Organizational Design, HR Practices, and M&S Performance

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Marks & Spencer's (M&S) organizational design, structure, and the role of Human Resources (HR) within the company. The report begins with an introduction to M&S, its organizational structure (specifically, its functional structure), and the concept of organizational design. It explores how organizational design relates to the company's structure and how HR contributes to organizational design through motivational theories, talent management, and employee development. The report further examines approaches to attract, maintain, develop, and reward the M&S workforce, highlighting techniques like professional development, flexible working arrangements, and performance-based rewards. The report also discusses emerging HR developments, such as outsourcing, diversity management, work-life balance, and talent management, and their impact on M&S's internal and external environments. Finally, the report touches upon change management models, specifically Lewin's model, and how HR can manage change and adapt to it. The overall focus is on how M&S leverages its organizational design and HR practices to achieve organizational success and adapt to the changing business environment.

VALUE AND
CONTRIBUTION TO
ORGANIZATIONAL
SUCCESS

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Introduction of the Organisation..................................................................................................3
Organisational structure and structure of the chosen organisation..............................................3
Organisational Design and its relation to structure of chosen design..........................................4
Approaches to ensure contribution of HR in Organisation designing.........................................5
Emerging HR developments and impact on internal and external environment of organisation.
.....................................................................................................................................................6
SCENARIO 2..................................................................................................................................7
Background of change management including theories and models of change management.....7
Role of Human resource in managing change and organizational design...................................7
Evaluation of organization design which can respond and adapt to changes proposed in Marks
and Spencer..................................................................................................................................7
Recommendation on how HR practices will take changes forward and implement them..........7
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Successful organizations need both inspirational leaders and sound managers. In order to achieve
increased and sustainable results, organizations need to execute strategies and engage employees.
Success can be measured by if the goals and objectives set up any firm has been achieved or not.
Present study will lay emphasis on Marks and spencer. It is British multinational retailer which
has been established in Westminster, London. The firm is also being listed on London Stock
exchange. Study will also lay emphasis on organization structure for Marks and Spencer. It will
also explain concept of organizational design and how it relates to structure of company. Study
also highlights emerging HR development and how the chosen approaches are responsive to
external and internal environmental changes.
SCENARIO 1
Introduction of the Organisation.
Marks and Spencer Group plc is an international organisation having its headquarters in
Westminster, London. It is a British multinational retail giant specialising in premium clothing,
home and food products. Marks and Spencer is listed on London stock exchange and also forms
a part of FTSE 100 Index. It was founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in the year
1884. They began by the duo setting up market stalls in various locations named as Marks and
Spencer or Marks and sparks or simply M&S. From creating its identity as the retailer selling
only ‘British quality goods’ to expanding on international level by opening stores in various
countries targeting different markets on the basis of their tastes and requirements; M&S has
come a long way. At present, there are around 1463 stores owned and managed by the company
itself out of which there are 959 stores based in U.K. itself (Payne, Frow and Eggert, 2017). The
company, over the time, has acquired a large number of brands and has entered into various
product lines food industry being the specially targeted one. And although the company has
faced its fair share of ups and downs in its duration, Marks & Spencer’s has always continued to
grow and shall grow further.
Organisational structure and structure of the chosen organisation.
The structure of an organisation should be formulated as per the working environment and the
rules of the organisation as well as flow of communication. There are various designs and

structures in which an organisation can be structured (Organizational Design and Structure,
2016). Two of them are Functional Structure and Divisional Structure.
Functional Structure creates well segregated channels of communication and specifies the
proper authority or responsibility of relationships and the various authoritative figures. This
structure focuses on creating proper leader subordinate relationship in an organisation. The
organisation is classified into various departments like production; marketing human resource
etc. this structure also has various drawbacks as it narrows down the perspectives and creates a
centralized authority. It also reduces the innovative ability of the management decision and
restricts building of interrelationships in the organisation.
Divisional Structure assimilates all the activities in the organisation on the basis of
activities performed in the organisation i.e. their geographical, market targeted, various products
and services provided by the organisation etc (Al-Haddad and Kotnour, 2015). It basically
classifies the organisation on the basis of the operation of the business and its activities. Every
division has a separate set of those functions that it is required to perform and decision making is
clustered. This structure also has higher costs and operational expenses as they work together
and work on the individual basis.
In Marks and Spencer's the organisation has a global presence and its operations are
spread worldwide throughout different countries and international markets. The structure
adopted by them is functional structure. They link all the activities in the entire organisation and
the CEO, President, Vice President and the Board of Directors are the major decision makers for
the company.
Organisational Design and its relation to structure of chosen design.
Designing an organisation is not just simply associated with the decor of the company. It goes
beyond that i.e. organisational design is a process of integrating people, technology and
information in a formal manner and in the right quantum along with right quality so as to achieve
the required aims and objectives (Collings, 2015). The relation between design and structure of
an organisation can be simply understood by observing the work environment and organisational
culture of Marks and Spencer itself.
Here, every department has the complete knowledge and awareness about the activities of other
departments and they take the decision after keeping in mind the activities of their fellow

departments and the impact it has on each other. The strong design and structural balance that
exists between the company can also be observed by the satisfaction levels of the employees of
Marks and Spencer despite them having stores internationally as well (North and Kumta, 2018).
They have managed to achieve this by integrating technology with the hierarchy of the company
as it adopts functional structutre and thus assisting at every level of decision making.
Some of the major factors affecting relationship between organisation design and structure are:-
Organisational size: - a larger organisation implies more authority levels and this might reduce
employee intake in decision making.
Organisation lifecycle: - At the different stages in the cycle, management need s to adopt
different tactics. M&S being an already established organisation has a well defined structure
facilitating smooth flow of activities (Muehlheusser and et.al., 2018).
Some other factors are Strategy, Environment and Technology that affect the relation of the two.
Approaches to ensure contribution of HR in Organisation designing.
Human resource manager can make use of motivational theories such as Maslow hierarchy of
need. When the firm is going to change the design, they need to motivate workers. hese needs
relate to the survival and maintenance of human life. They exert tremendous influence on human
behaviour. These needs are to be met first at least partly before higher level needs emerge. Once
physiological needs are satisfied, they no longer motivate the man.
For achievement of higher competency levels and increasing the competitiveness of the
organisation; it is very crucial to develop strong human resource management practices and
hiring the correct personnel required. To achieve this Excellency it is important to have an HR
Department solely dedicated for this purpose and formulating one which is well versed with all
kinds of activities carried out by the organisation and hire according to the job roles.
The functional structure understands and emphasizes the importance of HR in the organisation
by creating a separate department called HR Department whose sole purpose is to manage the
personnel employed in all the other department operating in the organisation and keeping them
satisfied as well as motivated (Fink, Yogev, and Even, 2017). They have a Head of the
Department i.e. HOD who reports directly to the CEO. This importance that is given to the HR
department creates a satisfied customer base ensuring them that someone is working for their

benefit and happiness as a sole purpose. Divisional Structure on the other hand does not give HR
a separate department primarily because organisation is classified on the basis of different
activities and product lines. They have departments like Finance, Sales and Marketing etc.
Employees are managed by all the departments collectively.
At M&S, the functional structure according to which they operate helps them in addressing the
requirements of their employees as they have a separate department thus ensuring success of the
organisation.
Different approaches and techniques used for attracting, maintaining, developing and rewarding
human resources to create a skilled and dedicated workforce
Attracting, maintaining, developing and rewarding workforce is essential part of maintaining
successful coordination in organisational design. Techniques used by HR managers of company
to attract, maintain, develop and reward human resources are as follows:
 Ongoing professional development, and management of motivation via Maslow
hierarchical approach are the key techniques which are used by Marks and Spencer to
maintain workforce satisfaction. Continuous professional development aim at career
development of employees apart from work. However, motivation management helps in
maintaining employees’ attitude and job satisfaction. In accordance with motivation
theory company fulfil basic workplace needs of employee like appreciation, safe working
condition, etc.
 For developing workforce HR manager of organisation imply use of on the and off the
job training approach. On the job training is managed by weekly session and
continuous mentoring while working. However, off the job training is encouraged by
involving employees in business seminars and conferences.
 For attracting employees Marks and Spencer focuses on providing flexible working
arrangements to employees. This helps the firm in protecting employees’ interest in
work. This is the best approach of attracting employee towards work and increasing work
productivity.
 For rewarding workforce HR professionals of M&S focus on extinct motivation where
appreciation of employee’s work is managed by giving individual employees, bonus,
incentive, extra pay for extra work.

Emerging HR developments and impact on internal and external environment of organisation.
HR for responding to change can also make use of Lewin change management model. It
consists of three stages that includes unfreezing. It is the stage where Marks and Spencer will
make employees aware about the change of structure. Next stage is change stage where the exact
modifications will take place. Last one is freezing stage where support will be provided by
management for change.
According to Chattell, 2016, Some of the key developments in the HR Management fields
have been change in the perception regarding the hiring process and the scope and importance
that an HR department has in an organisation. Outsourcing Human Resource is a crucial HR
development where HR appoints a third party i.e. an external party to manage a part of or the
entire activities related to HR Management in an offshore country it is called outsource of
Human Resource. It is generally done in countries like India, China etc. where cheap labour is
available. Further, Afsar and Badir, 2016, stated about changes in recruitment and selection
approach which in modern era are focused on managing equality and diversity at workplace.
Further, Work Life Balance is another flexible development of HR which focused on improving
business and employee’s productivity. In accordance with this management allows employees to
work according to own convivence. This came up with trends like flexi timing, work from home,
maternity and paternity leaves etc are the trends whose adoption has led to creation of a highly
dedicated and loyal employee base in organisations adopting it. On the other hand, North and
Kumta, 2018, stated about talent Management which is also emerging as key area in which the
organisation can excel and this concept has not yet fully developed. Talent management plays
an important role in the business strategy since it manages one of the important assets of the
company. Therefore, companies are making effort to effectively manage the employees to help
them develop their skills and capabilities in order to retain them
Adopting functional structure has been highly beneficial for the M&S Company. The
impact it has had on external and internal environment can be described as follows: -
 External Environment: - External factors usually involve PESTLE factors. HR manager
ensures that there should be no unjust treatment to employees at M&S due to pressure
from any external parties like unions etc. and (Sparrow and Makram, 2015) the pay scale
of the employees should be at par with the present norms and trends. It also ensures there
is no gender or caste related biasness at the M&S work place and the hiring process is up

to date with the recent technological developments. It also ensures that all the legal
formalities regarding recruitment are complied with and M&S give back to the society
what it takes by improving the living standard of society through its satisfied employee
base.
 Internal Environment: - It is the responsibility of HR to maintain a healthy working
environment and ensuring safety of its employees at M&S by taking proper precaution in
case of any hazardous technology or machinery (Bortolotti, Boscari and Danese, 2015).
They also ensure that employees’ co exists with each other in a peaceful manner and no
dirty politics is carried out.
SCENARIO 2
Background of change management including theories and models of change management
(Covered in poster)
Role of Human resource in managing change and organizational design
(Covered in poster)
Evaluation of organization design which can respond and adapt to changes proposed in Marks
and Spencer
(Covered in poster)
Recommendation on how HR practices will take changes forward and implement them
(Covered in poster)
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
After going through the research carried out in above report it can be concluded that organisation
structure, organisation design, change management all impact the HRM Practices carried out in
any organisation and can affect the working severely. This was studied by giving special
reference to Marks and Spencer Company so that all the factors and their influence on HRM as
well the importance of HRM could be emphasized upon. After conducting the research, the
recommendations that can be made are that:-
• Functional structure is the better way of managing a firm such as M&S operating on a
global level.
• Change is inevitable and must be adopted in an employee friendly way.

• HRM is a very important department and must be given a huge importance.
• Regular development in the HR practices is also crucial in the growth of the organisation.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bortolotti, T., Boscari, S. and Danese, P., 2015. Successful lean implementation: Organizational
culture and soft lean practices. International Journal of Production Economics.
160. pp.182-201.
Sparrow, P.R. and Makram, H., 2015. What is the value of talent management? Building value-
driven processes within a talent management architecture. Human resource
management review. 25(3). pp.249-263.
Afsar, B. and Badir, Y.F., 2016. Person–organization fit, perceived organizational support, and
organizational citizenship behavior: The role of job embeddedness. Journal of
Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism. 15(3). pp.252-278.
Chattell, A., 2016. Creating value in the digital era: Achieving success through insight,
imagination and innovation. Springer.
Fink, L., Yogev, N. and Even, A., 2017. Business intelligence and organizational learning: An
empirical investigation of value creation processes. Information & Management.
54(1). pp.38-56.
Muehlheusser, G. and et.al., 2018. The contribution of managers to organizational success:
evidence from German soccer. Journal of Sports Economics. 19(6). pp.786-819.
North, K. and Kumta, G., 2018. Knowledge management: Value creation through organizational
learning. Springer.
Collings, D.G., 2015. The contribution of talent management to organization success. The Wiley
Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Training, Development, and
Performance Improvement, p.247.
Al-Haddad, S. and Kotnour, T., 2015. Integrating the organizational change literature: a model
for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management. 28(2).
pp.234-262.

Payne, A., Frow, P. and Eggert, A., 2017. The customer value proposition: evolution,
development. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. 45(4). pp.467-489.
Online
Organizational Design and Structure. 2016. [ONLINE] Available through :<
https://study.com/academy/lesson/organizational-design-and-structure.html>

SCENARIO 2
Background of change management including theories and models of change
management
Change management can be defined as that method which can be used by organization in order to transfer or change firms process, goals or
technologies. The main objective of implementing change management process is to bring effective modifications, measuring and
organizing change and assisting people in adjusting to change easily. Change is very necessary in organization so Marks and Spencer will
adopt strategies which can help them in managing change and adjusting to change easily. Adopting new changes in organization can assist
firm in exploring new opportunities but sometimes can also create problems. But it is very necessary for firm to adopt changes so that they
can be able to grow. This can be explaining through Kurt Lewin change model.
Kurt Lewin change model
The Kurt Lewin change model consists of three steps that includes unfreezing, changing, refreezing. This process lay emphasis that change
is very important in organization and it is one of the necessary step which needs to be followed by Marks and Spencer in order to grow. It
can also help firm in expanding globally.
Unfreezing- When implementing change in organization, the managers of Marks and Spencer may face difficulty as at initial stage
employees may resist to modifications or alterations. So it is responsibility of managers to make workers aware about changes. It will assist
firm in removing the barriers which can come while implementing change. Employees can resist to changes because of their perception or
attitude that change might lead to failure or it can lead to loss. In this stage it is also important for Marks and Spencer to re-structure their
organization structure according to the changes which they are going to implement. In order to successfully implement changes firm needs
to make effective communication to their employees. This can also help firm in gaining competitive advantage and can also help them in
increasing profitability aspects. Old behaviour, processes and techniques also needs to be analysed so that Marks and Spencer can also
make firm understand employees about the importance of change.
Changing- It is one of the most critical stage which during process of change. In this Marks and Spencer needs to provide support to
employees so that they can easily adjust to modifications or alterations. For successful implementation of change, training can be provided
by leaders and managers which can also help firm in retaining employees. At each step workers must also get reminded about the
importance of change and benefits they can get from it.
Refreezing- In this stage Marks and Spencer needs to re-inforce the change. At this stage they need to satisfy employees so that they do not
resist to changes. This can also help firm in retaining employees and will also attract new workers towards firm. It can help organization in
growing and achieving their ultimate goals and objectives. For retaining employees firm can also give them rewards during period of
change. This can help them in making organization culture better.
HR plays one of the most crucial role in managing and leading
change. It is one of most prominent function of human resource to make people adjust to change.
This can include following:
Providing learning and training- If Marks and Spencer is engaged in implementing change then the HR of
company has a duty to provide training on all changes implemented. This will help employees in learning
new skills and software. It will also help company in increasing and enhancing efficiency of workers.
Employees also need to be made understand that change is necessary and it can provide benefit to them in
future.
Provide Support- Human resource managers of Marks and Spencer while implementing changes needs to
provide support to employees. It is one of most important function that needs to be done by them. It will
help firm in reducing employee turnover and creating worker’s belongingness. Support can be provided by
HR of Marks and Spencer by motivating them. Motivation can be given to employees by monetary and
non-monetary incentives. This can also help firm in increasing confidence level of workers during the
time of change.
Motivation- Human resource manager of Marks and Spencer also needs to encourage employees to not
resist for changes. They need to make them understand that modifications and alterations are for their
good. By providing motivating they can also retain workers. Human resource managers needs to make
workers also learn and understand about changes deeply. This will help them in adjusting to modifications
and alterations.
Understanding environment and competitors- Human resource manager of Marks and Spencer also have
responsibility to make employees understand about the changing environment which can be reason for
change in organization design. They also have responsibility to analyse well the competitors so that
change can be implemented successfully. It will also help firm in gaining competitive advantage and
making employees adjust to change easily and comfortably.
Communicate effectively- The main responsibility of human resource manager while implementing
change and redesigning organization structure is that they need to communicate change effectively. The
manager of Marks and Spencer must make sure that there is nothing which is hidden from employees
while implementing modifications or alterations. Company must be consistent and honest in their
behaviour. This will also help firm in making relation better with their employees. Also this can motivate
workers during the time of change and structure changes. Communication is one of the most important
step which needs to be followed by human resource during changes. Marks and Spencer will gain
competitive advantage if they followed process of effective communication. They can also identify issues
Evaluation of organization design which can respond and adapt to changes proposed
in Marks and Spencer
Organization redesigning can be affected by various environmental factors. This can include legal, political, technological socio-cultural
factors that can affect working of Marks and Spencer. Organizations that are not able to adapt quickly enough to maintain their legitimacy
or the resources they need to survive either cease to exist or become assimilated into other organizations. Complexities in organizational
restructuring can be arise because of ineffective communication and less support from employees of firm. Also there can arise conflict in
Marks and Spencer due to changing and unpredictable environment. Firm redesigning of structure can be affected by types of
environment. In an stable environment they need to design structure according to consumer preferences. This can assist Marks and
Spencer in attracting more employees and retaining workers. In dynamic environment there might be chances that company faces severe
consequences while res-designing the structure. Like for example if there are changes in technology in external environment, then it will
also create more pressure on firm to follow it. This can hamper growth of firm and can also hinder them in growing.
Recommendation on how HR practices will take changes forward
and implement them
Human resource manager of Marks and Spencer in order to implement changes successfully needs to
make use of effective communication. This will help them in making employees understand about
changes easily and can also help them in retaining workers. Human resource must also engage in
providing training to employees about the changes which has been implemented in Marks and Spencer.
This will help them in enhancing efficiency of workers and will also retain them during time of structure
changes. Also this will help them in improving relationship with employees working with them. Human
resource manager also needs to motivate employees by giving them monetary or non-monetary
incentives. This will help them in creating worker’s belongingness. They need to make employee
understand that change is for their benefits and it will be able to help them grow. It will also help them in
growing as an individual and will increase their learning ability and skills. So this is one of the most
important role of human resource manager which they need to perform.
REFERENCES
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Appiah-Adu, K., Okpattah, B. and Amoako, G.K., 2018. Building capability for organizational success: An emerging market perspective. Journal of African
Business.19(1).pp.86-104.
Appelbaum, S.H. and et.al., 2018. Impact of business model change on organizational success. Industrial and Commercial Training.50(2).pp.41-54.

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