Organisational Strategy Report: Marks & Spencer's UK Business Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Marks & Spencer's organizational strategy, focusing on its operations within the UK market. It begins with an introduction to organizational strategy and presents a case study of Marks & Spencer, examining the challenges it faces within the external environment, including political (Brexit), economic (COVID-19 impact), social, environmental, and legal factors. The report then delves into the internal business situation and resources of the company, utilizing a SWOT analysis to assess its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Furthermore, it explores the competitive environment within the UK and international markets, highlighting key competitors and market dynamics. Finally, the report evaluates strategic options and directions, such as market penetration, product development, market development, and diversification, that Marks & Spencer could pursue for future growth in both the UK and international markets, concluding with recommendations for the company's strategic direction. The report utilizes PESTEL and Ansoff Matrix frameworks to support its analysis and recommendations.

Organisational Strategy-2

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
1) Challenges faced by the company in external environment of UK.........................................3
2) Internal business situation an resources of company in UK...................................................5
3) Competitive environment within UK and international market..............................................6
4) Strategic options and directions could the company pursue for the future growth both in the
UK and international Market.......................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
An organisational strategy is the sum of action organisation intends to take to achieve that
long term goals. Altogether it wake up companies strategic plan and it takes at least one year to
complete, requiring improvement in all the companies functions and operations.
This report will cover a case study of Marks & Spencer, Which is British multinational
company operating their business in various countries. They are selling varieties of product such
as Clothing, food, home appliances etc.
This report will analyse the key challenges Marks & Spencer Is facing within the external
environment in UK. It will also analyse the internal business situation and resources of the
company in the United Kingdom. This report will analyse the competitive environment of the
company within the UK and international both.
MAIN BODY
1) Challenges faced by the company in external environment of UK
There are various challenges faced by the Marks & Spencerwithin the external
environment of the United Kingdom. some of the factors such as political, environmental,
economical etc. Create challenges to run business for the company (Dochshanov, Verotti, M.
and Belfiore., 2017). it can be identified through the PESTEL Analysis Tool.
Political factors
Political factors like Brexit has created huge impact on the Marks & Spencer. the trade
agreement between the retain an European Union affected and create challenges for the retail
industry including Marks & Spencer. The lockdown announced by the UK government affect
the all segments where Marks & Spencer Was operating their business. According to the data of
2019 and 2020 the clothing and Home sales decrease by 8.3% and reduce the revenue around six
point 2%.
Economical factors

Economical factors created huge challenges for the Marks & Spencer. the recent
coronavirus crisis Shutdown the businesses and governments put the lockdown within whole
country. This also impact on the Marks & Spencer and they were not able to reopen their
business during the. Lockdown. It affects their whole segment clothing, home appliances and
food products and reduce their profitability.
Social
The corona situation create impact on the Income of the people and many people lost
their jobs. Marks & Spencer face the losses during the lockdown And they have also Fired the
employees from the job (Prabhakar, and etc.al., 2020). most of the people don't have money to
spend on their clothing another segments so they were transferring toward the discount stores. it
is necessary for the Marks & Spencer decrease there product prices to attract customers. This
also impact on the Marks & Spencer and they were not able to reopen their business during the.
Lockdown. It affects their whole segment clothing, home appliances and food products and
reduce their profitability.
Environmental
Marks & Spencer facing huge challenges related to the environmental issues and they are
getting force From the governmental bodies to give their support over the environment. it is
necessary for the Marks & Spencer to run necessary programme related to the environment that
can give support and help to save environment of the United Kingdom. company can give
support by organising event related to the environment issue an aware people about the issue of
Climate change. It will help them to create a good image in customers mind and they were able
to take competitive advantages within the market where they are operating their business.
Legal
Marks & Spencer is one of the top business within the United Kingdom who are having
huge reputation within the market. They are also facing some challenges to later today
governmental policies that is creating a huge threat for the company an affecting their
profitability and growth within the retail industry. Lockdown during the coronavirus,
government give instruction to shutdown the businesses, In the response company has quickly

supported to the government guidance, closing all the clothes only outlets backing down all the
clothing an home section in 24 hours and suspending Marks & Spencer.
2) Internal business situation an resources of company in UK
In 2019 and 20 the retail industry of the United Kingdom effect and also change the
situation and resources of the Marks & Spencer (Atkinson III, Carter and Love., 2019). in 2019
the sales declined for the first time and the British retail consortium Reporting a zero point 1%
contribution across the sector due to political stability and increase the customer occasion.
Clothing sector- Marks & Spencer Provide quality product and services to their 31
million customers every year within the United Kingdom and their targets are family age group
customers. After the coronavirus crisis their clothing sector also affectedAnother business food
that also affected from the coronavirus. Here is the situation of Marks & Spencer.
SWOT analysis
Strength
 Well experienced- Marks & Spencer Is working in retail industry from the 136 years ago.
It is one of the leading brand within the United Kingdom and this company began the
journey with the penny Bazaar. Along time create a huge reputation within the market
and make them successful business.
 Quality product – Product sale by the Marks & Spencer our quality and the prices of
products are lower as compared to the other brands. it helps to create a good image and
customers mind and helping them to take competitive advantages (Rahman And et.al.,
2018).
Weakness
 Declining sales- According to the report buy word 2019- Marks & SpencerSales on the
store decline in the end of 2019 and it was because of the poor supply chain system and
non availability of the product and services.
 High cost due to manual process- One of the major drawbacks of Marks & Spencer Is
that the company heavily relies on the manual operations. It is costly and consume a lot

of time. many of the old companies an organisation have already adopted the latest
technology to maximise various processes but still Marks & Spencer is using old one.
Opportunity’s
 business expansion- Many of the organisation within the United Kingdom have close
down their businesses due to the COVID-19. it can be a good Opportunity for the Marks
& Spencerexpand their businesses more because economy will grow up again.
 Online stores- Marks & Spencer Having online store where they hi Sally their product
and services but they have not developed And fully concentrated on those online stores. it
can be a good opportunity because upcoming generation will be depended upon online
businesses.
Threat
 coronavirus impact- Cortana why does has huge impact on the Marks & Spencer and due
to the lockdown situations company has go through huge crisis.
 Competition within market- Competition within the market is increasing day by day on
the basis of prices. A small retailers are selling their product and services in lower prices
which is forcing Marks & Spencer to decrease their product prices as well.
3) Competitive environment within UK and international market
Competition within the UK and international market Increasing day by day. Marks &
SpencerMost of the competition within the United Kingdom which is their home market
(Sethuraman, Parlakturk and Swaminathan., 2018). It is becausr most of the top retail companies
like Tesco, Sainsbury, ALDI etc Are having presence. on the international level it increases
more for the Marks & Spencer.
Regional level
United Kingdom is an home market for the Marks & Spencer. it create positive
advantages for the company becausr they already know what people like and what kind of
quality and product prices people within the United Kingdom prefer. They are selling the lightest
of the product within the UK and helping to satisfy the needs and demand of the customers. this
is the reason they come under the top list of the retail companies of United Kingdom. They are

also having a huge support from the UK government to expand their business. Marks & Spencer
Around 9:59 stores across The United Kingdom including the 615 That only sells food products
and through its television advertisement, asserts an exclusive nature and luxury of the its foods
and beverage.
International Level
On the international level organisations always need a different quality in their product
and services because every country has their own taste, culture languages etc (Migdadi., 2020).
Marks & Spencer Also have good reputation within the other markets like China, India and many
more. India is the second largest market for the Marks & Spencer and they are looking to expand
their business more within this market. Company work according to the needs and demand of the
customer within the specific markets Try to satisfy the needs and demand of the customers. it is
helping them to take competitive advantages within the global environment and they are able to
show their presence.
4) Strategic options and directions could the company pursue for the future growth both in the
UK and international Market
Strategic options refer to those strategies and directions that Marks and Spencer can
utilise for the purpose of future of the company. Strategic directions and options are available
through Ansoff Matrix (Loredana, 2017). This matrix provides directions on the basis of
development of market and development of products. Ansoff matrix provide four strategic
directions that are-
Market penetration- Market penetration is one of the first strategic directions available for
Marks and Spencer in which organisation utilise existing market and existing products to
increase market share and turnover of the company. Market penetration requires company to
increase its marketing and promotional efforts through which it can increase its visibility.
Increasing visibility is for the purpose of increasing customers and sales of the Marks and
Spencer. Market penetration is also a strategy that Marks and Spencer can utilise with its least
risk involved. Investment involved in this is also least and for short term success and increasing
liquidity of the company.

Product development- Product development involves developing new product for existing
market of the company. This is aimed at providing offerings to existing customers of the
company. This is often done with innovation and company requires focusing on innovation and
research and development to identify what are requirements of existing market. Marks and
Spencer when adopts this strategy company will requires investment in research and
development (Martins, 2020). However as Marks and Spencer is a retail organisation it offers
significant range of product offerings. This involves risk in which company when create products
that later gets failed in market is likely to cause financial loss to Marks and Spencer.
Market development- Market development involves developing new market for the existing
product of the company. Market development involves identifying new customer segments,
identifying new geographical market where company can offer its existing product. In this it is
important that company identifies new markets that are similar to existing market of the
company. Doing this helps in success of strategic directions that is adopted by the company.
Diversification- Diversification is another strategy in which company requires to develop both
market as well as products. This means that both the elements are developed by the company.
This involves highest possible risk for Marks and Spencer when it adopts this strategy.
Diversification allows benefit of existing brand image and reputation of the company in which
customers buy products of company because of the prior trust that have on Marks and Spencer
and its brand.
Among these strategies Marks and Spencer can select and implement market
development strategy because Marks and Spencer is a multination organisation and has its
presence in several countries but market share of the company is limited as per its capability
(Cleberg, 2019). Market development strategy and market penetration strategy along with this
will help Marks and Spencer in ensuring its future growth and long term success. However as of
the impact of Covid-19 market penetration is also a suitable strategy for Marks and Spencer.
CONCLUSION
As per the report has been analysed the key challenges Marks & Spencer facing within
the external environment in UK. It also has been analysed the internal business situation and

resources of the company in the United Kingdom through the SWOT analysis. In the end of this
report has been analysed the competitive environment of the company within the United
Kingdom and the international market environment.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Atkinson III, R. W., Carter, R. and Love, CT., 2019. Operational strategy to stabilize lithium
metal anodes by applied thermal gradient. Energy Storage Materials.22. pp.18-28.
Cleberg, C., 2019. Strategic Success: The Ansoff Matrix vs. The Balanced Scorecard.
Dochshanov, A., Verotti, M. and Belfiore, N. P., 2017. A comprehensive survey on
microgrippers design: Operational strategy. Journal of Mechanical Design. 139(7).
Loredana, E.M., 2017. The use of Ansoff matrix in the field of business. Annals-Economy Series.
2. pp.141-149.
Martins, A.M.A.R.D.L., 2020. Scenarios and Ansoff Matrix (Doctoral dissertation).
Migdadi, YK.A.A., 2020. Green operational strategy for airlines: content and regional analysis.
In Cases on Green Energy and Sustainable Development (pp. 193-229). IGI Global.
Prabhakar, A. M. and etc.al., 2020. Academic radiology departmental operational strategy related
to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Journal of the American
College of Radiology.17(6). pp.730-733.
Rahman, N. And et.al., 2018. Impact of strategic leadership on organizational performance,
strategic orientation and operational strategy. Management Science
Letters.8(12).pp.1387-1398.
Sethuraman, N., Parlakturk, AK. and Swaminathan, J. M., 2018. Personal fabrication as an
operational strategy: Value of delegating production to customer. Kenan Institute of
Private Enterprise Research Paper. (18-5).