Business Environment Report: Marks and Spencer Company Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Marks and Spencer (M&S), a British multinational retailer. It begins with an executive summary and introduction, outlining the competitive nature of M&S's business environment. The report delves into macro and micro environmental factors, employing PESTLE analysis to assess political, economic, socio-cultural, legal, technological, and environmental influences, and SWOT analysis to evaluate internal strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats. The analysis explores the significance of these environmental forces on the organization and the market sector, considering the needs of various stakeholders and the effectiveness of M&S's responses to policy actions. The report concludes with a summary of findings and provides recommendations for M&S to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage, including suggestions for minimizing competition and improving customer service. The report references academic sources and industry reports to support its analysis.

Business management and leadership
Executive summary
In this paper the discussion will be made on the Marks and Spencer Company. In this paper the
overall market analysis will be made on the company by taking into consideration micro and

Management
macro factors. In macro analysis, Pestle analysis will be made and micro analysis will be done by
SWOT Analysis. Also in this paper the recommendations will be made that will help the
company to grow in the competitive market. The overall market analysis will be made so that
sustainable competitive market can be attained.
Table of Contents
Executive summary.........................................................................................................................1
1

Management
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Nature of the environment in which the activities are managed.....................................................1
Macro environment..........................................................................................................................2
Pestle analysis..............................................................................................................................2
Micro analysis..................................................................................................................................3
SWOT ANALYSIS......................................................................................................................3
Significance of the environmental forces at the organization and on the market sector.................4
Requirements of variety of stakeholders.........................................................................................5
The effectiveness of the responses of organization to policy actions taken by key stakeholders...5
Summary..........................................................................................................................................6
Recommendation.............................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7
Introduction
Marks and Spencer is considered as one of the British multinational retailers in London. The
company has the specialty of selling clothes and home products. It has been analyzed that
2

Management
company was established in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer (Marks and Spencer
Plc, 2018).
Therefore, in this paper the focus will be given on the overall nature of the environment in which
the activities are managed. In the next phase the impact of environmental forces on the company
will be discussed by considering Pestle analysis as macro environment and SWOT Analysis as
micro environment. In the next phase of the report the emphasis will be given on the overall
impact of environmental forces and also on the need of the stakeholders. The last phase of the
report will emphasize on the policy of the organization which are considered by the stakeholders.
Nature of the environment in which the activities are managed
It can be analyzed that nature of the environment in which the activities are managed of the
company are highly competitive. There is high level of competition in the market which is faced
by the company. The competitors present in the market are Tesco, Aldi and Wal Mart. It is
important for the company to maintain the level of competition prevailing in the market so that it
can be easy to attain growth in the market. In UK it has been analyzed there is a tough
competition in the market which is important for the company to be managed effectively so that
competitive advantage can also be attained. The UK retailers also tend to be either market or
operation oriented (Ahmed, 2016).
The competitors like Wal-Mart focuses on considering the new formats which is threat for the
company to sustain in the competitive market. In the UK market, the customer demand latest
trends which are offered by the company in the market. The main aim of the company is to offer
innovative products to the customers so that it can be simple to maximize the overall demand of
the products offered by the company. It is necessary for the organization to emphasize on
offering innovative products so that customer satisfaction can be enhanced in the market. In the
UK market, the company emphasizes on offering products to the customers by analyzing the
needs and wants of the customers in the competitive market. It can be examined that company
focuses on internal and external factor so that it can be easy to enhance the overall productivity
in the competitive market. So, the nature in which the company manages its activities is highly
competitive and to maintain this it is important to focus on considering the strategies so that
growth can be maintained in the market (Baker and Saren, 2016).
3

Management
Macro environment
Pestle analysis
Political analysis
It can be evaluated that sourcing cost is reduced just due to the EC free trade agreement. On the
international platform just because of the high cost structure, the organization has to suffer from
problem to increase the market share. The initiatives of Marks and Spencer have been impacted
juts due to energy efficiency scheme given by the UK government. It can be evaluated that the
problem related to labor laws also enhances for the company in the competitive market. Marks
and Spencer have to face the issue related to reduction in the overall cost of sourcing (Etgar,
2015).
Economic factor
It can be investigated that retail sector in reference to the economic factor emphasizes on change
in the tax and interest rates. When economic slumps are considered then it can be stated that
retail sector is earning profits. There are competitors like Asda who focuses on importing the
products from the other countries so that the overall cost can be reduced. It can be stated that
company has closed various stores and due to this job has been reduced by 2 % out of 70,000
staff (Islam, 2016).
Socio cultural factor
The impact in this can be analyzed on the overall values of the individual and also with the shift
of the generation. The entire values of the people change with the change in the supplying power
of the company. Marks and Spencer emphasizes on maintaining the relations with the customers
to manage the overall demand of the customers (Lynch and Smith, 2006).
Legal factor
There are various aspects which affect the overall safety and regulations of the customers in the
workplace. The company also emphasized on the initiatives which can be known as “Behind the
code” and it also offers customers the overall experience related to Omni channel that can market
the products through online platform (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2008).
4

Management
Technological factor
It can be analyzed that company focused on marketing the products by considering social media
platform. If the emphasize is given on the fashion business it can be seen that new trends can be
given to the designers and it will maximize the entire speed of transportation.
Environmental factor
The company also emphasized on taking into consideration the rules and regulations so that
business practices can be maintained. In 2015, the overall products of the organization were
taken from gold and silver sustainability producer standards and also 10.6 million garments were
given to Oxfam.
Micro analysis
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strength
The company has more than 1300 stores and also the activities are managed on the international
platform. Mark and Spencer’s manage the activities in 59 territories in Europe and Asia. The
company is also considered one of the top brands in the UK market (Marks and Spencer Plc,
2018).
Weakness
There are many initiatives which are considered by the new sub brands like Autograph and per
Una. This has attracted many people of the company from the rivalry companies and also the
website was launched in to enhance the market share of the clothing sector.
Opportunities
The company has the opportunity to enhance the market share by focusing on the network of
convenience stores.
Threats
5

Management
The threat is form the high competition level prevailing in the market. There are competitors like
Asda who are present in the market (Marks and Spencer Plc, 2018).
Significance of the environmental forces at the organization and on the
market sector
It has been seen that environmental forces has given positive impact on the company as through
this it can be easy for the company to consider proper rules and regulations. Also, company
considered various latest technologies which can help in maintaining the level of competition in
the market. Due to this, it can be easy to maintain the high level of competition prevailing in the
market. By considering micro factor it can be seen that due to good brand image in the market,
the company can easily attain large market share and can earn profits (Laffy and Walters, 2016).
The environmental factor has given positive impact also. It can be seen that through this
company considered the competitive forces and through this there are strategies which are
considered by the company which maximized the entire profits. In the market, the company
achieved large market share which also enhanced the entire profits (Hannington, 2016).
It has been seen that by having many stores in the market it can be simple for the company to
satisfy the needs of the customers. So, with this it can be easy for the company to maintain the
image in the market.
Requirements of variety of stakeholders
It can be analyzed that stakeholders of the company can help to maintain competitive advantage.
Stakeholders are necessary to manage the entire activities of the company. The company needs
the stakeholders so that activities can be managed. Also it has been seen that company focuses
on communicating with the stakeholders in a proper manner so that their need can be satisfied.by
considering internal communication with the employees and shareholders the company focuses
on oral, written and electronic process. Also the company communicates with the external
shareholders like customers, community and also government by considering various mode of
communication like websites and advertisements. So, the stake holders are important to manage
the activities of the company and also to accomplish goals and objectives in the competitive
market (Cavallo, 2017).
6

Management
The effectiveness of the responses of organization to policy actions
taken by key stakeholders
It has been seen that the company has to response to the policies which are considered by the
stakeholders. The response by the organization can be given through effective customer service
or by focusing on the communicating in a proper manner. The policies can also relate with the
customers. It can be seen that company has offered effective service to the customers so that they
can solve their queries in the proper manner. It can be stated that the queries of the customers are
resolved by setting up proper customer support service to the customers as it can help in
enhancing the level of satisfaction of the customers in the market. Customer support department
is set up by the company through which it can be easy for the customers to solve their queries in
the competitive market and it has also boosted the overall demand of the products and services in
the market (Bhattacharya and Polman, 2017).
Summary
So, by analyzing the paper it can be stated that to compete in the market the company focus on
macro and micro factor in which political and various other factors supported the company in
managing the activities. It can be seen that the company maintained its image in the market with
many outlet on the global platform. Due to this it can be simple for the company to accomplish
its goals and objectives in the competitive market. The threat to the company is from the
competitors like Tesco. So, it can be seen that by analyzing these factors it can be easy for the
company to attain growth in the market. There are various stakeholder of the company. In
internal there are employees and shareholders and in external customers are considered as the
stakeholders. So, for them company offered effective customer support service through which
they can solve their queries in an effective manner. This has maximized the level of satisfaction
of the customers in the competitive market.
Recommendation
So, it can be recommended that company should focus on minimizing the level of competition so
that profits can be earned easily. It is important for the company to reduce its threat related to
competitors by offering innovative products in the market. Call support service should also be
offered by the company which can help the customers in solving their queries in a proper
7

Management
manner. Training can also be considered as one of the factor that should be considered by the
company to motivate the employees in the workplace.
References
Ahmed, U., 2016. Marks & Spencer: A Global Expansion to Acquire Lost Momentum?.
In Market Entry in China, pp. 61-72. Springer, Cham.
Baker, M.J. and Saren, M. eds., 2016. Marketing theory: a student text. Sage.
8

Management
Bhattacharya, C.B. and Polman, P., 2017. Sustainability Lessons From the Front Lines. MIT
Sloan Management Review, 58(2), p.71.
Cavallo, A., 2017. Are online and offline prices similar? evidence from large multi-channel
retailers. American Economic Review, 107(1), pp.283-303.
Etgar, M., 2015. Global Retail Entrance Strategies. In Proceedings of the 1997 World Marketing
Congress, pp. 266-269. Springer, Cham.
Hannington, T., 2016. How to measure and manage your corporate reputation. Routledge.
Islam, K., 2016. Can Ethical Business Strategy Influence Consumers’ Buying Behavior and
Loyalty: Marks and Spencer PLC?. Case Studies in Business and Management, 3(1), p.38.
Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R., 2008. Exploring corporate strategy: text & cases.
Pearson education.
Laffy, D. and Walters, D., 2016. Managing retail productivity and profitability. Springer.
Lynch, R.L. and Smith, J.R., 2006. Corporate strategy. Harlow,, England: FT/Prentice Hall.
Marks and Spencer Plc., 2018. M&S [Online]. Available at: https://www.marksandspencer.com/
[Accessed on 25 June 2018].
Marks and Spencer Plc., 2018. M&S [Online]. Available at:
https://www.marksandspencer.com/c/beauty [Accessed on 25 June 2018].
9