Economical- In this people of UK are spending more money to fulfills there needs
because of high growth rate due to this M&S can able to enjoy large sales margin but high
inflation rate impacted the business in negative way(Amran and et. al., 2016).
Social- As people of UK are very trending so that they can use modern products in this
M&S can sales their customer’s high quality and unique products so that they will enhance their
sales and profits.
Technological- In this M&S can improve the use of high technology in their machines
and distribution process so that they can fulfills the market demands and enjoys large market
share.
Legal- It includes the legal laws that is effectively follows by the M&S that will provide
high benefits to their employees and they encouraged towards work in the firm.
Environmental – Using the proper environmental laws that will benefitted the society
helps M&S to sustain in the marketplace for a longer time period. this alo helps in enhancing
their profit margin and revenues.

Ansoff growth matrix
It is an strategic tool that is used by the manager of M&S so that they can adopts the right
strategy to increase their profit margin. It can be mentioned below.
Product development- In this aspect firm will focus on introduce new goods in existing
market so that large base of customers get attracted and it will benefitted the M&S to enhance
their sales.
Market development – In this current product can be sale and offers in the new market
this will attracts the new customers for M&S.
Market penetration – In this M&S sales their existing product in existing market. in this
they provide variety of offers to the customers to raise their revenues(Akter and et. al., 2016).
Diversification- In this company can enter into the new market with new product. If
customers like the product M&S enjoys large sales and profits and if not then they will face loss.
According to these strategies M&S will follows the market penetration strategy because it helps
in enhancing the profits and high revenues in the current market place. without spending more
amount on advertising and targeting the customers.
SWOT analysis
Strength Weaknesses
The major strength of company is the
reputation in the market due to its quality
products and services with having a great
product line like clothing, food, home wares
etc.
The major weakness of firm is to selling out
trending cloths that is not suitable for adults
and youngsters in clothing sector.
Opportunities Threats
The major opportunity is that they can invest in
marketing so that they can attracts the large
customer base and expand their presence in
Asian and African markets.
More competitors like ZARA, H&M is the
major threats.

LO2
P2 Analyse internal environment and capabilities of a given organization using appropriate
framework
Strategic capabilities and their key components
It refers to an effective procedure that helps in shaping the various types of strategies and
place them into the action so that they can achieves the targets and gain the competitive
advantage in the marketplace. It inculcates the six components such as- Tools for analysis,
vision, purpose, key goals, action planning and the values. In Marks & Spenser these
components help in executed the effective strategies and gain the market in the profitable
manner(Gumusluoglu, and Acur, 2016).
Resource –based view strategy
It refers to a framework that is denoted to the management activities that is helpful to
analyzing the strategic resources that is used by the company to attaining the sustainability and
competitive advantages in the marketplace. In can involves two strategies i.e. tangible that
involves the physical inventory link building, land, capital, machinery etc. and intangible
resources are those that have no physical resources but shows the presence of the M&S in the
market by using the intellectual legal rights, goodwill of the company etc(Parnell, 2016).
McKinsey model
It define the effective framework that is used to show the effectiveness of the
organisation by proposing the seven factors that helps in aligning the company in order to be
successful in the market for a long time period. In case of M&S it can be shown below (Pham,
Pham and Pham, 2018).
 Strategy- It is the primary factor of this model that shows the plan which is formulated
by the organization to gain the competitive advantage so that they can sustain in the
market without facing much more competition. In case of M&S They can follow the
proper planning due to this manager cannot face issue related to failure and decreasing
the sales in the market(Leischnig and et. al., 2017).

 Structure- It shows the structure of the organisation so that divisions of the work can be
done in an effective way and M&S cannot face major issue related to not completing the
task in a timely manner. But if they cannot manage and organize the structure then the
working employees reduce their effectiveness of working and they did not give
productive results.
 System- This factor shows the M&S day to day activities and their decisions to achieve
those targets. In this if company follow effective and appropriate system than manager
can adopts the change easily and employees can work more productively.
 Skill- It shows the abilities and capabilities of the employees to perform a particular task
within the organization so that manager of M&S can assign the work as per their
experience and knowledge due to this task can be attained effectively.
 Style- This factor shows the management style that is followed by the M&S manager to
capture the high opportunities and maintains relations of the employees. for this they can
use the democratic style where every employee have the right to give and show their
suggestions.
 Staff- This step shows the working employees that are working under the M&S and what
type of candidates they needs to fulfills their vacanat jobs.
 Shared values – It shows the rules, guidelines and standard that is follow by the
employees of the company so that discipline and decorum can be maintained and task can
be achieved in an appropriate manner.
VRIO Model
It defines an analytical application that is very effective to evaluate the resources of the
organisation in gaining the competitive advantage. In case of M&S this term involves the four
terms that can be explained below(Leischnig and et. al., 2017).
 Valuable- It is an essential and significant resource of the M&S that can be very
effective for gaining the completion and beat the rival firms in the marketplace. If
company wants higher profits than they will focus on using their valuable
resources in an appropriate manner. In these valuable resources of the business
firm M&S are employees, supply chain management, financial resource etc.

 Rare- In this organisation may focus on their rare products and examine that they
prepared those goods which contains rareness. This helps the M&S to gain the
market share with more loyal customers and it also helps in longer sustainability
of firm. in this manager of M&S focus on serving effective rare products with
efficient quality to their consumer so that rival company face more completion to
stay in the market.
 Imitable- In this company mainly focus on the imitable products that means
those goods that are not copied by competitors because if M&S offers those
products which are copied by the rival firms that they loose their sales and
customers base in the market. In this raw material related to food and clothing is
the imitable products which are not easily copied by the other firms.
 Organized- In this M&S can organize and mange all their resources in an
appropriate manner so that workers are work in a systematic manner can achieves
the task related to high profit earnings. In this company follow transparency so
that they can attracts their stakeholders, employees, customers towards the
company.
LO3
P3 Applying porter’s five forces model evaluate the competitive forces of a given market sector
in organisation
Porter’s five forces model is an analytical approach that is used to take the decisions
which is based on future as well as the current competition that was present in the market. It can
be includes five framework in context of M&S that can be shown below(Langabeer and
Champagne, 2016).
 Bargaining power of customers- In retail sector bargaining power of the customers is
much high. In this if M&S can charge the high amount of the products than they cannot
stay in the market for a long time because customers cannot buy their products and they
can move towards the other firms.
 Bargaining power of suppliers- In retail sector bargaining power of suppliers cannot be
high especially in clothing and food sector because there are large numbers of suppliers

who can supply the products. This can benefit the M&S to buy the raw materials at low
cost due to this manufacturing cost will be low. This helps in gaining the competition in
the marketplace.
 Threats of new entrants-In context of M&S they cannot face the fear of new entrant
because they contains more financial resources due to this new entrants cannot able to
beta it and perform their operations according to the M &S. In this M&S contains high
brand image and loyal customers due to this new firm cannot enjoy the profits and
sustainability(Taneja, Pryor and Hayek, 2016).
 Threats of substitutes- In this factor M&S cannot face the issue related to substitution of
the products because there is no substitute for the cloth and food. in this case company
will enjoy more sales and profits with long term sustainability.
 Rivalry of the firm- In case of M&S there are many competitors that was present in the
market like H&M, Burberry, ZARA etc. so due to this it contains high and major
presence of the rival firms due to this company can offers their products as per the
competitive pricing strategy so that they can enjoy high sales and profits in the market.
LO4
P4 Applying a range of theories, concepts and models interpret and devise strategic planning for
a given organisation
Porter’s generic model
It is an effective strategic model which helps in gaining the competituive advantage in the
market. it includes basically three terms on the i.e. cost leadership, differentiation and focus that
can be shown below in case of M&S(Budayan, Dikmen and Birgonul, 2015).
 Cost leadership- In this strategy M&S can focus on lowering the price of their products
so that customers can attracted and buy it this helps in earning more and more profits. At
this time organisation can offer varieties of discounts and sales so the potential customers
also tell their friends and loved ones to purchase the M&S products this helps in longer
sustainability and high profits in the marketplace.

 Differentiation- In this generic strategy M&S can offers the new and innovative products
to their customers that are distinct from the competitors of the same industry so that
customers can buy their goods and services and company will enjoy high sales.
 Focus- This str4ategy includes two frameworks i.e. cost focus and differentiation focus
in this M&S can offer the products on the low price so that they can attracts the large
base of customers and in differentiation focus company cannot focus on the pricing
because if the innovation is attractive customers can buy the product at any cost.
Bowmen’s strategy clock model
 Low price- In this strategy M&S can set their price on the low cost due to this they can
attracts the large base of customers but because of low cost charge on the products the
profits will be low on every offering but due to increasing sales the overall profits will be
increased(Budayan, Dikmen and Birgonul, 2015).
 Low price low value- In this strategy products of the firm is not differentiated from the
rival firms due to this its value is also low and in this situation M&S can face low
competitive advantage in the marketplace.
 Differentiation- In this framework M&S can innovate their offerings due to this they can
attracts the large base of customers and enjoys large sales.
 Hybrid- This strategy shows the M&S can offers the innovative products on the low
price that will shows the effective outcome on the sales but sometimes negatively affect
the brand image.
 Focused differentiation- In this strategy company mainly focus on differentiation the
products so that customers can pay the high price on that and company will enjoy large
amount of profits and sales.
 Monopoly pricing- This strategy focus on the needy products of the people of society for
that products company will charge the monopoly price and consumer can pay that price
to but those products.
 High risk margin- In this case company will face high risk and due to this firm will face
the failure in case of M&S manager cannot offers the varieties of discounts and make the
price of the offerings too high. This will majorly impact the business.

 Loss of market share- This strategy is majorly impact the sustainability of the firm. In
this M&S can set the standard related to price on the middle of the product development.
Due to that concerned company will face the issue of loss of market share(Weber,
Geneste and Connell, 2015).
By analyzing above two models of strategic competitive advantage M&S can follow the strategy
related to cost leadership of the product so that they can offers the goods to the customers by
providing various offers and sales so that consumers can attracts towards the products and
company will enjoy large amount of sales and high profit margins. This also helps in longer
sustainability of the firm and also attracts more new customers in the global as well as local
market. It is very effective for the business for earning high growth rates and large market share.
Strategic planning
It refers to an effective management activity that can include various frameworks in case
of M&S to earn a high amount of profits and also gaining the advantage of the competitors. It
can be mentioned below(Taneja, Pryor and Hayek, 2016).
Vision: The vision of M&S is to set the standard for their competitors so that they can maintain
their brand image and earns high profits.
Mission: M&S can provide the quality products to their customers so that they can enhance their
customers and increase their revenues.
Strategies: In this manager of M&S can follow the cost leadership and market penetration
strategy where they can lowering the price of their goods so that every range of customers can
buy the products and also promote the company in front of their friends and family members due
to this company will make new customers and also maintains their brand image in the market
place.
Objectives: The major objective of M&S is to enhance their customer base by 20% or sales by
15% within a year.
Tactics: It refers to the short term tactics that is made by the company for achieving the goals
and sustaining in the marketplace. In this M&S can focus on their promotional strategy where

they can use the social media so that they can cover larger audience within the small period of
time. in this they can solve the customers problems relating to the company products and
services on the international level(Taneja, Pryor and Hayek, 2016).
Implementation and evaluation: It is very significant to formulate the plan that a company
manager can make because without implementing they cannot face success and profits and in
this step thay can organize all their activities in an effective way and control all the performance
on every level by using key performance indicator and at last taking the follow up of customers
so that actual demand of the products and sales can be identified.
CONCLUSION
As per above formulated report it is to be concluded that business strategy is an
prominent term in today’s technical world where people are move towards the modern
technology and use of modern things, in this they can analyse the macro and micro environment
so that make the appropriate strategy is easy and effective and in this porter’s five forces model
can helps in gaining the competitive advantage in the industry so that company can attracts the
large base of customers. at last by using effective concepts and models strategic plan is made so
that company can sustain in the market for a longer period of time and gaining the loyal
customers where the presence of the company.

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